My New Computer

I got an iMac5k.

For those playing the home game, you'll remember my Mac Pro bit the dust on July 4th weekend. I had it limping along, able to transfer documents from my laptop, able to download Mail, but then it died completely, however I could access the hard drives via Target Disk Mode, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I have to have the best.

Well, I like to have the best. I like the features. I like to be future-proof. I'm the anti-Clayton Christensen, who states again and again that good enough is good enough. Not for me! I not only marvel at these top of the line devices, I utilize them!

Like the 32 gigs of RAM.

Sure, you'd think 16 would be enough. But then I'd have to eventually get more from OWC and throw away what I've got, and even though I'm handy enough with a screwdriver to install my own RAM I decided to just overpay and have Apple install it, at least I'll have a 3 year warranty, I bought Applecare, did I tell you that?

Not that I call for help, but if something breaks...

And the terabyte of flash storage.

I mean my laptop has run slow since Mavericks. Now the Fusion Drive is free, but how good is that gonna be a few years from now? I'm not a serial upgrader, I keep my computers a long time, not long from now hard drives will be dead, literally, and they're so slow anyway.

As for the screen... I wasn't that impressed at first.

For those not Apple-savvy, the iMac5k has 14.7 million pixels, four times as many as the traditional 27 inch iMac. Hell, it's got more than a 4k screen, the new television standard. As for traditional HD?

Well, that's when I saw the difference, when I connected my old 23" Cinema HD Display as an extra monitor. It seems so dull, I can see the pixels, fonts are not sharp.

So I'm sold.

Did I tell you I got the Core i7 and the upgraded video card too?

I got carried away. I maxed the machine out. To the point where it cost as much as my old Mac Pro.

But not as much as a new Mac Pro. Which I was tempted to buy. But I don't use software that uses multiple cores, so the iMac is actually faster.

But the deciding point was the screen. You can't buy a 5k screen for the Mac Pro. Dell just announced one is coming, but it alone is gonna cost way north of two grand.

So I'm happy.

Although I wish there were a few more inputs. I loved being able to plug my headphones into the front of my Mac Pro.

But the reason I'm writing this is because I took a phone call on my iMac.

So I'm just sitting here and I hear a ring and there's a growl notification in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and I click to answer it and my iMac functions like a giant speakerphone! Very cool.

Not cool enough to buy just for that, but an added bonus.

And I decided to upgrade my iPad too. Because I'm still living with an iPad One. Yes, I'm admitting it. It runs so slowly, never mind being unable to be upgraded to the latest iterations of iOS.

And I didn't get cellphone capability, I never used it in my old iPad, and really, my iPhone is enough, but I did max out the memory. They price these things so well. Another hundred bucks for double the memory? I don't ever want to run out.

So I'm gadgeted out.

But I don't have enough time to learn and employ all the functionality.

I used to buy Pogue's books and read 'em cover to cover.

But now Apple upgrades the OS every year and the new iteration of the "Missing Manual," the Yosemite version, isn't gonna be available until January.

So I'm flying blind.

But Yosemite is the most stable OS launch I've experienced. I always wait for the .1 version, which was just launched today, in fact. But I haven't had any problems with 10.10 on my iMac, I guess I'm ready to install it on my MacBook Pro.

https://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/


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