Big Mac Attack

I really never thought I would be in this position but let's start back at the beginning...

Upon Kyle's return from school for Christmas break, he let it be known that he thought the Apple MacBook laptops were way cooler than his Dell. I, of course, said "That's interesting. So what?" I had no intention of doing anything with Apple computers. Well, he kept noodling me about it - everybody at school has them, they are really easy to use, blah, blah, blah. He even kept changing my desktop wallpaper to an Apple logo.

Christmas this year was somewhat lean I will admit. The kids are getting bigger and the clothes they want are expensive enough plus the fact that tuition is a serious drain. So there weren't many (OK, any) big-ticket items under the tree. I was feeling guilty about this so I guess I was particularly vulnerable to his constant attacks. I had to admit, they are very sleek machines and the shiny new techno-geek in me was slowly being seduced by the dark side. I asked Deb what she thought and she straight-out said that he didn't need a new machine and we should nip it in the bud right there. It was a dose of reality that I needed to knock me back to financial reality.

I guess it wasn't a strong enough dose to kill the invading bacteria and they came back with renewed immunity to treatment. The other factor that started to weigh in was the fact that Carly really needed a new computer. That sounds so strange to say but what has been basically a luxury item is virtually a necessity these days. Her computer is a third generation hand-me-down and is very slow so she uses my computer which means that I sometimes can't get things done. Of course, most of the time she's playing games or buying songs on iTunes (with my account for some reason!) so it's not like she's being held back from working on her doctoral thesis but whatever.

So anyway, in a fit of insanity, I went to the computer store one night while Kyle was out and bought a MacBook. I figured I would bring it home and set it up for him (which would give me a chance to play with it) and he would be surprised. He was surprised alright. After he played with it a bit, he said, somewhat sheepishly, "We can still take this back right?". What! What the heck are you talking about!? It's just what you wanted!

He said he had been thinking about it all day and had decided that he really didn't need a new computer just because it was a sleek Apple and he shouldn't have been pestering me about it after all. Great! I told him I kinda wish he would have told me that a few hours earlier.

Over the course of the next few days, he agonized over that machine. He really felt bad about pushing me into this purchase and that was gnawing at him big time. I told him that it wasn't entirely his fault since I was interested in it too and the Carly factor weighed in as well (although I was still irritated at him and myself for getting into this situation). Although I knew the answer, I called CompUSA and asked about the return policy. $200 restocking fee on opened computers. Now, the computer I would have gotten Carly was about $400 cheaper than the Mac so if we were to return the Mac, give Kyle back his Dell, and get Carly a new machine, I would save about $200.

The other thing that Kyle was struggling with was the fact that his favorite game wasn't quite the same on the Mac as on the Dell. It seems like that might be about the least important aspect of the whole decision but I assure you that it is probably number one.

I finally gave him an ultimatum to decide to keep the laptop or return it. He finally said he wanted to return it. So, I said "OK, uninstall your games, take your name off of it, and basically get it ready to return." Of course, when faced with the reality of really returning it, he hesitated (for the 50th time) and decided that he wanted to keep it after all.

So, in the end, Kyle took his Mac back to school. Carly has a new (to her) Dell, and Dad? Well, Dad got hosed. I got to play with the new Mac and experience a sequence of "No big thing", to "Well, it *is* pretty cool", to "Wow, I really like it", to "Bye, MacBook. Have fun at school".

I *do* really like the machine and I was seriously into the analysis of whether I would want to switch and how I would go about doing that. There are a couple of things holding me back however. First, there are gazillions more programs written for Windows than for Macs. I think I have half of them installed on my computer right now. I don't use them all, all of the time, but when you need something, you can usually find it. That would not be the case (as much) if I had a Mac. Second, my killer app - Quicken - while available for the Mac, is about 2 generations behind the Windows version. Virtually every review of Quicken for Mac says it is garbage compared to the Windows version. Third, Macs are more expensive than PCs which sticks in my cheapo craw. Fourth, since I am tech support for Dad with his computer, if I switch, he would probably have to switch, and I'm not sure the time-space continuum could handle that kind of molecular restructuring. Actually, I'm just trying to be funny there. I actually have wondered if Dad just might find Mac easier than Windows so that might not be a concern after all.

If that were that, then there would be no question. The Quicken thing would be a deal breaker. Things are never that easy though are they. Turns out, you can run Windows programs on Macs using what are called Virtual Machines. We use these at work a lot and basically it is a program that simulates a physical computer. On that simulated computer you can, for example, install Windows just like you would install it on a real computer. Once you install Windows onto this Virtual Machine, you can install Windows programs (like Quicken for Windows) and end up running Quicken for Windows inside a window (to the Virtual Machine) on a Mac. This solves problems 1 and 2 above - sort of. This Virtual Machine, since it is implemented in software, isn't as fast as a real machine so processor intensive applications - like video editing, for which I've invested a bit of money in - won't run as fast and might not run at all. You can get around that however by dual-booting Windows and MacOS. This means that you can install both Windows and MacOS on the laptop and decide which run to run when you turn on the machine. Seems they've got pretty much everything covered.

It's been a few days since the Mac has gone back to school so the *need* has subsided somewhat but it's still simmering in the back of my mind. I figure my current desktop computer is good for another year or so. At that point, I'll revisit the issue and maybe do something drastic.

I'll keep you posted.