Seven-year-old relationship counseling
Although I'm not at a point where I for sure need a new computer, thinking about what's next is complicated enough that I feel like I need a flow chart.
Earlier this decade, it made sense to spend the extra cash on a Mac. It's generally a better "user experience" running on beautiful-looking hardware. With the economy as it is and other factors, though, PC prices have dropped very rapidly, and what used to be a few hundred dollar premium for a Mac is now a $500-1000 premium. Switching back to a PC exclusively isn't appealing because, in addition to my comfort with the OS, I have seven years of projects created on Mac-only programs (in Logic, Final Cut, and Digital Performer), which I intend to keep accessible.
But the difference between a fast PC laptop and just the warranty on a Macbook Pro is now about $100.
There's also the "Hackintosh" -- installing OS X on a PC. This seems appealing at first,but after reading a bit it seems that it is a very unreliable way to run things on a laptop and a significant project on a desktop. And even if it works and runs well, there's always the danger of Apple breaking it in a new upgrade. That is -- saving money to hack it up can be an upgrade-trap.
However, I just got home with Snow Leopard and discovered that my PowerPC Mac is too old for it (Late 2005) and that I must have an INTEL Mac to install it. It's a trap no matter what.
I could simply keep the old iMac kicking around for "legacy access" and otherwise switch entirely back to PC. With the Mac's retention of value, I could still sell it for enough to get a new PC laptop(!).
Finally, I could spend either lots and lots of money on a new Macbook Pro or merely spend a lot of money on a cheaper used Macbook Pro.
Earlier this decade, it made sense to spend the extra cash on a Mac. It's generally a better "user experience" running on beautiful-looking hardware. With the economy as it is and other factors, though, PC prices have dropped very rapidly, and what used to be a few hundred dollar premium for a Mac is now a $500-1000 premium. Switching back to a PC exclusively isn't appealing because, in addition to my comfort with the OS, I have seven years of projects created on Mac-only programs (in Logic, Final Cut, and Digital Performer), which I intend to keep accessible.
But the difference between a fast PC laptop and just the warranty on a Macbook Pro is now about $100.
There's also the "Hackintosh" -- installing OS X on a PC. This seems appealing at first,but after reading a bit it seems that it is a very unreliable way to run things on a laptop and a significant project on a desktop. And even if it works and runs well, there's always the danger of Apple breaking it in a new upgrade. That is -- saving money to hack it up can be an upgrade-trap.
However, I just got home with Snow Leopard and discovered that my PowerPC Mac is too old for it (Late 2005) and that I must have an INTEL Mac to install it. It's a trap no matter what.
I could simply keep the old iMac kicking around for "legacy access" and otherwise switch entirely back to PC. With the Mac's retention of value, I could still sell it for enough to get a new PC laptop(!).
Finally, I could spend either lots and lots of money on a new Macbook Pro or merely spend a lot of money on a cheaper used Macbook Pro.