Laptop Showdown Update

Posted on 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:

1. 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.
2. 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 🙂
3. 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!