Just arrived in Jakarta, loads of things to write about in this blog. But it will have to wait a bit, right now I’d like to write a little about my quest for a new laptop.
I’m looking to replace my old laptop. It was fine for my needs – composing documents, presentation, *nix server access. However, lately it has slowed down so much, it’s barely usable. At first I suspected spyware/virus, but found nothing. After much tweaking, it’s a bit better. However, it’s started to look worn-out (lesson: don’t buy laptop which case is painted). So I decided to look for a new one.
Here’s my requirements :
- Just Works : Nowadays most laptop is alright in regard to this requirement. You can start working with it right away. However, some are still problematic and/or even buggy. I’d rather avoid those.
- Looks good: Very important, since this will be the machine used to do presentation to clients
- Powerful: I’d like to upgrade only after 3 years or more. Upgrading is a time-consuming process, so I’d prefer to avoid it if possible.
- Won’t get scratched / worn out easily: I took care of my old laptop, yet it still got scratched somehow. Also the wrist pad looks very worn out. I think these happened easily because its case is painted. Otherwise, the case would be more resistant to wear and tear.
- Size: it will have to be less than 15 inch. 15 inch is maximum really. 17 inch is really nice for work with loads of documents in the same time, but since I’m mobile, it’s quite a bother to haul and use in any places. Also these big laptops tend to feel more fragile.
- Safe : I would very much prefer my laptop not to explode, cause fire which destroy my house, or damage my skin.
- Have a decent battery life: This may not be achievable though, since my definition of decent is something like 5-6 hours of heavy use. Instead, I may just buy an extra battery for it.
- The important features: bluetooth, wifi, etc.
- Weight: Hauling a heavy laptop all over the place is not really my idea of working-out. However, if it fulfill all the requirements above, I may reconsider.
At the moment I got a very lovely Apple Aluminium 15″ PowerBook G4 on my hands. A friend of mine allowed me to try it first before decding whether to buy it or not. Only 1 inch thick, if looks could kill then this would be it.
Despite already out in the market for years, it doesn’t have many flaws. It’s quite speedy, and fulfill all the requirements above close to my satisfaction. I’m yet to find non-Apple laptop which do so.
The only problem at the moment is its power adaptor – it’s the second, and it already broke down again (!)
After looking around, it seems that the adaptor is of very poor quality; bad, bad Apple.
I’m going to purchase a new one from here, and will let you know how it goes.
So then I looked on MacBook Pro, even offered a very good deal by my friend.
However, I found out its many possible problems, and hesitated.
Don’t get me wrong, I do know it’s only a possibility. I know a lot of my friends who have MacBook Pro and happy with it (or, have problems, but still happy with it). However, I’d rather avoid problems if possible.
OK, it’s back to square two – I’ve found a possible candidate (PowerBook G4), but I wonder if there’s something better than it. Ideas ?
Tips: a few ideas for your laptop:
1. If you’re looking to buy a MacBook, here’s an excellent discussion loaded with tips and insights.
2. I asked my friend how to protect MacBook / PowerBook / laptop’s casing. I found the answer [ here ] and [ here ]. No more scratches!
3. And here’s how you can protect the LCD screen.
4. Dust kept on sticking to my laptop screen, and it’s really annoying. I wonder if this product may help.
if you aim for battery life, buy the last version of ibook. it easily last 5 hours of battery life. it’s not as fast as the new macbook and don’t have isight, though. and it’s way cooler than the intel ones.
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my first hand experience with the first and second generation macbook:
i have tried the new macbook with core 2 duo. it’s far more better: cooler (5 – 10 degrees cooler), faster, and no mouse click probem (the first generation macbook mouse button had a problem, it doesn’t feel tactile enough or sometimes your clicking doesn’t register). and because it is more energy efficient, the battery should last longer.
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i’d stay away from any mac portable with metallic casing, it transfer heats efficiently, from the heatsink straight to your skin.
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also if you read the appledefects site carefully, some of the problems were fixed by apple after the 36 week batch.
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although some components of the macs can be replaced with generic computer parts, the most pain is replacing the power adapter. don’t ever lose or break it, or it will cost you a fortune.
one more thing, there are many accessories for the macbook that you need, including a wristpad cover, keyboard cover and so on. and the macbook itself is not painted. i recommend to by the white macbook, it’s easier to mix and match colors than the black one.
euh, forgot to mention this, if your old laptop runs windows, you could try autopatcher, and install (i selected all) registry tweaks. i later found out my windows desktop boots faster and much leaner.
pak, kan laptop mac saya warnanya putih tu .. lalu setelah lama dipakai, bagian yang sering kena tangan jadi dekil gitu. kalau dibersihin juga ngga ilang-ilang. bagusnya bersihin pake apa ya?
kalau sudah parah, bersihkan pakai sanpoly. ini sebenarnya adalah kompon cair untuk cat mobil. gosok agak keras dengan kain halus bagian yang dekil itu. lalu untuk menghindari dekil kembali, tutupi wristpad dengan cover yang banyak dijual khusus untuk ibook.
