Shortly before Christmas my [old Powerbook laptop](http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=pg4_12&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC) started doing two
distressing things. Firstly, it started getting really, really hot
and was working really slowly. Secondly, and even *more* worryingly, the
hard drive was making funny noises every time it got used.
So I very quickly stopped using it, which is the other excuse that I
have for not posting very much lately. But this left me without a laptop,
and my desktop Mac (a [G4 iMac](http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=imac_flat&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC)) just isn’t up to a lot of the applications
I want to run. So a new computer was in order.
For funny reasons relating to tax policy (which I’ll discuss in another post soon),
a laptop is a much better thing to buy than a desktop. So, after relatively
little shopping around and a lot of work to fit it into the budget, last
week I got myself my shiny new toy:
It’s a [MacBook Pro 17″](http://www.apple.com/au/macbookpro/). It’s a
simply lovely computer. Really fast, [runs windows](http://www.parallels.com/)
right next to Mac applications. Lots of memory, and a huge pretty screen.
On the downside, that’s the last big gadget purchase I get to make for a while…