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Has anyone ditched their full computer setup at home for simply just a laptop?
- Thread starter Misskitty
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My current MBP was my first Mac. Use it as a desktop at home and at office, with Dell 24" externals, at both desks. I move my MBP and trackpad back and forth - and to be honest, I'm getting tired of the schlepp, since I generally have plenty of other stuff to carry as well.
So I'm actually looking at going back to having one desktop. Probably a Mac Mini. Still trying to work out where to put what - but most important issue for me would be ensuring I can sync between the two, in my key applications. Once that's confirmed/sorted - will probably take the plunge...
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Mind sharing what you use for the syncing, and which programmes?
So I'm actually looking at going back to having one desktop. Probably a Mac Mini. Still trying to work out where to put what - but most important issue for me would be ensuring I can sync between the two, in my key applications. Once that's confirmed/sorted - will probably take the plunge...
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Mind sharing what you use for the syncing, and which programmes?
I have always had both a desktop and laptop. Desktop for serious work and laptop for travel. Prefer desktop with larger screen (27") when doing graphics work. Find laptop screen to small. Older eyes.
Same here on the larger display preference but then I have my rMBP hooked up to an external monitor. It gives you the best of both works, large display while not needing the mobility but having that available
I still have a desktop in the household, my kids Mac Mini and I suspect I'll get another one (I have two kids and one Mac Mini - you do the math
)my wife wants a AIO PC but not an iMac so for Christmas I'll probably get her one of those as well. To summarize my household is divided between desktops and laptops though I'm a tried and true laptop user
I hold on to a typical desktop style at home because of my storage requirements. And having it there, and accessible via LogMeIn in a pinch is valuable.
At a minimum I would need to upgrade my "cheapo" external storage to Synology NAS running ownCloud or similar to migrate to laptop. So I save $$$ Mac mini with attached storage. That works great for home personal stuff.
Apple has nothing compared to the experience of my corp issued Dell. Docking station is so elegant, pull laptop from bag, push down, push back into monitor stand, done. No cables to fidget with, the esata drives auto mount, display switches over, etc. Not that big a fan of the machine or Windows, but the experience, mount and work, dismount and run to a meeting, is slick and seamless.
With a Macbook, would have to plug in power, and a $$$ thunderbolt dock device at the least.
But I prefer iPad on the go anyway... So even less motivation.
At a minimum I would need to upgrade my "cheapo" external storage to Synology NAS running ownCloud or similar to migrate to laptop. So I save $$$ Mac mini with attached storage. That works great for home personal stuff.
Apple has nothing compared to the experience of my corp issued Dell. Docking station is so elegant, pull laptop from bag, push down, push back into monitor stand, done. No cables to fidget with, the esata drives auto mount, display switches over, etc. Not that big a fan of the machine or Windows, but the experience, mount and work, dismount and run to a meeting, is slick and seamless.
With a Macbook, would have to plug in power, and a $$$ thunderbolt dock device at the least.
But I prefer iPad on the go anyway... So even less motivation.
That's the one thing I never understood with Apple. Many people even consumers would love to see a docking station. As it stands now, I have to pull one monitor cable, one thunderbolt cable, power cable, two USB cables to retrieve my laptop.
The reverse as well and of course many of the cables then fall of the desk and I have to fish for them from the back.
Yep, had three custom build gaming rigs from as far back as the AMD Athalon days and ditched the Box for a gaming laptop back when Sandy Bridge i7s came out. That did a good 4 years and then I replaced it with the rMBP I now ue for both home and work.
My wife had no PC, her first computer was a cheap toshiba which is living on with her parents, and I replaced it with the MBA, it lives on the couch or kitchen bench.
My rMBP lives at a desk with external drives plugged in, it houses the iTunes server.
I watch contact via apple TV on two (soon to be three) flat TVs hung on the wall, and use the iPad for the couch, bed, kids.
My wife had no PC, her first computer was a cheap toshiba which is living on with her parents, and I replaced it with the MBA, it lives on the couch or kitchen bench.
My rMBP lives at a desk with external drives plugged in, it houses the iTunes server.
I watch contact via apple TV on two (soon to be three) flat TVs hung on the wall, and use the iPad for the couch, bed, kids.
"Docking station is so elegant, pull laptop from bag, push down, push back into monitor stand, done."
Apple did that in the mid-90s, of course, with their PowerBook Duo systems. Docks and mini-docks. Neat! I still have my Duo 2300 but no longer the docks, floppy drive etc. All I need is a new PRAM battery though and I could revive that old Duo. It's a lovely little machine.
Maybe Apple will come up with a dock solution if market forces encourage such an option? Right now I plug my white MacBook into a 23-inch monitor, both of which sit on a desk. The portability of the MacBook has proved its worth, however.
Apple did that in the mid-90s, of course, with their PowerBook Duo systems. Docks and mini-docks. Neat! I still have my Duo 2300 but no longer the docks, floppy drive etc. All I need is a new PRAM battery though and I could revive that old Duo. It's a lovely little machine.
Maybe Apple will come up with a dock solution if market forces encourage such an option? Right now I plug my white MacBook into a 23-inch monitor, both of which sit on a desk. The portability of the MacBook has proved its worth, however.
For better or worse, the Thunderbolt Display is Apple's answer to the "docking station".
