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How many computers do you own?

If cost isn't really an option, buy a 13" uMBP.

If cost is an issue, I'd buy a Dell Mini 10 and hackintosh it 😛

In the house we have:
2x iBook G3 (both fried logic boards)
1x Acer Laptop, 1.6ghz, 2GB ram, 120GB hd
2x PCs, 2.66ghz, 4GB DDR3, NVidia 9800GT (gaming computers, me, my dad)
1x PC, 2.2ghz, 2GB DDR2, 120GB hd (sisters)
2x PC, 2.4ghz, 2GB DDR2, 120GB hd (moms, brothers)
1x MacBook, 2.1ghz, 4GB Ram, 120GB HD
1x MacBook, 2.16ghz, 2GB ram, 160 GB HD


All are being used except for the 2 iBooks 🙁
 
I currently have a 24" iMac which is my main machine and a 17" iMac which was my main machine until march and now it just sits in the game room powered off *tear* but I'm also looking into to getting a mbp or a netbook if apple releases one for the reasons you had above.
 
As a family we own 4 all notebooks

Me 15' MacBook Pro
Husband 13' MacBook ALU
Daughter HP netbook
we have a old Gateway that I let my 3 year old play on
 
I own two computers for my personal use, a Desktop PC and the uMBP 13".

My Desktop PC is my workhorse/gaming machine with Phenom II X4 processor and ATI 4870 and such... equipped with a stunning 26" display, I use my PC almost entirely when I'm home. (and my macbook pro on the side sometimes 😉)

But when I'm on the go, I love my solid uMBP. Its hardware and software are both dependable and durable. I wouldn't want a BSOD outside of my house when I'm usually running late or out of time...

And I also have my iPhone 3GS that does my iCal scheduling and mail/skype on the go...

So no, 2 computers + iPhone is not an overkill. Laptop's portability is great, but Desktop power is also great. Many people usually own two computers nowadays, and my house back home alone has like 6 computers including a HTPC and Home servers.

So don't worry 🙂
 
i personally own a macbook, and an old dell desktop
my sis and my dad each one got a macbook too
my mom has a dell laptop and mi lil sis a dell one
there is also another dell desktop and a heavily virused and broken hp laptop
 
I have two. A mac pro w/ 2 cenima displays, and a macbook. my macbook is my everyday internet, downloads, etc. the mac pro is for my school work and freelance work flash, ps, ai, id, etc.

I like having a beast, and a nice portable.

If is was gonna get rid of one? I would have to upgrade to bigger laptop, cause I need the portability.
 
Let's see...at home, I have:

17' 1.67, 1.5GB RAM Powerbook (Living room computer. Surfing and light use)
1.83 C2D 2GB Mini
Quad core Vista, 8GB RAM, 2 500GB HDD (forgot exact proc, soon to be Win7): Gaming, and lab machine.
2.4GhZ Pentium 4, 1.5GB RAM, 120GB HDD, Win XP. Not much use right now. Soon to be converted to some flavor of Linux, probably.

My parents can't comprehend why I have 4 computers. They really didn't get it when I told them I have three more at work. 🙂
 
Looks like my running count is at 26 right now. All are Macintosh computers now since I gave my Commodore back to my dad.
 
1 MacBook
1 MacBook Pro
2 G4 PowerMacs
2 iBook Clamshells
1 iMac CoreDuo
1 G4 Cube (500 Mhz)
1 G3 iMac "Snow"
0 Windows PC's, ( Though the wife does have one Dell Laptop issued to her by her job, currently unable to connect to internet through our home network due to system error created by her employers IT "specialist")
1 EeePC running EeeBuntu, may migrate to Win 7 after release if price isn't too high.
 
7 or 11, depending on how you count it.