@Ryosaeba – excellent advice on MacBok & Windows, thanks. I’m considering to buy a MacBook again now.
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One more thing – is there a place in Jakarta which sells this MacBook accessories you mentioned ?
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Just ordered a Powerbook G4 adaptor from USA (to replace the dead one), cost me a nice US$ 100, doh.
pake indonesia aja kang, nggak ngarti neh
try ratu plaza, ambassador mal or kemang icon, they have stores that sells mac accessories i’ve mentioned.
Notebook yang paling enak itu ya Thinkpad. Oke lah, Windows itu kurang enak dibanding Mac dalam hal OS nya, tapi build quality nya Thinkpad itu sudah tidak bisa diragukan lagi.
Kalau suka yang kecil, X40 dan X60 itu enak banget. Kalau mau agak gede, ya Z61 atau T60. Hebatnya seri 60 itu bagian bawahnya itu nggak panas.
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a good read !
Oh ! lovely Mac book information provided. Thanks a lot.
I recently swithced to Mac, here is my review:
Hardware Pros:
nice and shiney
well designed
Big touch pad
Very sharp display
Mains cable can connected/disconnected magneticly
Cons:
Scratches easily
Not that light
White is difficult to maintain (keep hands clean)
Black shows fingerprints
Only 2 USB ports
mains connection can come lose as easily as it was attached if not careful
you get a hot left leg
It get noisy
The CD/DVD drive makes noise when inserting/ejecting and when held to pick laptop up.
Not that comfortable on the wrists (if lazy typer).
4 Hardware Pros
10 Hardware Cons
Software Pros:
Well thought out
Very good pre-installed software
Ready to use as soon as installed (Vista takes ages)
Less worries about viruses etc
Consistent layout
Fairly easy to get used to
Looks professional
No more pop-up from task panel
Cons
Can’t customise display much compared to windows, where you can change almost everything.
It only knows 2 mouse buttons, left and right. Use a PC mouse with 3/4+ buttons and it does not compute.
When you click close on a window it does not completly close and I have not worked out how to open up a second window of the same aplication.
Can’t use internet explorer for testing webpages unless using windows on parallels.
Can use 4oD anymore unless using windows on parallels.
Mac games are few and can be expensive.
8 Software Pros
6 software cons
12 pros overall
17 Cons overall
I would only recommend it if you are a creative or doing a creative course or career and want it for work not play. Like me.
If you are not really a creative and just use a computer for the net and Gaming get a PC and save your money.
Overall it is very good for the right user.
interesting post, but i prefer a cheapest laptop, I don’t need a powerful and expensive mac to do my work 🙂
Yeah, Macs are good but if you want to play Windoze based games you’re going to need Parallels. This is awesome, I watched a Mac Book Pro with this installed and it was awesome, fluid movement between OSes.
it’s good!!!!
verry goog!!!
Somehow all laptops manage to get scratched its just one of those things you cant avoid.
You might want to consdier second hand laptops as they loose value increadible quickly. This would mean that you would have to upgrade perhaps once a year as opposed to the every 3 years but it might save you a bundle especially if you can sell a laptop before upgrading.
I want to buy a laptop and my budget is Rs,40,000, I am looking for a good brand, but all seems to be nice. Could you suggest me which one would be better among Dell, compaq and lenovo and sony, coz these are among the most popular ones.
@keno – a netbook might be your best bet. They’re pretty good nowadays. Just bought a netbook for one of my staff — 1 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, webcam, 30 GB hd, wifi, bluetooth — for only about US$ 280 !
I want to buy a laptop and my budget is nearly $900 I am looking for a good brand, but all seems to be nice. Could you suggest me which one would be better among Dell, compaq and lenovo and sony, coz these are among the most popular ones.
For the moment I’m happy with my lovely ASUS A8 Series, but next time I want change with MacBook, Does it really… really Good ?
Together with almost everything that seems to be developing inside this particular area, all your opinions are relatively radical. Nevertheless, I am sorry, but I do not subscribe to your whole theory, all be it exhilarating none the less. It seems to us that your comments are actually not completely validated and in fact you are your self not really completely convinced of your point. In any case I did appreciate reading through it.