I hate buying new computers. Well, not so much the getting the new computer, but the part where I have to decide what to buy. My aging aluminum PowerBook is slowly accumulating terminal sorts of symptom; the latest involves the hinges, notoriously bad on PowerBooks. The LCD panel is about a degree out of true, so the right-hand side of the screen is about a centimeter higher than the left-hand side. Which wouldn't be a huge deal, except (a) it occasionally sticks, and I really have to reef on it more than I like to get the display to close, and (b) I think this is leading to a crimp in the wires going to the display, so occasionally the screen flickers when I move it, and sometimes goes black. Anyway, not good.
So now I'm sort of stuck. I just got a dual-processor G5 at work about three months ago, so I'm not going to be able to spring for a new high-end (or even mid-range) PowerBook. I could do an iBook, but I'd lose the ability to run an extra display on it, which I really like. I'm thinking maybe I'll just get a Mini and use a small firewire drive I have to move files back and forth between my home and campus office. But I haven't located a file synchronization program that I like, so I'm sure I'll end up getting my files mixed up when I move from system to system. Damn, I hate this. Part of me just wants to ditch it and work exclusively with a fountain pen and a moleskine notebook.
Posted by johndan at January 23, 2005 10:25 PM | TrackBackFor what it's worth:
* I love buying new computers. Of course, according to my wife, I love spending money in general.
* I have been extremely happy with the iBook configuration (I am on my second one), and while I don't do it, I know I can hook up another monitor to it. I think the default/automatic configuration is to mirror what's on the screen (that is, you don't get an extra screen's worth of desktop real estate), but I think there is hacks out there that can make that happen.
Posted by: Steven D. Krause at January 24, 2005 07:36 AMMoleskine? Have you been reading 43 Folders?
You should try a Hipster PDA. My wife loves hers. CS
Posted by: Clay at January 24, 2005 08:22 AMSteve - Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing an iBook hack that will let you drive an external monitor without being in mirror mode; I'll see if I can track it down.
Clay - I've been following 43 Folders for a while; it's a great site. I'm not invested in the GTD philosophy yet (I kind of like my chaos), but I thought the Hipster idea was interesting. I was an early PDA adoptor (pre-PDA--a Newton) and I still have the Sharp Zaurus, but haven't been able to get that integrated into my workflow. But eventually I'm going to have to do something.
Posted by: Johndan at January 24, 2005 11:12 AMYou can actually run two displays off an iBook. Out of the box, it'll only do mirroring, but I found a script that enables you to do monitor spanning on an iBook. Not all models will do it, but I think all the newer ones will. Just google "ibook monitor spanning" and a bunch of results pop up.
Posted by: matt at January 27, 2005 04:09 PM