Due to a number of fairly positive career-related things that have been happening in my life of late (of which I should probably give details, but I don't want to count my free-range chickens before they become viable organic poulty meat) - the suggestion was put to me by The Wah recently that I should invest in a lap top computer.
Now The Wah proffered this suggestion to me quite enthusiastically, which makes me somewhat suspicious that he's fairly keen to get his hands one of those portable bad boys himself. However, it's an interesting point. If, as I hope, I may be able to get semi-regular writing work, perhaps it is a piece of technology I should investigate. Considering I have a home computer, the Wah's home computer, and numerous work computers to take advantage of, and considering I'm still in hock paying off the plasma TV, the emergency dishwasher and my body corporates, it's not something I need straight away.
But I thought I'd put it out there. Do any readers/bloggers out there own laptops? Which kind? What would you recommend? Despite The Wah's life-long nose-upturning at Apple, he actually suggested a MacBook might be best for my purposes - which would be primarily words, music, photos, and maybe a bit of video editing. I'm not a computer gamer (especially not with a shiny happy Wii in the living room), so I don't need whiz bang graphics or sound, just enough that everything looks pretty. Yes, I am that much of a girl.
So please, everyone out there in Blogger land, let me know your recommendations: brand, price, memory, hard drive size, processor, keyboards, sexiness etc etc.
I own a Macbook. Highly recommend, they are powerful, lightweight, sexy, can now run windows as well as MacOS, and it comes with lots of the programs you want to use for music, photos, even video editing. Macs are the industry standard for all three of those things.
ReplyDeleteOne of us, one of us.
MacBook Pro is probably what you would be looking at, because it will have the inputs and stuff you will need. I have a macbook and it does me fine, but I don't do any video editing... just music stuff.
Oh and if you do get a Mac, get the extended warranty. Trust me.
Hey Alice!
ReplyDeleteI was looking at the Mac Book Pro on the net - it's up around the 4-grand mark for the biggest one! I'm going to be "depreciating" this on tax, but it's still a big outlay. Would you recommend going straight to something like that, or easing into it with a cheapy Toshiba or something first?
Thanks for the advice! Nat.
Hey hon, you should talk to Brad D and Marc B about this - Marc especially will try to evangelise you on the Mac front, but from all reports it's possibly with good reason.
ReplyDeleteI have a lappy - it's great! It's a PC (Toshiba) but wicked in terms of portability and I dunno...all round feeling like Carrie of SATC-ness. I guess. ;-)
Anyhoo, talk to the boys. How exciting! I wanna know what your career possibilities are all about!! x
After only buying second hand laptops for years (which are generally outdated and useless before you even get them), I went and bought the cheapest one around- Acer Aspire 3500 from Office Works. It was only about 1200 in 2005, but within two years (but of course after the one year warranty period) the dvd/cd drive/burner has broken, the hard drive packed it in, and the fan kicked the bucket. So I guess what I'm saying is don't get that one, or at least get an extended warranty.
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely recommend a Mac. You don't need to go top of the range unless you're doing video editing and stuff. Even the cheapest MacBook is a great machine that will run both Windows and MacOS (as Alice said), and they look great. Dollar for dollar you get better value from a Mac because they come with lots of features as standard (useful things like wireless networking). And Macs are very user-friendly. I must confess, though, that I have been brainwashed by my Mac-centric husband.
And I'd agree with Alice on getting the extended warranty. Whatever machine you get. Absolutely worth it.
Have to argue the last point made here.
ReplyDeleteDollar for dollar a Macbook is not better than a non-Mac.
Go to the Dell website and have a look at the prices. You can get the a Dell computer that does the same job as the MacBook with all the same bells and whistles for much cheaper. In fact, if you buy a Dell laptop you can buy all the software you need as well and still end up same price or cheaper than a MacBook.
That being said a MacBook is pretty and nice and good for a person that doesn't care about the ins and outs of the tech.
Mac and non-Mac both have their positives and negatives.
Okay, sorry to be argumentative here, but having a look at Dells page - the machine priced the same as the base level Macbook has a slower processor and slower wireless networking, slightly more RAM and bigger hard drive. But, it doesn't include the video and photo editing software that the Mac does. The Macbook can run both Windows and Mac OS so you can get the best of both worlds. Macs have a remote control which is handy for playing music, dvds, photo slideshows, presentations etc. Furthermore, Mac has the incredibly useful 'Print to pdf' function as standard which saves on having to buy the full version of Adobe Acrobat. And lastly, the Mac OS doesn't get viruses. Mac OS X is currently completely virus free (and I'm not talking about leopard). All the annoying PC viruses miss it completely. That's what I mean by 'bells and whistles'.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you go higher up the scale, Macs definitely come out on top.