ModifiedLogic

I will preface this post with these four sentences. I am a PC user. I am a Vista Ultimate user. I am totally happy with the operating system. (I don’t understand all the tech critics running around and saying they hate Vista) I can do everything I need to and beyond.

That said, I have not purchased a new laptop in a long long time. I had been using a p4 based Dell and a Centrino based HP before that. Both were bulky, ugly, and heavy. The HP is closest to looking halfway stylish, but it’s a brick at 9 pounds plus. I basically gave up on bringing any laptops anywhere.

I found an older Powerbook G4 at work and have been using it for the past couple weeks. I really started to fall for it’s lightweightedness and metal simplicity. What is more surprising for me is that this laptop is like four years old and it’s lighter than both of my other laptops which are fairly newer.

I had been messing around with Tiger on a very old dual 400mhz G4 desktop machine that I also got from work. I upgraded the memory in the thing to 1.5gb, but still I couldn’t really get a feel for anything; even browsing the internet was too much of a task for the thing.

With this Powerbook though, I was able to install Leopard and really start messing with things. The question I am asking myself is: Does it make sense to go Mac on the portable side? Many things come to mind when trying to figure this out. Number one is, the reason I don’t have an up to date laptop is because I don’t use one very often. But if I had one that I felt was stylish, lightweight, and powerful enough, would I find more uses for one? Basically, I am looking for reasons to buy a Mac laptop even though I don’t necessarily NEED one at the moment, even less now that I have an iPhone (is this the halo effect talking?)

The cult of Apple is definitely creeping it’s way into my life in more ways than just the iPhone. I never really knew any true "switchers". I now know two full Apple people, one being Alec at the8thsign. Beyond that I am seeing more and more Apple "pushers" popping up all over the place.

I will never be a "switcher" and I have many reasons why (most likely to come in a future long winded post), but I have no problem with having an affair or dabbling with a Mac. Maybe being 20% Mac?

Having this Powerbook is great though because I can really find out if I will be able to do the things I want to before I dish out the cash. And if I do decide to dish out the cash, it will be a pretty hefty chunk of change. The barrier to entry for a Mac laptop is currently set pretty high on the cash side. If I do buy one, I’ve got my eyes on the black MacBook or possibly a MacBook Pro.

One of the biggest arguments in my head is unless I install Fusion, Paralels, or Bootcamp, the thing couldn’t be a gaming machine that a new Alienware or Dell could be out of the box at the same price. If I did buy a Mac laptop, I wouldn’t want to put any Windows on it at all.

Another issue is the fact that the current laptops being offered on Apple.com have been on the shelf for a while. The recent upgrades to the Santa Rosa architecture won’t really extend the life of the laptops too much in my opinion. If Apple dropped something new in the near future, it might help make my decision.

There have been other rumors floating around that new Macbooks by the end of this year or at least announcements of new models. The upgrade to Santa Rosa kind of keeps those models on the shelf for a while longer though. But in the meantime, I am trying out apps and trying to see if OS X is the right fit for what I envision I want my future portable experience to be.