Seeking teh shiny

[ffutures]

This evening I was vaguely thinking it might be time to get a new laptop. Like my old iBook G4 but it's pretty heavy by modern standards. OTOH it has a reasonably good keyboard and it doesn't have a widescreen display, which really doesn't work too well for word processing. I'd much rather have a 14" standard format display than a 14" widescreen.

So I popped into the Apple store in Regent Street and took a look. Especially at the price tags. Ummmm....

Okay, let's just say that a new Mac just isn't on the cards. Any nice second-hand shiny around at present?

I should add that I really don't NEED to do this, and that the things I must have are a reasonable keyboard, 14" or similar screen, and DVD drive. I'm pretty sure I want to stay with some sort of Mac.

Comments

[epocalypse.livejournal.com]

Try Cancom for refurbished Macs (and keep a close eye on the refurb section of the Apple website). Also worth watching is for Cancom putting Macs up on eBay. I got a 3 year old 15" powerbook refurb on there for less than £400. That was a £1300 mac for a third of the price (and it was like new).

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll check them out.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

I have a first-gen intel Macbook sitting around gathering dust, but if the weight of the iBook is getting to you you won't be enthused -- 13" screen, barely any lighter (just a lot faster and more memory/disk). Oh, the first generation models also run hot, as in: lap tray, not laptop (unless you enjoy first degree burns).

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I think lighter has to be a bit of a priority - and I use the thing in my lap often enough that I don't really want to risk the burns. Thanks anyway!

[autopope.livejournal.com]

If you want lighter, there are only a handful of alternatives:

* iBook G3 or G4 12" (Unlikely to be of interest due to age/performance gain, i.e. none)

* Powerbook G4 12" (little gems, and until recently the lightest machine Apple ever sold in Europe, but see age/performance above)

* White or Black Macbook 13" (about 250 grams lighter, much higher performance; avoid 1st generation models)

* Macbook Pro 13" (lovely piece of machinery, probably outside your budget)

* Macbook Air 13" (thinnest/lightest Mac ever, probably outside your budget -- my justification is, I'm on the road 2-3 months a year)

* Hackintosh

In principle you can procure a Dell Mini 9, Asus Eee 1000H, or similar, and install a somewhat dodgy copy of OSX on it. And it will then run rather sluggishly, but fit your weight requirement and be no slower than your iBook. Jump down the rabbit hole here.

Or, wait until Wednesday and see what Steve Jobs has to announce ...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I think waiting is the best bet - and/or sticking with what I've got, which works OK apart from the weight issue.

The Air fails on the DVD issue (or have I got that wrong?), I really do need a drive in my laptop.