computer | Wha’ever!

But which one???

My much loved Sony Vaio from 2004 with 500 MB RAM and 40 GB hard drive reaches nowadays its performance limit with blogging, emails, picture editing etc. And it is far too heavy to be carried around, plus it has no W-LAN either. However, it has a great screen which makes watching videos on it a real experience. That will be his future, I guess. Unless I find a way to upgrade it, but I am not sure if that works with that model.

So my criteria for buying a successor are:
– getting as much hard drive and RAM space as possible
– a bit smaller format, like 13,3 inch so that I can take it easier with me when traveling
– if possible a good screen (even the brand new Macbook Pro of the boyfriend does not give such a sharp picture)
– Budget? Well, depends – it is the value for money that counts, and if needed I can save up for it for a few months.

These two candidates I really, really like, but I cannot decide between them.

Number 1 – Macbook Pro 13-inch: 2.66GHz

Why?
– because it is a Mac and I like the Macbook Pro of the boyfriend a lot. I could live with one mainly for two reasons: It boots up and closes down fast, no antivirus malaki – and then I love the back-lit keyboard, so you still see letters when typing let’s say in a slightly dark conference room, or you simply don’t fancy switching on the light already on a late summer evening on the sofa at home. You could practically write in the dark.
– I chose this one above the slightly smaller one cos the price difference is not that much, and when I see how much more hard drive space and RAM is required since 2004, then I thought I rather go for the big version, hoping not to have to buy another one again for that reason in a few years. (Or is this reasoning wrong??)

Number 2 – Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820T

Why?
– Hardware capacity and performance comparable with the Macbook Pro above, if not better.
– supposedly a great screen
– Windows 7 allows still access to Office documents with no problem, and writing these
– Half price of the Mac (in that case the price does make me think…)

And being German, I just love this gorgeous video…. Listen to the voice and enjoy the probably best “Denglish” (German/English) product description I ever listened to. It is definitely the fastest (cut) one:

Please – if you do have any experiences, advice on these two or if you know about a third possibility I should consider, then let me know. I would be ever so grateful.

Parents and Internet, especially when they are over 60 (no offence to all senior citizens who actually CAN do this!) often proves to be a special topic. But also younger people seem to be affected, like my 46-year old sister. As I am living abroad and as my birthday is coming up and as for a change I really wish for something that one can actually and send via Amazon, I asked them to simply order it via Amazon and send it directly to me. The result? “Well, I am not sure if I manage to order that online, you know, I’ll take a look at it first”, was my sister’s response. My offer to order it myself then was also not appreciated (eye rolling at my end). It is interesting how an age difference of only 13 years can be so significant when it comes down to using the internet. Not to talk about my mum. That is really like this post could not say it any better. I ALWAYS get out of these Computer/Internet conversations with a biiiiig head ache. Therefore I found particularly the comments of Börni and Erdge Schoss very helpful. While I cannot use Börni’s anymore as my family knows I cannot do Linux I can definitely try the suggestion of Erdge Schoss. Might work very well. 😉