(disclaimer: i've hated hardware since about the age of 15 and i hate trying to keep up with it.)

i have a 13" MacBook 2Ghz 2GB, bought b/c i had to. to date, i'm hardly impressed.

i basically run Firefox w/ 6-7 tabs, Thunderbird (lots of email), and TextEdit non-stop; OpenOffice, GIMP, Iphone SDK, Terminal, & Text Wrangler open/close when i need them.

after 6 hours, my computer is doing disk swaps. after 1 day, the computer crawls. after 2 days, i'd like to throw it against the wall.


my questions:

- is it unreasonable to have a top of the line Mac running for a few days w/o issue?

- i know Firefox/Thunderbird are bloated POSs - is there a combo that is markedly faster, while providing roughly the same functionality?

- how much of an improvement will a MacBook Pro 15" 2.8GHz 4GB make compared to my current set-up?

- will i even notice a 3.06GHz over 2.8GHz w/ my general application? (i assume no since i'm not really doing anything processor-intensive like Photoshop, etc.)

- i assume i should max it out to 8GB (to help fight the disk swaps, if nothing else)

- i don't care about HD space - how much of an impact will a 128GB SSD have during disk swaps? anectodotal and measured results are appreciated for this very particular "application". this could be the selling point for me if it's night & day.


a 2.8GHz 8MB 128GB SSD specs out to $3300 w/ tax - i can probably sell my computer for $500 - so will i be $2800 happier?

- chuck

 

You should PM Simba bro. He knows all in all matters Apple.

 

don't ask me, 'cause I "just don't get It" ...

 

Get a Windows machine. Maybe a HP. Had to be said.

 

i need an apple unfortunately.

anyone?


- chuck

 

I have had alot of windows and mac machines recent- currently an Air, prior a 15" Macbook pro.

The processor speed difference will be minimal, the 128GB SSD is nice I run this currently.

The RAM will have a bearing as it does on any computer if you open and run intensive programs like photoshop but I always max my RAM on any machine it runs better with multiple applications being opened and closed.

Running the machine all the time has no bearing at least it should not.

Thats as much as I can give you. BTW I use Firefox and Entourage on my MAC at home.

 

Oh, you never do actual work?

 

Linux.

 

Truthfully I used to run an iBook G4 non-stop without issue. Probably days at a time. Not sure why you're having issues with what is supposed to be a superior machine.

 

Are you our Romanian sys admin by chance? I swear to God everytime we talk computer he jumps in and gloats about his goddam servers' uptime and how Linux rules.
Linux sucks.