It was time. I’m surprised it didn’t happen a couple of years ago. But my beloved computer has finally died.

Three days ago, I turned my 12 inch Apple PowerBook on and I got the blue screen of death. Instead of OSX booting up, my hard drive just spun and spun and spun. It offered me nothing, not even the booting up dinging noise.

I hoped it was only the operating system and that a simple reinstall or repair would fix my problem, but I was pretty sure it was my hard drive. The Mac technician confirmed that today.

Two hard drives and almost five years later, I’m not mad. I’m just pretty stoked that my computer lasted as long as it did. But I won’t be replacing the hard drive this time. I have decided to purchase a new computer.

Here comes the hard part:

• I know enough about computers to know what will not work for me.
• But I don’t know enough to not pay too much for a system.

So I’m going to lay out my options for you, my dear reader, to help me figure out what my new computer is going to be.

I only have one must: It must be an Apple computer .

Why? Because I have invested a good amount of money in primo software programs and I don’t think it would be very cost efficient to switch to a PC. Plus, in my line of work, Macs are better.

I have two widescreen 19 inch monitors, a Wacom tablet and a Logitech keyboard and mouse. So I really haven’t been thinking about the iMac. I’m also not considering the Air because I need a DVD burner and don’t really want to purchase one separately.

Currently, I am leaning toward the MacBook, but I don’t need a laptop. My previous computer was a laptop, but I hardly take my computer anywhere. And it might be a good idea to cut out the temptation of watching TV and playing on the computer because I don’t get much done unless I’m at my desk without any distractions.

It would seem that I am leaning toward the Mac Pro, but my freelance designing isn’t paying enough right now to warrant laying down almost three grand for a computer.

I have looked into the Mac Minis, but part of the reason my PowerBook lasted so long was because I had plenty of room to upgrade as the programs I used became more RAAM and hard drive hungry. The minis don’t seem to offer this advantage.

So here I am again at the MacBook. I don’t think I need the Pro because I run Adobe CS2 and probably won’t upgrade for a while.

I remember the day I bought my PowerBook. I paid $1,000 from a guy who decided he didn’t like Apple’s operating system and wanted to get rid of it. Over the years, I put close to $300 into it.

The 2.4 GHz Aluminum MacBook starts at $1,600 from Apple’s Web site, so that’s only $300 more than I paid for my old one. And that’s not bad.

However, this is only how I’m feeling today. Yesterday all I wanted was the Mac Mini and the day before that I thought it was a good idea to hammer down and get the Mac Pro. So I’ll probably change my mind again tomorrow.

Any suggestions?

- “I’m one of a kind. I’m designer.”

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