"bang for you buck"

<p>hello, i'll be heading off to college in in the fall, and my father is going to be getting me a notebook for school. now this isn't another "which is better apple or pc" question, i know the pros and cons on each, i've decided on an apple, however my dad is an apple h8er. since he is paying he says he is trying to get the most 'bang for his buck' and said his budget is around $1000. i already told him that i'd be willing to pay the $500 or so difference for the notebook, but he says no, so here is my question: what kind of things could i tell me dad to try to persuade him cost wise that an ibook is what i need?</p>

<p>-the Mac operating system is Unix based, which provides it with(on average) better stability than Windows. If a program crashes, you can keep using other programs without ANY slowdown.
-the iBooks comes with everything you need, all you need to buy is Office 2004 Mac or iWork(which comes with Pages and Keynote 2, the equivalents of Word and Powerpoint respectively, AND both are fully compatible with Word and Powerpoint). All come with iLife '05, which includes iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD, iMovie, and Garageband. You also get AppleWorks 6(the older Apple word processor), Safari(web browser), Quicktime, iChat, Address Book, iCal, Preview(.pdf reader), Calculator, DVD Player, etc.
-all come with wireless standard
-I work at the help desk at my college. Since September, I've seen 3 apple computers, and it's b/c the person either didn't know how to set up wireless(which is the simple task of clicking the menulet, click turn on, and click the network that it finds. REALLY hard), or installing a font. You won't have any spyware problems, b/c there are currently no spyware programs written for Mac OS X(as per Macworld). Viruses simply can't run on Macs b/c of it's authentication system. Basically, to install a program, you MUST type your username and password. So, you won't find icons randomly appearing on the desktop, or mysterious toolbars and programs appearing in your Dock or Applications folder.<br>
-Macs also have a longer lifespan, so you'll have it for a long time.
-with the educational discounts, you can get an iBook for $949, $1199, and $1399. Cost wise, you get more when you buy from Apple than from windows based computers(see above programs that come standard on Macs, which isn't even a full list).</p>

<p>I agree with JasonHoya, i own an ibook and the only problem i had was cleaning the exterior from dust which in inevitable but on a macintosh its much more noticeable. I've used my macintosh since 10th grade and have never had any problems from it, that come from mechanical and such, i would recommend the Mac.. i think they range from 999 - 1400 so they run cheap..</p>

<p>It's his gift to you, don't make him spend hundreds more for a notebook that won't crash as much. There are some great Dell and HP notebooks out there with nice widescreens that go for pretty cheap.</p>

<p>aim78, don't you just love getting gifts that you don't want?</p>

<p>don't get me wrong, aim78, i'm not trying to sound like some spoiled brat who's all unappriciative and stuff, i'm more than willing to pay the difference, but the way i see it, its a pretty long term investment, might as well try to get the best out there so it'll last you a while</p>

<p>tell him that then.</p>