How do I right click?

Last year June I boldly claimed that I was thinking of getting a Macbook as my next laptop. It took me quite some time to figure out what I wanted. I have been using a Dell XPS 13'', which is a nifty, good looking machine that performs very well. But it still Windows. And Ubuntu is not quite there yet as a full time desktop OS.

I considered a few Apple options:

• 27'' iMac: I would have chosen this one, if not for the lack of a decent backup laptop, which would mean I lost all portability. 90% of the time I am at my desk, so this would have been ideal, as supposed to using a laptop with a large external screen
• MacBook Air: The entry price is quite good, but the specs are too low. If you bump the specs up to the maximum, then the cost of drastically prohibitive. I suppose such a small light body comes at a cost.
• Various MacBook Pros - 13'' and 15''. The late 2013 refresh models are quite good, but the Retina screens come at a cost. There are quite a few different options to consider when ordering: RAM, SSD or HDD size, CPU size - i7, Dual or Quad core.

In the end, I chose a MacBook Pro 13'' with the following specs: 

• 13.3 inch
• 2.8 GHz i7 Dual Core
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB SSD

Even though I only got it this morning, in hind-sight I should have gotten 16GB RAM, even by downscaling the CPU a bit.

The comparative Dell XPS 13'' or even 15'' would have been cheaper, although I did not look at the touch screen versions.

This is a very neat machine, and my first Apple product. I think its the small touches that Apple pay attention to that win people over. Some things are over done though:

• The clunky charger - c'mon, Chromebooks use USB now to charge
• The aluminium body - the Dell XPSs have a plastic body which is perfect. I have seen a guy that has a dent in his MacBook's body simply because he held it too tight.

Multiple desktops have been setup, Hot Corners as well....now where is that right click?

Back home again

In a previous post, I complained about the laptop I've been using for the last 3 years. a Lenovo R400, Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM that ran extremely slow on Windows 7 . Excel and Visio 2010 was enough to make this thing hang.

I am finally due for an upgrade, and we were offered to buy our current for R1200. All of a sudden, this slow laptop turned into a goo deal. One day later, I am happy to say this machine is flying.

I downloaded Ubuntu 13.04, but did not have a USB or CD to burn the ISO onto. Using DriveDroid on my Galaxy Tab 10.1, I could boot into the ISO and install Ubuntu.

I have not been on Ubuntu for 3 years....I dont recognise this window manager!

I'm thinking of going Mac

I'm about to change laptops. Of the ones that I have seen around, nothing grabs me, or excites me. Most of the laptops I have seen lately in meeting rooms include the usual suspects: Dell, Acer, Lenovo. They all look boring - the same thing I've been using for the last few years. Thats nothing that inspires you, something akin to a new cell phone.

I've briefly considered getting a laptop/tablet combo, something like the Samsung Ativ. But I am not sure if I will quickly get over the novelty of the touch screen. Then the only thing I will be stuck with is Windows 8.

So I am really thinking about getting either a Macbook Pro, or Macbook Air. The new Macbook Pro's come with Retina display, but the Airs had the SSD. The other possible factors are the lack of DVD drive on the Air (have not used a CD/DVD this year), and a few other things. What really has driven me towards Mac is that I will have a shell easily accessible. Parellels or some other virtulasation software will allow me to run Windows apps (Visio and Project) and Ubunutu in a VM, without having to dual boot.

I have never used an Apple product before, so thats what makes me uncertain. For that last 3 years, I have been using a Lenovo R400 - a 14.1 inch Dual Core sorry excuse for laptop. Performance is dreadfull - Visio and Excel open together is enough to make the machine hang.

Prior to that, I used a HP 17 inch laptop for about 3 years. I was generally impressed with it. But that was 2009 - I doubt a heavy laptop, with lots of USB ports and a DVD writer is what I am looking for now.

I *think* what I want is something light, with a decent screen (15") and lots of power, and a shell closeby. Ubuntu is not ready for enterprise use full time, so thats why perhaps Mac sounds like a good choice.

Whatddya think?