It took an embarrassingly long time after the arrival of my new 13" MacBook Pro, but I finally have a pretty ideal home computing setup going on here. Check out the picture on Flickr for obsessive annotations or read on in list form:
- 13" MacBook Pro: There's not much I can add to the cornucopia of Mac praise and criticism all over the internets. This thing is beautiful and fast and the battery lasts forever. It's powerful enough to be a legit desktop replacement, but I can pick it up and take it downstairs to use it whilst participating in a seemingly endless West Wing marathon that's been going on in my house for the past few months. I love using Snow Leopard, which I never got around to installing on my old machines.
- 20" Dell UltraSharp Flat Panel Monitor: This was a hand-me-down from Chris. I suppose there are a million newer, shinier monitors out there, but this one does the trick. When plugged in, I use the laptop screen to hold Tweetie, iTunes or VLC (depending on my mood and whether or not I'm syncing my iPhone), iChat or adium (ditto), and Colloquy and put all my active "working" windows in the Dell monitor. So much real estate! So many pixels!
- 3M Vertical Notebook Stand: This thing looks horrible in the product photos, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a plastic thing that holds my laptop, and it was the second-cheapest I could find. Luckily it looks much better IRL (3M product photographers, you're fired!) and I couldn't be happier with it.
- Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse: This is one of the two best product Microsoft makes. Sometimes the wireless signal is a little weak, so I keep the transmitter pretty close to the mouse.
- Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard: This is the other best thing Microsoft makes. This thing literally changed my life. Highly recommended. I use it without the lift.
- 2TB Fantom GreenDrive: Huge, (relatively) affordable, quiet, pretty, good for the environment. I have a small partition for Time Machine and a bigger partition for a storage-hog of a project I've got coming up.
- JBL speakers: I don't know anything about speakers. These do the trick.
I sold my old iMac (first gen in flatscreen white plastic) and MacBook (first gen) via Mac of all Trades, with whom I have thus far had a delightful experience.
What's next on the computer/gadget front? I'm awaiting the arrival of a Dell Inspiron 1011 Netbook (3 lbs!) I bought used on eBay for bringing with me wherever at no cost to my long-suffering back. And in mid-July (after returning from a jaunt across the pond for which I want to use GSM) I'll be looking to dump the iPhone for whatever Android seems best at the time. I'm currently looking at the Samsung Moment because, frankly, I want a physical keyboard.