canyonwalker: wiseguy (Default)
[personal profile] canyonwalker
I've mentioned a handful of times recently that I've been working at my current employer for just over 4 years now. (It was 4 years in July.) One prerogative that came with my 4th anniversary was being able to replace my work laptop. I held off on requesting a new machine for a few months even though my old one is fairly dilapidated. The battery dies after 30 minutes, the keyboard sticks and repeats, and the CPU and RAM aren't really up to snuff for what I need today. Well, I did finally put in a request for a new computer about a month ago. Today, it arrived.

New Work Computer Arrives (Dec 2021)

Of course it could have arrived yesterday but after FedEx telling me it would be delivered by 9:05am the driver finally came at about 1:35pm— during the one brief period of the day I was out of the house. Signature required, etc., so back in the truck it went. Today it was "delivery by 9:05am" again, and this time I made sure to be ready to dash to the front door all day— not even taking a shower for fear that the driver would knock and leave during a quick, 10 minute wash!

New work computer arrives - old computer in background (Dec 2021)

My new computer is a MacBook Pro 14". It's the new model with an M1 Pro CPU. I got mine up-spec'ed with 32GB of RAM. I need that for the 60-70 browser tabs I have open at any one time between 6 windows. 🤯 (No I'm not exaggerating.)

Getting this computer was the method to my madness in putting up with my old machine for a few months longer than strictly necessary. If I'd requested a new computer in August I'd have gotten an older MacBook Pro, with an older chipset. Possibly I would even have gotten a hand-me-down (used) computer from someone who'd left the company. I waited a few months until not only were we in a hiring upswing (so used computers would all be used up) but until the new MacBook Pros were launched. 🎉

Ports is Ports

One thing I like about the new MacBook Pros is that they have real ports again.

New MacBook Pro has PORTS! (Dec 2021)

For several years Apple laptops have offered only USB-C ports, which meant using an adapter dongle was a constant necessity. I wrote about this nuisance a year ago; it's what's been making me reluctant to replace my personal computer, a MacBook Air.

This new MacBook Pro has a total of 3 USB-C ports but also has a dedicated MagSafe power port, a dedicated HDMI jack (pictured), and an SD card slot (pictured). The SD slot I don't care about for this machine— though I'm holding out hope Apple includes one in the next version of the Air— but the dedicated power and HDMI jacks are very convenient. Those two mean that I'll go from 99% of the time having to attach a dongle to 99% of the time not needing a dongle. Woohoo! 🎉

Date: 2021-12-10 08:30 am (UTC)
some_other_dave: (Default)
From: [personal profile] some_other_dave
Yup, I've ordered mine. I think I went with the larger version, but otherwise the same.

Physically, my computer is still working fine. But a lot of programs no longer support the OS that I'm running, and I do not want to go up a whole major release. Not only am I concerned that my old machine might not have the power to run it adequately, but the storage on this thing is pretty full and I doubt I have enough free space to install the newer OS versions.

So I basically did the same calculations you have, and came to a similar conclusion. Except that I just ordered it last week, and it will be another couple of months before it gets delivered.

Date: 2021-12-10 05:29 pm (UTC)
some_other_dave: (Default)
From: [personal profile] some_other_dave
Yup, the Pro. I wanted the ports, and I don't think the size and weight will be any real issue. I lugged a Pro around for a good while with a couple of previous jobs, after all.

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canyonwalker

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