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General discussion

netbook interfacing with Macbook

by labrams Oct 30, 2009 10:13AM PDT

My petite college student needed a macbook pro for college and it adds alot of weight to her backpack. I am considering getting her a PC netbook to take to classes for notetaking from which to download to her macbook in her dorm room. Also it would be good if she can upload presentations to the netbook from the Mac for class presentation. Does anyone know if these two will interface easily or am I in for the old PC to Mac interface problems? If I get her microsoft office for the netbook will it interface with her office programs on her macbook pro?

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9 Posts
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You need Office 2008 for mac and...
by dlinux Oct 30, 2009 12:33PM PDT

What you'll need is microsoft office '08 for the Mac, and Microsoft office '07 for the netbook. All files made within MS Office will work on any other version of MS Office, even the Mac version. To get them from one computer to the other, you'll need a flash drive (a 2GB one will do).

There are really no compatibility problems between Mac and PC anymore, as long as you know what to do.

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You need Neo Office for the Mac.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Oct 30, 2009 11:22PM PDT
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For the NetBook, try Open Office.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Oct 30, 2009 11:23PM PDT

Then you are getting the full effect for free. Yes, it is Power Point compatible.

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netbook compatibility
by labrams Oct 31, 2009 1:47AM PDT

We already have office '08 loaded on the mac.I might be able to get microsoft products at a discount. Should I get the most recent office for the netbook or download the "open office"? thank you

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Your choice here.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Oct 31, 2009 2:13AM PDT

Since you can try Open Office for free and save your power point on the Apple as Office 2003 compatible you might get done for no money. But in the end, your choice.

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flaws of Open Office...
by dlinux Oct 31, 2009 11:05PM PDT

The reason I didn't mention OpenOffice in my previous post, is that it isn't as seamless and easy to use as MS office. Also, since your getting it for college, you should be able to buy MS office for $70 or something like that.

Main flaws of OpenOffice:

1. You have to tell it to save in a MS Office format (.docx, .dox, .xls, etc...). It doesn't automatically do it, so you might have to re-save a file a few times before you get the hang of this.
2. The interface is a tiny bit clunky/old fashioned. It's not as modern and easy to use as MS Office.
3. On my computer, it screwed up my Default Programs list, making files open in it, rather than in other programs. I had to manually set it back...
Anyway, it's free, so you essentially get what you pay for, or don't pay for!

I'm not a fan of Microsoft, but they really have done a good job on their office programs. However, as the guy above/below says, you can always just try Open Office, and if you don't like it, dump it.

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flawsof open office-netbook recommendations
by labrams Nov 1, 2009 12:39AM PDT

thank you for your comments. My daughter is an inpatient computer user and since she has only used macs, this might be a deal killer. So I will probably get her the "real office" which we get dicounted. thank you- you saved me some heartache. On another front any netbook recommendations that interface well with the mac (or ones to avoid?)thanks

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I own the older 8 inch Acer netbook.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 1, 2009 1:03AM PDT

And would swap it for the newer 11 inch Ao751h if I could. Works super for presentations. I did get the bigger battery (7 or more hours.)
Bob

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glad to help
by dlinux Nov 17, 2009 5:40AM PST

As for which one to get, well, I've only ever used the Asus IEEE PCs, so I can't really say how they compare to one another. It would probably be best to just go somewhere and try out a few display machines with office installed on them to see how you, or rather your daughter, like's them. I don't know if you've spotted it, but there are some good netbook reviews here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-netbooks/?tag=resourceLeftContainer.0

Anyway, I'm glad I could help.

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