I don’t know if this is a sign that I have to turn in my PC geek badge or not, but I now own a Macbook. True, it’s the latest entry level Macbook. And I did take a screwdriver to it first thing. And it is running Windows 7 Professional x64 in addition to MacOS.
It pains me to think that I’ve contributed to Apple’s stellar quarter not once, not twice, but three times. I picked up an iPad (just a Wi-Fi version, but 64GB), bought the Macbook and recently upgraded to an iPhone 4.
No, I haven’t given up on PCs. As I noted, the first thing I did when the Macbook arrived was to open it up and upgrade the system to 4GB of RAM and a 500GB, 7,200RPM hard drive. That allowed me to fire it up, run Boot Camp and install Windows 7 Professional. And I’m still building gaming rigs. Honest.
Getting the Macbook was a culmination of a long process of finding a good laptop with long battery life that was light and not terribly expensive. I briefly owned an HP Envy 15, which I returned because I realized I didn’t really want a 16-inch notebook to lug around, even a thin and light one.
In the end, Apple’s hardware chops finally convinced me to pick up a laptop that doesn’t have a replaceable battery, doesn’t use the latest Intel processors and still runs at a somewhat anemic 1280×800 pixels. But it’s light, thin and has impressive battery life. After installing Windows 7, the Macbook would run for six plus hours (normal usage, not watching movies or other continuously running tasks.) In the back of my mind, I’m thinking I might spend some time learning MacOS, but in reality, I’ll probably be running Windows 7, particularly when I’m on the road and working.
The iPad is another matter. I find myself using it less and less, despite some cool games and apps. I’m on the cusp of unloading it, but I may keep it around to stay current.
Finally, I did jump in and upgraded my old iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4. It was time for an upgrade anyway, and for various reasons I won’t discuss here, I’m currently wedded to AT&T. Since I use a case, the brouhaha over the antenna problems isn’t an issue. The screen isn’t quite as magical as it’s been made out to be, but it is very good. And it’s certainly speedy.
Now that I’ve made my confession, I have to go do some penance. I just picked up another Coolermaster CM 690 II, so I’m going to go and build a P55 system running an Intel 875K. Then maybe I’ll feel a little less dirty.
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9 comments
Andy Anderson says:
July 21, 2010 at 5:09 pm (UTC -7 )
I did the same thing about 9 months ago – broke down and bought an entry-level 13″ MacBook. I also installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64 on it using Bootcamp, but I actually mostly use Mac OS X. I’d been a die-hard PC person (mostly Linux but also quite a bit Windows), but the Mac was attractive to me for the same reasons you cite. Mine is still stock; I use it at client sites for the most part – the screen size is reasonable, and it comes with SSH and and RDP client right out of the box. It’s nice to not have to lug around the power cord everywhere. Good luck with your Mac; I think you’ll find you like it more than you thought you would.
Max Heim says:
July 21, 2010 at 5:39 pm (UTC -7 )
Hey, I always wind up cracking open new Macs. It’s just the way it is (Apple is tight with RAM to keep the advertised price within reason).
I seem to recall you had had a Mac tower in the lab a while ago. You may be in deeper than you think. Bwaaahaaahaaaa…
Loyd Case says:
July 21, 2010 at 7:07 pm (UTC -7 )
If I ever had a Mac tower in my lab, it was so long ago, I can’t remember it. I’d certainly never have a Mac desktop of the non-expandable variety, though.
Markeyse says:
July 21, 2010 at 8:23 pm (UTC -7 )
Ever thought about the Mac Pro? That would be the only Mac I’d buy if I was to buy one.
Kev says:
July 22, 2010 at 2:28 am (UTC -7 )
“Variety is the spice of life”, but truly I always try to use the OS/machine that best suits the task at hand, I use MacOSX mostly because it is simple to use for everyday work, I use Windows for almost all my gaming needs and run Linux on my server. All OS’s will quite happily work together over my network and once you figure out each OS, switching between them is not all that confusing.
Tom says:
July 22, 2010 at 7:19 am (UTC -7 )
Several years ago I bought a mac mini to get a better feel for OSX and the Apple ecosystem. After about six months I turned it into a full fledged Windows machine. I found there were certain features and applications I preferred on Windows that I couldn’t do without.
David Siebert says:
July 22, 2010 at 7:43 am (UTC -7 )
Why?
Simple question. Isn’t there a none Apple PC that will do the job?
I am not an Apple hater or lover but why have a Mac and not US OS/X?
OS/X is actually a pretty nice environment. Not prefect and frankly using the stupid Open Apple key instead of Control or alt really ticks me off.
I use Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux and OS/X. Maybe I am just odd but they all work for me about as well as the other.
However I will say that I find that the quality of the apps on OS/X seems higher than on WIndows or Linux.
Maybe that is a reflection of the Dev tools and API .
Mike says:
July 22, 2010 at 10:19 am (UTC -7 )
Have you looked at the Acer timeline?
First laptop I’ve been happy with in years.
Sam says:
July 22, 2010 at 2:38 pm (UTC -7 )
I did the same thing, but back in 2006! The funny thing was that I eventually got the gist of Mac OS X and ended up “crossing over”. I still use Windows (Win7 64 bit) on my gaming rig but I find OS X simpler to use on day-to-day tasks, especially after you “build” your trusted “applications portfolio”. I don’t know why, but it seems that apps made for Mac are usually better designed than anything else on the Windows or Linux world, even when they perform the exact same tasks. On the hardware side, is hard to argue about the quality and the design of Apple’s laptops, but my pet peeve with Apple is on the desktop side: they simply don’t have a mid sized tower that offers just what I need (I don’t need the built in monitor of the iMac nor do I want to mortgage my house for a MacPro). That ended up leading me to the wonderful world of the Hackintosh (and the fantastic community around it: http://www.insanelymac.com), which is literally the best of both worlds: the hardware flexibility of the PC side with the superior UI of the Mac world. I’m a happy camper now!