Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hi all,

My MacBook Air died after less than 3 years this week. I am taking it back to Apple but I am not optimistic that it can be fixed as it looks like the logic board has died. I did not purchase Apple Care. I have decided that I will wean myself out of Apple’s ecosystem. Currently all my devices are Apple, but I cannot bring myself to spend another $1800 AUD on a laptop I only use for Microsoft Office and the internet. Especially if it will only last me a few years. So I want to ask what types of computers do you guys use? How can one be frugal with technology whilst also purchasing something functional and of quality? What are your opinions on Apple vs Windows? Any advice will be appreciated.

frugal + quality + ecosystem integrity = ipad ($330 american)

does a bunch of apps and more portable than a macbook.

the new ipad air actually has the most advanced of all ipad processors but the price goes up... still 1/3 the price of a laptop?

Raspberry Pi 4, but today I would get a Pi 400.

sky wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:18 pm

Raspberry Pi 4, but today I would get a Pi 400.

oh, yes! you're right. if it's for typing and browsing yes--why pay more?

I would agree with a Raspberry Pi for first choice. Second choice, get a cheap $200 (usd) laptop and put Linux on it. With either, you can use LibreOffice or Google Docs to replace Microsoft Office

If I were in the market for a new laptop I'd be looking into a pre-Lenovo Thinkpad and putting linux on it, then using LibreOffice, Google Docs or Office 365. Here's someone's experience transitioning to one from an apple laptop: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/ ... ptops.html

Thank you Natris, this is about to become relevant for me very soon. I have a MacBook and I love the Mac OS "dumb user" experience - but I would have to transition away from it soon. It's impractical for my corner of Eastern Europe.

Hello,

I currently use a mid 2012 Macbook pro. It is the last macbook pro you can upgrade and fix yourself. I paid about $200 for it and maxed it out for another $200 with a ssd, replaced the superdrive for a second hdd and put on 16gb of ram You can do it cheaper than that too. It still runs Catalina (you can always use a patch for newer OS). All in all is a powerful, good quality machine that you can repair yourself and I bet you can always resell it for a good price once you want to upgrade.

Frugalchicos wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:43 am

I currently use a mid 2012 Macbook pro. It is the last macbook pro you can upgrade and fix yourself.

I wanted to say exactly this. 2012 15" non retina macbook pro. Excellent choice.

i have the same mbp with diy upgrades but it no longer upgrades the os which causes some apps to no longer upgrade, etc. it's fine and still gets security patches if you just want to browse.etc.

madziebee wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:51 pm

I have decided that I will wean myself out of Apple’s ecosystem.

I think the problem is that these days there's always some eco-system to consider, so the first step would be to choose which eco-system you prefer. Since it's hard to leave, this choice should be made for 10-20 years at a time

Windows
Linux (consumer level, ala ubuntu)
Linux (geek level, ala DIY)
Chrome
...

PS: There are various "which computer should I buy"-threads. People tend to talk their book.

Maybe it’s because I’m the least tech savvy person on planet earth, but I always thought the “ecosystem” issue was mostly related to phones.
WRT laptops, I have switched multiple times between Ubuntu and windows, and lately MacOS and never had an issue.
Office like, browsers, Dropbox are always available cross platform.

I personally think I will try to get something you can fix/upgrade yourself. I like Macs, but I hate the fact they solder everything to the logic board or the lack of user upgradability.

Frugalchicos wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:07 am

I personally think I will try to get something you can fix/upgrade yourself. I like Macs, but I hate the fact they solder everything to the logic board or the lack of user upgradability.

i used to be like that but eventually threw my hands up in the air in frustration and embraced the ipad

it's cheap, secure, lightweight and portable, low maintenance, does everything.

yes im a consumer in this front but trying to be "advanced consumer" i think this is the best deal in the market right now. for my needs anyway.

How do you do office and typing with an iPad?
Those are the two reasons why I still need a laptop

with a wireless keyboard and mouse

eta: actually you can even do wired with a usb dongle or now via usb c...

there are all kinds of adapters and stands etc for an office style setup. and you can mirror screen to tv.

@Alphaville
What do you do with documents and such? I currently have 1TB of memory with music, pictures, documents, etc...
Is it easy to use word and excel with it?

i use numbers and pages not the microsoft product so i can't say. but it all gets uploaded to icloud which is cheaper than device storage. i have media files which are large and they live there.

there's also google drive and dropbox and sky drive etc, but i find icloud seamless and more compatible and more secure and headache-free for my purposes. 2TB is $3/mo, but you get i think 5gb free? part of the apple ecosystem/walled garden.

there is also the possibility of local nas if you're into that. but i stopped maintaining a nas because icloud does it better and saves me infinite headaches (my nas died and i lost data. rebuilding the array took forever plus money. so much for my diy competence in i.t.)

Raspberry pi's are also quite affordable and powerful nowadays. And very portable!

sky wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:18 pm

Raspberry Pi 4, but today I would get a Pi 400.

I've been pondering that, just to see how much I could do with it. It's probably as fast as what I was using in 2005 and I was getting work done then. I just wish they would dump the memory card and go for an onboard SSD or at least NVMe.