It's a program called ChronoSync. Set it up on one of the computers, and set scheduled syncs which can sync folders one way or bi-directional. Also has a rules system for ignoring certain files, or only syncing certain files. It has worked out great for me.
While I probably could do it all as one, I have mine divided up into numerous scheduled syncs. One does all of my work files. One does all of my 3D modeling files. One does music and photos. One does all of my personal stuff. They all have different times that they sync throughout the day. This way, when I switch back and forth, or grab my laptop to take out with me, I always have the most recent files. By the time I go to my office downstairs after dinner, it's updated with anything I did during the day. It can also trigger AppleScipts which has been helpful in having it restart my buggy webcam application every hour.
It does have a few annoyances, like when the other half isn't available, it won't just ignore the sync, it pops up an error message. Sometimes if I've been away from the computer for a few hours, there will be 10-15 error messages stacked on top of each other. Luckily, it's easy to suspend the scheduler.
Yeah, when I do CAD drafting or 3D modeling, I need a ton of screen real estate, without having it be tiny like a rMBP. Having a 27" with two external 23" monitors helps with that a lot.
I have an 11" Macbook Air that I travel with and use on location, but when I'm home I do all of my photo and video editing on a 27" iMac. Kind of hard to replicate the large screen and Wacom experience on a laptop. If I'm just kicking around the house, it's probably on the iPad mini.
I've had a gaming desktop of some sort for 20 years - 1993-2013. I've been transitioning to iPad/iPhone games and last year realized that I don't play on my desktop anymore so I sold it. It was an end of an era! Had a Thinkpad with external mouse/keyboard/screen as my only machine for about 6 months and then finally went to a used rMBP a couple of months ago. The switch wasn't easy - after 20+ year of Windows OS X is quite different. And yes, there are still some things Windows does much better and I miss them.
I still have an old Stinkpad with W7 as a backup machine but it's mostly sitting on the shelf. MBP with an external inputs + 30in Dell monitor is sufficient. I very rarely take it anywhere because I try to take every opportunity to step away from the computer but on occasion I do need a laptop for longer travel.
I still have an old Stinkpad with W7 as a backup machine but it's mostly sitting on the shelf. MBP with an external inputs + 30in Dell monitor is sufficient. I very rarely take it anywhere because I try to take every opportunity to step away from the computer but on occasion I do need a laptop for longer travel.
Thanks! My query had me looking again - realised I had purchased Syncmate as part of a bundle a few weeks back. A quick glance at some Youtube clips, suggests it can handle set-ups between Macs (and even Mac<>PC)... so will start experimenting!
Same here on the larger display preference but then I have my rMBP hooked up to an external monitor. It gives you the best of both works, large display while not needing the mobility but having that available
I still have a desktop in the household, my kids Mac Mini and I suspect I'll get another one (I have two kids and one Mac Mini - you do the math
my wife wants a AIO PC but not an iMac so for Christmas I'll probably get her one of those as well. To summarize my household is divided between desktops and laptops though I'm a tried and true laptop user
Little different here. 2 kids, both have their own MBP. I would rather the math add up. Less bickering over who's turn it is. My wife has iMac 20" that is due for update and I have new iMac 27". Wife & I share MBP. Personally I prefer desktop in office where I can work in peace and quiet.
Wow. I haven't had a "full" computer setup in years; as in a box, monitor, keyboard, mouse. I've had a laptop for my computing needs for nearly 10 years now. I tried using my iPad for simple surfing and such, but I just couldn't.
My 2012 MBA replace my desktop. It's what I use 75% of the time. If not the MPA than my iPad R-Mini or Samsung S5.
My 13" notebook is all I have at home; Any computing I do after work or on the weekends is done from my coffee table or from my phone.
Honestly, after spending 10+ hours a day, 5 days a week in front of dual monitors running CAD at work, the last thing I want is to stare at a full workstation at home...no mas!
Honestly, after spending 10+ hours a day, 5 days a week in front of dual monitors running CAD at work, the last thing I want is to stare at a full workstation at home...no mas!
After 5 years of my laptop being my most powerful computer, I was really happy to get a powerful desktop again. I live in a small house, so there aren't really a bunch of places to sit around anyway when I'm home.
Thing is, I still like to play games and goof off with virtual machines for my experiments. Even though every laptop I've had can do a satisfactory job handling the games I like to play (albeit at low resolution sometimes), I get fed up with the lack of desk space, or the fact every single game makes my laptop hot or noisy. :\
So I enjoy having a desktop I can throw everything I want onto, and leave it there, and it doesn't get hot or make lots of noise when I play games.
Thing is, I still like to play games and goof off with virtual machines for my experiments. Even though every laptop I've had can do a satisfactory job handling the games I like to play (albeit at low resolution sometimes), I get fed up with the lack of desk space, or the fact every single game makes my laptop hot or noisy. :\
So I enjoy having a desktop I can throw everything I want onto, and leave it there, and it doesn't get hot or make lots of noise when I play games.
I have a rMBP I use for personal use, an Alienware X18 I use for cilent use ( I need the storage and power ), and I have a few gaming PCs and workstations at home.
I would love to go to 100% a laptop and a dock, but the hardware isn't there.
I would love to go to 100% a laptop and a dock, but the hardware isn't there.
