Laptop Showdown Update
Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Well, my call for feedback on laptop choices has so far resulted in a resounding 5/5 votes to get the Powerbook. Absolutely no love for a machine as sexy as the TR3? I’m stunned.
Some points were raised in the comments I should probably address:
- Size of display. Agreed that a bigger display is better. However, one thing I have noticed about myself is that I am a lazy son of a bitch — which means that the bigger and heavier a laptop is, the less likely it is that I am gonna carry it with me (and therefore the less useful it is). That’s what appeals to me about “ultraportables” like the TR3 and the Fujitsu Lifebook P series — they are so light that you can carry them almost without noticing.
- The “everyone’s getting a Powerbook” factor — OK, this one is completely irrational
It’s just the way I’m wired; I don’t like having the exact same “stuff” as everyone else. To get a sense of what I mean about the Powerbook being the conservative choice, take a look at this photo from Dan Bricklin’s coverage of last year’s BloggerCon — it’s like a fruit orchard. That will make Sandy happy, but for me it’s kind of a turnoff; if I’m gonna drop $2,000 it would be nice to have something that people will look at and go “oooh”, and the Powerbook doesn’t have that anymore. It feels a little like buying a PT Cruiser today, a couple of years after the shine has faded. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not an excellent machine (the Powerbook, not the Cruiser) — I told you this was irrationality talking - Random observation: I’m fascinated how “what processor does it come with?” entered into precisely zero of anyone’s comments, including mine. It’s a striking testament to how awash we are in CPU power that we can buy a system these days essentially without looking at what processor comes packed inside it.
Anyway, I’ll keep you posted as I get to the decision point on this — thanks for all the excellent feedback!
Sound Off, Loudmouth!
I’m wondering if you had been around during the neolithic if you would have resisted using fire because everyone else was using it.
Dude, fire is so last week. I’m digging on this “wheel” thing though… you should really check it out…
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While at geek conventions you may see a sea of silver and white fruit, it won’t be the same at your local Starbucks. There, having the sleek and stylin’ PowerBook will get you noticed by artistic type chicks–who are, shall we say…bohemian in attitudes? I had the libertarian thing, but you can do the full-bore I’d-vote-for-Nader-if-I-didn’t-hate-Bush-so-much thing, which’ll get ‘em goin’.