New (used) Lappy

God love the Buy, Sell and Trade. Got a pretty good deal on a still very current Toshiba laptop to replace my (hopefully temporarily) out of commission Satellite 5000. I'm a little torn. The new one has a faster processor, but less RAM (256MB instead of 512) and a slightly smaller HD (30 instead of 40GB) and the screen and speakers aren't as nice.

Right now the clincher is that it will boot an operating system. A CD drive that will read CD-Rs is very nice as well. And a screen hinge that take physical exertion to move, a little more reassuring than propping up the other one against a wall to use it.

Funny that every laptop I've ever owned but one was a Toshiba. From the blue-screened 286 my mom got when I was 11 to the 486 I had in high school with the really cool trackball mouse mounted on the side to the Satellite 5000 to the new one. Not for any real reason, I suppose. I don't have the active dislike for Toshiba that I do for Dell or the new HP or Compaq's consumer stuff.

It also doesn't have a memory card slot, so I'll have to remember where I put my camera cable.

The faster processor and faster RAM do make a definite difference in how fast the machine is to use. Encoding CDs in iTunes is a lot faster, even when switching it up to 192KB/s VBR AAC (the only way to go, sound-wise.)

I've basically gone form an older high-end machine to a newer low-end one. Will take a bit of getting used to, but hopefully I won't need it for much longer than my current job and I'll be able to ditch it for near what I paid for it and get an iBook. I've got some OS X software that needs writing, so that will hopefully be soooner rather than later.