The iBooks have since become MacBooks. The screens are slightly larger -- about 13 inches instead of 12 inches -- and they're brighter in the sense that the screens are glossier. I got the 2GHz model with 1 gig of RAM, and it performs up to snuff. There's a black model with a larger hard drive, but while it looks kickass, I don't know that it's worth the extra $200 or whatever for the sleek black look and the increased storage capacity.
Going up in price quite a bit, there are the MacBook Pros (these are the metal colored ones), which give you faster, better performance, but they wouldn't be smaller and lighter than the MacBooks.
I don't think there are any options for lighter Mac laptops than the MacBooks, since the lightest and smallest of them (the iBooks) got bigger. For lighter, you'd probably have to go to a little Windows machine.
Oh, and I would get an external Firewire drive equal to your laptop's hard drive capacity so you can do complete backups, all in one place. I also back up my crucial stuff on a little Flash drive and email my stories to my gmail account.
Ooh, gmail is probably reliable, but I'd hate to think my stuff is only backed-up in one place. Because if gmail dies (I'm sure it's unlikely, but not impossible), yeah, toast.
I keep all my fiction in one folder (with lots of sub-folders), so it's no big deal to just drag it over to the external drive. Only takes a minute or so once a week. And the fiction folder is actually inside a bigger folder with all my pics and music, so even though it's not foolproof (cuz the external drive *and* my laptop drive could always die at the same time), at least I've got a better chance of not losing all my stuff.
Unfortunately, one thing Macs aren't are light. They're compact and powerful and tough, but not light. Naturally, the smaller they are, the lighter they are, but there's no real featherweight model.
The MacBook Pro has the brightest screen, I believe, and you can get it in a 15-inch. If you do any kind of drawing or graphics work, you'll love a wacom tablet, though I'm not sure that's a writing expense :P. One thing I find absolutely essential to writing is a flash drive--I've been lusting after one of these for a long time, now. There's an excellent mac-only program out there that's designed specifically for novel writers: Scrivener. It's what I'm using for Raze and Ruin now, and it's been invaluable.
What are you doing with the Heart of Gold, may I ask?
MacBook FTW! (FTW="For teh win" - typo intentional)
You've already seen the black MacBook, I suspect. I have the white one. You really shouldn't need the MacBook Pro at all. All of them come with a built-in camera so we can video conference sometime! Woo!
Have you thought about a nice laser printer? One of my best investments. Can't think of anything else you really need -- writing is a cheap profession!
PS. Thank you soooo much for the email this morning!!! Should have time this weekend to re-enter the online world. :)
YES I'm getting a laser printer, too!!!! SO excited about this part of it, as I haven't had a working printer for over a year, which has meant manymany trips to Zephyr copy downtown (and also much saving of receipts).
Yes, I have seen the beautiful stealthy black MacBook and lo, it is beautiful. That might be the one. And you're right, I don't need the Pro at all.
don't forget.......mmcveyApril 17 2007, 20:17:18 UTC
Whatever model of MacBook you choose, don't forget to buy it online through their education store...........the U of I has a custom thingy set up, and it knocks $100 off the price of the two higher-end Macbooks (from $1299 and $1499 to $1199 and $1399 for the spiffy black one). With that extra hundred smackers taken off the price, you can double the memory for $57 (net after $100 discount) or just pocket the $100 and laugh gleefully to yourself........your choice.
Re: don't forget.......grndexterApril 19 2007, 11:44:03 UTC
Hahahahaha!!! I bought a Lenovo R60 for well under a thousand - then picked up MS Office Pro 2007 for all of my computers. My boss/wife has a Lenovo T42 that she's been dragging around the country for over 2 years and it's in great condition - she's even had a 3 foot fall to concrete incident and the little beast (she calls it "Sparky") is still ticking along. We also bought docking stations for them so that's a convenience, and today, TODAY, we get satellite internet and set up a wireless network that will include our two Dell desktop PCs. Yes - I used to do taxes for people, and yes, all machines are and have been deducted except the new one (next year). :-D
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Going up in price quite a bit, there are the MacBook Pros (these are the metal colored ones), which give you faster, better performance, but they wouldn't be smaller and lighter than the MacBooks.
I don't think there are any options for lighter Mac laptops than the MacBooks, since the lightest and smallest of them (the iBooks) got bigger. For lighter, you'd probably have to go to a little Windows machine.
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And all my writing stuff, pretty much, is saved on gmail. If gmail ever dies, I am toast.
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I keep all my fiction in one folder (with lots of sub-folders), so it's no big deal to just drag it over to the external drive. Only takes a minute or so once a week. And the fiction folder is actually inside a bigger folder with all my pics and music, so even though it's not foolproof (cuz the external drive *and* my laptop drive could always die at the same time), at least I've got a better chance of not losing all my stuff.
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The MacBook Pro has the brightest screen, I believe, and you can get it in a 15-inch. If you do any kind of drawing or graphics work, you'll love a wacom tablet, though I'm not sure that's a writing expense :P. One thing I find absolutely essential to writing is a flash drive--I've been lusting after one of these for a long time, now. There's an excellent mac-only program out there that's designed specifically for novel writers: Scrivener. It's what I'm using for Raze and Ruin now, and it's been invaluable.
What are you doing with the Heart of Gold, may I ask?
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You've already seen the black MacBook, I suspect. I have the white one. You really shouldn't need the MacBook Pro at all. All of them come with a built-in camera so we can video conference sometime! Woo!
Have you thought about a nice laser printer? One of my best investments. Can't think of anything else you really need -- writing is a cheap profession!
PS. Thank you soooo much for the email this morning!!! Should have time this weekend to re-enter the online world. :)
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Yes, I have seen the beautiful stealthy black MacBook and lo, it is beautiful. That might be the one. And you're right, I don't need the Pro at all.
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But I love my imac the very best of all, so I shall not be ponying up any time soon until my ibook really buys the farm.
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even if I do have a Dell :)
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(sorry!)
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I ordered the stealth Mac on Sunday. It is soooooo beautiful.
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:-D
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