Comments on: Reconsidering my computer strategy

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:12:51 +0000

As a followup, I did go through with this.

Right now, I have a Mac Pro at home. 2x quad core Xeon @ 2.26GHz, dual Intel X-25M SSDs in RAID-0 for the boot drive, 30 inch and 24 inch displays. It’s fast as hell, and I love it.

For the road, I have a MacBook Pro 13″. It’s small, fast, light, and has killer battery life. I got a small messenger style bag, and it’s working out great for travel!

By: Joey Brooks

Joey Brooks — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:35:37 +0000

I recently switched from a PowerBook G4 as my primary machine back to a tower. Being a 12″, it wasn’t really made for working, so it was always hooked up to an external monitor when at home. Much like Ryan, I found it a pain to unhook all the wires when I took it some where, just to come home to hook them all back up.

I’m happy with the switch. The G4 makes a great road machine, and tower is upgradeable. Win-win.

By: Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:24:56 +0000

I made the same transition in 2003. I had been using a PowerBook G3 (Pismo), but had the same reasons for wanting to switch to a dual-system approach. So I moved to a PowerMac (G4 MDD) and an iBook (G3 700MHz). That was a great system, and I’ve stuck with it ever since. Now I’ve got a Mac mini and a MacBook (the laptop is actually my employer’s, but it works out the same), and I hope to step up to a Mac Pro and a personal laptop.

Given how cheap these netbooks are ($350?), I’m seriously considering getting one of those instead of a MacBook Air or another Mac. As you’ve found, the iPhone does about 50% of what I need on the go. The remainder can be handled by any system onto which I can dump my camera’s contents, access a full-sized web browser, and use SSH. A little Linux-powered laptop may be the cheaper way to accomplish that.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:52:17 +0000

Leo, I’d probably go the same route, except that sometimes I do need to get some actual work done on the road, and that’s just not happening in Linux or on a tiny keyboard. Also, I’m addicted to Keynote for giving presentations!

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:50:51 +0000

Thanks for the comments Tristan. The form factor of the MacBook isn’t different from the MacBook Pro now, aside from the size of the screen and the backlit keyboard. I wouldn’t be getting an old plastic one. So I’d probably be looking so get the cheapest unibody MacBook that’d still get the job done.

By: phototristan

phototristan — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:44:15 +0000

I had a 17″ MBP for a while and agree, it’s too heavy to travel with. You might consider going with the 15″ MBP though as your only computer-much nicer form factor in my opinion.

That said, I have a Mac Pro tower as well a Macbook Pro laptop and the Mac Pro tower is faster for photo and especially video editing/conversions.

It’s also a lot less of a hassle and generally neater when I want to leave the house with the laptop to not have to unplug a bunch of plugs first. The laptop is always separate so I can just grab it and go. The same holds true for if I just want to transfer to working from my couch while at home.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:41:42 +0000

I’m currently rocking an old Powerbook G4 (last 15″ model before the macbooks… if only I’d waited), and I’m now considering the new line of Macbook Pro’s because I love not being tied down.

I do have a desktop PC that’s about 6-7 years old that I use occasionally for the extra real estate, but I haven’t been able to justify upgrading, let alone replacing it with a new Mac Pro.

By: Leo Wurschmidt

Leo Wurschmidt — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:04:15 +0000

That’s a great idea. Until recently I ran all of my work on my MacBook Pro 17 inch and carried it with me everywhere.

I just got an Asus eeePC and am using that for my travels when, like you, all I need to do is some email checking, blog reading and simple web updates. That has made things a lot easier!

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:07:09 +0000

Yeah, because of my iPhone, I may even leave the laptop behind more often.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:21:22 +0000

While I’m not a mac guy I do like your strategy for 2 reasons…

1) diversification – you never know when a machine will die so you might as well have at least 2

2) ubiquitization – If you believe in transformative power of the web and its inevitable spread into every corner of our lives you might as well make sure you have access to it

Of course, a good browser enable phone can solve a lot of problems too

By: Ryan Duff

Ryan Duff — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:16:25 +0000

I have been considering something similar for a while. I have a 17″ MacBook Pro attached to two 22″ monitors. When I want to work outside of my office, it’s a PITA to disconnect all the wires. A desktop (read: Mac Pro) would be more suited for this.

I’ve considered an ultra-portable laptop, like the EEE PC to do server management tasks from my living room while watching TV. I’m so unproductive at the moment, and if I could have a console screen in front of me while “relaxing” I’d get so much more done.

I still have a desire to have a “Mac” laptop though. I’m not sure if I’d go with a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Power drives me to the Pro, but maybe I’d stick with a 15″ this time around. I still want something I can travel with and manage my photography on the road, etc.

Its interesting to see I’m not the only one thinking like this…

By: westi

westi — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:44:22 +0000

Interesting choices Mark.

I recently made the decision to move from a combination of desktop/macbook at home to just using the macbook.

The desktop itself was getting on for 5 years old and was starting to get too slow. My original first generation macbook does struggle a bit with the RAW processing but apart from that all is well and I have found it to be excellent went using it on the road.

I much prefer the light weight macbook to my heavy 17″ work laptop