Better computers?

ZannaPerry said:

With that said, I was thinking I might dip into my savings a little to purchase a macbook because I've always been told it is a wonderful computer to have. Umm.. is this true for writers? I recently purchased a huge ass hard drive where I store all my writing, music, pictures, etc. on for backup, and I think that's all I need.

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I think the base model 11" MacBook Air is pretty much the perfect companion for writers. I don't have one myself, because due to other needs, I require a bit more horsepower, but I think it'd be an excellent choice for someone who's mainly looking for a writing machine.

It's extremely light and portable with a full-size keyboard, so you'll be able to write pretty much anywhere. The SSD gives snappy performance for day-to-day writerly tasks, and its smaller size compared to HDD's won't be felt too much by the average writer.

You'd have to consider other things, of course, like whether you need a more powerful machine due to other hobbies or work requirements. (It'll still be faster than any netbook, but it's still on the Core 2 Due rather than the new i-core processors — a trade-off Apple made so they could give it a better integrated graphics option than Intel provided.) If you need to run Windows, you might have to shell out for bigger storage, which is a bit more expensive on an SSD-only machine. Also, remember that the RAM is non-upgradeable, and the SSD is difficult to replace, so you're mostly stuck with the configuration you buy.

But for a machine that's mostly used for writing and internet, you probably can't find a better user experience with anything else.

I think the MacBook Air is too expensive. Yes, it's light and small, but it doesn't come with a superdrive, has limited ports, and is slower with a Core 2 Duo processor. So you're paying for "lightness" only.

I'd suggest you go with the 13" MacBook Pro -- I just got one. It's great. 13" is a bit smaller than my previous 15" but it's very usable. It's light. The battery lasts about 7 hours. It has the i5 processor which is rather fast for its class. The LED screen is bright and sharp. Beside the superdrive, it has a Firewire 800 ports, two USB 2.0 port, a new Thunderbolt port, and an SD card slot. It comes with either a 250GB or 500GB config. It's not that much more expensive than the MacBook (which has a plastic case instead of aluminum), and I'd highly recommend it.

You can also run Windows on it (either through BootCamp or a virtual machine like Parallels Desktop). It's great for transitioning or the occasional use. I had a VM for about two years before I completely switched off Windows.

If it ain't broke...and if all you do on it is writing...why bother?

maestrowork said:

I think the MacBook Air is too expensive. Yes, it's light and small, but it doesn't come with a superdrive

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Personally, I was hoping the Pros would do away with the super drive, too, this refresh, so they could fit a discrete GPU in the 13". :/ Lighter MBP's without the Superdrives, discrete GPU's across the board, and SSD's as standard is the future, IMO.

Like I said, it really depends on one's needs. The base model Pro is certainly more expandable and has more horsepower, but if the primary purpose is going to be writing, I think the ridiculous portability of the 11" MBA is quite an equalizer. Naturally, some of us will always need more power or ports.

ZannaPerry said:

I do college papers and download music and etc. on it, and I, too, am thinking along the lines of why fix it if it isn't broke. I think my next computer will be a Mac but for right now, I will stick with my handy-dandy PC.

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If you've decided on that, I'd wait for the next MacBook Air refresh. They'll undoubtedly get the new i-core processors and Thunderbolt that maestro was talking about. (I don't think the other ports matter if you don't already know what they are — if you needed them, you'd know it already — and, IMO, physical media is on its way out.) And regardless, the SSD as standard will make it faster than a MBP with a faster processor for day-to-day writerly needs. (I don't think most writers are CPU-bound anyway; if they are, again, they'd likely know it.)

kuwisdelu said:

Like I said, it really depends on one's needs. The base model Pro is certainly more expandable and has more horsepower, but if the primary purpose is going to be writing, I think the ridiculous portability of the 11" MBA is quite an equalizer. Naturally, some of us will always need more power or ports.

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It's not so much that it's under-power, but the fact that it's under-power, slower, yet $500 more. It really isn't all that much more portable and lighter than the MBP, so why am I paying $500 more just to shave 1.5 lbs off? For the price of a MBA, I can buy an iPad 2 for portability (and for surfing the web, writing, etc.) AND a MBP!

And regardless, the SSD as standard will make it faster than a MBP with a faster processor for day-to-day writerly needs. (I don't think most writers are CPU-bound anyway; if they are, again, they'd likely know it.)

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To me, that's just silly because you already acknowledge that writing doesn't need all that processing power and speed anyway, so the SSD is irrelevant (unless you do a lot of IO activities, such as video editing, etc.) To me, why spend $500 more to have a smaller capacity SSD when you're just going to write, listen to music and surf the web? Again, as I said above, with that extra cost, you may as well buy a more powerful MBP and an iPad for every day use.

maestrowork said:

It's not so much that it's under-power, but the fact that it's under-power, slower, yet $500 more. It really isn't all that much more portable and lighter than the MBP, so why am I paying $500 more just to shave 1.5 lbs off? For the price of a MBA, I can buy an iPad 2 for portability (and for surfing the web, writing, etc.) AND a MBP!

