So on Saturday, I mentioned how nice it would be if a large-screen MacBook Pro fell out of the sky to replace my aging iBook G4.
Well, that didn’t happen, nor did $2,500 fall out of the sky so I could go and buy one myself. But I did get an email earlier this week advertising an instant rebate on the 13-inch MacBook, putting the price well into a range where the money could fall out of my own wallet without too much stress. I took that as a sign that it was indeed time to replace the aforementioned aging iBook G4.
So before picking up my newly repaired pretty red VAIO laptop from the SonyStyle store, I made a stop at Micro Center to buy the MacBook. Yes, I know, the buzz says that an updated version of the MacBook Pro is imminent. I suppose I could have waited for that, but that would just circle back around to needing more money than I wanted to spend. The MacBook brings me up to speed and into the Intel zone, and I don’t feel I’m sacrificing too much for the lower price.
If you don’t visit here often, you may also be asking why one person needs two laptops. Technically, you should be asking why one person needs four laptops, since I haven’t actually gotten rid of the iBook or a totally aged Compaq laptop running Windows 98 yet. But I digress. A long time ago, I told myself that when I was able to comfortably afford to have both a PC and a Mac, I would. That happy day arrived, and I don’t ever intend to be without one of each again, unless things really go to hell in a handbasket.
Now that I have a Mac (and a PC, for that matter) that will be able to handle it, that brings me back to my whole inner debate about Adobe Creative Suite 5. If the business can justify upgrading CS2 to CS5 for my use, I’m guessing it will be a $600 upgrade. That will happen only if our major clients also do the upgrade.
If there is no business reason to upgrade, it will be on my dime. Then I’ll have to decide whether I want to upgrade at all (cost $0), upgrade my Windows version of CS4 (I upgraded from CS2 to CS4 a year ago, so guessing at a cost of about $600), or purchase a full new Mac version of CS5 (guessing at a cost of about $1,800). Yikes.
I’ll be watching the CS5 announcement on Monday, April 12, with great interest. But the actual product release date hasn’t been given yet, so there is some time to continue this inner debate. I’m personally guessing summer 2010 for release. Let’s see what happens!
(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 8 of 30)