2015-03-19

Migration Contemplation -- Why No Mac?


So after yesterday's post on migrating to Linux, one of my Twitter followers tosses this at me:


And on paper, the Mac looks attractive.  However, if you start with considerations like:
  • I'll be runnng VMware, so I need CPU
  • I need more than 256GB or 512GB of storage
  • This is my primary computer, so a small 13-inch display probably isn't going to cut it
  • I can be out of my office for long periods of time, so I can't have a baby laptop on the road and a "real" computer at the office
...you end up with something like this:


In other words, I have to go to my boss and tell him I want to spend $4500 on a laptop.  And that's a minimum -- I could probably make an argument for the faster CPU options.  Forget considerations like I'll probably want more than 16GB and 1TB before the end of this proposal's lifetime.

So yeah, that's not going to fly.  Considering my current i7 is almost five years old, I somehow doubt there's budget money for that kind of computer.  Although if I open negotiations with this, I can probably be "talked down" to a i7, 16GB, 1TB-SSD, 1080p that will come in under $3K from HP or Lenovo.

Realistically if I could increase the RAM in this HP from 8GB to 16GB I'd be set for at least a while, but that's not possible with this particular hardware.

Anyways, kids, that is why Macs don't get mentioned by me.