Monday, November 22, 2004

Apple Power

Last week the dockable DVD/CD-RW combo drive in my laptop suddenly ejected itself, flew two metres through the air and went bang in the floor. Miraculously, it looked undamaged and I re-attached it to the computer. The light in the front blinked like it was supposed to and the drive appeared in Windows Explorer, so I figured everything was OK.

Wrong.

A couple of days ago I was going burn a CD with some network drivers - I’m still trying to salvage the remains of the living room computer I was going to “fix” - but the drive refused to spin up, meaning that it had gone FUBAR after all. So I had to order a new one, something that’s not a terrible hassle, but still a unforeseen expense and no one likes that. So, I thought that if I were to spend $150 on a new CD drive, I might as well go wild and buy myself a new computer. My trusty Dell is about two years old now, and it’s starting to lag behind.

And I want an Apple. Give the man a PowerBook G4! At least it was a good idea until I checked the price. Those things are fucking expensive! I can get a pretty hard-core laptop from Dell for the price of a 15-inch PowerBook. I was able to put together a PC with far better specs than the PowerBook, and it cost me $300 less. So I won’t be buying a computer from Apple any time soon.

Actually, I won’t be buying a new computer at all, instead I ordered a replacement drive from Dell. My current model should last for another year or so. I can’t play Half-Life 2 on it, but I’ll survive. The Xbox covers all my gaming needs at the moment.

Another gadget I’m really keen on is the Creative Zen Micro. It’s a bit smaller than the iPod Mini, maybe not as cool when it comes to design, but it has a larger hard drive, better battery life and it’s actually cheaper. I bought a new MP3 player about a year ago, a Jens of Sweden, and I’m very pleased with that one, but 256MB is a bit limited. My only concern is if I can jog with the Micro or not. After all, a hard drive means moving parts.

Feedback

Do you have any thoughts you want to share? A question, maybe? Or is something in this post just plainly wrong? Then please send an e-mail to vegard at vegard dot net with your input. You can also use any of the other points of contact listed on the About page.

Anonymous Coward

2004-11-22 22:25:25 GMT

I see. You buy computers on specs, not performance. (By the way - the iPod also uses a hard drive, and millions jog with it without incident. This mean you should be OK jogging with your Zen, unless it, too, is a product that sells itself to you with better specs on paper than in real world performance.)

Anonymous Coward

2004-11-22 22:37:50 GMT

Have you considered an iBook instead? Much cheaper than a powerbook and performant enough for most people.

Badpop

2004-11-22 23:27:09 GMT

It’s called research. Check into it, huh?

BTW, a ‘DELL’ laptop spec’d the same as a PowerBook comes out costing more whenever I go to Dell - by about $300! Curious.

If you prefer WinDELL, fine - own it. And if you CHOOSE to change your mind and not buy a ’new’ laptop, fine - own that too! Just don’t ‘misinform’ your readers because of personal preferences or lack of finances, okay?

Finally, $300 of a $2000 purchase is 15%. Ask yourself what do you GET for 15% more money.

Hallvard

2004-11-22 23:53:48 GMT

Hehehe, you got the apple-geeks on your neck

ian

2004-11-23 07:04:28 GMT

I’m an Apple geek, or at least an Apple sucker. Whatever. Give Vegard a fucking break though, guys. It’s his call what he does with his money and, with all due respect to Vegard, let’s be honest. Nobody comes here for information. This is a fucking weblog. He’s not supposed to be accountable to his readership.

Say whatever the hell you like, Vegard.

Roar

2004-11-23 08:09:09 GMT

Haha, this was a funny read. I think its the first attempt at a flamewar i have seen here.
Go ‘misinformation’.

Klas

2004-11-23 09:31:03 GMT

apple-people: don’t listen to Ian. Vegard hates your guts, and he thinks that all of you sucks big time. go flamers go!!

:-D

Asbjørn Ulsberg

2004-11-23 17:30:19 GMT

iPod Mini! Say no more.

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