No. I'm not switching to PCs. But my Powerbook's hard drive crashed out last week and I had just ordered a cheap Compaq Presario Build-to-order notebook for testing purposes so I can make sure my Studio Manager product runs flawlessly on a PC. Since it arrived and I'm still sorting things with the Powerbook, I'm spending my time getting this PC to work for me temporarily.
I've already been assured that Applecare will replace the drive but I'm exploring possible ways of recovering data first - just in case I can. The problem is that my one good backup was on an external drive which somehow managed to also fail 4 days after my Powerbook drive failed, so now I don't have a full backup worth much. Next time I'll make 2 backups to 2 different drives. I'm learning my lesson. That's what happens when you haven't had a crash in years. Complacency sets in. Ouch!
Wake up call. So, right after my second backup crashed, my new Compaq Presario v2000z thin and light notebook arrived. It's got a 14" wide screen with 1280 x 768. By the way, one reason I got the notebook is because using my old desktop PC set in a corner on the floor with the monitor on a bookshelf nearby is such a pain. I want it out of the way because I only use it occasionally, but then it isn't convenient when I do need it. A notebook PC will be very easy to use whenever I want and still not take up valuable desk real estate when not in use.
The Presario's screen is bright and sharp like I expect the new Apple Powerbooks to be (hoping for next week). By the way, the rumor is that a higher resolution Powerbook will be part of Steve Job's *one more thing* press event on October 12th.
The type is often decent. Some fonts look bad but others look quite good. This is the first time I've ever thought that looking at a PC screen. Aesthetics are very important to me, so this is going to make my next few days without my Powerbook more bearable.
The Presario has an AMD Turion 64 that's supposedly running at 1.6 gigahertz but, anymore, I have no idea how that compares with Intel or Mac. Things have gotten complicated in the megahertz wars and I didn't take the time to sort that one out because I can easily get carried away on research in a situation like this. I just went with the hunch that I could still get more bang for my buck using an AMD rather than a Pentium.
There was a deal at my local Office Depot for a PC Notebook for $399 (after $300 in rebates). And you could custom order to add or change it quite a bit. I liked buying local, getting XP Pro on a cheap machine and getting Office Basic for $100, so I went for it. Here's what I did based on my recollection since I lost my spreadsheet in the hard drive crash:
Changed 256 mb to a single-slot 512 mb RAM - $75
Changed 40 gigs at 4200 rpm to 60 gigs at 5400 rpm - $75
Added a slot for an SD card - $25
Added Bluetooth for - $20 - at that price I couldn't resist
Got Office Basic with Excel, Word and Outlook - $100
Got XP Professional instead of Home - $79
Got a 2 year warranty - $175
Shipping added another $45
It was around $900 plus tax and warranty. The thing weighs about 5-1/2 pounds I think. And it feels kinds of tinny and flimsy - not nearly as solid as my Powerbook. But the keyboard is nice. And it looks 70% as good as the Powerbook -- maybe. But, I bought a pretty cheap machine here. I'm getting more specs but less quality. But I think, for the most part, the quality is pretty good -- adequate. I figured I would enjoy the machine more and not neglect PC testing if it was fairly full-featured but I couldn't justify spending $1800 - $2500 to get something really cool. I need that extra money for my next Mac.
Even though I've had about 6 PCs as occasional use machines over the years, I still don't really know a lot about PCs. I can get around but I get frustrated trying to find how to do things. How to get things that I need to work. And I was worried about spyware and such.
Luckily, I have a friend and colleague, Keith Parker, who is a major PC expert/consultant and he did a makeover on my PC's default settings and got me all set-up. Now, Keith can bail me out from a distance if I get into trouble by remotely accessing my machine. And he got me connected to my Airport basestation so I have wi-fi working. Apple's Windows version of Airport software worked fine.
I went over to Keith's home office for all this where he has two Windows Servers and a lot of PC firepower including a T1 line. I was dazzled with the things he could do with his PCs communicating back and forth. Keith said he thought the depth of Microsoft's Server tools were much better than what Apple has. And, I have no doubt that is currently true. Afterall, Microsoft has a ton of people compared to Apple and they are very well-established in the Corporate market where server software is a major feature.
Under Keith's wing, I expect to have a pretty decent experience using this Presario for the next couple of weeks. Of course, most of my data is on my G5 and all my cool software is there, so I'll be spending about 1/2 my time on the G5 and 1/2 on the Presario. I'll let you know if I have further comments.