new computer

[redbird]

My shiny new Macbook Air laptop has arrived, and so far I have determined that the packaging is well designed--both the shipping box and the interior box have obvious "pull here to open" tabs that worked smoothly. I'm pretty sure the box contains everything it should, but not entirely, because I have also discovered that they assume I have another computer, or at least access to one, with which to read the online-only "getting started" guide. They also assume I have a magnifying glass: the minimal printed information in the box is printed in an annoyingly small font.

Those are both valid assumptions, but it adds some friction to the process.

I bought a new computer now because I will be needing one moderately soon: this Windows box is old, I'm not sure it will support Windows 11, and I've been vaguely meaning to replace it for a couple of years. I wanted to buy a new computer before Trump's threatened tariffs affect the price and/or availabilitu of new computers. (According to DSL, my Macbook was shipped from Shanghai.) So I'm not in full "shiny new machine!" mode because I'm going to have to move a bunch of stuff from this Windows box to a machine running MacOS, and figure out in the process what I actually need or want to keep.

It's a Mac because I asked Cattitude's advice on buying a new computer, and this is what he recommended given what I use my computer for.

Comments

[ethelmay]

You probably know the trick of photographing something in small print with your phone and then enlarging at your leisure. Also works well for appliance labels in weird locations.

[bibliofile]

Congrats on your shiny new laptop! May it work well for everything you need it to.

[minoanmiss]

takes notes

[autopope]

I have a shiny new (well, 6 month old) Macbook Air and it is indeed shiny, and incredibly fast -- the fastest laptop I've ever owned, unless I thrash the CPU so hard that it overheats and needs to throttle back on speed. (Which is nearly impossible to do unless you're engaging in high definition video editing or playing a high-end game.)

Apple laptops seem to have a design life of about 7 years so this one will probably last you anything up to a decade. (I have a 2011 Macbook Pro that still fires up and runs just fine -- but it won't run the latest couple of annual OS releases or software for M-series processors, being an ancient Intel machine. If I ever want to rejuvenate it, though, it'll run Linux happily.)