Another Switcher on the way

My father has decided that the time is right (age 72) to join in the Mac fun! He is pretty good technically with the ‘older’ stuff and has some well established IT ‘needs’:

– he does a lot of writing,
– he does a reasonable amount of presentational and design work for the Math Games he designs,
– he communicates a lot via email, IM and Skype,
– he is not heavily into music but uses iTunes already,
– he likes to use his digital camera.

He is not a power user and I doubt wants to be learning too much new stuff. I am excited for him, and I thought it might be interesting to ‘follow’ his experiences.

I am going to sell him my G4 PowerBook. He really needs the portability as he splits his time between Florida, USA and Staffordshire, UK. He really wants the 17″ screen, but doesn’t really need the power (or cost) of a MBP. He will still have his Windows Notebook – in fact my mother is going to take his Notebook and they are going to use hers as a mini media hub to connect to their TV and show pictures etc. Pretty cool for parents I reckon.

I am going to set up the PowerBook pretty specifically for him – not clutter it up with stuff that he wont use. I reckon I have a good idea, but as ever any suggestions as to what to put on it are more than welcome.

As for me, I am going to use the cash to buy a second Mac mini to connect to the TV permanently and a MacBook to give me the flexibility of a notebook for when I really need it, which is very rarely it has to be said. I will continue to use this primarily for reviews, audio, projects etc. I went with this because I reckon that eventually it will become Sands notebook and if needs be I will get a new version MBP in a year or so.

Spec wise I only need the entry level Mac mini as it literally will only be used connected to the TV to record some stuff and to play stuff back. It will be connected to my network so it will be able to access content on any of the other Macs to show on the TV.

MacBook wise I am reasonably relaxed but am going to try for the Black 2.0Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 2GB RAM and 120GB Hard Drive.

So eBay here I come – have put bids in for the above items and an iSight as well for my father.

The plan is that once the MB is set up I will sort out the PB for him, get him to send me a lot of his data on DVD, and then Sands can take it over to UK in June when she will see him. She can show him how to use it and then I am sure he will be fine. I am intending to get him up and running and to support him without physically sitting down with him and the Mac. That is how much confidence I have in the ease of use of a Mac – and in him.

Watch this space, and any suggestions re Applications etc just let me know.