MacBook!

On the 1st of January, 2008, I ordered a new MacBook! Woo!

I've held off for months because:

• It's a lot of money.
• Which should I get?
• Need to upgrade my servers first.
• Want to replace the family PC with a Mac Mini.
• Aren't there new ones due out soon?

Well, on the last point there are always going to be new models due "soon". I'm sure they'll be out now I've paid the money and the current MacBook range is getting on for nearly two years old, but to be honest, I've realised that I don't care... I want a new Mac.

After a lot of deliberation, I've gone for the basic MacBook 13.1", white, 2GHz, no extras but for a VGA adaptor (yes, my monitor is DVI, but my Linux workstation uses the DVI - the monitor has a free VGA port and VGA works everywhere in stuff like projectors).

The fact is that even the basic model is going to be a huge step up from my current Powerbook G4 12". I have the model that just scraped through for running Leopard - 867MHz. In terms of memory and HD, I am happy to keep it at 1GB and 60GB for now and anyway, I work at a computer company that also retails this stuff. I can do the upgrades myself in the future for a fraction of the cost that Apple charges.

I can't wait :-)

The ordering process:
Buying direct from Apple is fairly painless, so far. I placed the order late in the day on the 1st. It was despatched on the 4th, a Friday - Apple's estimated despatch/delivery dates seem very pessimistic and quoted more than a week for just despatch. I'm now waiting for delivery (it's Sunday), with Apple quoting 'before this coming Friday'. I'm hoping for Monday or Tuesday.

The quality of the account/tracking/order history pages of the Apple site does leave something to be desired. I can't track the order with the courier - I have a code, but no information on who that code is for! I've tried all major courier's websites with no luck. Surprisingly the Apple site in the order/account side feels quite cheap, after the fantastic experience it gave up to actually placing the order. Silly things like inconsistent fonts, lack of a logout button, stuff like that. I suspect the UK version has been custom written on the cheap and is significantly different to the USA version, but I have no evidence.