[melbourne-pug] [offtopic] buying advice on a macbook air

[martin schweitzer]

Hi Tennessee

Sitting in sunny cape town typing on my iPhone  .  As someone who a long
time ago drank the apple coolade I am happy to recommend the air. However
python integration has not always been smooth. In particular, apple ships
with its own version of python - and in the past I've had to do quite a bit
of googling to set up certain things (eg. Scipy). When you get your shiny
new Air, consider installing Enthought.

Regards
Martin


On Thursday, April 12, 2012, Tennessee Leeuwenburg wrote:

> Thanks Lars,
>
> I read the Air doesn't have upgradeable RAM though, so I will probably
> just pay the fortune required to get better capacity. My current laptop is
> uncomfortable on my lap already. I don't think anyone has tried to really
> tackle cooling in a way that doesn't leave the laptop a bit uncomfy after a
> while. I just go with putting it on a book or other insulator, it's "okay".
>
> I'm not fussed about the non-native feel, but it's good to know.
>
> Thanks for the info.
>
> Cheers,
> -T
>
> On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 9:57 PM, Lars Yencken <lars at yencken.org<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'lars at yencken.org');>
> > wrote:
>
>> Just chiming in with a few notes:
>>
>> > So, some questions:
>>> >   -- Is the Macbook Air a nice laptop to use?
>>>
>>
>> Macs in general are well built laptops. I use a Macbook Pro, a solid
>> machine, but several people I know have migrated from to the lighter
>> Macbook Airs, and none have complained. The only gripe I've had is that
>> when stressed, it can heat up uncomfortably on your lap. That's probably
>> the same for most laptops though.
>>
>>
>>> >   -- Does OSX support development well for Python?
>>>
>> >   -- What about other unix-like tools -- is there a decent C++
>>> compiler, standard linux libraries etc for me to be able to compile linux
>>> programs?
>>>
>>
>> OS X Lion has Python 2.7 built-in. Most people install their own though,
>> usually through one of the two prominent open source package managers you
>> can install after the fact: Homebrew and MacPorts. Homebrew builds the
>> minimum needed and is tightly integrated with the system, whereas MacPorts
>> is more isolated and installs a full unix subsystem in a prefix
>> (/opt/local).
>>
>> Overall, there's very good coverage of open source packages. If you're
>> doing a lot of work in X11, that works too, but it doesn't feel native –
>> you'll certainly notice the difference between open source tools with Mac
>> interfaces vs those that run in X11.
>>
>> >   -- What about other Apple laptops, is there a better choice?
>>>
>>
>> The MacBook Pro line at the 15" size supports i7 rather than i5
>> processors, and a higher-dpi display upgrade is available. They're
>> certainly heavier though.
>>
>>
>>>  >   -- Is there anything I should watch out for when buying my first
>>> Apple?
>>>
>>
>> Memory's not priced sensibly on the Apple store. Everyone I know buys
>> their laptop from Apple and then upgrades it with RAM from another seller
>> at better prices. This is also our practice at work.
>>
>>
>>> > I'm not in a particular rush, and the pundits seem to think there will
>>> be a new model out later this year, so I might take my time before making a
>>> purchase. But any and all advice would be much appreciated!
>>>
>>
>> As these guys have mentioned, there's a good chance a newer model is
>> coming out. Since Apple doesn't give much warning, sites like Macrumour's
>> buyer's guide <http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/> show what normal time
>> between new models coming out is. Both Macbook Pro and Macbook Airs are
>> "due" for a refresh relatively soon.
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> --------------------------------------------------
> Tennessee Leeuwenburg
> http://myownhat.blogspot.com/
> "Don't believe everything you think"
>


-- 
Martin Schweitzer
Mobile: 0412 345 938
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