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Ehh??

I think you're a couple years off. I suggested the 11" base model MBA, which is $999, which is cheaper than the base model 13" MBP, which is $1199. Where in the world are you getting $500 more expensive? It's the same price as the MacBook, and the only thing cheaper than the MB or MBA is the Mini. It ain't 2008 anymore.

To me, that's just silly because you already acknowledge that writing doesn't need all that processing power and speed anyway, so the SSD is irrelevant (unless you do a lot of IO activities, such as video editing, etc.) To me, why spend $500 more to have a smaller capacity SSD when you're just going to write, listen to music and surf the web? Again, as I said above, with that extra cost, you may as well buy a more powerful MBP and an iPad for every day use.

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For typical writing activities, like launching a word processor or a browser, disk IO and RAM will be far more of a bottleneck than CPU. The SSD will be a lot more responsive from those day-to-day activities than a faster CPU. And as I said above, since the last refresh, the base model MBA has been $200 cheaper than the base model MBP.

Ah, OK. I was trying to compare orange with orange (size, RAM, storage, etc.) and obviously I didn't check prices of the MBA lately.

But yes, the base model is only $999. It's more like a netbook, though, if you think about it. Only 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 64GB (OSX itself is going to take over much of that -- I know, I had a 80GB drive with my old MPB and it ran out of space quickly), and 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo is slow. But you're right, if you're going to just use it for writing, then that's all you need... but why pay $999 if you can get a Windows netbook for $300? If we're talking about the lower-end, then the netbook PCs are more attractive.

For typical writing activities, like launching a word processor or a browser, disk IO and RAM will be far more of a bottleneck than CPU. The SSD will be a lot more responsive from those day-to-day activities than a faster CPU. And as I said above, since the last refresh, the base model MBA has been $200 cheaper than the base model MBP.

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And yet the base model MBA only has 2GB memory, instead of 4GB in the MBP. It also only have 64GB of SSD, which isn't really sufficient, IMHO. Plus, I have to say, 11" is small. I had a netbook before, so I know what that screen size means.

maestrowork said:

a netbook if you can get a Windows netbook for $300?

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Because that sounds like an exercise in masochism. If we're talking run-of-the-mill Atom-powered netbooks with their miniature keyboards, it's no contest.

And yet the base model MBA only has 2GB memory, instead of 4GB in the MBP. It also only have 64GB of SSD, which isn't really sufficient, IMHO. Plus, I have to say, 11" is small. I had a netbook before, so I know what that screen size means.

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That's true. But I'm sure there are plenty writers here for whom 64 GB would feel spacious. Balancing the price and specs is a delicate operation, of course, many times more so due to the non-upgradeability. Hmm, also, the screen is certainly small and sacrifices some vertical resolution for horizontal with the 16:9 aspect ratio, but overall it still has more pixels (1366x768) than the 13" MBP (1280x800). Though that may also mean some might find the smaller text harder to read.

Ultimately though, my main point was if we're talking pure "awesome writing machine," I think you'd be hard-pressed to come up with something better. But naturally, lots of us want to do more than just write, research, and browse the internet.* It certainly wouldn't be enough for me, but I think it'd be more appropriate for people like my mother and lots of the people I know in our creative writing program for whom a MacBook is overkill and less portable.

*In all fairness, the GPU in the MBA is still better than the 13" MBP's new one, and can adequately play stuff like COD4 pretty easily, despite the big CPU differences.

You really can't go wrong with the MacBook line -- whether it's the Air or the Pro (leave that discussion to me and Kuwi... the geeks). They're small, well made, light, and really not that expensive if you compare specs to specs. My MBP's battery lasts at least 6 hours on a full charge -- I don't even carry the charger anymore. Just shove the laptop in my messenger bag (it's so thin) and I'm good to go. It has a back-lit keyboard so it's great when I work in the dark (aka "in bed"). The screen is crisp and bright.

but overall it still has more pixels (1366x768) than the 13" MBP (1280x800). Though that may also mean some might find the smaller text harder to read.

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I think that's the problem. At that resolution on a 11" screen, it'd be very hard to see the text... especially for writing. You'd have to either lower the screen resolution anyway, or you will have to somehow zoom in or change the system fonts.

For writing, pretty much any computer out there is about ten times as much as you need. I'm not a Mac fan, but for most uses, a computer is a computer is a computer, and all of them have far, far more power, memory, speed, and stability than any writer actually needs. This has been true for years.

For non-Macs, most of my PC-savvy friends usually go with Thinkpads. They're supposed to be pretty solid and reliable. They still have nipples, though.