Buying advice needed
Ok, I'm not embarrassed to admit that AI does all my thinking when it comes to new purchases.
My current situation is this: I have a 3+ year old 17 inch macbook pro that currently serves as the workstation for me and my spouse. I would like to have my own system to do photo management, writing, occasional work from home, occasional work on the road. I've narrowed down my options to this: a "cheap" fix and an "expensive" one. The cheap fix would be to get an ipad for web browsing in the living room. This frees up my old computer to serve as my main "mission control." Obvious up-side - I'm in for $500 or $600. The downside-- my 17inch MBP is really too big to lug around out of the house, so I would be left using the ipad and the bluetooth keyboard. I'm not sure whether to love or hate this option. Also, the internal storage on my MBP is pretty lame by current standards. I absolutely need an external drive. The other choice would be to keep the 17 MPB for "family" use and get myself a 13 inch MBP plus a monitor. That way I've got the screen real estate for my home usage, and I've got portability and plenty of internal storage for work away from home. The obvious downsides to this plan are price (probably would run me almost $3,000 for a new MBP). Also, I've got a pet peeve about glossy MBP screens, and they don't have a matte screen for a 13 incher.
Does anyone see a clear winner for my use from the above? Help
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My current situation is this: I have a 3+ year old 17 inch macbook pro that currently serves as the workstation for me and my spouse. I would like to have my own system to do photo management, writing, occasional work from home, occasional work on the road. I've narrowed down my options to this: a "cheap" fix and an "expensive" one. The cheap fix would be to get an ipad for web browsing in the living room. This frees up my old computer to serve as my main "mission control." Obvious up-side - I'm in for $500 or $600. The downside-- my 17inch MBP is really too big to lug around out of the house, so I would be left using the ipad and the bluetooth keyboard. I'm not sure whether to love or hate this option. Also, the internal storage on my MBP is pretty lame by current standards. I absolutely need an external drive. The other choice would be to keep the 17 MPB for "family" use and get myself a 13 inch MBP plus a monitor. That way I've got the screen real estate for my home usage, and I've got portability and plenty of internal storage for work away from home. The obvious downsides to this plan are price (probably would run me almost $3,000 for a new MBP). Also, I've got a pet peeve about glossy MBP screens, and they don't have a matte screen for a 13 incher.
Does anyone see a clear winner for my use from the above? Help
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Comments
Ok, I'm not embarrassed to admit that AI does all my thinking when it comes to new purchases.
My current situation is this: I have a 3+ year old 17 inch macbook pro that currently serves as the workstation for me and my spouse. I would like to have my own system to do photo management, writing, occasional work from home, occasional work on the road. I've narrowed down my options to this: a "cheap" fix and an "expensive" one. The cheap fix would be to get an ipad for web browsing in the living room. This frees up my old computer to serve as my main "mission control." Obvious up-side - I'm in for $500 or $600. The downside-- my 17inch MBP is really too big to lug around out of the house, so I would be left using the ipad and the bluetooth keyboard. I'm not sure whether to love or hate this option.
It all depends on what you want to use that iPad for, of course. But it's certain to disappoint you, imo, as you are used to (spoiled, really, by) the MBP's all singing, all dancing capabilities, which the iPad totally lacks.
Also, the internal storage on my MBP is pretty lame by current standards. I absolutely need an external drive.
Why an EXternal drive? Why not replace your current INternal one with one with a (much) greater capacity? That's both cheaper and much more portable.
And does this mean that you don't have an external harddisk now, and have used that MBP for 3 whole years without backing up? That would be like dancing on the edge of the volcano! You absolutely need an external harddisk for regular backups!
The other choice would be to keep the 17 MPB for "family" use and get myself a 13 inch MBP plus a monitor. That way I've got the screen real estate for my home usage, and I've got portability and plenty of internal storage for work away from home. The obvious downsides to this plan are price (probably would run me almost $3,000 for a new MBP). Also, I've got a pet peeve about glossy MBP screens, and they don't have a matte screen for a 13 incher.
This last scenario is of course the best one. But, as you said, the trade-off is that it's also the most expensive option, of course.
Why not go for a refurbished MBP, and a separate 24" or 30" display? Both those MBPs can drive it.
The downside would be that you and your better half will probably be fighting all the time over who gets to use the display though...
BTW: I have a 17" MBP with the glossy screen, and I love it! Very rich, dynamic, and contrasty! A feast for the eyes and an absolute joy to work with. I lug it around every day. It's worth it, imo. And I have a Time Capsule at home for fully automatical wireless incremental backups in the background, high speed WiFi and adsl linkup.
I may start considering an iPad when it's got 3 times the processor speed, multitasking, full OSX, and blazingly fast I/O. That won't be before the Mark IV, I'll bet. So I'm not holding my breath just yet for an iPad. Although I agree with Steve that touch tablets probably are a major next phase in personal computing. And a huge slice of the market pie.
I'll wait for the 20" foldable to a playing card pack size HHD holographic 3D iPad on steroids that I can also make handsfree voice filtered and operated phonecalls, etc. with, thanks.
Why an EXternal drive? Why not replace your current INternal one with one with a (much) greater capacity? That's both cheaper and much more portable.
BTW, How large an internal drive can I get for the 13 MBP, assuming the new ones don't include massive storage bumps?