The performance is incredible. Apps that launch like dogs on my XP-based PC simply appear in 1-2 seconds. A reboot (yes, I did one - just to time it) - 25 seconds from off to fully up and running - versus 8 MINUTES on my PC.
Plugged in my Dell monitor - WHAM - it just appears. At the right resolution.
Plugged in my USB headset - WHAM - it just works.
Plugged in an external windows-formatted USB drive - WHAM - recognized it instantly.
Plugged in a Windows 1 TB external drive for the Time Machine backups - and it asked if I wanted to use it for Time Machine backups? Yes. Needs to be re-formatted - proceed? Ummmm... what?? Oh crap - this is going to take forever, but yeah, OK, go ahead... WHAM 12 SECONDS later the backup is starting.
Auto-discovery of my PC - including all my share folders - WHAM - instantly.
iTunes-dedicated keys on the keyboard for prev/next/play/pause - CHECK.
Mac Mail program - setup and checking 5 accounts - CHECK.
iChat instantly setup - and now I can send media effortlessly and do group chats with zero effort - CHECK.
Skype set - and the machine actually remains responsive even with 10 programs running - CHECK.
Photos imported into iPhoto (from the PC) - and it recognizing faces of people in pictures and allows me to change the orientation by turning my fingers on the glass trackpad - CHECK.
With the great suggestions from fellow Mac folks on Facebook and comments from yesterday's story - I got loaded up with some nifty (and free) utilities and programs. I even got OpenOffice 3.0 up and running with ZERO problems - and used it to create some documents - that I copied to my PC and opened with ZERO problems.
The next OS update is coming out Friday - and even though Apple will still charge me $29 for the upgrade (bless their little revenue-generating hearts) - I'll do it to get a true 64-bit OS - so it will go even FASTER (if that's possible).
The crappiest part of the setup so far was finding and downloading and installing the HP drivers for my Officejet printer... but even that was no more difficult than doing it on a PC.
I hear people bitching about how much more expensive the Macs are than PCs. This is true. They are more expensive - but THEY WORK! I'll bet that if you added up all the time you spent SCREWING with your PC, downloading and restarting after patch Tuesday, in trying to get peripherals to work, in just the general care and feeding of your PC - it's WAY more expensive than the $1,000 difference in up-front price.
I'm researching Mac alternatives to Illustrator and Photoshop (that can read the .ai and .psd files)... so if you are using something you like - leave a comment and let me know!
12 comments:
Try Pixelmator
Bob your upgrade to Snow Leopard should be free...we just bought 3 laptops and get the upgrade free.
Photoshop - get GIMP or GraphicConverter....GIMP is free and fantastic...GraphicConverter is not free and fantastic. Inkscape is a Vector drawing app and can open .ai files I think. Also check out Scribus.
Bob, I know you used to use Camtasia.
Guess what, Camtasia for Mac was released this week...
@Herber & @Gordon - THANKS Guys!
@Marcel - yeah, I just stumbled upon that earlier tonight - interesting!
a bunch of stuff: http://usingmac.com/2009/7/29/85-useful-free-mac-apps-for-designers
also don't forget: http://www.telestream.net/screen-flow/overview.htm
Bob. Seriously???
After all these years of telling you, you finally figure it out FOR YOURSELF???
Sheeeeesh..
:)
Bevil
Duh!
Bob - you've stolen a march on me. Been considering the MacBook for a while.
Which model did you get? Are you going to use it as your primary dev box? Do you have a PC desktop too? You've obviously given it a LOT of thought so - think this will be robust enough for day-to-day dev and lugging around the globe too? How will you image the box to protect your data?
I like the look of the 17" model but 3Kg means a broken shoulder on long trips!
Keep us update on your early experiences Bob - you might just persuade me to make the jump.
Hey Kahuna,
I got the 15 inch MacBook Pro - the screen is big enough so that if you MUST do Servoy development on the road - you can still manage it. The 13 inch was just a bit small...
As far as it being "robust enough" for day-to-day work - it's at least 2x FASTER than my PC laptop. So far, it's been a real pleasure to use just because... well..everything WORKS. ALL the time!
Thanks for your comments - I'll keep everyone posted as I go...
@Bob - welcome back to the club!
I have also Camtasia for mac and it's sweet! And also works fine with Snow Leopard.
@Bevil - I think his iPhone 3G was the first sign he was turning ;-)
@Kahuna - I have a 17" which I use as my dedicated (mobile) workstation and it hasn't broke my shoulder yet. I see only one downside with this model that is if you want to use it in economy class in an airplane you are out of luck. Most people put their seats back and you can't open up the screen all the way. (or maybe I need a diet ;-) )
- Robert
@Robert - thanks for that feedback. I'm getting paranoid about machine failures (prolly more to do with running XP though LOL), to the point I run my laptop (15" screen but hopeless for dev work with Eclipse) and one (or more) desktops in each of my offices (UK / Spain). Had to rebuild my laptop just before I want overseas in April and my desktop in Spain last month. What I'd really love is a single robust machine I could dev on all the time and just use the DTop's as HD space and back-up! Is your 17"er up to that sort of service? Seems a few Servoy devs do that!
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