Persuade me that I need one, a fourth one

[488819]

Hi Everyone,

Now I have owned 4 macs in the past:

Macbook G4 13"
Mac G4 dual core Quicksilver
Mac Mini (PowerPC)
Macbook (Intel)

Now I like the idea, but I have never kept any machine longer than approximately 2 months. I WANT to work with it as I despise Microsoft.

I am by trade a Unix admin (Well Midrange, ie Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX etc)

Therefore all my work is done via the commandline or web browsers (ssh, scp, firefox, etc)

I just have hard time adjusting to the differences. Has anyone else found this to be an issue. I mean at present I dual boot between Ubuntu and Windows.

For example, as far as I am aware there is no VMWare VSphere client, no decent ftp software (GUI)

However I now have very little need of a Windows box (Except for invoices for clients for services rendered) This has combined with my Thinkpad T60p becoming unreliable.

I was thinking MBP 13" because I commute daily on the local train and I have a *LOT* of ebooks in PDF form and I like to be mobile and my laptop goes everywhere with me. It's also a lot cheaper than the 15" MBP

Therefore my main concerns are:

Using VSphere (I do a lot of VMWare). WIll I have to dual boot/create a VM with XP.

How to stop myself from selling this 2 days after I bought it for half price (I kid you not!)

Will a 13" MBP be able to run a 24" HP monitor?

Is there a decent app to create PDFs, for example, to create invoices.


Cheers

UCS

 

[racketeer71]

I just have hard time adjusting to the differences. Has anyone else found this to be an issue. I mean at present I dual boot between Ubuntu and Windows.

Yep. The best way to ensure you'll fallback to Windows, is to dual-boot. You will ALWAYS find it easier to complete a certain task in your usual environment.

Best way to avoid fallback, is to boot into the new OS every time.

For example, as far as I am aware there is no VMWare VSphere client, no decent ftp software (GUI)

Well, if you don't think Transmit from Panic is "decent"...

However I now have very little need of a Windows box (Except for invoices for clients for services rendered) This has combined with my Thinkpad T60p becoming unreliable.

I believe you can make invoices in Pages, in Numbers, in Excel or Word on OS X. Or in Billings for a more automated workflow.

I was thinking MBP 13" because I commute daily on the local train and I have a *LOT* of ebooks in PDF form and I like to be mobile and my laptop goes everywhere with me. It's also a lot cheaper than the 15" MBP

I would suggest 15" for the extra power.

Using VSphere (I do a lot of VMWare). WIll I have to dual boot/create a VM with XP.

Or you could use VMWare Fusion or Parallels. No need to dual-boot.

Will a 13" MBP be able to run a 24" HP monitor?

Yes.

Is there a decent app to create PDFs, for example, to create invoices.

Eh... You don't know you're able to "print" to PDF from all print dialogs in OS X? And you've been using OS X for 8 months (4 * 2 months)?

Seriously, with your work, I cannot see any reason for not going the OS X way. You get a nice GUI, and all the well-known CLI tools (without a need for cygwin or dual-boot into Ubuntu) in the same package. Terminal is fine, otherwise iTerm is cool.

But it's a matter of taste, and your regression into Windows-land several times might show that Windows is simply the best OS for your needs.

 

[mulo]

Yep. The best way to ensure you'll fallback to Windows, is to dual-boot. You will ALWAYS find it easier to complete a certain task in your usual environment.

I bought my first mac two days after my windows machine died, I spent two weeks thinking "this is NEVER going to work with me" now almost 3 years down the line I haven't touched a windows machine since that day in october.

 

[entatlrg]

Buy the 13" MBP

Hey there,

For sure the 13" MBP is a GREAT choice for you. Take it from someone who's owned most brands of notebooks and ultra portables, I can have any notebook I want, I've tried them all and I keep coming back to the 13" MBP.

ESPECIALLY if you want to take it everywhere and truly enjoy using it without ever feeling that's it heavy or cumbersome. I love my 15" MBP but it sits on a desk, not often used so I should be passing it on to my one of my employee's, which I'll do soon.

The MacBook Air is a dream come true with regards to weight, size, keyboard and screen, but 2gb ram, struggles a bit when you run a 24" ACD from it or do photo editing so it's not quite there for a great take everywhere machine.

The 13" MBP is the sweet spot for the mobile person, from a 'user experience' standpoint, as in keyboard, screen, size, weight it's great. Other notebooks such as Sony Z get attention, I'll never understand why, again from a user experience point view it's far sub par to the 13" MBP, but from the spec's it's at the top. I make my purchases with user experience being as important as the spec's under the hood.

I bet you'll use it more than two days, to be fair you should use it a few weeks before you pass judgement, better yet test/try some other notebooks, such as Sony Z, Lenovo x2/301, Dell's etc. ... I've done that and after being through hell and back again with windows notebooks coming back to a Mac and ending up with the 13" as my go everywhere machine for me there's nothing better.

Thanks to Windows and manufacturers of Windows notebooks I've become an Apple fanboy I guess, I'm happy about that 🙂

 

[488819]

I did it. 😱

The mac shop separated me from a load of dosh. So far so good. Getting used to some of the quirks!

Once you adjust your way of thinking how the OS works, its quite interesting.

I couldn't quite justify Office and VMWare so I have downloaded OpenOffice and VirtualBox. VirtualBox I am used to, and I only do it as a bit of sandpit testing so its all good.

The only, unchangeable thing is that I really wished I had bought a 15" rather than a 13" but then again, it was almost another £500. I already put down over £1000 after student discount, applecare and a copy of toast!

So I am one of the club again. Thing is, this time it kind of feels different because I know which toys to play with (VideoLan, VirtualBox, Handbrake etc)

UnixChopShop