And Then There Was One?
May 26, 2006
My current set up consists of two Macs, which includes a G5 tower in the main office and a 12" G4 iBook for those times I need to be out of the office. I usually keep both machines on at all times, so I always have two screens open (for no good reason, really, other than that I really prefer to type on the laptop keyboard, so I keep my laptop running mostly for email. But sometimes I just like the intimacy of working on this little machine, so I just use it instead).
As a new freelancer, this Memorial Day weekend will be the first true test of being outside of the office for a period long enough to cause a conflict with my current workload, which means I’m really going to be putting the iBook to the test – and whether or not it can handle what I’ll need it to do for the next few days is debatable. But my other more relevant question is why exactly I need two machines in the first place.
Looking at the newest MacBook Pro releases makes me wonder if having one of those machines could easily replace my current setup, and simplify my life a little by eliminating one computer (well, one computer in body only. I’d actually have two computers in one with a MacBook Pro if I were to install Windows XP).
My main concern with this new setup is that I will no longer enjoy looking at things on my 23" Dell 2405FPW (after reading that page, I stand corrected…it’s a 24" monitor, sheesh!). But after reviewing the tech specs on the MacBook Pro, it looks like I wouldn’t have much to worry about:
Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors
My only other concerns are RAM and hard drive space. I don’t think the hard drive is an issue – my massive G5 monster only has a 160GB drive or so…most everything I have is on other Firewire drives that are chained together.
I am a little concerned about the RAM. I have 3.5GB in the G5, and I think you can only put 2GB in the MacBook Pros. I’m not sure how much of an issue this would be when using Photoshop. Would I even notice a difference between 2 and 3.5GB in my normal working day? I’m not using video software or anything more intense than Photoshop, so I have to wonder how much of a difference I would actually notice.
Is anyone out there using one of these newer MacBooks as their main machine, and if so, what’s your take? Thanks for any suggestions and insight before I go ahead and do something I might regret.
May 30th, 2006
I’ve done the transition. Was on an iBook G4 that I had hooked up to a 17" LCD at home with external keyboard & mouse, and then just dealt with the 12" screen on the road.
Now I’m solely on a 15" MBP.
I wouldn’t go back, I love it.
Eventually I’ll probably pick up a nice 20" widescreen monitor and use the MBP in closed lid mode at home, but for the past 2 months or so I’ve had no problems using the MBP as my everything machine. The 15" widescreen monitor is good and I haven’t felt cramped on it yet. Great keyboard too.
I’d suggest making the conversion, I doubt you’ll have any issues going from 3.5 gb of memory down to just 2.
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June 06th, 2006
Thanks for the response, Larry. After about a week of thought, I think I’m going to try it. I was playing with the high end 15-inch MBP at the Apple store yesterday and it definitely feels fast.
The only other thing I would need is an always on “server” that my external drives could be hooked into. I think I might have solved that problem as I just bought a Mac mini off of eBay for that purpose.
So I might have a 12” iBook and a dual 2.5Ghz G5 tower with 3.5G of RAM for sale soon. And an iSight camera as well.