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Temptation

  • Oct. 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 AM
Efforts will be rewarded
The baby laptop decided to start randomly shutting down last weekend, possibly because it's been a while since I blew the dust bunnies out of the casing. So Wednesday I went to the computer store to restock on air cans and incidentally cheat on the baby laptop with other portable PCs. Netbooks are right out: the tiny screens gave me eyestrain within five minutes. Then I let myself be talked into looking at Macs. The MacBook Air is very sexy to the touch, but got slammed on wiki for overheating and hinge issues, and despite its weight and nerdcore solid state drive, is pretty much out of the running. I am being tempted by the 15" MacBook Pro, which is sort of impossibly over my original tentative budget, but is leading me down the pros/cons primrose path:

Pros: 15.4" widescreen, at least a pound lighter than the baby laptop, my sister loves her Mac. Everything I do on a Windows box is available for Mac: Firefox, MS Office, Photoshop.

Cons: Limited ports, proprietary Apple stuff, limited DIY. (I grew up on home-built desktops. Voiding the warranty was not an issue.) Freaking expensive. Jerks in the Cult of Mac. Turning into one of the Cult of Mac jerks. Still 5.6 lbs to haul around.

Unresolved concerns: durability and battery reputations, money,

Possibly it's time to look into working retail for the holidays for an employee discount? Unfortunately, Apple keeps such a lock on prices I'm not sure authorized retailers extend the discount to the Macs. Maybe I need to find the magic words that will persuade my supervisors I want to work extra hours, and that they want me to work the overtime.
  • Mood: awake

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( 17 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]robin_june wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 05:22 am (UTC)
Apple grants educational discounts. I do lab research for a university, and that counts.
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 05:33 am (UTC)
Alas for private sector employment!
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[info]luguvalium wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 11:08 am (UTC)
*cough*applerefurbishedstore*cough*

Also, why not the MacBook?
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 01:50 am (UTC)
MacBook versus MBPro? I'm seduced by the 15" screen, faster processor options, and backlit keyboard. The keyboard thing is very shallow and can be sacrificed, but if this is going to be my computer for 3-4 years when I may be in grad school, I want to have as much power under the hood as I can splurge on. And I am still in the investigation phase: I'm not spending money until I see what the Christmas specials look like. (Unless the baby laptop does bite the dust before Thanksgiving, in which case all bets are off.)

Can you upgrade the memory on the refurbished models without voiding the warranty? I want to yank the 2 GB chip(s?) and max out the slots if possible, but I'm also looking at picking up the 3 year protection plan for my own good.
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[info]luguvalium wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 05:24 pm (UTC)
memory upgrade is easy

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook/macbook-unibody-faq/macbook-macbook-pro-unibody-how-to-upgrade-ram.html

so is purchasing AppleCare extended warranty.

http://www.apple.com/support/products/proplan.html

Sometime one can find these at discount prices on ebay etc

Also, I'll let you know that when I purchased my first apple laptop I had the feeling that it was worth the price.

Edited at 2009-10-24 05:26 pm (UTC)
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[info]asciilifeform wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 05:50 am (UTC)
Phone Apple and request a quote for a refurbished Air. I found them to be ~$300 cheaper, yet the standard (cushy) warranty is included. Mine has been in moderately heavy use for nearly half a year with no obvious mechanical or thermal problems. (Naturally, your mileage may vary.)

This machine, like all current Apple hardware, will run any of the Big Three operating systems.

Disclaimer: I am not a Mac Cultist - just someone who wanted a lightweight portable able to reliably "suspend-to-RAM" without running Windows.
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 10:48 am (UTC)
The Air has a plethora of concerns that rule it out. But checking the refurbished MacBook Pros is a good idea - they all max at 2 GB memory, though. One of the price factors for me will be the add-ons: since this may be my grad school laptop, I want it to run as fast as possible. So I am mighty interested in the 3.06 GHz processor and additional memory.
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[info]kd5mdk wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 05:11 pm (UTC)
They'll take more than 2GB. Chat me at this username on AIM with specs questions. Also, I can get you 15% discount on new machines.
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 02:06 am (UTC)
I look forward to picking your brain in IM.
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[info]asciilifeform wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 09:18 pm (UTC)
If you decide to go with Apple but would rather avoid refurbs, the "Student Developer Program" is another option. (Anyone enrolled in college-anything, even part-time, counts as a student.) This costs $100 up-front and entitles the member to exactly one large discount (15-20%, if I recall) on any Apple system. Naturally this only makes mathematical sense if buying high-end.

This is not an issue specific to Macs, but: choosing the absolute highest-end CPU/RAM specs moves a laptop up in weight class rather steeply. Such machines often turn out to be portable in name only. Before buying one, it is worth thinking about what exactly you will run.
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[info]norabombay wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 02:51 am (UTC)
Given the Baby Laptop is 17inches and 9 lbs? ANYthing is gonna be an upgrade :)
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 03:10 am (UTC)
Hey, 15.4" widescreen and that includes the power brick. ("Brick" is the appropriate descriptor.)
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[info]meril wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 05:53 am (UTC)
well, it is a laptop, not a desktop. I only mention this because Seth McClung is clogging his Twitter feed with irritation over the default Mac mouse.

buy NOTHING with hinge issues, take it from Miss Meril, who has had laptops in the shop soooo frequently with b0rken hingies.
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 10:41 am (UTC)
The Mac Air is a sports machine: beautiful and fun, but not great for soccer moms or students. Is McClung a recent switch from PC?
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[info]norabombay wrote:
Oct. 23rd, 2009 01:56 pm (UTC)
And don't forget the running issues of one [info]cathydalek. But if what you want is to go to the dark side?

Than do it.

But you can also get a sweet PC with the same specs for a bit less.
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[info]ase wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 01:53 am (UTC)
But you can also get a sweet PC with the same specs for a bit less.

Very true. Remind me what brands you like? I'm open to suggestions.
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[info]norabombay wrote:
Oct. 24th, 2009 02:51 am (UTC)
I have had good luck with random models. Really: What has the physical keyboard and screen you like? Than go from there for the guts.....
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( 17 comments — Leave a comment )