Next step, new Mac.

ORDERED-XOR!
as of 5:50pm :)

So, the MacWorld keynote has come, and gone ..... And I am left with a mildly sour taste in my mouth. Steve announced some really cool stuff, but unfortunately they weren't things I wanted to buy, or will any time soon at least. That being said, here are my thoughts on what WAS announced:

• Apple TV - pretty interesting. I am really curiuos what kind of hardware is really in it (misc Intel CPU? 20GB hd?) they didn't give really specific details. I wonder if its basically a stripped down Mac mini or not even that. Could result in some interesting media center-ish setups but since I only have one decent TV (and its not HD) and will have one PC (which is in site of the TV) not really up my alley. But interesting.
  
• iPhone - Really cool, Really expensive, Really a ton of things in one all trying to use a touch screen. This was obviously the main highlight of the conference. I was pretty suprised they actually got it out and will be shipping relatively soon (June I think they said?). Full screen, still pretty thin, touch screen, phone, internet/wifi, iPod connector, browser, Mac OS X version on board ...... the list goes on and on. Only problem is that while in the future I may want a new iPod, I doubt I am going to pay $500-$600 for a uber-phone and have to switch networks and sign up for a new 2-year plan. But very cool none the less.
  
• Airport Extreme - I saw this on the web site. 802.11n base stations for home users. Pretty cool if/when I want wireless since the current iMacs have 802.11n built in, just not enabled by default I believe

Unfortunately, in all the iPhone hype, Steve didn't get around to releasing iLife '07, or Leapord (ot at least more info about it), or announcing that the iMac line was getting updated video cards, or that they were releasing a new headless-mid-range Mac, or that Ben Lee was a super cool guy and will get free computer for life! I mean come on, not even that I was a super cool guy! What a snub!

Back to reality, I thought at least a few of those might happen and were the reason for me waiting till mid January to get my new computer. Am I mad that nothing changed for me? No. Am I a little dissapointed? yeah. Do I think I made the right decision in waiting? Yes. I would have been more upset if they had come out with something way cooler and I missed out b/c I didn't have the patience. Well, I did have the patience, and now I get a new (still just as cool as yesterday) machine. Unless something changes, I am planning on ordering it tonight after I get the final "OK" from Em. ;) As of right now, below is what I am planning on buying, and I am way excited:

• 17" iMac
• 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU
• 2GB DDR2 RAM
• 160GB Hard Drive
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD�RW/CD-RW)
• 802.11g - built in
  
• Bluetooth - built in
  
• 10/100/1000 NIC
• PCI-express ATI X1600 video card w/ 128MB GDDR3
• iSight & mic - built in
• 2x Firewire 400, 3x USB 2.0, and mini-dvi connections
• Bluetooth keyboard and mighty mouse
• Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) + iLife '06
  
• HP Photosmart C3180 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier
• Currently you can get a $100 rebate when you purchase a select printer and a new system. This one happens to be $99
  
• Apple mini-DVI to VGA adapter
• so that I can connect my current 17" LCD to it and have dual monitors
  

Total: Just over $1,400 with $100 printer rebate and tax.
Should ship within 24 hours (or so the site says) and be delivered 3-5 biz days later :)

It should be really cool. And its a good thing, b/c my old Tangeant is slowly falling to pieces. Or more exactly, locking up with more frequency. I had never had any similar problems with it in all the years but lately, at random intervals and seemingly independent to what you are doing the machine locks up. Video still displays but is completly unresponsive. I have checked the normal culprits and have uninstalled quite a few things and turned off random services that might be having problems, but have been unable to track down the root cause. So the new computer is much needed. Oh, and YES, I know I am crazy to still be using that POS from UDiT, but I am and it has served me well. And, one great thing about keeping it all this time ... the difference when I upgrade from a 1.1GHz PIII w/ 384MB RAM to a 2.0GHz dual core machine with 2GB RAM is going to be amazing!