Re: [NTLK] No New Newt

On Jan 17, 2008 3:55 PM, Norman Palardy
<npalardy@great-white-software.com> wrote:
> > Part of the genius of my Pismo is how easy it is to get
> > inside and fix stuff when needed.
>
> Agreed. My old Pismo was way easier to get into that my MacBook's
> (pro or otherwise)

Actually, I fear that the Pismo was a once in a lifetime computer.
I've owned Powerbooks before it, and have seen the ones that have come
after it, and nothing has yet come down the pike to touch it. I mean,
if you told me when I bought my Pismo brand new, eight years ago, that
in 8 years, I would _still_ be using it for my main computer (only
computer, really), and that it would still be going strong, I wouldn't
have believed you! At the time I bought it, I planned for about 4
years--5 in a worst-case scenario... that was it, yet it has seen
_heavy, daily usage ever since the first day I bought it. Yes, I've
had to replace/upgrade parts. I'm now on my second sound/power board,
second processor (a G4), and gone through a few hard drives and memory
upgrades, two keyboards, and killed two batteries, but this guy won't
quit! Oh, and I use it _hard_ (or so I've been told...) It's now
traveled around the States a couple times in a car, being used week
after week to project Keynote and Powerpoint presentations, week after
week, flown the Atlantic multiple times, been used for hours on end in
trains, and is transported almost daily in its bag. I tend to run it
with lots of apps open, and they aren't typically small--iTunes,
iPhoto, Photoshop (and if these are open, then most likely Digital
Photo Pro and Preview are open), Omniweb and Mail are never closed,
and Nisus and Keynote are a couple other constants. And I've done this
now for years with a mere 576 megs of ram. I tend to be too lazy to
quit programs is my problem. ;-)

But the fact is, I can get to the bottom plate on the inside of my
Pismo with minimal time and fuss. Pop the keyboard, and two screws
later, you have your RAM swapped (I did it twice today! On my wife's
and my Pismos--yes, we have two), No screws, and you swap your hard
drive (so saying you don't have screws holding your hard drive into
its sled--and I tend not to, so I can swap internal drives) It took me
5 minutes to do the brain transplant when I upgraded to the G4--can't
do _any_ upgrading on any modern Mac). But here's the clincher... I
ain't no techie. Just your average Joe (or Jon) with no skills and no
training. I showed my wife how I swapped the RAM today, and though she
said she would never try it, she saw how simple it was. ;-)

So, the Pismo is a one-of-a-kind, and probably the best laptop Apple
ever built, bar none. Its only downfalls? LG DVD drive, sound ports
surface-soldered/weak, and the rather soft LCD in comparison to modern
screens. But my screen is just as bright and accurate as it ever was.
I check it constantly. ;-)

So, I don't think we can expect the MBA to compare. I give one 4
years--max, as a life-span. But a MBPro probably lasts only that
long... Still....

Methinks me wants one. ;-)

-- 
 -Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass@usa.net>
"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus
==================================================================== 
The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://www.newtontalk.net/
The Official Newton FAQ     - http://www.splorp.com/newton/faq/
The Newton Glossary         - http://www.splorp.com/newton/glossary/
WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
====================================================================