The Geek is Back

New laptop coming!

Glenn Brensinger -

I almost got kicked outta my first class yesterday because I couldn’t do my homework. My PC at home is dead, so I went into school early to do it on one of the lab PC’s. Computer lab was full with a class. Library was closed for a staff meeting (like they couldn’t have put that someplace else??) So I had to go into class unprepared. The instructor was about to send me home for it, but I told him straight out – I was not allowed to access the public PC’s because they were off-limits to the public, which in my somewhat (okay not really) humble opinion was flat out not fair. He let me go on that one.

I skipped lunch so I could print out recipes so I’d at least be prepared for PM Cafe. Well you already know what happened there. So I did more surfing at work last night (might as well get paid for not going to class) and found that the local Mac dealer (Small Dog Electronics) had screaming deals on refurbs. I could save $400 on a MacBook Pro because it was a factory refurb, and then another $150 in sales tax because I am having it shipped to NH instead of picking it up here. That $150 could pay for a 1G memory upgrade (everywhere I read, the recommendation is to go with 2G right away.) So today I placed the order. It should arrive in NH shortly before I go home for the Labor Day weekend.

I’ve been asked by, well, everyone pretty much… why a Mac? Well, years ago I wouldn’t consider one, much less a Mac laptop. However, a few things have happened, and here’s my thought process:

  1. My game PC died, and I need a replacement in fairly short order.
  2. I’m going to be moving around for the next year and a half, at least until I graduate from school. Portable would be easier than dragging around a PC and 21″ monitor, which means a laptop. Since I still want to be able to play World of Warcraft (might as well, I still pay the subscription for it) and the occasional single-player game, it’d have to be a gaming-specced laptop.
  3. I am going to need a laptop for school. All our text books are going online, along with syllabus, grades, homework submission, everything. I’ve been told that the Tablet PC I already have won’t cut it, since the handwriting recognition isn’t fast enough to keep up with lecture and it’s difficult to set up as a “laptop.” (Unfortunately I have to agree – while the recognition is pretty good, it does tend to get hung up on occasion.) It also doesn’t play games very well (I’ve tried.)
  4. I need something stable, lightweight, fast, reliable, and doesn’t generate enough heat to cook a burger.
  5. MacBooks are running on Intel Core Duo chips now. They run OSX as well as Windows XP (and possibly even Vista.) You can dual boot it into whatever you want, so if the app I need doesn’t run on one, it’ll run on the other. The Mac OS is also LINUX based, which means a wider variety of free applications. I can run OpenOffice instead of springing for Mac Office 2004.
  6. Okay so MacBooks are more expensive than the PC equivalent (lack of competition.) Consider the above point – I am getting two systems for a bit more than one would cost.
  7. The name of the company is “Small Dog.” I take my omens where I can get them.

I’m not abandoning Windows, I am just doing what makes sense for me at this time. Come 2008 when I graduate, I’ll build a new gaming rig that will run Vista on an Intel Core Trio 8.77Ghz with 6Gig of RAM and a 4T PATA hard disk array (and I bet I’ll still be behind bleeding edge.)