I am desperately in need of a new computer. I think I know which one I want, but today a new wrinkle has arisen – should I await the Dawn of the Snow Leopard or make do with Blotched Genet? Am hoping to crowd sauce source some help…
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Beware Of The Leopard
- Date:
- Monday, 08 Jun e 2009 - 21:24 UTC
The computational power here ar the Maison Des Girrafes is increasingly a thing of shreds and patches. At the last count the inventory goes like this:
My Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop, running Windows XP Home Edition – this was my main machine and although just two years old, has been through two whole keyboards and is now worked by a USB ‘board even cheaper than the latte that wrecked the first one. I’ve decided that me and laptops aren’t matches made in heaven. However, this is the most powerful machine chez Gee, the only one capable of playing Spore™ (and then only just) from Electronic Arts – which is why it now lives in semi-retirement in Gee Minor’s room;
Another Dell Inspiron Laptop running WinXP Home – a budget version with a 12" screen that lives in Gee Minima’s room, used mainly to play games on the CBeebies Website;
Mrs Gee’s
lash up jobstate of the art machine provided by her employer;My Dell Dimension 2300 Desktop running WinXP home – this is >5 years old and used to be the sole Gee machine. It is a lovely old workhorse but is beginning to make some rather ominous grinding noises, which is why I occasionally back things up to a Seagate 160Gb Hard Drive;
My iMac Lampshade running OS 10.3.9, bought from a mate for £100 (CD no longer working). This is a great machine I have simply as an insurance policy in case the Dimension 2300 suffers a Blue Screen of Death from which it cannot be revived. It’s wonderful to work with but doesn’t pack enough oomph for what I need these days.
My Asus Eee PC, used on the road. Oh yes, the iPhone.
… er …
… that’s it.
What I’d like to do is replace the Dell Dimension and the Lampshade iMac with a new-style 24-inch, 2.66Ghz iMac – which would fit snugly in my below-stairs office in place of the two machines currently in residence.
I was just about to do the sums when I heard a rumour that Snow Leopard, the shiny new OS from Apple, will be padding across the firn any day now.
My problem is that I need a new machine sooner rather than later. Working with two desktops at once is doing my head in … should I buy an iMac now, or could I afford to wait until the Leopard Comes In From The Cold?
Last updated: Monday, 08 Jun 2009 - 21:24 UTC
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Comments
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September.
So, get it now, or wait.
More info and some links here and here .
If you get it now, you will have it now (usually my preference), and the upgrade to the Snowier Leopard will only be $25 if you really think it will change everything…
…unless of course they completely redesign the iMac right after you’ve ordered your shiny new one, at which point you will be kicking yourself for years (they tend to do that without much warning, as exemplified by the already outdated brand new MacBook Pro I just received today…).
Buy a “brand new 13” MacBook Pro":http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookpro/ and a 24" monitor for max flexibility…?
Bad luck Benoit – though if you have just received it, you may be able to return the machine unused and then get the newer machine…?
I’d buy it now because it looks like you can upgrade quite easily…and once the Leopard comes padding out, there’ll only be something else waiting in the wings. As soon as you get any computer it always seems to be immediately out of date so I think the best thing to do is buy it when you need it.
Also, if you do buy something and then something new comes out a week or so after you buy it, Apple let you take it back and upgrade… That’s what my husband reckons, anyway.
He also says that the iMac has been upgraded fairly recently so he doesn’t think that this is going to have a huge revamp in the near future.
(He’s not an IT expert or anything, he just likes keeping up with this stuff).
Stephen’s suggestion is probably the best, unless you don’t care about being able to work on the train or at a cafe or on the couch or anywhere but the desk; that’s my current preferred config. The laptop’s screen can also be used to expand the viewing space; eg it has my calendar open on it, freeing up that space from my main screen.
Trying to return the new old machine…
You are all so fast! In the time it took for me to write that Benoit’s and Stephen’s comments appeared!
I am impatient, especially when it comes to Macs. I say go for it now, as long as it has all the features you want.
As I’m still happily prowling around with a 3-year-old MacBook Pro, running the Sigfried and Roy Very Naughty Tiger OS, my advice is juxta-useless.
Though I am in the market for yet another MacBook which I can use for lectures and lab meetings ….
If there was an OS called “Blotched Genet” I would run everything on it. Actually, come to think of it, I think my alarm clock runs on it. That explains a lot…
I don’t know about the UK, but in the US if you buy a Mac now the upgrade to Snow Leopard will be just $10; you get a little certificate good for the discount when you get the machine. Even if not, the upgrade price is pretty small, at $29, probably even less for people with educational connections.
I second the recommendation to get a laptop plus a monitor. Very few people need more power than a laptop delivers. An inexpensive monitor and an external keyboard get rid of the ergonomic issues of using a laptop all the time, and you still have the option of taking it outside to commune with your chickens whenever you want.
And, if space at home is a premium, as long as you have a keyboard, mouse and monitor, you can use the laptop while it’s closed.
Thanks, everyone.
I called the Apple Store in London and they told me that if I bought a Mac now, I could upgrade to Snow Leopard for £29, rather than waiting until September.
As for laptops – well, laptops and me disagree.
First, I dislike the clutter of having a laptop on my desk as well as a big screen, especially in my home office, in which a 24" screen will just fit.
Second, I am a very heavy handed typist, and separate keyboards are easier to replace in desktop systems than in laptops.
Third, I like the greater power and speed in desktops – laptops always seem something of a compromise, and as an iMac is significantly faster than a laptop of the same price, it doesn’t make much sense to me to have a laptop.
Fourth – on price, laptops always seem so pigging expensive.
Fifth, my Asus Eee is a super little machine for on-the-road use. It has its limitations, for sure, but it’s brilliant for the price – £200 – small enough that I wouldn’t be too irritated if it broke down and I had to replace it. And nowadays, the market is crowded with do-anythinng go-anywhere notebooks for that kind of money.
You might enjoy this, folks:
I’m with Caryn et al. – you can spend your whole life waiting for the next version of hardware, software, plug-it-into-the-port-in-your-brainware, whatever. I’d jump in and buy it now.
I’ve bought it. Or, at least, ordered it. iMac, 24" screen, 2.66Ghz, 4Gb RAM, 640Gb ROM.
Oo er missus.
… it comes next week.