Mark Eichin's OPML blog

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:02:58 GMT

My 2.5 year old 12" PowerBook (867mhz/60g/1.1G) needs upgrading. The contenders are, currently, a maxed out 12"Powerbook and a similarly maxed out Thinkpad X41 Tablet. However, there are lots of conflicts that have kept me pushing on with the existing laptop and whining about it, instead of just buying something:

Pro-either

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:31:51 GMT

I've been complaining about this one enough that I should really upgrade to something soon

I've done ok on $/year with the current one, it isn't "too soon" to replace it

Pro-x41

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:04:23 GMT

Portrait mode emacs

tablet UI looks interesting

One unified window system

source all the way down, in a way I can actually *fix* things

*might* run solaris too

I'd have full control of meta key behaviour again

maemo.org looks like a plausible web desktop

tablet mode will be nice for reading from even *without* the pen interface actually working

big batteries

builtin SD

Pro-mac

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:04:33 GMT

mac UI is smooth, apps are well integrated

just getting good at PyObjC and appscript

*some* things (ppp-over-gprs-over-bluetooth, "share this connection", iTunes Store) are nicely usable without me having to hack on anything.

I can go fondle the new machine in a local store

target-disk-mode

Anti-x41

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:04:35 GMT

IBM has one of the worst web-stores ever (ok, so I should use pcconnection instead)

A maxed out system (at *least* 60G and at *least* 1G RAM) doesn't seem to exist or be configurable; the only 60G option appears to be 512M and has been at "2 weeks shipping time" for 6 weeks or more

we don't actually *know* that the tablet will be accessible under linux

I'll spend 2-3 weeks hacking on my new environment (cloning my clipping app, and adding python support to firefox, are part of the minimum work I'd need to do to get away from the mac.)

No firewire (but that's OK if I keep the old mac around for video)

Anti-mac

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:04:38 GMT

when things fail, like the safari window ordering, there's no fixing them

X11 window-raise likewise

ITMS has left me with a bunch of music that I can't cut to mp3-discs without transcoding hassle

this mac has kind of fallen apart, the batteries are badly designed

not being able to suspend-swap batteries should have been a recall-worthy error, not a reasonable shortcut to ship it on time.

no external battery chargers (even the third-party ones don't actually fit the 12" batteries)