buy now

Feeling it was time I supplemented my 7 year old PowerBook before anything went wrong with it (I need it for my old CAD work in an OS9 only prog), I did a basic web search. 17" MacBook pros seemed much cheaper than my preferred 15" for some reason.

Reason was that they migrated from UK 'collect for cash', via shell company or imitation web-site to pay cash into Romanian bank account and it will arrive soon. huh.

Looking at MacBook pro (rrp £1600) generally and including Ebay, it seemed one could probably improve on Appleshop warranty reconditioned models at £1100. Not mean, but on basic pension and shooting holes in life savings. Watching and even occasionally bidding at ebay auctions, they were always won by someone first arriving in last 20 secs of bidding and in some cases paying £100-£150 over the £900 I thought sensible for a good spec machine a few months old.

The Nth ebay search came up with "Exchange Masters" shop in SW London with new at £1000 and a still-in-warranty one at £900, 'buy now' or "off of ebay", own website, phone lines etc. Spoke to nice guys on landline about fine details 5.30ish and ordered. Here next morning but one.

After one choice and an OK, let new and old chat among themselves over firewire cable for a bit then normal log-in screen with name and password as old computer. Next, the amusing bit, immaculate set of menus, system prefs etc etc in POLISH. Know enough to get to language list, everything for orient express, Trans-Siberian railway with connections from Vladivostok to China, Japan, and return via India, but nie ma Angielski. So maybe the reason for no original box or paper manual!

A tiny bit more poking about at every flag in sight and a gradual and grudging English transformation. Then the really good bit, the new box has absorbed all files, progs, prefs, bookmarks, recents and last time I coughed from old computer. Call to Applecare trying to ID what I thought was tail end of 3 year extended warranty revealed it is only 3 months old and within new warranty. Looks unused.

Prices may seem outrageous by PC standards, but can your 7 year old PC laptop run CS3 and NX2, read 20 year old Atari files and fit into pocket of daybag? Not to mention airport, bluetooth, 1440x900 top quality screen, video conferencing camera and spare tissues included. Apparently now macs will also take an XP or Vista CD then work as a PC as well (though can't yet imagine wanting to). Is it the same with an Intel core 2 duo PC running Vista, just buy MacLeopard and away?

Had been dreading OS10.5 after spewing up over 10.4 with microsquit blue appearing here and there, but it seems that must have been an emergency 'bridge' OS as 10.1 had been. 10.5 has grey translucent menu line, making NX2 grey seem at home instead of grating as on 10.4. All the bullshit in Leopard previews is strictly optional and unobtrusive. At 2.4 GH macBook is nominally no faster than the XP-PC I first tried NX2 out on, where I could detect no speed improvement on my 1GH powerbook. On macBook NX2 is at home and hardly recognisable as far as speed goes plus 'help' system which really does. Nikon programmers had evidently done their homework on OS10.5 + unix - hope they have on Vista for the rest of you guys. Who knows, I could perhaps even face CS3 with equanimity.