Ordered w/ the help of Ah Leung a 12” iBook, 1G RAM and the Bluetooth option, all for HK$10,600. Can’t do credit card installment plan thou, but this is alright. Might well get it all paid for in one go. However, there is a stock shortage, so the machine won’t be available until next week.
Won’t be buying AppleCare right now. I figured that Apple always have cheap AppleCare right before new machines are introduced, so I’ll wait. AppleCare is definitely worth it.
I did consider getting a PowerBook, but the price difference isn’t really worth it. I won’t be burning DVDs on the go, and now that the Mac Mini is out and inexpensive, getting an additional computer seems to be a better option. The major upgrade to PowerBooks (dual core G4 or G5!) is expected in mid-05 or 2nd half of 05, so better save the money now for the big purchase later.
Now the next question. I might need a Windoz development machine to do what I have in mind. Should I get the Thinkpad X40 I have always wanted for HK$14,XXX, or should I get that 14” Acer for HK$9,999? Or should I build my own clone? Hard decision.
Update (17/1): I cancelled the iBook order today. The Register reports rumours from fellow people of the IBM that G5 Powerbooks and iBooks are due 2005Q2. So it’s better to wait and see, or pick up a cheap G4 PB or iB when they go on sale shortly before the new models come out.
3 responses so far ↓
1 James // Jan 14, 2005 at 4:30 pm
Neither? How about getting a Shuttle type cased clone and stack it up with your future MacMini with just one monitor, so you can switch between them on the fly saving some desk realty?
2 James // Jan 14, 2005 at 4:32 pm
Besides, the both of them may cost less than the price of one notebook computer – at least less than the X40 for sure.
3 tin_the_fatty // Jan 17, 2005 at 10:39 pm
I did consider getting a desktop, e.g. an AMD64 with 1GB RAM and a couple of SATA HDs running as a RAID1, all for around HK$6K. I don’t need the CPU power, and my present AMD 1GHz is more than adequate as a network server. For some reasons I also feel that a 64-bit AMD64 running WinXP is a bit of a waste.
OTOH the X40 is that lean mean machine, which will allow me to experience the pain of WinXP like everybody else, anywhere I want.
The thing is, I am finding it very hard to concentrate to hit the “zone” while working at home. A desktop for email, web, music etc. is fine, and perfect for the Mac Mini, but for everything else a laptop is much better for me.