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Which Mac Are You?
Posted 09/26/2008 at 3:56:00am | by Mac|Life Staff

The Mobile Blogger

photo illustration of bloggerAll you need is a light-as-air laptop and reliable Wi-Fi.

The Basics.

When you’re chasing inspiration, it helps to travel light, and the 3-pound MacBook Air makes sense for anyone who works with lots of small-ish files (text documents, email, Web-ready images) or perhaps utilizes some Web-based apps. We’d spring $200 above the $1,799 base price for a 1.8GHz processor, but stick with the stock 80GB Parallel ATA hard drive instead of the $599 64GB solid-state disk—that price still has to come down or capacity come up, and most bloggers don’t need SSD speeds.

still life of MacBook Air and blogging hardware

Aside from the Air’s svelte exterior (Apple barely ever mentions this, but it’s actually quite thin), highly mobile techies benefit from its backlit keyboard, which uses an ambient light sensor to illuminate the letters just right. It’s as handy as it is chichi in dim cafés and airplanes. Likewise, both useful and gee-willickers is the extra-large multi-touch trackpad, which recognizes iPhone-like gestures such as pinch, rotate, and swipe, that speed up some tasks when you don’t have a mouse handy. The built-in iSight can be used with iMovie or even Photo Booth for quick vlogging (video-blogging) sessions.

Spare your Air from dings with a soft sleeve like the luxurious Marware CEO Envi ($89.99, www.marware.com), and save a little room in your laptop bag with the Microsoft Notebook Mouse for Mac ($49.99, www.microsoft.com/hardware)—it’s Bluetooth, so it won’t use your Air’s precious USB port, and its 2 AAA batteries last quite a while. Speaking of that one lonely USB port, give it some friends with Belkin’s Swivel Hub ($29.95, www.belkin.com), which has four USB ports and stays out of the way of other cables. 

The shockproof Corsair Flash Voyager (www.corsairmemory.com) flash drives range from 4GB to a whopping 32GB—which lists for $399 but can be found online for as little as $135—can handle the abuse of the road. Your home base needs an external drive for backups, too. We like the size, style, and price of the Western Digital My Book Studio ($299.99 for 1TB, www.wdc.com). Illustrate your blog posts with the Nikon Coolpix P60 ($229.95, www.nikonusa.com)—you can shoot 8.1-megapixel stills, tag them with voice notes to yourself, and even try time-lapse photography and video.

For software, you can do a lot with what you’ve got—TextEdit, iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie, all packed in. Web apps like Google Documents (docs.google.com), Photoshop Express (www.photoshop.com/express), and Backpack (www.backpackit.com) let you work and store documents online, keeping your Air’s 80GB hard drive relatively uncluttered. (If you miss those dozens of gigs of music, there’s always Pandora.com.) 

Extras.

Since bloggers rely so much on the Internet, IOGear’s Wi-Fi Finder ($34.95, www.iogear.com) can detect wireless hotspots anywhere. If you can’t find an open Wi-Fi network to join, a wireless broadband card can get you online through a high-speed cellular data connection. We like the USB-based Sierra Wireless Compass 597 ($49.99, plus $59.99 per month for service, www.sprint.com) from Sprint.

image iRizer stand for notebooks
Raise your screen to a comfy height with the super-portable iRizer.

While it’s currently experiencing some growing pains, Apple’s MobileMe service ($99 per year, www.me.com) is a handy way to keep an online backup of your work, host websites and photo galleries, and access your calendar, contacts, and email.

If you work at a desk often, invest in a stand and keyboard to prevent backaches. The Matias iRizer ($39.95, www.matias.ca) 
folds flat to stow in your laptop bag, and the ultra slim Apple Wireless Keyboard ($79, www.apple.com) is easy to tote and uses Bluetooth. Also check out the $99 external SuperDrive (www.apple.com) for ripping and burning discs. And since the MacBook Air comes without an Ethernet port, an AirPort Express ($99, www.apple.com) is an easy and affordable way to set up a new wireless network from an existing wired connection.

image of wireless keyboard
Apple’s Wireless Keyboard won’t hog any of your precious USB ports.

Once Your Blog Takes Off...

If you’re one of those lucky bloggers whose site pays the rent—or even allows you to throw money around like it’s nothing—tear out this list of handy (but not necessarily cost-conscious) add-ons for your Mac-centric blogging rig: Apple’s Time Capsule ($499 for 1TB, www.apple.com) works with Time Machine to keep your MacBook Air backed up wirelessly and automatically, and you can attach your external drive to it to offload files to the network as well. Pick up a MagSafe Airline Adapter ($49, www.apple.com) if you’re the kind of high roller who flies in the expensive seats with the power hookups.

