The new phone book is here!
5
So Apple released the iBook replacement today, predictably named the MacBook. It’s a hell of a machine, actually, for the price. Dual core Intel, wireless goodness, camera and Front Row. And of course Garage Band 3. It’s actually a hell of a podcaster’s machine. They’re even hyping podcasting in their tag line:
Of course, being the perverse sort that I am, I took this as the final bit of information I needed to get a MacBook Pro instead. Why? Because the MacBook has a smallish screen and ridiculously bad integrated graphics, and all accounts are that it’s unlikely to do an acceptable job with Final Cut Studio. Simply because of the display, mind you, not the CPU power. This matters to me because Soundtrack Pro is my podcast production tool of choice, and I have several ideas on the back burner which would require getting involved with the video side of things. So I planned forward and put down the extra cash. Heck, even my wife thought the better-equipped laptop would be worth it, and she’s usually the opposing force when it comes to money flow.
But that’s just me. If your comfort level is at Garage Band, or Peak, or some other dedicated sound editor that doesn’t have higher-end graphic requirements, I can’t really say anything against the MacBook. Especially for the price.
(Unless you pay $200 more just to have it in black. If I’m at a podcast con and I see you pull out your black Apple laptop and look smug about it, I will round up a mob to taunt you.)
At 5.5 lbs it’s far too heavy. After my Panasonic W4, I’ll never buy a laptop that weighs more than 2.4 lbs.
Comment by Scott Janssens — May 17, 2006 @ 9:03 am
Yeah, but Apple laptops have a lot more coolness in them, and basic physics should remind you that coolness is denser than hotness.
Heck, the RDF generator alone in these machines weighs at least two pounds. So give us some slack! Insane greatness doesn’t come lightly!
Comment by SFEley — May 17, 2006 @ 9:21 pm
Hm. Okay. So…it looks like I’ll get the white one, just ’cause I don’t need to be ridiculed.
Comment by Chris Miller — May 18, 2006 @ 7:19 am
I’m buying the black one (the BlacBook?). I know I know, but it’s a combination of nostalgia for the old Wall Street PowerBooks, which are still my favourite designs, and that the extra money adds only a teeny tiny amount to the loan I’m getting to pay for it.
I know. I’ve gone insane. I promise I won’t look smug, since I understand my weakness here.
Though I do hear that the matte black finish provides extra harmonic enhancement to the RDF as well. It worked on me!
Comment by Derek K. Miller — May 18, 2006 @ 6:26 pm
Black. Or white. Mmmm….
Risking ridicule, I’m inclined to forego the pricey ‘build-to-order’ options of increased memory and HDD size (given how easy these apparently are to DIY) and spend out on the black. Maybe
Comment by PaulJ — May 19, 2006 @ 2:43 pm