Currently the 24" 2.8 iMac which kind of worked it's way down into the kitchen is wedged in at an awkward angle following a slight reshuffle in my dump's even dumpier kitchen. I need to swap it for something else.
The disposal of the iMac has already been agreed, but I need to buy something fairly soon to replace it. Those of you who know my posting style may realise that I have absolutely no problem with - and in fact possibly a slight preference towards - Vista would be proven absolutely right, and systems such as the Dell XPS One and Studio are also in consideration. But for the pretty simplistic task that the kitchen PC is intended to handle and the low use it gets, I don't have a problem with a Mac either.
The candidates:
15" Macbook Pro on an Elevator, with some sort of velcro arrangement.
- Pros: I already still have a small huddle of spare 2.4SR's at the office so zero spend.
- Cons: Looks a bit janky. On the small side. Wet hands, hands after handling ingredients, etc not condusive to laptop. If buying keyb/mouse to counteract this might as well have compact desktop.
Dell XPS One, the E4500 spec, 3-year XPS support
- Pros: All-in-one, cheap even with the 3-year onsite warranty, well supported, comes with TV tuner (If Mac I will be using EyeTV)
- Cons: Keyboard/Mouse nonstandard in case of breakage
Dell Studio Hybrid Bamboo with 2Ghz/250Gb, 17" or 19" wide monitor, 3-year onsite support
- Pros: Will fit anywhere. Bamboo coolness. Even cheaper than the above, and can spec with standard Logitech cordless keyb/mouse.
- Cons: Separate bits = cables
20" base-model iMac with wireless keyboard/mouse & Applecare
- Pros: Neat. Apart from that no major pros I can think of.
- Cons: Way more expensive than the above. Crud support should it go wrong. Apart from that no major cons I can think of.
Key points:
- 20" wide max. The lower the better. But no smaller than 17".
- Highly unlikely I'll be needing anything more powerful than an X3100 GPU-wise. CPU-wise, 2.0 or higher would be sufficient.
- As few cables as possible.
- Easy to clean
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
The disposal of the iMac has already been agreed, but I need to buy something fairly soon to replace it. Those of you who know my posting style may realise that I have absolutely no problem with - and in fact possibly a slight preference towards - Vista would be proven absolutely right, and systems such as the Dell XPS One and Studio are also in consideration. But for the pretty simplistic task that the kitchen PC is intended to handle and the low use it gets, I don't have a problem with a Mac either.
The candidates:
15" Macbook Pro on an Elevator, with some sort of velcro arrangement.
- Pros: I already still have a small huddle of spare 2.4SR's at the office so zero spend.
- Cons: Looks a bit janky. On the small side. Wet hands, hands after handling ingredients, etc not condusive to laptop. If buying keyb/mouse to counteract this might as well have compact desktop.
Dell XPS One, the E4500 spec, 3-year XPS support
- Pros: All-in-one, cheap even with the 3-year onsite warranty, well supported, comes with TV tuner (If Mac I will be using EyeTV)
- Cons: Keyboard/Mouse nonstandard in case of breakage
Dell Studio Hybrid Bamboo with 2Ghz/250Gb, 17" or 19" wide monitor, 3-year onsite support
- Pros: Will fit anywhere. Bamboo coolness. Even cheaper than the above, and can spec with standard Logitech cordless keyb/mouse.
- Cons: Separate bits = cables
20" base-model iMac with wireless keyboard/mouse & Applecare
- Pros: Neat. Apart from that no major pros I can think of.
- Cons: Way more expensive than the above. Crud support should it go wrong. Apart from that no major cons I can think of.
Key points:
- 20" wide max. The lower the better. But no smaller than 17".
- Highly unlikely I'll be needing anything more powerful than an X3100 GPU-wise. CPU-wise, 2.0 or higher would be sufficient.
- As few cables as possible.
- Easy to clean
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
