My Newer (But Still Old) MacBook Pro

Right in the middle of Christmas shopping, and other holiday obligations, I developed an obsession with replacing my decrepit first Mac, an old PowerBook G4 15. It was in its day--January 2005--a top of the line machine. But bargain basement PCs of the same era could run rings around it. The whole point of getting a Mac laptop was to learn it, particularly the Adobe suite of graphics software. With the PowerBook's slowness, it just wasn't possible.

Yes, Travis, this is the one I got. Yours is better. Got it.

So, I was on a quest. I didn't want a $1000 - $2500 system, especially not so recently after my $800 PC purchase. So, my eBay quest was for a MacBook Pro before the redesign of late 2008. Those are insanely  expensive for used computers. So, the target window was 2006-2008. I lost several sales, and was relieved when I started to notice the processor speeds. But I got a little obsessed, and put a bid on one with everything I wanted, but had a few flaws.

I panicked when nobody bid against me in the waning minutes of the auction. But once it sunk in that I'd won it, I made a plan. I posted my old Mac, my old PC laptop and some software on eBay, and they ended up selling for almost the same amount as what I paid. Wonderful. I tracked the shipment, and was dismayed when it arrived in Las Vegas on Friday night, but would not arrive until Monday.

But now it's Monday! My computer arrived and, a) the flaws in the finish were much less objectionable than they'd appeared in the photo, b) the computer is much, much faster than the old one, c) the computer has much more software on it than advertised, d) the power cable was brand new, and gleaming white, and e) it has un-advertised flaw: some bright-spots in the display that look like eyeball floaters.

I think I'll get used to  them, but it's slightly irritating. It is outweighed though, by the improvement over the old one! Here I am, blogging. That was nearly impossible with the old one. Should even an aging top-of-the-line Mac fail at blogging? Well, what a difference three years makes, I guess. It makes me wonder though, if this one will become a doorstop in three more years. Guess I'll find out.

SIDEBAR: This is an aside to any Cult of Mac-ers out there. My quest for a new(er) Mac was very, very illuminating. It would seem that Macs are not immune to problems. In fact, the number of damaged, broken, troubled used Macs for sale online is higher than the good ones. Screen troubles, drive troubles, clasp troubles, battery troubles, "for parts only". . . Apple's dirty secret is out! Not only that, their users have a habit of denting, breaking and just basically knocking the crap out of their computers!  And then they want the frickin' moon when it comes to resale value!

And then there was my attempt to make a CD-backup of Lion after I installed it. I went to several sites, all of which told me to find the Lion Installer program. Which doesn't exist. This process is--so far--exactly like trying to do a similar thing on a PC. Except, on a PC I generally know what to do!