Upgrade your point-and-shoot to an Olympus E-420 ($599.99, www.olympus.com). Billed as the world’s smallest DSLR, it packs pro features into a compact, 13.4-ounce package. Want to record in-person interviews, start podcasting, or just make notes to yourself? The Zoom H2 Handy Recorder ($199, www.samsontech.com) includes a 512MB SD card that can hold nearly 6 hours of audio if you record as MP3.

For software, Photoshop Elements 6 for Macintosh ($89.99, www.adobe.com) is a good middle step between the free online Photoshop Express (www.photoshop.com) and Photoshop CS3 ($649). Scriviner ($39.95, www.literatureandlatte.com) can help organize your research, notes, ideas, and in-progress blog posts, with special features to encourage creativity and beat writer’s block. But, of course, it’s impossible to buy what every blogger really needs—more time to blog.

 

Zen and the Art of Blogging

Name: Leo Babauta
Occupation: Blogger behind zenhabits.net
Gear: Aluminum iMac and MacBook Air
photo of blogger Leo BabautaMinimalism is Leo Babauta’s credo—and the driving force behind his blog, Zen Habits (zenhabits.net), which is in Technorati’s top 50 and has been around since early 2007. Author, freelancer, runner, father of six, and devoted Mac user, Babauta walks the talk, keeping a clutter-free Desktop on his iMac. “Basically, I have a very simple setup,” Babauta says. “No icons on my Desktop, Firefox for almost everything, TextEdit for some very focused writing, and Quicksilver to access anything. I also have a MacBook Air, which I bought for its coolness, but also to get out of my house, where I work, and to be able to do some work at a library or coffee shop.”

Babauta’s unflagging dedication to living a simple life extends to dreaming about the Mac he’d buy if suddenly he could have any Mac he wanted. When asked how his Mac setup would change if money were no object, he simply says, “It wouldn’t. I have the perfect setup. I’m a very simple person. I just need a text editor to write, and Firefox to do everything online. My whole world is online, including all of the software for my blog and business. And, of course, Quicksilver. So my iMac and MacBook Air are more than enough for me.”

Babauta keeps his Desktop totally free of icons (but he does rotate his background image), and he eschews the Dock altogether to use Quicksilver instead. 
”I have the Dock on auto-hide, to keep my workspace as simplified as possible.”

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COMMENTS: 9
TAGS:  Macs, Apple Store
COMMENTS
avatar"starving student"?

Submitted by nightshrill on Fri, 2008-09-26 04:15

I know that this is clearly a mac publication/website, however I think it is worthwhile to point out as a "starving student" who happens to work + go to school full-time that blowing 1,099 dollars on a computer is not "budget" what-so-ever, especially compared to Asus' epc (or however they spell it), or even your standard run-of-the-mill dell/hp/toshiba, sure you don't get as nice hardware with any of those options but it is by fear cheaper than 1,099 dollars. I think to call this the "starving student" option is absurd. If you're a starving student get a cheap laptop and slap linux on it.

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avatar"Starvin' Student" comment

Submitted by Brendan Bartholomew on Fri, 2008-09-26 11:47

Nightshrill, I feel you dude. For what it's worth, the Windows PC-oriented magazines and sites are just as guilty when it comes to having some sort of gross disconnect between what they imagine we can afford and what we can actually afford. I could maybe afford a bit more if I had a dime for every time I've paged through some PC publication whose cover story was something to the effect of "We Build up a Blazing Budget Bare-Bones Kit that won't Break the Bank!" or "How Low is the Low End? We Look at Eight Entry-Level Laptops that Won't Loot Your Life's Savings!" or maybe "Fiscally Frugal Frag-Fests with Five Affordable Form Factors to Prevent your Piggy Bank from being Pwned!" If I'm foolhardy enough to delve into these articles in search of any kind of bottom line, I will inevitably find myself in a state of shock when confronted with the jaw-dropping price of what they're calling a "budget" system. I seem to recall more than one of these publications recently pitting "affordable" mini-towers from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and all the usual companies against each other in order to determine whether any of them were really adequate for meeting a computing dilettante's basic needs. Affordable to them meant computers that cost at least $650, with most of them retailing for around $850 or more. At that just-under-a-thousand-dollars (!) price point, they tend to conclude, you can, in fact, purchase a system for your grandmother that will be up to the task of meeting her basic e-mailing and Web browsing needs. At which point I want to reach into the page or through the Internet so I can grab the editors by their shoulders, shake them vigorously, and shout in their faces, "HELLLOOOO, Earth calling! Down here in the real world, a budget PC is that loss leader in the Office Depot ad that's $299 after the alleged rebate! It's that refurbished, de-branded HP mini-tower that Geeks.com is selling for under $200 with no OS but a dual core processor and plenty of expansion slots! That's what a cheap PC looks like out here in the real world, and if it's gonna cost $850, it had better be equipped to perform sexual favors for its owner, or it'd better be a fully loaded Mac Mini!" Both would be good, but the Mini has no internal fan, and you wouldn't want it to overheat, you know? But.... I digress...

