Too few hours in the day //Jafoca.com

So I have been desperately looking for a new notebook computer for work and play.  The laptop that my employer provided me with to do web design is awfully insufficient, a dell D600 with only 1.5gigs of ram, a single core Pentium m processor, and a wobbly screen.

My personal laptop, another dell - e1505 in this case, trumps the first by 512mb of RAM (running in dual channel mode! go figure…), one additional processing core, a 15inch 1680×1050 wide screen, and Windows Vista (which I do consider to be an advantage).  While this computer is sufficient in power for most of my work needs, the screen is currently held on by a sloppily applied injection of Gorilla Glue (that stuff foams EVERYWHERE!!!)

So, like i really need to emphasize this point anymore, i am desperate for a new laptop!  After Tuesday’s release of the new MacBook lineups, I decided that they didn’t look that appealing to me for various reasons (1440×900 screen mainly), but then today while at work I was overcome with an itch to get a different computer.

This evening after work I headed off to the local Apple Store with my credit card setting my pocket ablaze - I needed a new laptop, and perhaps I could deal with the low resolution screen as long as it is getting higher than expected benchmarks in games(C.O. PCmag)….

So here are my thoughts:

Pros:

• Sturdy case - for sure
• Screen looks nice
• Trackpad is nice and big, would be cool if multitouch worked in windows

Cons:

• The new trackpad button - stiff.  Requires too much pressure.  Also, pressure sensitivity is uneven, hard to press up top and easy on the bottom
• Heavy - I guess that goes with the sturdy case
• The new rounded case actually makes it look fatter / less slim IMHO - Big mistake

Other Comments:

I thought I would hate the keyboard, I mean REALLY hate it.  Turns out it is not too bad, a little strange but i would probably get used to it (that is probably the same with any other KB).’

Expensive!!  The one I would have probably have gotten was $2500, then add to that $250ish for applecare, which would extend the warranty to 3 years, and VMWare Fusion $99 (because I could not live without windows), two video port adapters $60 (because mini displayport is silly), and we end up at something like $2900.00  Yikes!!

osX would probably be little more than a novelty for me.  The truth is that I don’t know how to use it, for one thing.  While I am sure I could overcome this, I would probably loose productivity for quite a while making the adjustment.  Additionally, I am somewhat invested and attached to my windoze software.  Office 2007, MS Outlook (Exchange at work, yay for my iPhone), Windows version of Photoshop (provided by work), etc.  Kind of makes me a bit attached.  I know these things can work even integrated into OSX nowadays, however at that level, what is the point in switching at all?  Windows allows me to do all that I need to anyhow.

So…. What would it take to make me pull the trigger on the mac? Some minimal combination of the following items would probably push me over the edge.

• The model I like should cost $2-300 less (or included 512m ram gfx on the base MBP)
• Apple should have gone with a more common display cable type, or at a minimum included at least one adapter
• A docking station.  The new monitor that has 3 fancy pants cables does not cut it.  Any “pro” uses external monitors for doing serious work anyway.
• Higher Res screen - 1680×1050 would be good.  Heck, my 3+ year old dell has better resolution

So a while ago I bought some clothing for my fiancee, for her birthday, from the then defunct nau.com.   They were having a massive sale because they were planning on closing their doors, and website, for a while to re-structure after they partnered with Horny Toad, an activewear company.

Nau, for those not in the now know, sells environmentally friendly clothing with an urban type style, and some of it is even very functional in terms of weather resistance.  They also donate some percentage of their sales to ‘green’ charities of your choice, which is pretty cool.  I guess they over extended themselves, opening too many retail stores, and hiring too many employees so they ended up in trouble where they needed to regroup.

Back to the story - I bought some clothes from defunct nau.com for my fiancee, which for the most part she really liked.  Specifically there was this ’skilmere’ sweater that was amazingly soft and looked great on her.  Of the 5ish items I bought, only one did not fit which is an acceptable rejection rate in such a task IMHO.  I also got myself two shirts which I was reasonably happy with, so I was waiting for nau to come back.

Anyhow, they have finished their re-structuring after beeing gone for something like 3 months, and they just sent a message out to their email list subscribers offering an exclusive chance at their new offerings.  Its exclusive in a sense that they hid the store at the following url:  http://nau.com/otg Not a very exclusive way to hide the exclusive access, but whatever.

After checking out the catalog I have to say that I am not happy - I could hardly find one thing in the men’s section that cost less than $85.00, and the jackets that I really like cost upwards of $250.00.  I can’t afford that stuff!!!

It seems like Nau is definitely shooting for a premium market now, which is ok i guess, but out of the price range for many young professionals like me.  Hopefully this does not eliminate all of their target clients!

New for the upcoming fall 08 tv season is the HBO Vampire series “True Blood” .  This series has been generating considerable buzz over the past few weeks because of a massive viral marketing attempt.

The funny thing about True Blood is that it has not even aired yet (the firs episode will be on HBO September 7).  Read on to hear how the viral campaign has lead me to watch the show before it has been broadcast legally.

WARNING: The following description of True Blood may be offensive.

Honestly, the show itself is quite graphic and perhaps distasteful, but I feel that I should review it so others may hear about it, and avoid or watch accordingly.  Do not read on if you do not want to read potentially disturbing or offensive content.

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Over the past weekend Sarah (my fiancee) and I continued our search for a place to live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Sarah told me that one of her accounting intern friends from Crowe Chizek rented an apartment in an old Victorian house off Cherry St near downtown GR, and that it was quite amazing inside.

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