By Gordon Meyer (P3GizmoGuy@gmail.com)

Antiques can be a lot of fun, except when you’re talking about continuing to use old computers as productivity tools.  Let’s talk about obsolescence.  Lots of folks out there define obsolescence as a technology that’s no longer state of the art.  They’re the ones who’ll tell you that technology changes so rapidly that even a brand new computer is already obsolete by the time you crack the box open.  Horsefeathers! (I’d use a stronger word here that begins with a “B”, but this IS a family friendly publication, after all.)

Back in the day when I sold computers for a living, I used to advise my customers two things:

1)    In spite of technology changes, a computer is only obsolete when it can’t run the software you need to use.

2)    If you get 3-5 years of productive use out of your computer before upgrading to something new, you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

I’ve been using my Compaq Presario desktop system for about 8 years now, which makes it an antique as computers go.  It also means that by both of the points I just made, it’s definitely time to retire it and get something a bit more current.  As I go through my shopping process, you get to come along for the ride.

The first thing you have to do is determine how you normally use your computer and then pull out your crystal ball to get an idea of how you’re likely to use your computer for the next 2-3 years.

The first decision I decided to make was do I want a laptop or another desktop system?  Ideally, I’d have one of each. 

Desktop systems tend to cost less than laptops with comparable horsepower and they’re much easier to upgrade with things like bigger hard drives, more RAM, etc.  More to the point, if I get into heavy duty editing, there are a wide variety of video capture cards I can install in a desktop that aren’t available for laptops.  The down side is that a desktop is a stationary system that’s not intended to be moved from location to location.

While you pay a premium at the register for the portability of a laptop, part of what you’re paying for is portability.  It’s frankly nice to be able to take a laptop to a library or a Starbucks and be able to web surf. 

For me, in addition to the basics of email, writing and editing documents and scripts, maintaining simple databases and spreadsheets and the occasional Power Point presentation, I anticipate using my computer to edit video including slick graphics and possibly a bit of web development.  I also want something I can take with me on the road when need be.

I’m in discussions right now to co-write and co-produce a low budget thriller that will be shot in Florida fairly soon.  I don’t need to tell you folks how critical it is to have a good computer on location, whether it’s for on-set re-writes or revising production charts or even doing rough assembly of the footage on-set.

So, if I have to choose between a laptop and a desktop system, a laptop system makes the most sense for me. 

The next question is, PC or Mac?

Initially I was leaning towards one of the new generation of MacBooks.  Now I’ve always been a PC user, dating back to the days of (gasp!) MS-DOS.  All my software is Windows based.  But let’s face it.  It would be nice to be able to use Final Cut Pro.  And, with Macs now capable of running both Apple’s operating system and Windows, you can get the best of both worlds on the new Macs, right?

Not exactly.  A good buddy of mine has an Intel-based iMac that I use from time to time.  He’s also got one of those programs that will let him run a virtual Windows computer in a window on his Mac.  While that works fine most of the time, there are programs and hardware devices (like some brands of slide/photo negative scanners) that are Windows-only and won’t work on a dual system Mac.

Here’s the other thing.  I want to be able to edit and burn my own Blu-ray discs.  There are a growing number of PC laptop vendors like HP and Dell who offer the option of a built-in BD burner that’s also backwards compatible with DVDs and CDs as read/write devices.  Apple doesn’t offer that option yet and I don’t want to mess with external devices. 

So for now, I’m looking at a PC based laptop with a built-in Blu-ray R/W drive.  On my next entry, I’ll spell out some of the other criteria I’m using in making my selection.

Onward and upward!

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.