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avatari agree completely

Submitted by njdevilsfan on Fri, 2008-09-26 12:19

i agree completely hopefully apples new products or updates on oct 14 send the price back a few hundred dollars

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avatarinexpensive pc

Submitted by gmsquires on Fri, 2008-09-26 14:05

Yes depending on what "your" budget is will determine what you can afford and what kind of pc you will be able to get. If you are stuck for something under $500 then you may be rather limited and have to settle for a rather udner powered no name brand unless you can find a refurb or used machine. As to the Macmini not having a fan, it does have a fan and it has a temp sensor to activate the fan only when needed. I have a mini and have been very happy with it. It is generally over the $500 amount unless you can get a refurb and if you add memory it boosts the price. A bare bones system adding in Ubuntu linux may be an option depending on if the video card will work with it.

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avatarBuy Used

Submitted by Mr. Reeee on Sat, 2008-09-27 07:57

Why complain about the cost of a new Mac, when you can buy a used machine?
You can get a 1 or 2 generation old Mac for 1/2 (or less) the cost of a new machine. If it needs more RAM, that can be bought and installed easily.

Macs hold their value well and remain useful years longer than your typical generic Dell or HP DOSBox running Windows.

I generally sell my Macs on craigslist when they're 1 1/2 to 2 years old.
I'm happy, because I've paid for half my new Mac.
The person who buys it is happy, because they get a good, well cared for machine for half price.
It's a win-win!

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avatarMr. Ree, you're missing the point

Submitted by nightshrill on Sat, 2008-09-27 12:54

Mr. Reeee, I think you are a tad confused about the overall point of my and others comments. I, at least, was not arguing against the overall price of a mac (although I feel as though I could make an argument against it, as I can build a custom pc for about 800 dollars that compares equally or better to an iMac). The point is that the editors of MacLife for whatever reason put a computer that is more than 1,000 dollars in category recommended for "Starving Students", which is absurd in its own way. As Brendan had also mentioned, pc magazines do this all the time to, if you're a starving student the only thing I'd recommend aside from possibly a real "budget" pc is go build one yourself on the cheap. Yes it'll be underpowered (for example, an intel pentium dual-core processor, not a core2duo) but it'll serve the average user well.

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avatarMyBook HDs...

Submitted by cdnair on Sat, 2008-09-27 16:16

I've noticed that this article seems to be pimping out the Western Digital hard drives quite a bit. I just wanted to make it clear to anyone in the market for an external HD, that, though the value may be there, these are absolutely horrendous machines. If all you're using it for is to plug into a desktop computer and leave it there, you may be alright- if you don't bump the desk... walk around the desk too heavily... blow on it too hard...

I'm a film student and have heard endless horror stories that almost always route back to the failure of their MyBook. Footage for final short film projects, important interviews, footy for demo reels; gone. And this is with proper plug/unplug (power downs, disconnecting from the computer) and transport ever so delicately in the original packaging.

I can strongly recommend LaCie drives myself. Yes, you may pay a bit more, but you do get what you pay for, and sometimes can find some great deals on certain models. Bought one a year ago and have been known to cram it, cables and all, into the bottom of my backpack and go. Needless to say it's got a few surface scratches, but it's given me no problems whatsoever.

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avatarBrend new

Submitted by pegasusbsb27 on Sun, 2008-10-12 16:58

Yeah...They are expensive in Brazil (Don't ask me why but Apple products here are more expensive than in neighbour Argentina, for exemple!), but never mind...this year was my Apple year! I bought my first iMac 20'' 2,4 GHz and my first iPod 160Gb. Thank God the dolar started to up after my shops!!!

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avataromega watches

Submitted by benet (not verified) on Tue, 2009-11-10 18:01

Every little chat Salon 1000 ah!replica watchYou are my best's buddy sqda

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