The Core Market

My laptop is electrocuting me. Like a toddler in a cinema who screams at random intervals, the tingling shocks I am dealt to the underside of my wrists are sharp and unexpected. Most disappointingly, they seem to be at their worst at their worst when I'm typing. As a writer, I'm often typing. I doubt my childhood teachers would let me re-sit for my Pen Licence, so clearly I'll need a new laptop.

My current 'ride' is a 15 inch 2005 Apple PowerBook G4. Born of the long relationship between Apple and IBM, The G4 was the last of its generation. It saw me through long nights at university and was treated with accordingly shabby treatment. Over many years it developed an impressive array of dents, marks and scratches, which almost certainly resulted in the arrival of the buzzer handshake.

We all know that true love lasts a lifetime. As such, I will desperately grasp for a smooth transition. Despite Windows’ efforts to incorporate the best elements of Apple’s interface – see Gadgets v Widgets – I will not be crossing over to the dark side.

Cheap and cheerful, the MacBook has taken great strides in recent years. Gone are the Polly Pocket fruit-basket looks of the iBook, and that awkward upside-down apple emblazoning the PowerBook made famous by Sex and the City. Clean design, impressive specifications (2GB RAM and and 250GB hard drive), and an attractive price (from $1249) makes the 13-inch Powerbook tempting to those with limited means. A potential downside of this model is the shiny white plastic exterior, which isn't as durable as the MacBook Pro's aluminium case. That, and I don't think it looks pretty enough, which is always an issue for Apple hardcores.

Let’s be honest now. The MacBook Pro is the reason I'm even looking. While I have a perfectly capable desktop PC gathering dust in my study, it is a fat, cranky Shetland pony. I want a racehorse. Available with up to 512GB of storage and 8GB of processing power, the MacBook Pro is an easy frontrunner. 'Racehorses' are expensive, which is the primary factor holding consumers back. The 17 inch model, which features a solid-state hard drive, increased processing power and memory will set you back nearly $6000. Unfortunately, like most people, that is far more than I'm willing to part with.

The smaller 13-inch model starts at $1499. Originally released with the intention of replacing the older MacBook, the market hasn’t followed. For some reason, the older model is still going gangbusters. At just $250 more than a MacBook (with twice the power) I'm baffled as to why the market hasn’t seen sense. With my configuration of choice, including a 500GB hard drive and increased processing coming in at around $2600, I think this is probably the one.

Still...
The iPad is slim. The iPad is light. According to the advertising, I can even use it whilst gliding along on the back of a Vespa. I can pull it out of my handbag and jot down every brilliant thought that goes through my mind – in real time. I can’t resist trying the resident new-fad-on-the-block.

Nursing it in-store this week, I felt as though I was holding an arcane glimpse of the future. I felt old. Testing its functionality, a few things became clear. First, it has no keyboard, making touch-typing a literal impossibility. While it can be fitted with a home keyboard dock it requires mains power which is not Vespa-friendly, or freelance friendly. The touch-screen interface is glossy and slick but it looks like an epic pain in the arse to keep clean. Still, from $629 it's incredibly tempting to be part of a technological phenomenon, and I've been honest enough to tell myself I just want to write stories on my new bit of kit. Considering all this, I figure there is probably a very good reason that most of the journalists and writers I know haven't jumped on the wagon – yet.

In an affront to thriftiness, I will almost certainly end up spending more than I can afford on the 13-inch MacBook Pro. While I'm at it, I will probably fork out for an over-designed laptop sleeve and a series of ridiculously expensive tote-bags to carry it in. Basically, I will have bought the exact equivalent of my old laptop – two inches smaller and half the weight. Now, all I need is the money.