So then my options are HP Pavilion dv2700t or an Apple MacBook (black). The cost is roughly the same ($1600) for roughly equal processors, hard drives, memory, etc. If I go HP I’m going to be forced to deal with Vista. So either way I’m going to be faced with moving all my data and trying something new. So which way to go? If I decide to switch, probably David Pogue’s book could guide me right to where I need to be.
I figured maybe I should see if there are going to be any big holes unfilled in a Mac world. Do my frequently used programs have replacements?
- iTunes —> iTunes
- Safari or Firefox —> Safari or Firefox
- Office —> Office
- Photoshop —> Photoshop
- Azureus —> Azureus
- Quicken —> Quicken
- VLC —> VLC
- Last.fm —> Last.fm
- SyncBack —> Chronosync
- UltraFXP —> ??
- Exact Audio Copy (EAC) —> ??
- WinBar —> ??
- Tag&Rename —> ??
I’m confident there is a sufficient FTP client and I doubt I’ll even need WinBar since presumably the computer will run smoothly – though I do need help keeping track of things like uptime. My uptime always seems to creep up (currently at 8d 8h) without my noticing it. EAC doesn’t seem to have a great replacement, but who am I kidding? Can I really tell the difference? Tag&Rename… now that would be sad to lose. Any replacement suggestions? Of course there’s always the option of having two computers (one for all those silly background processes). Hmmm…
# UltraFXP —> Transmit or FireFTP
# Exact Audio Copy (EAC) —> iTunes
# WinBar —> Apple Dock + Desktop Widgets
# Tag&Rename —> iEatBrainz or fire up Tag&Rename in Parallels
AFAIK Quicken for mac doesn’t import flawlessly from Quicken on Windows.. That might be another one to boot up in Parallels for a bit.
I’ve never even heard of WinBar, UltraFXP or Tag&Rename.
I no longer care if you buy HP or Mac, since it’s all Intel inside. Yay Intel. Personally, I’d be a little nervous about not knowing how to configure Mac OS to my heart’s content, but that’s more about trepidation than any technical reason.
Anyways, this is an interesting time to buy a computer. Intel appears to be releasing a new chipset/processor combo in June. Reference this post: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/intel-releasing-15-montevina-cpus-in-may/. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it seems reasonable. The schedule is roughly confirmed by this Intel presentation (page 6 for Mobile Consumer):
http://download.intel.com/products/roadmap/roadmap.pdf
This has a fair amount of information as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino#Montevina_platform_.282008.29
This will almost definitely be adopted by almost every major computer vendor, and my prediction is that two things will happen:
1. Current platforms will get cheaper as vendors try to get rid of older stuff.
2. A new higher performing platform will be available. This new platform will generally have faster processor buses, integrated WiMax and better BluRay decoding. Of course, not all vendors will integrate all the features.
We’re buying Reghan a new computer this summer, and we’ll probably pick the new platform when it comes out.
I have a Sony Vaio that was top-end when I bought it, I think I paid close to $3,000 for the stupid thing. At the same time I bought my mother, who despite her many advanced degrees and ripe age of 54 had not entered the 21st century, a very basic entry level white Macbook for just over $1000.00
Which is the better put together, more entertaining and functional computer with the least issues? The Macbook…hands down.
I’ve also owned Thinkpads, a Dell and Alien laptop. The old Thinkpad was pretty great but I don’t know what these new “Lenovo” things are.
I’m actively considering the platform jump as well.
You should be using Utorrent. It consumes far less resources and is just as competent as Azureus now.
Also I’d never consider anything below a MacBook Pro. With that in mind, I do own one, but I also own a Thinkpad T61P to cover my bases.