So I'm in a little bit of a quandary at the moment. My current laptop, a gigabit ethernet G4 Powerbook, is starting to have problems. The top case started to crack around one of the hinges and I believe damaged one of the cables for the display. Now it still works -- I did a jerry-rigged fix to repair the break, but after I close and open the lid I have to finesse the display to get it to work.

I know what I want to do:

1) Give this laptop to Hannah. We can set it up in a fixed location at home and it should be OK. We wanted to do some music work with Hannah singing, and Garage Band is ideal for starting out.

2) I'd get a new laptop. I'm leaning toward a Powerbook 12". Two doubts about this laptop at the moment. One is the eternal fear that an updated version will be released mere moments after it is too late to change an order. Not much I can do about this... The second is the size: will the 12" screen be too small for me? Workaround for this is a KVM and use the nice big screen at work when I am here.

The biggest problem right now is budget. In theory I have some loans for the next year that will be kicking in soon and I do need a laptop. I often find that changing my location is good for my thoughts and focus and I can't take advantage of a portable with a broken screen. I can also go the "Student Developer Discount", which will give a nice 20% discount (see here for details). This makes it a little more palatable, but still not cheap.

Well, I know which of these inner voices will win, but hopefully I can hold out a little longer and wait until we're in a slightly better financial spot. I don't suppose anyone wants to throw an equipment grant my way... :-)