Computers, Computers, Computers

Ok, everyone that knows me knows that I'm kinda a tech geek, and that I have a tendency to "break" computers trying to get them to work the best for me.



This is but one reason I'm contemplating getting a Mac this summer with some of my earning from my various summer jobs. After talking to my "Mac buddy" Nic (Check out his site/blog/collection of randomness niclake.com) about this very topic (for about a half a year now), and more research than I ever put into any of my schoolwork, I think I've finally (partially) made up my mind: Macbook Air.

Nic getting his Air was a big push for this. He loves the thing to death, and finally was able to fit into my thick skull one of the most important things to me... When getting a computer, one needs to look at what one needs in a computer, not what one might need. This is something that I have never thought of, and most likely what has kept me from getting the most out of my computer.

So why the Air?

1. It's small, and portable to the max. I use my laptop at work at school DAILY. And portability (with battery life) is a must. The Air has this.
2. The solid-state drive, although small compared to all the laptops I've had, is enough for what I use (Office, Internet, music...). The only drawback (depending on which model I get) is the size of my iTunes Library. Of course, this is what an external drive is for, and is something I should have anyway ($60 for a 320 gb external is more than affordable).
3. It's Apple, meaning it has outstanding tech support, and quality. The Air should last me at least twice as long as the other laptops I've had. Example: My iPod Touch, although no longer supported with updates, Is going on 3 years old, and still running perfectly.
4. Teachers are using and loving it! You don't need all the fancy bells and whistles as a teacher. And I sure as hell don't need them as a student, unless I plan on getting myself more distracted from writing papers and lesson plans than I already get... (Which is something I definitely need to avoid)

Now the tough decision, which screen size? the 11.6" ($949 with the Education Discount) model would be an awesome, small sized computer to run everything I need... but it could also be too small, in both screen and storage(64gb). But the 13" model is $300 more (eek!). This is something that I will have to play around with at Best Buy or an Apple store to decide if $300 for more screen and storage (128gb). Keeping in mind that an external drive for all the "extra" stuff that I still need (Music, my pictures, and file backup) would only be about $60-something, the real debate is in screen size.

Well, that's it folks! Any feedback (facebook, twitter, comments on here... etc) would be greatly appreciated! Time to finish my day at home before I head out to 4 hours of first-aid and CPR training for daycamp... but that just means that summer is a step closer!