Nothing Really Poignant - James in Taiwan

The day after the Apple Keynote, everyone in the office asked me “So are you pre-ordering one yet?”  Well I guess the word is out that I am an apple FanBoy, but i need to be honest, I still don’t know how I feel about it.

Don’t get me wrong - it isn’t the price. I’ve shelved over more for my lovely Vaio Z1 of yesteryear.  I even think after the memory upgrades, California tax and all my current MacBook was as expensive.  I even have been saving some money for the past 6 months just for this purpose. So it isn’t price - it is something else though.

At first I thought it was the non-removable battery, but it turns out that it is trivial to replace. Some people complain about the lack of a CD/DVD drive, but honestly my IBM X40 didn’t have one and I never missed it. Some people complain about the lack of ethernet, but I think the USB Ethernet adapter is just fine since I only use a wire in the office and I would probably leave it permanently attached to my ethernet cable on my desk. What about when I travel - well I have an extra AirPort Express that I can throw in the bag.  I am not complaining about the size either, the screen is big enough and who’t want a lighter laptop?

So what is bothering me then? Well, I think it is the speed. I really want it to REPLACE my primary computer, and right now the benchmark tests say it falls far behind my consumer grade laptop. On-board video isn’t the problem, but I really would want it to be my primary machine, and I think the speed would really bother me.  I have a 2.0 Core 2 Duo now, and I at least would want the same in my replacement.  Maybe they bumped the processors up too fast in the entry level laptops because I want speed and the small size and can care less about ethernet and the optical drive.

OK - I will probably end up buying one anyway, so I shouldn’t complain too much - but please, oh please bump up the speed a bit.  Anyone else feel the same?