This is the first in a 3 part series of blog posts describing my computer setup.
- This one will be about the hard ware and OS.
- The second will be about the applications and tools
- The third will be about my environment.
So to start off, I’ll describe what I used to have:
A 15.4″ Sony Vaio VGN-FS315M that was given to me for Christmas ’05, just before I turned 16. Here are some of the specs that I found after a quick search (I don’t remember them by heart 
)
- Intel Pentium-M Centrino 740 Processor 1.73GHz
- 512MB DDRII SDRAM
- 80GB Hard Drive
- DVD Dual Layer Drive (read/write cd/dvd)
- 15.4″ XGA Widescreen TFT Screen
- NVIDIA GeForce Go 6400 with TurboCache supporting 128MB
- Integrated W/Lan 802.11b/g
- 3 USB 2.0 Sockets
- 4-pin Firewire (IEEE 1394) Port
- 2.85kg/6.28lbs
- Windows XP Home
That came pre-installed with Windows XP which I replaced with Fedora 6 about a year later (The fact that they’re on Fedora 12 now makes me feel old). I used Fedora for a while and then moved to Ubuntu 7.04 which I stuck with up until about a year ago (obviously I upgraded each time a new release came out).
Then one morning, out of the blue, my laptop just fell over and died. She just completely refused to power on. The quality of the battery was pretty shit and I ended up getting about 10mins per charge by the end of its life. That’s not why it died however, from what I can tell, the power connection to the motherboard went. While I’m sure it’s a simple enough fix for anyone who wants to take it apart, I used it as the perfect excuse to buy a new laptop.
Luckily a few months previous to my Vaio dying, I had bought a little Acer Aspire One. Something to save myself the backache of lugging such a behemoth of a 3KG laptop into college every day. I got the Acer Aspire One ZG5 model. Here are some of it’s specs:
- 8 gig SSD
- 512MB RAM
- 3 Cell Battery
- 1KG/2.2lbs
- 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 LCD
- Linpus Linux
- 1.6GHz Atom Processor
- 3 USB 2.0
- SD Card slot
As you can see, that little munchkin was nearly as powerful as my 3 year old laptop, and at about a half to the third of the weight. The battery wasn’t all that good, so I ended up splashing out on a lovely 9 cell battery which lasts about 8 hours.
Originally it came with Linpus Linux, a specialised brand of Fedora which Acer used for the device. I tried the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and kept switching between that and the original Linpus. Eventually I settled on Jolicloud which is a Linux distro based on Ubuntu but which is specialised for netbooks. At the moment I’m toying with the idea of using it as a test machine for Linux from Scratch, but that depends on how much time I’ll have for fun over the summer.
So finally we come to my current and most favouritest laptop. My lovely Unibody MacBook Pro 13.3″.
- Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
- OSX 10.6.3 Snow Leopard (64bit)
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz
- 4GB RAM
- 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
- 13.3″ Glossy Screen 1280×800
- Bluetooth/iSight-Camera
- Slot Loading DVD Drive
- 1 Firewire
- 2 USB 2.0
- SD Card Slot
- Backlit Keyboard
- MagSafe Power adapter/7-8 hours battery
I got this last October when my Vaio Died, and it was the perfect replacement. In fact it wasn’t even a replacement, it was just better in every way. I could rant and rave about how good it is, but I’ll just say this. It’s a very well designed and well constructed laptop. It’s solid and sturdy while being sleek and sexy. Its fast enough to do pretty much everything I want, and the battery lasts long enough to get me through the day.
As for the operating system. I currently triple boot: OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard, Windows 7 Professional and Ubuntu 10.4 Karmic Koala (all 64bit). I’ve also got a virtual box running XP for testing and messing around. Now you’re going to ask the question… Why triple boot? Well I use Snow Leopard as my default operating system. The one I boot into every day and use most of the time. I just feel that since Apple is so in control of the hardware and software and they’re coupled together so well, why not use it to its full potential. I also see a huge gain in battery life when I run OS X as opposed to Windows or Linux. But I suppose thats to be expected.
I use Windows 7 for a couple of reasons, firstly because some things only run on Windows, and some of my college courses require Windows-only programs. Also because Windows 7 is actually fun to use at times. It’s come so far from Vista, and its pretty much on par with Mac and Linux. Also I managed to get Windows 7 Professional for free from college, so why not run it?
That just leaves linux. And I’m sure most of you are asking why the hell would I run Linux when I have the other two there too? Well If you look at my previous two laptops, you’ll realise that I’ve been using Linux for most of the time I’ve been using a computer. Its what I’m most familiar in, and its where I got my nerd cred. I like using it and I think it needs some support. I also just want the experience of using Linux so that I have a well rounded computer experince and I’m exposed to everything. I don’t want to only do things the “Mac” way, or the “Windows” or even the “Linux” way. I give everything a chance, and thus I have the best most well rounded experience and opinion.As for what I’ve learned from this? Well,
- I prefer *nix systems, by far. I don’t even know why. Maybe its just that I know them. But I just prefer how they run, and how work.
- Being a OS bigot or fanboy is a complete waste of time. At this stage they’re all roughly similar. Each has its specialty, and each is focused at a different market, and to each their own. Use whatever you feel like, but don’t just stick with what you’re used to. Give something else a shot and you might just find you like it more.
- Batteries are a bitch. Make sure you have back-ups, and always bring your charger. Yes I realise I just bought a Unibody Mac which means the battery can’t be removed. But so far the battery has been excellent.
- Out of all of the OS’s I have run so far, Snow Leopard is my favourite. But only by a hair. Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.4 are on pretty even footing with Mac. They all work very well and look pretty and do pretty much everything I need them to do. But Mac just edges the other two out by a fraction. But hey, thats just my subjective opinion.
So that’s my set-up. Hopefully it’ll inspire some people to post theirs, or maybe give me some tips on where I went wrong.