Computer Conundrum
So I’m at 30% on the proof edit of DEVIL IN THE DETAIL and I’m battering through. My proof reader (thanks Pat!) is over 50% and I’ve committed most of her edits but I’m also going through myself to make sure I’ve not made any blunders like last time – biggest tip I can give just now is to do a proof edit…
Anyway, I’m doing this edit and it’s going well so what happens? Aye, my netbook decides to develop a habit of freezing and not even going to the blue screen of death. It did it ten times yesterday as well as needing the bios backed up on Monday. And my deadline of next Sunday looms. Fortunately, it’s behaved itself today but it is most definitely on its way out.
So – me gets noo komputah!!!!1!1!
The use case for me and this new machine is that I want to use it on the train for writing and editing my books, but I also want to get away from paper and pen for planning and use mind mapping and, as confused long term readers will attest, I’m using scrivener for my projects post-DEVIL.
So, this has lead me to the following – I want an ultrabook, as it’s small and portable, and boots in five or so seconds. I want a high-ish resolution screen. I want an SSD as I will carry this beast everywhere and don’t want a hard drive dying. It doesn’t have to be my main machine in the house (I’ve got a Windows laptop for admin stuff and it’s got Office on it). Scrivener Mac version is 1.2 ahead of the Windows and has loads of features I want.
So? That leads me to a MacBook Air. I’m tempted as hell by the 128gb 13″ model.
Tell me if I’m making a mistake…
— Ed
Andrew Ginty (@akginty)
you could of course buy 24 raspberry PIs (including a staggering 192gb of SD cards) for the price of just one of those bad boys. That said, think you should go for the Macbook – debugging python isn’t the kind of thing that Cullen and Bain would get up to when there’s proper stuff to do, and windows is SO 1990s.
edjamesauthor
I’m just not sure that taking out a computer that is basically housed in Lego will get me to work without being sectioned…
At least OSX is based on Unix…
— Ed
Jeff Paffett (@JeffPaffett)
I’d definitely go for the MacBook Air. If you want to run Windows as well, you can either run it as a VM or in BootCamp. Probably worth taking the 8GB memory upgrade, as it’s fairly cheap.
edjamesauthor
Thanks – the dual boot is one of the plus points. I can get my Windows back if the world of Jobs irritates me.
— Ed
Margaret Grant
Before I got to the part where you said you were getting a Mac Book Air 13″ I was thinking, he needs a Mac Book Air 13″. I made the switch to Mac three years ago and have never looked back. There is just no comparison. You will wonder, as I did, what the hell you were thinking before. Get it now. Don’t hesitate. It is perfect for you.
edjamesauthor
Haha, thanks. The only decision left is 11″ vs 13″. Going to play with a colleague’s MBA 13″ today, see if it’s too big for the train. I’d much rather have the extra resolution but we shall see…
— Ed