I readily confess that I am a computer geek. I love the technology we have at our fingertips today, especially in the wonderful world of photography! After all, where would we be without digital cameras and post-processing software?
That being said, I also prefer our computers to work for us rather than the other way around. My old laptop was not even two years old and was causing me much pain and aggravation. I had already re-formatted the hard drive and re-installed Windows on the machine twice but was still having major problems. It was enough for me to start pulling my hair out!
The final straw came when I spent the better part of a day creating a presentation only to have my laptop completely let me down. I had used the thing all day but when I went to restart later nothing happened. After some frustrating troubleshooting, I discovered that the motherboard was fried. Arggghhhh!
Now many of us know that many photographers enjoy using Apple computers–well, Macs, to be exact. I was exposed to this preference in the photo world from many different angles–photo workshops, blogs, podcasts, magazines, etc. The thought was already in the back of my head that one day I would perhaps consider moving into the Mac world.
When my old laptop died, this thought came to the forefront in a huge way. I told my friend, who by the way only prefers windows pcs, that I was simply looking for a computer that didn’t require me to work to make it work before I got to work on it. Reliability and stability were my primary goals in looking for a new laptop to replace my old one.
Well, after some agonizing and deep thinking, I made the plunge and ordered my first Mac–a MacBook Pro laptop. It was ordered on a Thursday and traveled all the way from China to my doorstep on Monday! I was amazed at the quick delivery. I was even more amazed when I opened the package and turned on my new MacBook Pro!
I will not bore you too much with my enthusiasm now. Just let me say that I can see what others meant when they enthusiastically proclaimed their joy in using them!
So, this is my first blog in a long, long time due to computer problems. And yes, it is coming straight from my new MacBook Pro. I’ve had it for a little over a week and I love it! I am sure you will hear more about this in future blogs. For now, I am enjoying using Lightroom and Photoshop on my new laptop. It is quick, fast, and speedy!
I am hoping to say goodbye to computer problems. I am hoping this new laptop will keep those computer problems at bay. Only time will tell.
It is good to see you back, Bob. I worried that you had quit blogging!
Coy just had an old Dell Desktop-Windows XP fail. He reinstalled the operating system and it kept going corrupt, so he replaced it with a new one.
I had a Dell laptop (Inspiron 6000), which gave good service, but it crashed. Reformatting didn’t solve the problem and neither did replacing the hard drive so it was evidently a mother board problem. I converted it to Linux Ubuntu, OS, which evidently doesn’t stress things as much and it works with that, but replaced it with a Toshiba for serious work and it has performed well to this day.
I still hate to leave Windows as I learned to edit with Sony Vegas, which is a Windows only program, but I will never put anyone down for using Mac, and I hope the computer gives you good service. It is no fun to spend more time working on the computer than working with it.
Thanks, Willard. No I did not give up my blogging. I’ve just been distracted lately. It’s been a tough start to 2011. I lost a very close 46 year-old friend suddenly to an unexpected and sudden death. She went into liver failure but the doctors do now know why. I did her funeral and we had over 1,200 people come through the church. It was amazing but also very sad and I miss Linda very much.
Then my laptop died. I was almost at my wits end with my pc anyway, but it came at a very bad time. I know of many people who have consistent problems with viruses, crashes, etc. My laptop was an HP and it did not serve me well. I appreciate your kindness and openmindedness about me making the switch to Mac. In some cases, I find people take this almost personally and say I’ve switched over to the “dark side.” I prefer to think of it as the brighter side, but that’s my humble opinion.
I know what you mean about software that is exclusive to Windows. I have one such program that I will continue to use on my desktop. The switch was actually easier to do than I figured and I can run windows on my mac, too. It’s pretty neat! This will even allow me to use that exclusive software that I thought I would only now use on my desktop. Mac has come a long way!
I hope to see you and Coy sometime soon!
Thanks again!