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Every profession needs a toolkit, including bloggers and developers. Here is my hardware toolkit:
DIY desktop
I built my own desktop out of off the shelf parts with good performance and lots of space. I actually do more gaming and stuff like that from this machine, though I do development work as well.
Working on a desktop is more comfortable since you can lean back on a chair and you have plenty of desk space to work with. It’s also the least expensive as you don’t care about portability and you can build something that matches $3000+ laptops for only $1000.
Macbook Air
I never would have considered myself a Mac user in the past, but the battery of my previous laptop was dead. It still worked fine when plugged in, but I needed something that would be portable, as well as something a bit newer, so I have since given my laptop to charity and I decided to go for the Mac Air.
Why a Mac Air and not another cheap Dell or something like that? Even though the Air has had more of a hit to my balance sheet, There were a few reasons. Maybe Steve Jobs‘ passion has finally won me over into the dark side. 😉
Here are five things I like about the Mac Air:
- Light & portable. The Mac Air only weights a couple of pounds and it is very thin. This makes it easy to carry around.
- Mac OS-X means I can develop for iPhone without worrying about TOS violations or hacks. I am not planning to actually develop anything this instant, but I would like to learn more.
- Silent! Nothing annoys me more than a laptop with a loud fan spinning all of the time.
- Long battery life. Even when brand new my previous laptop only gave two and a half hours tops. The Mac Air can give up to 8 hours depending on what I’m doing. I’m not always next to a plug so this helps out a lot.
- Solid state drive (SSD)! This makes an unbelievable difference in terms of performance. Overall storage space is limited at 128GB, but for what I’m doing with the laptop that is still plenty. The added speed is a huge advantage, and during normal use this laptop feels as fast as my much more powerful desktop.
Surprisingly enough, the 13″ model has not proven cramped even for my large hands, though that is partly due to my forcing myself to learn to touch-type the correct way.
Android phone
When I’m not using the laptop, I’ll use my phone to catch up on emails and blog posts. Replying to comments from a phone is a bit painful, but short replies to emails and starring stuff I’d like to follow up on later works out fine.
A quick session of Angry Birds or Train Conductor 2 helps to break up the day a bit, too. For more “studious” reasons, I even have a Chinese dictionary that helps me a lot when I’m in my Mandarin courses and trying to figure something out.
Pen & paper
Yes, the low-tech world is still important, even to a developer/blogger. 😉 I use paper all of the time to keep track of quick notes and make todo lists, as well as scheme out stuff that I am thinking about, but don’t yet have in concrete-enough terms to put into words. This is especially helpful when I’m working out how to solve a problem.
Backup & sync
With all of these tools, it’s important to keep regular backups. Thanks to the suggestions of Miss T from Prairie Eco-Thrifter, I am now using Crashplan and I backup both to their cloud and to my girlfriend’s laptop.
I also use Dropbox to keep my files in sync between two machines. I don’t sync everything — only the stuff I actually need in both places. I also use Truecrypt to protect my files from theft, and it works out well so long as I remember to close the volume on my desktop before opening it on the laptop, and vice-versa.
What tools do you use to get your work done? These expenses can add up, but I find it’s better to pay a bit more and get the quality you need to do your work efficiently and effectively. This can actually help you to cut expenses in the end.
Apple can keep their OS…… I’ll take a DYI desktop running linux on a solid state drive with dropbox or ubuntu one synching my files to the cloud and my other computers any day of the week……
@The Biz of Life To each their own! 😉 I just cannot get into Linux, but maybe that’s cause I don’t really tolerate rough edges all that well and I can’t be bothered to learn the commands for different things.
That said I am really glad that Linux is there and I think it is a great environment for doing web and server development, and between it and Windows I think it is also the better choice for mobile development. I have worked with it many times in the past for just these reasons. It’s just using it as a user desktop that I just can’t seem to bring myself to do.
@The Biz of Life Oh, and the whole hardware compatibility thing — this is probably the biggest deal breaker for me.
Nice – I haven’t made the switch with my laptop, mainly because I can buy a laptop for half of the price that will last 2-4 years. So, if I buy two decent laptops, it should outlast 1 great apple for the same price. That’s my reasoning so far. I did buy a IPAD to have a 2nd “computer” and for travel, that has come in handy and I love it.
@Corey PITR That is true. The biggest different is really with the software and not necessarily the hardware, though the overall construction is very good, too. This is a light laptop, and the SSD, while not cheap, makes a huge difference in performance.
I have not yet bought a tablet, but if I did I would most likely get an iPad. I love Android, but the tablets are mostly garbage. It’s all about specs and not about quality or user experience.
Great post IIW! I agree, using a smartphone for replying to comments is painful. Speaking of Apple, I heard they have more cash than it would take to bail out Greece. That is some serious cash. So amazing to walk past an apple store and see it packed, time and time again.
