I'd go AC on the mbp, much easier to just be able to bring it into a nearby (presumably) Apple store and have it serviced right there instead of having to ship it out.

I've never gotten applecare because 90% of what can go wrong I can fix. The cost is fairly high for what you get, and odds are good anything that will break will break in the first year. Things that break later are likely gonna be covered by a recall or easily fixable.

My experience has been the complete opposite of Grawk's. I'm not able to repair laptops, and my 2008 MB had a substantial rebuild midway through last year. I got a new keyboard, new trackpad, new motherboard (ya rly, the FW port died) and some cosmetic repairs as well. AppleCare more than paid for itself in that instance.

Oh, hey. A new version of Clementine came out when I wasn't looking. It is by far my favorite way to play back FLACs on OSX. Download link can be found here.

http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/11/27/new-macbook-pro-coming-in-april-2011-with-macbook-air-features-new-rumors-say-next-gen-macbook-pro-to-sport-light-peak-support-ssd-no-dvd/

I felt comfortable fixing my iMac (and that has turned out to be true) but elected for applecare on the macbook pro.

the iMac, by virtue of living on my desk, is not really in danger of anything other than part failure. Parts I can replace with confidence. The MBP is subject to a whole host of other things, due to its mobile nature, so I played it safe.

Applecare doesn't cover most of the things that make a laptop more at risk than a desktop...

It's pretty cheap insurance on the keyboard and hinges, both of which had to be replace on my macbook after about 16mo. And lots of people simply don't feel comfortable working on computers/laptops. Me, I'll work on desktops all day, laptops, no thanks. For me, who loves taking things apart and building things the itty bitty bullshit screws used in most laptops are an invitation for anger.

I replaced my topcase (keyboard) 3G on my MacBook but the new design fixed that problem.

Ayrewave is now Decibel it seems. Wonder what happened. Seems to be working quite well at b10.

I could use a good bandwidth monitoring app. Something that will track my monthly usage. Any suggestions?

I have "iStat" but I'm not sure it does monthly.

http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

I think I see a MBA in my future: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/11/macbook-air-sandy-bridge-update-in-june/

Great news! If that's true, I might go for a 11" MBA, the form factor is awesome.

I have to say... that is tempting even me.

I was super close to getting the MBA twice this week but I am not traveling a lot until this summer so I am going to wait and see if this refresh really happens. 11 incher is definitely the move.

Ayrewave is now Decibel it seems. Wonder what happened. Seems to be working quite well at b10.

Probably changed because it was an obvious and idiotic trademark infringement.

I want an MBA. A lot.

Wait for June, impatient monkey.

Impatient Monkey is impatient.

But I also want/"need" a new iMac. I guess it's kind of decision time. I find it hard to justify an MBA when I have the iPad and a netbook. And I absolutely love the BIG screen on the iMacs, so maybe I should just do that.

Or buy it all.

Forget an iMac, you need a 12 core Mac Pro and dual 27" screens... silly monkey.

Edited February 11, 201115 yr by shellylh

i agree with shelly here. i find desktops increasingly cumbersome in the days of docking stations and dual monitors. so much nicer to be able to just unplug and take your crap everywhere you go without having to worry about file sync issues. big piss off for me back when i had a desktop was doing something at home and then not having access to it at school etc.

i agree with shelly here. i find desktops increasingly cumbersome in the days of docking stations and dual monitors. so much nicer to be able to just unplug and take your crap everywhere you go without having to worry about file sync issues. big piss off for me back when i had a desktop was doing something at home and then not having access to it at school etc.

This is how I worked for a few years now and loved it...... docking station with backup drives at home and work, and carry the 15" laptop with me at all times. I used to have a monitor connected to each docking station, but don't have that now in Canadialand which is a bit annoying.

But now that this laptop is getting long in the tooth and close to needing replacing, I'm not so sure anymore. Desktop and netbook prices have fallen far quicker than mobile workstations have. So I keep feeling that I might be better off with a powerful desktop at one location, bump up my internet connectivity, and go with a cheaper/smaller mobile option for VPN and/or VNC.

I've always despised docking stations.

I've always despised docking stations.

The HP ones I have now are awesome. I used to have them hooked up to a mouse, keyboard, network, USB DAC, power, external optical drive and 2nd monitor. I just dropped the laptop on and had a full desktop setup. And for work, they even have an integrated Kensington lock that prevents the laptop from being removed.

I think its a real shame more laptops don't have docking connectors.