We have 7 computers at home for 3 people - a 2 GHz G5 tower that I now primarily let our daughter use, a 2.8 octo core Mac Pro with 8 terabytes of storage that is our media server/photo storage/game/everything machine in the living room, a 13" unibody macbook that is now mostly used as a boot camp Vista machine for the proprietary windows crap my wife and I have to run for work, and a MacBook Air 2.13 that has proven itself to be my dream notebook of life. We also have a 24" cinema display in the office that allows either notebook to become a large screen workstation, complete with backup drives, printers, scanners, etc. Add to that a Asus 1000 HE netbook that's too wimpy to do anything real, and a Sony Vaio crapbook and a Fujitsu tablet PC. We don't really use either PC notebook simply because within 6 months of being brand new neither can hold a charge longer than about 30 minutes, which is just about long enough for either to run the necessary windows updates and virus scans every time we turn them on. If you count the 4 Apple TV's we used to replace our cable service that brings us to 11. Sounds crazy but it's actually pretty much what we need. Now just need a couple of iMacs for the bathrooms... 😉
 
akbc said:
I own two computers for my personal use, a Desktop PC and the uMBP 13".

My Desktop PC is my workhorse/gaming machine with Phenom II X4 processor and ATI 4870 and such... equipped with a stunning 26" display, I use my PC almost entirely when I'm home. (and my macbook pro on the side sometimes 😉)

But when I'm on the go, I love my solid uMBP. Its hardware and software are both dependable and durable. I wouldn't want a BSOD outside of my house when I'm usually running late or out of time...

And I also have my iPhone 3GS that does my iCal scheduling and mail/skype on the go...

So no, 2 computers + iPhone is not an overkill. Laptop's portability is great, but Desktop power is also great. Many people usually own two computers nowadays, and my house back home alone has like 6 computers including a HTPC and Home servers.

So don't worry 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! It's something that I've been wanting for a while but I don't think I'm ready to give up my iMac 😎

From what I gather from your responses, it's pretty common to have more than one machine in addition to owning a smartphone. My question is, how do you guys sync all of your different machines? Do you use MobileMe or is it assumed that one computer is meant for work/school, etc. and the other is strictly for home/personal use?

Also, what are some of the advantages/disadvantages of having a laptop w/ an external monitor setup as opposed to a desktop and laptop. Is it more convenient to have one machine or two? Is it a pain to constantly setup your laptop and monitor? I'm not much of a techie, so I'm not sure how much of a hassle this process is.

Thanks!
 
Total of 5 machines in the house...

My Mac Pro (in sig)
~3 year old homebuilt PC, which ran Windows until I got my Mac - now it runs Ubuntu and is a fileserver 🙂
Commodore 64c bought off eBay a few years ago (yep, got all nostalgic about my first computer...heh.)

Mom's Compaq Notebook (She's now looking at getting a 15" MBP...I recommended a 13", but she said she needs the bigger screen 🙂)

Dad's HP notebook (He desperately needs a new one, but thinks Macs are "too expensive"...I still need to show him how iPhoto will make his eBay'ing easier.)
 
I have an MBP running 10.6 and a tower running 10.5 and Windows 7. I also have an old G3 Server in the basement if that counts 😛
 
Personally, as a college student, just one. My three year old MacBook Pro, whom I love very much.

...But I sneak out sometimes to flirt with the 13" MacBook Pros at the local Apple Store... 😉
 
16 computers here.

Whats funny is I never got my first REAL computer until 1999 when I was a senior in highschool. My parents didn't think computers were necessary.

Now I have 16 lol.

The ones I myself use daily though is my MBP (in my sig) and my eeePC. Id use most of the rest but they are back in the states and I work overseas.

To the OP: Don't feel guilty about a convenience computer. You may be suprised at how often you may end up using it.

EDIT: Heres the rundown.

1 gateway tower (old)
1 gateway tower (old)
1 dell tower (old)
1 gateway tower (newish)
1 sony laptop (old)
1 hp laptop (old)
1 hp laptop (new)
1 hp laptop (new)
1 averetec laptop (old)
1 eeePC 7 inch
1 eeePC 9 inch
1 eeePC 10 inch
1 15" macbook pro (2008)
1 13" macbook unibody (2008)
1 15" macbook pro (2009)
1 24" iMac (2009)

I think thats it. There may be one I forgot somewhere.
 
