money for power
I don't think worrying about theft should be a deciding factor in purchasing a new machine. I ordered a new 667 Ti last November direct from Apple , custom built in Taiwan. I patiently waited and tracked the order daily, getting all excited when it arrived on the docks at the FedEx facility in DC one Thursday morning thinking I would get it that afternoon. It was never heard from again. Seems someone lifted it right off the ramp. This was the most agonizing experience to go through. I couldn't get a replacement until Apple and FedEx both agreed that it had indeed been stolen. I eventually got another new one about a month later. If my current machine gets stolen, I'll be pissed, but insurance will cover it (mostly) and backing it up takes care of the data.
But to get back to the other issue, to use an iBook for what I do (3D animation, video production) would be painfully slow. What it all boils down to is what do you need your machine for, and does the speed justify the cost. Absolutely, in my case. I'm sometimes amazed that this speed issue pops up now and again. I could have a quad 1THz G7 laptop and maybe, just maybe, be happy with the real time radiosity. I believe that someday I will have a fast enough machine to do the animations in realtime and not wait DAYS for the compter to finish. But until then I'll probably end up buying more than one 'faster, better machine' and I eagerly await every one of Jobs Keynotes, hoping that that day puts it closer to reality.
As for the color issue mentioned in some earlier posts in this thread. If it looks 'cooler', fine. I expect nothing less from Apple. But all I'm really interested in is speed, RAM, and disk size. Those are my motivation factors.
I don't think worrying about theft should be a deciding factor in purchasing a new machine. I ordered a new 667 Ti last November direct from Apple , custom built in Taiwan. I patiently waited and tracked the order daily, getting all excited when it arrived on the docks at the FedEx facility in DC one Thursday morning thinking I would get it that afternoon. It was never heard from again. Seems someone lifted it right off the ramp. This was the most agonizing experience to go through. I couldn't get a replacement until Apple and FedEx both agreed that it had indeed been stolen. I eventually got another new one about a month later. If my current machine gets stolen, I'll be pissed, but insurance will cover it (mostly) and backing it up takes care of the data.
But to get back to the other issue, to use an iBook for what I do (3D animation, video production) would be painfully slow. What it all boils down to is what do you need your machine for, and does the speed justify the cost. Absolutely, in my case. I'm sometimes amazed that this speed issue pops up now and again. I could have a quad 1THz G7 laptop and maybe, just maybe, be happy with the real time radiosity. I believe that someday I will have a fast enough machine to do the animations in realtime and not wait DAYS for the compter to finish. But until then I'll probably end up buying more than one 'faster, better machine' and I eagerly await every one of Jobs Keynotes, hoping that that day puts it closer to reality.
As for the color issue mentioned in some earlier posts in this thread. If it looks 'cooler', fine. I expect nothing less from Apple. But all I'm really interested in is speed, RAM, and disk size. Those are my motivation factors.