Robin Blandford [ ByteSurgery.com - Digital Media Engineering ]

11/05/07 The Great MacBook Decider

I’ve decided to take the plunge and go with a MacBook. I’ve been holding out since last May for the OS X Leopard, but it’s still 6 months away and my current 4yr old Acer is choking.

I’m off to the Apple Store in London tonight, but I need some advice first please:

1. I’m going for 2GB RAM, 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 120GB HD.
2. Black or not? I do like the look more, but is it worth it? Do I need the extra 40GB HD?
3. Should I buy iWork? - I do all my docs generally online, but the slide-shows while I use very infrequently do look nice. I’ve been using OpenOffice for over a year now - I guess I should continue with that.
4. Is there a good replacement for a DreamWeaver environment? Open Source?
5. What’s the best development scripting environment? forget it!
6. How will I live without my PC version of PhotoShop?
7. I’ll get a neoprene envelope/case, I’ve a carry bag already.
8. I’m getting a DVI to VGA converter. Are there any other great add-ons?
9. Are there any software must-haves?

So - The party is over I’ll no longer be “PC”. I may even be adopted into the upper-class citizens of the web. Will my blogging personality change to reflect this?

Tags: Apple, General, MacBook

7 Comments

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11/05/07 Robert Synnott

1) You might find it cheaper to upgrade the RAM yourself; more trouble tho.

2) If you get the black, you’re basically paying for the colour. It IS very pretty, no doubt about it; it looks much better than the white. It’s a lot to pay for a colour change .
3) OpenOffice on MacOS isn’t the best (it’s X11, and has poor overall UI integration). iWork contains a word-processor and presentation tool; never used the presentation tool, but the word processor is decent for most purposes.

4) Dreamweaver is available for MacOS; see Adobe’s site.

5) What a bizarre question! It really depends on what you want to do. AppleScript is used for UI automation and such. MacOS also comes with Python, Perl and Ruby, and basically anything available for unix-y platforms is also available for MacOS.

6) Use the Mac version, perhaps?

8) Depending on where you’ll be using it, it might be nice to have a mouse.

9) No commercial ones that I can think of, but there are dozens of free tools that I couldn’t live without at this stage. At the very least, download QuickSilver (http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/).

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11/05/07 Robert Synnott

Oh, by the way, you get a trial of iWork with the machine; you can always buy a product license online if you like it and want to keep using it.

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11/05/07 Robin Blandford

Great stuff thanks! I forgot about a mouse - def needed. Will any usb mouse work - or do I need an Apple one?

Great to know I get a free iWork trial - very useful knowledge thanks for that.

4. & 6. I don’t want to buy new licenses really. hoping to go OpenSource.
5. ok - weird Q. apologies. post updated.

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11/05/07 Andy Waite

1. As Robert suggested above, it’s way cheaper to install the extra memory yourself. Crucial.com are fairly cheap and very reliable. You’ll end up with surplus of 2 x 256MB SODIMMs but it’s still cheaper than what Apple would charge for 2GB. The memory slots are just behind the battery and it won’t void the warranty.

2. Personal preference really. The hard drive looks easy to upgrade if you need to (http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook/faq/macbook-how-to-upgrade-processor-hard-drive.html).

3. Have a look at NeoOffice, an Aqua port of OpenOffice which is more ‘Mac-like’.

4. There’s a Mac version of Dreamweaver which is pretty much identical to the Windows one. Coda (by Panic) looks very nice, but isn’t open source.

7. Tucano do some nice ones for about £15.

8. A Bluetooth mouse could be handy, e.g. Logitech V270. Almost any PC mouse will work though, I use a Microsoft Intellimouse.

9. Part of the fun is discovering all the gems out there, but here’s a few starters:

TextMate - a very good editor/development environment
OmniGraffle - a nice diagramming app
SuperDuper - automated backup tool

Oh, I should probably introduce myself! I’m starting at Reuters in September - I met your briefly at the assessment day, then happened to stumble across your site a few weeks later and found it an interesting read.

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11/05/07 Robin Blandford

Hey Andy - great to have you comment here. Don’t worry, I spotted your name straight away. Looking forward to September. If you need help with accommodation or you’re down in London give us a shout and we’ll do a meet up. (There may be something organised formally anyway).

thanks for all the tips.

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11/05/07 Ken McGuire

Hell yeah, congrats on the purchase :)

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12/05/07 Graham

Macs are great - i suggest you get the 23 inch HD screen, it ridiculously expensive but looks impressive and works great as a Tv (just a little too high def for perfect picture) (also i have license for dreamweaver and photoshop if yo wanna borrow them). (also if you are thinking of a home entertainment system for your place in london I cant stress a mac mini more - everything you could possibly want and pretty cheap compared to buying everything separably)

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