I'm
going to take you back in time. The year was 2004.
I know it wasn't that long ago, but that was an important year
to me. It was the year I got deployed to Iraq. I can't go into
details, other than say I spent a whole year there, mostly in
Baghdad.
I had never used a laptop 24/7 in my life. Before leaving the
States, I researched different Mac laptops to see which one would
fit my needs and my budget. My PowerBook would become my best
friend and companion.
My budget was $400 shipped. Unfortunately, I could not buy any
of them before I left (due to unexpected expenses), so I took an
old PC laptop that some one had given me as a gift. I used the PC
laptop for a month-and-a-half before I sold it. Then I purchased a
Lombard - the Pismo was around $100-150 more, and a titanium was
even more expensive.
My initial comparisons (mostly based of info from LEM):
Lombard
Pros:
Has SCSI and target disk mode
Has two interchangeable bays
Can support easy battery changes
Can use two batteries at the same time
Has a built-in DVD decoder and drive
Has two USB ports
Easy access to important components
S-video out
Ethernet port
PCMCIA slot
Cons:
No widescreen display
Small hard drive
Can't hold a lot of RAM (512 MB max.)
No AirPort slot
Pismo Compared to Lombard
Pros:
More RAM space (1 GB max.)
Built-in AirPort slot
FireWire (but I didn't have use for it at the moment)
Cons:
None really, other than price
Titanium compared to Lombard
Pros:
Widescreen display
Holds more RAM (1 GB max.)
Built-in AirPort slot
G4 processor
FireWire
Cons:
Price
Requires more storage space
Seem more fragile
Only one battery
No interchangeable bays
I decided to go with the Lombard. I bought it on eBay for $350 very carefully and had it shipped home
to my wife. She then mailed it using FedEx, and I got it three days
after that at a cost of $125. It was a lot, but they took good care
of transporting it all those miles. My other option was to use
normal mail, and that would have take anywhere from 3-6 weeks.
Once I got it,
the first thing I did was take it apart and clean everything. I
like the Lombard because of the two bays: I can use two batteries
at the same time, maximizing operation time. Another Lombard plus
is that it has a hardware DVD decoder and the S-video port out so
you can watch movies on a TV.
The sleek black case looks great along with the black rubber,
making a bit more rugged. The screen was big enough for me to watch
movies and surf the Web comfortably.
While the Lombard didn't have AirPort compatibility, I could add
wireless networking using a PCMCIA slot.
The last best thing is that my Lombard is very easy to clean -
being in the desert, there's a lot of sand and dust. All I had to
do was pop up the keyboard and hit it with compressed air. I could
easily reach all the important areas of the Lombard with ease.
Next week I will talk about what
accessories, upgrades, and software I used with my Lombard in Iraq.
Once I got it,
the first thing I did was take it apart and clean everything. I
like the Lombard because of the two bays: I can use two batteries
at the same time, maximizing operation time. Another Lombard plus
is that it has a hardware DVD decoder and the S-video port out so
you can watch movies on a TV.