Another Technological Change in Direction: Week One

So it has been one week since we dropped our Mac Mini into someone else’s lap and picked up a used MacBook for my wife to use. I thought I’d post some quick thoughts on how things have done so far. Yes, it is a list, so bear with me.

• I spend far less time in my office at the moment now that I have all of my stuff on my MacBook Pro. Granted, part of that has to do with me ditching caffeine as well and needing more sleep. I am interested to see if that will change as I get more and more into the development side of things again.
• My wife uses her laptop A LOT, which is great.
• The speed increase between Late 2009 and Early 2011 for the MacBook/MacBook Pro is pretty amazing, but the MacBook is still REALLY usable. Actually, more than that, I would still use it as a main development machine if it was mine.
• An SSD really can make all the difference. I don’t have any right now, but my old MacBook Pro was fast ONLY because of the SSD I had in it.
• OS X is worth the “price of admission” for me and my family. The amount of time I spend fixing things is nil now, which is great.
• The glass screen of the MacBook Pro might be glossy, but it is SO strong that it is worth it.
• I can’t believe I missed it, but purchasing an entire cable (instead of just an adapter) to run from my monitor to my MacBook Pro is worth it. So much simpler.
• Mice are a crapshoot. The Magic Mouse is a great mouse, but you will need to try out a number of mice to find one that works for you.
• I really wish Apple was still making the smaller USB keyboard (the one that looks like the Apple Wireless Keyboard).
• The iPad is still incredibly useful. I was worried that its usefulness would go away with the purchase of another laptop, but that has not been the case. The experience is still completely different, and different in a good way (both using a laptop and using the iPad).
• Apple’s MagSafe adapter might be my favorite change to laptops along with LED-backlit screens. A minor thing overall, but it makes a HUGE difference.
• We really need to get a desk just to hide the power adapter. Would really like a roll-top desk so that we can hide the MacBook from our son.

That’s about it. More later!