Presonally I have two: a Mac mini (in my work room) and a desktop microATX PC with Windows XP for gaming purpose. I do however have to change/upgrade the graphic card soon in that one, since my favorite game - The Witcher - has FPS drops. Right now, I have a Radeon 4670 in it.

My father has a desktop PC with mATX and Windows XP Pro mini tower and my sister has two computers: a desktop mATX mini tower with 19" LCD, Windows Vista 32-bit Business and a 15" PC notebook with Pentium M and Ubuntu Linux.

But these are not used by me.
 
Now that you mention it, I think we have enough computers in our house to open a museum...

The ones that get used:
White (mid-2007) MB which I use
An Athlon 2000+-based PC which sits in my room and gets powered up about three to four times a year 😛
White MB, one rev earlier than mine, which my dad uses
An eMac/1.25 which my brother uses
An eMac/800 which my mum uses
A G3 iMac in the attic room which is basically there for guests

Museum section, consisting of about a dozen old Macs, of which I remember:
Another two G3 iMacs which are faulty
A PowerBook G3 Wallstreet which I was using before I got the MB (IMO, the PBG3s were the best-looking laptops ever designed—they look like freaking tuxedos!)
A beige PowerMac G3
A PowerMac 8600
A PowerMac 7300
A PowerBook 540c or similar
An LC 630
An LC 580 (or similar all-in-one; can't remember)
An LC III
A Quadra 900
A Mac II variant (probably IIfx)
Another one or two ancient Macs which I don't recall the model number of

I also once had a Mac Classic, salvaged from my high school, which I gave to my Windows-using friend as a joke Christmas present about 6 years ago. I very much regret that decision, because I never saw that machine at their house again. 🙁

There's also another older tower PC which hasn't been used for years, and about half a dozen old PC cases piled up beside our shed. I think our neighbours have stolen a couple of those :/

To my knowledge, my dad has never ever sold a single Mac he owned. That explains the museum-like number of computers in our house. 😛


Oh yea, more on-topic 😛, the idea of having to sync files between two+ computers has never appealed to me, so I would just go with a decent laptop (13–15") and get a big screen at home. Or you can use Back to My Mac. Basically just any way to avoid the situation where you know you have a newer version of a file at home, but you can't access it. Hope that helped~
 
2 computers

Work PC
Personal uMBP 13"

Keeping more than one computer up and running is simple!!!
Get a dropbox account (google it)

All your files are then synced across all the machines in your dropbox . .

simples 🙂
 
...from oldest to newest:

Home: Dell Dimension 8100 P4 desktop, Toshiba 1905-s303 laptop, Sony Viao PCG-TR3A, eeePC1000H, 20" 2.4 Ghz iMac (2008), 2.0 Ghz Nvidia whitebook...

Office: 4 Dell POS's, ranging from G270's - Optiplex 755's...
 
Syncing is overrated. The point is to clearly define the use or role of each machine and use it accordingly. In our home we have 4 active computers and one that I need to sell. (see signature) The iMac is our main home machine and is used for workhorse stuff like video and photo work. It is networked to the G4 MDD which is basically loaded up as a storage/network machine. The MBP is my wife's and used for whatever she wants, mainly internet, some light photo and desktop publishing work etc.. The iBook is used as a DJ computer for gigs only.

If I was in your position I would keep my iMac and have it be my main machine for any major projects that require the larger screen. Additionally, add some external drives and make it the primary back up and storage computer. Use the laptop you want to buy for mobility. The syncing issue is about being organized. Put on the laptop what you need and want for portable and entertainment uses. I've never been a fan of having to keep all of your computer stuff on a portable simply because it's your only computer. To me that's just too much risk and obviously with two computers if one does have a problem then you have a back up machine.

I know people will disagree, but do you really need all of your files on your portable all of the time. C'mon, you like that 10 year old family vacation video of Grandma feeding the giraffe at the zoo, but do you really need it taking up space on your school/work laptop. As another person mentioned you can always use a secure remote connection system to get at stuff on your iMac at home if you really need something that you forgot.

Just my thoughts, hope it helps, and as most of us here already know, you can never have too many Apple products. 😀
 
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