• About

LIVEdigitally

Hath hell done frozen over???

Posted on August 9, 2007 by Jeremy Toeman

I bought a MacBook.

No, I’m not kidding.

It’s Sony’s fault.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

Seriously, I started counting the amount of seconds-to-minutes of “waiting for Vista” I was spending every day. 30-120 seconds from sleeping to awake. 5+ minutes to dock/undock. 10-60 seconds to go to sleep. 5-10 minutes from hibernate. 2-3 minutes to connect to a new network. Utterly intolerable.

I don’t know if it’s Sony’s fault or Microsoft’s, but I don’t care. As Joe Wilcox stated so clearly, Vista is, for lack of a better word, broken. I’ve spent about 5 hours on the phone with Sony since purchasing the laptop, most calls ended up encouraging me to reinstall the OS (I did it once, which worked for a few hours).

As I debated what to buy next, I’d considered the new Dell M1330 laptop, but to really give it the specs I want, the price shot to about $2100, far more than I was willing to spend (again) on another risky proposition. So I bought the lowest-end MacBook.

When you see enough people you respect, from family to colleagues to coworkers to clients, you start to wonder. As I iChatted with Peter Semmelhack from Bug Labs then Michael Gartenberg today, it was clearly a better experience than MSN Messenger had to offer (not that I didn’t see numerous ways to make iChat better, but that’s not the point). I didn’t get to try iLife ’08 yet, as I apparently need to pay $10 to get it, but I guess I’ll have to give it a shot.

I haven’t drunk the Koolaid (yet).

I’m not in love (yet).

I don’t need to talk with my hands (yet).

As far as I can tell, I’m either moving into Mac-land, or will end up dropping about $100 to return it next week.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Reddit

Related

Posted in General | 12 Comments
« Banning drivetexting is costly and pointless
Open CEOs »

12 thoughts on “Hath hell done frozen over???”

  1. Ed Kohler says:
    August 10, 2007 at 12:28 am

    If you simply didn’t dock/undock, hibernate, or sleep the Sony, you’d be set. Of course, your computer would own you rather than the other way around.

    Reply
  2. tivoboy says:
    August 10, 2007 at 6:57 am

    Welcome!

    That being said, I use both hardware and os’s daily, and the problem is vista. I have moved all my pc’s back to xp2 for the moment, waiting to see what rolls out in the fixes coming. Some companies DO DO a better implimentation IMHO, IBM is one of them, but DELL has now gone back to offering XP for those who want it. Sort of tells you something.

    Reply
  3. Alexander Grundner says:
    August 10, 2007 at 8:57 am

    You might be interested in this news: Microsoft Fixes Vista’s Stand-by and Hibernation Bug

    Reply
  4. Jeremy Toeman says:
    August 10, 2007 at 9:38 am

    Ed – “in Soviet Russia, Vista owns you!”

    Tivoboy – I have heard lots of issues with the once-undingable Thinkpads and Vista…

    Alexander – already installed it, no big performance difference here…

    Reply
  5. Victor Agreda, Jr. says:
    August 10, 2007 at 10:08 am

    Lemme tell you though, Apple’s advice when the Mac gets crufty? Reinstall the OS. It is infuriating. Funny how best-of-breed really means, least offensive pile of dung.

    Reply
  6. tivoboy says:
    August 10, 2007 at 11:32 am

    So, I make nice backups of my mac using a program called SUPERDUPER, I make a backup of the mac after OS install ,after I have removed the international and printer junk that I don’t need. Then, I do a backup after I get my apps loaded. Then, I do incrementals weekly just for a backup purpose, of the file structure related to users.

    nice thing about this for the mac, it is now all automated, so when I ever get to the point of needing a new machine, or want to reinstall the OS (I have only really had to do it twice now, it just runs fine) It runs automatically and doesn’t take much user interaction.

    Reply
  7. tivoboy says:
    August 10, 2007 at 11:34 am

    YEah, I said better but not perfect. Hence, why I moved back to XP2 on all lappys. One of the major problems I had with VISTA is the UAC user access controll, which I basically just disabled. I personally don’t need it, and it confused the system a lot, I think

    Reply
  8. Ben Drawbaugh says:
    August 10, 2007 at 2:48 pm

    Welcome, but I think you need to give it more than a week to learn your way around.

    As for Vista, I enjoy it more than XP, but not as much as OS X.

    I really think you’ll like it after you get to know it, I know I’m happy I switched.

    Reply
  9. Dave Zatz says:
    August 10, 2007 at 6:48 pm

    I’ve been a user since Feb and I’m still learning my way around. There are some things I miss and things I need in Windows, so I still have an XP desktop and Parallels. But the time I save not troubleshooting my primary device is priceless. Closing/opening the lid to snap in/out of Standby is quick and painless. Very un-PC like. Try it, you’ll like.

    Reply
  10. Daniel R says:
    August 14, 2007 at 12:34 am

    I made the switch in June to the 2.4Ghz MBP from a Dell 600M Inspiron. I think Windows XP is still a solid OS, but I didnt want to replace my Dell with a laptop with a deadend OS (Vista), or at least a crappy OS until Vista SP 2 comes out.

    I’ve got XP running on the MBP, which boots far faster on my Mac then on any Dell machine I’ve seen lately.

    There are a lot of things I dont like about the Mac OS and GUI, but overall it is far more stable and worry free. I miss the ability to tweak my settings, however.

    Reply
  11. Pingback: Jeremy Toeman’s LIVEdigitally » Blog Archive » I’ve got MacBook buyer’s paralysis

  12. Pingback: Jeremy Toeman’s LIVEdigitally » Blog Archive » Do Sony Vaios really suck, or is it just me?

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About

Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

Recent Posts

  • Back on the wagon/horse?
  • 11 Tips for Startups Pitching Big Companies
  • CES 2016: A New Role
  • Everything I Learned (So Far) Working For a Huge Company
  • And I’m Back…

Archives

Pages

  • About

Archives

  • January 2019
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • June 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004

Categories

  • Convergence (81)
  • Gadgets (144)
  • Gaming (19)
  • General (999)
  • Guides (35)
  • LD Approved (72)
  • Marketing (23)
  • Mobile Technology (111)
  • Networking (22)
  • No/Low-tech (64)
  • Product Announcements (85)
  • Product Reviews (109)
  • That's Janky (93)
  • Travel (29)
  • Video/Music/Media (115)
  • Web/Internet (103)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© LIVEdigitally
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.