Rubenerd

For a period of time in 2004 to 2006 I was the proud owner of a (then new) Power Mac G5 desktop that could effortlessly breeze through any task I gave it, and a cute little old 12" iBook G3 that was hopelessly underpowered but was perfect for taking to school for note taking, web browsing and for importing photos from cameras and the like. When I ran into money troubles I had to give up the G5 tower, opting instead to buy an original generation Core Duo MacBook Pro as it's replacement a few months later. I figured I could replace both the portable iBook and the muscular G5 with one machine. Pure, unfiltered genius!

While we've both had some issues with each other over the years as many couples do, this MacBook Pro has performed amazingly well in this dual role. We've had a productive and fruitful partnership :-).

Since 2006 though I feel as if I've made significant changes to how I work, and I'm staring to long for the days when I had a killer machine and a lightweight one.

Even just a few months ago I would lug my MacBook Pro around everywhere without thinking twice; now I've relegated my email, Twitter and light note taking duties entirely to my iPhone. My tiny magnesium Armada M300 or my iBook G3 (both from 2002) could also fill this role really nicely, no worries.

As for my current Core Duo MacBook Pro, being 32 bit I've been hitting the RAM ceiling more and more these days and for some major video editing and project compiling it's really showing its age: the current crop of Core 2 Duo machines can run laps around it. If I had the money (and that is a VERY BIG IF!), I'd love to grab a new 17 inch MacBook Pro. It would be my primary machine but would serve much less than a laptop and more as a portable desktop replacement that would sit on the table here most of the time but that I could easily pack up and take with me as I switch from Singapore to Adelaide and back again, and again and again.

I'd better start saving. Does the Red Cross buy blood now?