James Burrage at WebKanix

I’m in a quandary. Since April I’ve been using just one computer - a Dell Inspiron notebook. After a month or two I hooked up an external keyboard so I could stretch out and move the screen back, and now I look at it, I’m amazed I sat in that position for so long. However, I take this thing everywhere. On the desk, hooked up to the TV, on the train for work or watching a DVD and more in-between. Sometimes it’s not even switched off for days as I download Linux distro’s or backup a site locally. It frightens me to think what I’d do if I lost it, or part of it failed. I couldn’t even get online to look for a new machine.

I’ve never been happier with a piece of equipment. One of Dell’s bargains about a year ago, it’s been flawless and still performs with Vista, XP and Ubuntu on the same 100GB drive, with lots of heavy applications and the full Office suite (with Visio, OneNote, Project etc) on each Windows installation. However, it’s a bit heavy and the 15″ widescreen is starting to feel restrictive. I have no idea what to do about finding another computer. Add in that I’d like a box for Apache, Tomcat, Ruby on Rails and Subversion that’d also be a PVR. My TV is also a monitor with VGA and DVI, so it’d be the additional PC I need. Options as I see it are;

• Cheap Dell Machine, with the same tri-boot scenario. In July, Dell released the new Vostro range aimed at small business and home users. These look pretty good and I haven’t played a computer game since Sim City 3000, nor am likely to own a video camera, negating the need for anything that powerful. I’m using Ubuntu more and more - I’d be quite happy using it full time, although would miss iTunes and would need Windows for some tasks.
  Pro: Cheap, well supported hardware. Easy to get tri-boot working, reliable computing. Easy to upgrade/add to. Lots of free software.
  Con: Paying for Windows even if you already have licence, unless you build it yourself.
  Total Cost: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz, 2048MB RAM, 320GB HDD, 256MB GeForce, 16x DVD - £411 (plus monitor)
• Mac Mini. These things have a tiny footprint, are very cool and I’m being tempted to look seriously at a Mac. If you still need access to those Office programs take a look at Boot Camp or Parallels. In a computing pull-out in the Independent today there’s some good points made about getting a Mac, although I was disappointed to read about the short warranty offered (one year RTB).
  Pro: It’s a Mac. Long shelf life, stable, secure computer. Still able to run Windows/Ubuntu apps on virtual machines, whilst enjoying the Mac portion. Comes with iLife.
  Con: It’s a Mac. Expensive in the short term, no (or little) upgradability. Shortish warranty. If you have the Windows version of something like Photoshop, you either need to load Windows or buy the Mac version to use it. Constant speculation about the line being discontinued.
  Cost: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD - £399 (plus monitor) OR Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD - £499 (plus monitor)
• Even cheaper Dell without the 19″ monitor, and keep the laptop as a desktop replacement with external monitor. By cutting back to the minimum and only running Ubuntu on the box, with a DVB card for Freeview, you’d have the backup whilst keeping a decent machine on the desk. I’ve seen some good Samsung widescreen LCD monitors for under £170.
  Pro: Getting a server, PVR, DVD player and spare machine for just over £200. Well supported hardware. Upgrade options.
  Con: It’ll be under the TV. Not that useful for tasks outside of being a server and a PVR.
  Cost: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Integrated graphics, 16x DVD - £211 (plus monitor)

Source: dmxdimension.com, Apple UK Store

Having laid out the options there the last seems the most sensible. There’s something about a Mac that I like (and everyone seems to be using them for design and development - every single Ruby book, screencast and website I’ve looked at has development being done on a Mac). I don’t suppose that’s really a good reason to go for one. Having Vista and Ubuntu under Parallels on a Mac would be great, and it does look like they have a pretty good shelf life.

Any thoughts? Anyone gone over to a Mac? Anything else to consider?

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This poorly thought out rambling was posted by me, James Burrage, on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm and is filed under Technology. If anyone responds to this post, you can follow them through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.