Ben Vandgrift - Rubyist, Explorer, Curmudgeon

The Consumer Experience

So I’m in Charlotte, NC, wrapping up this Observer Interactive gig. I came to CLT a little early to replace my old MacBook which was ripped from my heart (through the window of my rental vehicle) outside of the Heroku offices in SF. Getting in late the previous night due to a rockslide that made I40 impassable, I had to wait until Wed to pick up the hardware.

I went in with the intention of buying a 15” pro somewhat tricked out, but since I’ve been using the netbook for the past couple of weeks, the 15” pro looked like some kind of wooly lumbering behemoth with tusks. Okay, the 13”. I’d read the specs, and asked one of the techs there what the real difference was between the MB and the Pro at that level, assuming processor and memory were the same.

His response? The Pro is a little slower. Buh? Apparently, since the base MB loadout is somewhat more recent in design, the MB actually outperforms the Pro in benchmarks. I haven’t compared this myself, so grain of salt, ymmv are in effect.

I grabbed the base MB and had the shop install a 4GB ram upgrade, bringing the machine back to the specs of my old one, if several hundred dollars cheaper. (Just under $900, including the memory upgrade—as a McClatchy employee, however temporarily, I get a discount of sorts.) If you let the shop do the work right there, they give you $100 back for your existing 2GB memory module, effectively cutting the price of the 4GB ‘upgrade’ in half; if I’d picked up the memory myself, I’d have paid $60 for the chip then spent a little time installing it, instead of eating lunch and shopping for a jacket. Cost-effectve.

I can work efficiently again, and this makes me happy.

Quibbles

1. The new MagSafe adapter irritates me; its orientation makes cord management hard.
2. The micro-dvi port rendered all my dongles (...ladies?) useless, so now I’ll have to spend a few dollars replacing the cornucopia of adapters.
3. I haven’t gotten a feel for the new solid full-button trackpad. A Magic Mouse is in my future though, presumably.

Time Machine Is Your Friend

At least, mostly. Time Machine will certainly save you some hassle if your computer gets stolen (or blown up, or dropped from a two story porch, or in the strange case of Peter Fairfield, some kind of accident with a dryer). If you had xCode though, you’ll need to reinstall that. Almost all my settings made it through fine—I wish I’d done a backup immediately before I got on the plane however, as I lost some graphics work.

Plugging the backup drive in and booting up for the first time, it asked if I’d like to restore. Unrelated: the standard MacBook keyboard needs a ‘Hell Yes’ button. 27 minutes later: “Aah, all my stuff. I’ve missed you stuff. It’s good to see you.”

Unintended consequence: since the new MB has 3.5 times the hard drive space of my last MB, I don’t need the WD Passport I’ve been using as a sidecar for graphics, video, pr0n and music.

Whither Capistrano/CLI?

For whatever reason, Capistrano decided to stop working after the backup. Still not sure why.

Advice: Get Renter’s Insurance

My rental insurance company covered the computer, the camera, the laptop sleeve, and would’ve covered the bag if i could find a picture of me holding it (i couldn’t, but hey, they tried.) I got a call from my claims rep (Soraya Thomas) as I was getting back to the office, and she walked me through the difference between covering the value of a loss and covering the replacement cost.

It breaks down like this:

They immediately paid me the value of the stuff less its depreciation - she called to give me the numbers and tell me she was about to cut that check. The value was quite a bit less than it’s original cost. However, she says, if I could provide proof that I’d replaced the lost gear, she’d replace everything back up to its original value. (“How would you feel about a photo of the receipt sent via email?” “That’d work - and if you send it in the next 20, I’ll just cut you a bigger check, rather than two smaller ones and save us a stamp.” “Really?” “Sure, saves us a stamp.”)

There is still the issue of a $250 deductible, however that’s mostly accounted for because of the price differences between my original purchase ($1300) and my most recent ($900). Did they pay for the tax? Yes they did. (Assurant, in case you were curious.)

Back In Action

So, how’s this guy set up after the Fall?

It’s hard for me to do a side-by-side comparison, as my original poor lappy is hanging off some dude’s wheelchair in SF, but I can say this has been a change for the better. All the response feels snappier, the keyboard has a better feel to it, and the display seems to have been much improved (the graphics card got an update, as did the screen comp).

All in all, no harm no foul. But if God is very kind, my little laptop will commit explosive seppuku in the hands of its abductors. Ima miss you little guy: The MacBook is Dead, Long Live the MacBook.