For a long time now, I’ve been suffering from laptop envy. Laptops seem to be everywhere I look. I see them at coffee shops, bookstores, lecture halls and classrooms. I envy others of their mobile computing abilities. From classmates who look things up quickly for in-class group assignments to my good friends who show off the latest youtube geek/nerd humor clip, I just look and think “wouldn’t it be great to have one.”
I also have a big practicality streak that has held me back. I have a very nice home setup. So the idea of owning a laptop has remained just that, an idea.
This week at work I finally got a laptop.
I always thought the mobility issue as the coolest possible feature. I was wrong; the coolest feature of my work laptop is the ability to run a dual system on a single machine concurrently. By concurrently, I mean that I am using Quark for Mac (a really great graphic design program) while also having/editing my Excel for PC timesheet, all on a single machine, a single screen. No more toggling. All of this is made possible through a program called VirtualMachine.
All of this computing power has me thinking harder, trying to be more cognizant of what I am doing and what program I am using. I tend to use a lot of shortcut commands. The base key for those commands differs from Mac to PC. This is my first week and I am still trying to call up a blank email using Ctrl+N or open a new tab in my PC version of Firefox with Option+T. Time and usage will help me break these old habits and develop new ones.
The only thing that gives me pause as to the whole laptop... it's a Mac Powerbook. Generally, each successive Mac release has proven more difficult for me to take down.
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I struggle with the desktop vs. laptop debate. I currently use my MacBook Pro from my college days, but have been contemplating getting a desktop after I graduate and get a real job and some real money. I think I'll miss the portability of it, since I have a wireless network at home and can take it from the kitchen to the couch and still be hooked up to the internet.
ReplyDeleteI love my Mac and when I use a PC at work I'm always pressing the wrong buttons! In fact, my enter key fell off my Mac and I have to use the enter key along the bottom of the keyboard and I'm always pressing the Ctrl button on a PC!
The dual system is fascinating to me, but can you still get computer viruses this way since you're running Windows?
Laptop or desktop... for me, the answer is both! I certainly do not require the computing power that you are dealing with, so I was able to buy a four year old laptop for $50 and use it to supplement our desktop computer. The laptop does not have the storage or performance capabilities of the desktop, but with a home network, I can easily access the files off the desktop from the laptop. I sit at a desk in front of a computer a lot at work. When I come home and have to study, I can't bear the thought of sitting at a desk again. That's why I love my laptop. I can study in the kitchen, on the floor, or my favorite spot... in bed!
ReplyDeleteI've basically decided that I can get the computing power I need out of a nice, desktop-replacement-grade laptop. In fact, I was going to obtain one of these this past Christmas. However, I avoid Macs, so I got a Windows machine. Then I read that Windows seven is due out in a year. Deciding I'd much rather just give Vista a miss, I'm still plunking away on my XP desktop machine, and will probably replace this old girl next year with a Windows 7 laptop. I just HOPE Microsoft learned from their mistakes with Vista...
ReplyDeleteI have a little HP notebook but have really been enchanted by some of the netbooks out now. Years ago I got a free netbook (not called that then) when I bought a Gateway PC. I gave it to a friend who was commuting to graduate school and she used it until it died. I'm glad they're back.
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