@World of Finance Haha, yeah, it’s incredible what a company can achieve when they actually add value to consumers. There are some practices of Apple that I don’t like, but I am happy that they are there and I hope they gain market share so that they can increase the pressure on Android, which will ultimately prevent Google from resting on their laurels and force them to continue their rapid cycles of improvement and innovation.
Did you look at the smaller MBA as well ? I’ve got a netbook I’ve got to replace eventually, and that’s the one I’m eying, as of right now.
@PKamp3 It was less expensive but I thought that would be just too small for me! 13″ is a great size… I thought even that would be too small but after using it for a while I think it’s just fine.
There should be a lot more laptop options on the 2nd half of this year. Intel is pushing ultrabooks and they should bring down the price of thin and light laptops quite a bit. I haven’t been able to talk myself into paying the Apple premium. 🙂
@retirebyforty I honestly don’t mind that I paid the Apple premium. This Mac Air is far less frustrating than my Dell was, and if I get stuck on something, a quick Google search reveals the efficient way to do things. I didn’t know how easy it was to drag/select until I found out that you can multi-touch and press with the thumb, and drag with a second finger. Try doing that on any regular touch pad! I hated using these things until the Mac Air!
Apple just puts an extra touch of quality into everything, and while I will not switch everything over, I am appreciating it and seeing the value. 😉
Why a macbook but no iPhone?
@MJTM I know how to develop on Android and I got a phone back in April. It’s too early to switch but my next phone will probably be an iPhone. I am not that impressed with the software quality of the newest Android tablets and devices, though there are improvements. The “Android lag” is still there, and devices rebooting or encountering graphical corruption is just unacceptable!
I still love Android even in spite of these flaws, but I’d like to try something else and also be a bit more diversified.
MacBook was my best purchase as well – I never thought I would like it as much as I do and now I’m in envy of your MacBook Air 🙂
MacBook was my best purchase as well – I never thought I would like it as much as I do and now I’m in envy of your MacBook Air 🙂
I use my iphone as well remember the milk to get things done on my blog. They are both mobile which is really handy. I also use dropbox.
Glad to hear you are liking crashplan. We just got my dad set up on it too.
@prairieecothrif Crashplan has been really great so far. I also combine with Dropbox for syncing some stuff and it works well. 🙂
I like that “pen and paper” made the list. I use that one quite often. I also agree on the Android Phone. Along the lines of Angry Birds or Train Conductor, download “Stupid Zombies”. It’s a good one!
@MyMoneyDesign Yeah until we get really good digital paper and ink, the traditional stuff will stay around for a while. For some tasks, nothing beats it!
I just downloaded Stupid Zombies and am gonna check it out… thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Ever tried using a dual monitor? I couldn’t live without it. It makes working so much more comfortable and productive!
I use a widescreen laptop as one monitor and then a 25in flat screen for the other. If I didn’t travel, I’d just replace the laptop with a desktop so I could do a TRIPLE monitor….maybe someday!
@Geoff I recently switched to a dual monitor setup at work a few months ago, and it made a big difference in productivity! It would be hard to switch back, but I really like the virtual desktops of the Mac Air as well. A simple three-finger swipe and it’s as if you had multiple monitors. Not quite the same but pretty good for a portable laptop!
Well I didn’t build the case from scratch! I am not that good, haha.
I have a couple of computers lying around, so I am not a total convert. I don’t agree with the Apple fanboys and I don’t see the need to be a fanboy of either — I think that is silly. But, if it does the job and you like it, why not? 😉
I recently changed over to a new MacBook Pro and an iPad2. I considered the Air as well, but since it was going to be the main computer I wanted the feature of a CD drive and more HD space.
@101centavos Ah for a main machine I would have gone for that as well, but when I checked out the Macbook pro I figured the air would probably be a more portable choice, and a more affordable one for me too 😉 My main machine is a windows/linux dual boot and actually cost me less than my Macbook Air though it is far more powerful, and even though I mentioned to @The Biz of Life below that I don’t like linux as my main desktop, I do like it when I feel like developing or for certain tasks.
I am really happy with the Macbook Air now, and the desktop is suiting me pretty well too. I really like that there is much less lockdown these days — with the openness of the web and of open standards, it becomes a choice of platform, and you can swap in and out of different platforms as you prefer.
Dropbox is a super valuable tool and dropbox is really convenient. Ive been using these along with a few others to manage projects. I discuss a few of the tools over in my team science post. I’ve been thinking of buying a new Mac Desktop for my major computing and an air for my lighter stuff… my MacBook is great but at 4 years of service its starting to feel the burn even though I’ve upgraded the RAM and removed most of the stuff I don’t need all the time. Hopefully, a grant will cover new equipment costs (one of the few perks of being academia).
I am really liking the air, and Dropbox + CrashPlan is working out to be a really great combo for me. Thx for sharing!
I backup my WordPress blog on a daily basis. I don’t want to take any chances.
Good idea; I have been wondering about those online backup services that can also do your sites. I just wonder about trusting them with the access credentials as that seems like a security risk.