My old eMac computer is groaning under the weight of all that I have on it. Sure I have a 160GB external hard drive but I need more than that. The old 1 GHz processor and just 1GB of RAM strains to keep up with what I ask it to do. I have been saving for a long time to get a replacement Mac.
It came to a head in December when Pablo got into art school where it is essential that he has a computer. We looked at some new ones but I came to realize that the logical thing was to give him my laptop - I have an old iBook G3 - because it has all the software on it that he will need - Photoshop, Painter, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Inspiration, Illustrator, InDesign, and so on. The machine will do him for a while as he learns the basics and he can update the computer later.
It means bringing forward my computer replacement with the assistance of my father. As I can't afford to replace both laptop and desktop I will get a 17 inch MacBook Pro as in the picture. It has the processor and graphics card to get me through the next 4 years of art work and web development. A 250GB hard drive should also allow me the room to grow.
Being very expensive and crucial to my work I have spent a lot of time working out the best configuration and how to structure the network in the studio with back up hard drive, printer, the old computer, and so on. What a head ache, but more importantly is the time working out the options and going to various stores to check things out.
The most difficult thing has been the one of the most basic things. Should I get the matte or glossy screen and which is best suited to my needs. The stores are unhelpful. Apple has a policy of only displaying the matte screens so I can't look at them side by side.
Okay so the MacBook screens are glossy. Not an exact comparison but sort of a solution. You would think. But the MacBooks and the MacBook Pros are displayed in different areas and asking a sales person to move them is like knocking on the door of Fort Knox. It is ridiculous. I could test drive a 50,000 dollar car down city streets tomorrow without a problem, yet moving a 4,000 dollar computer within a sales room is seen as a major security issue. They behave as if they expect such large sums of money to be spent without more than a quick glance and fiddle with the keyboard.
Despite frustrations, I have now reached the point on getting price quotes from various stores this coming week.
Oh, and as to glossy versus matte screens? I started out being most attracted to the deep blacks and more saturated colors of the glossy but have slowly gravitated to the "correct" colors of the matte screen, but I will get the high definition version.
I can hardly wait.
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