New Mac and Snow Leopard

For about the last 6 months, I have been debating when and if to get a new laptop. See, my laptop is a huge tool for me...I am on it at least a couple of hours daily, usually more, surfing the web, writing email, reading news, chatting, and all kinds of other things. And I will be back in class this week, which means more papers, web assisted discussions and the like.

The week before last, I had to take a cab home from CSP one afternoon, and I decided to detour to the mall because I needed some pants. While I was there, I decided to pop in the Apple Store for the second time in a month to look at new MacBook Pros...and I finally caved. The combination of a free iPod Touch and interest free financing got me and I walked out with a new 13 inch, 2.53 Ghz MB Pro...and I love it.

My one complaint though, has been with Snow Leopard. I was sent an upgrade for $10 through their "Up to Date" program, and while there are some improvements, there are also flaws:

1. I spent over 45 minutes on the phone with AppleCare on Friday to solve a problem with my screen going black and the computer becoming unresponsive during installation. Turns out the install disc is designed to run with factory presets, and because I had dimmed my screen slightly it didn't properly respond.

2. My HP DeskJet will not work with the new OS. HP claims the model is supported, but Apple doesn't have the drivers available yet and rumor is it could be weeks or months before they are. Completely maddening, stupid, and may make it necessary for me to buy a new printer because I refuse to be without for that long.

So...verdict is:

MacBook Pro rules, but if your machine is not preloaded with Snow Leopard it may be to one's benefit to wait a month or two to upgrade...let them get the bugs out.