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Comments
The HD on my daughter's iBook recently died so she is currently booting up from an external drive. I'm hoping Intel iBooks arrive before she leaves for college in the fall. Otherwise, we have some serious decision making to do.
As for me, this is being sent from my 1999 iMac.
Jim
Yes, I did get one of the new 20" Intel Core Duo iMacs. While it's a fantastic machine, I have had a few issues that resulted in exchanges.
To make a long story short, I've been through five, yes five iMacs.
The first three had build quality issues where the case wasn't properly set causing the LCD to be misaligned. The fourth came badly scratched out of the box. The fifth one started to develop SMC (fan control) problems after a few weeks! Needless to say, I've been a little disappoined with Apple quality control.
So why have I put up with it? Well, first of all Apple Support has been very good. They worked with me through the problems and when it was clear that repair was the only option, they offered me an exchange since the unit was still very new. Secondly, and probably most importantly, I still think the 20" iMac is a fanastic value. It's amazingly quiet, fast and the display is fabulous. I don't think you can find another PC or Mac with the same bang to buck ratio. Lastly, OSX is great and I don't feel like going back to Windows quite yet.
The Macbook, I agree is not as a good value. And there seems to have been some design problems also to boot.
Ken
Jim, I think thinkpads are great laptops. Very solid and reliable, just kinda boring.
Jeff, I am looking at toshiba's also- in the past they were very solid but I am less enthusiastic about the newer ones.
Ken, Wow! Five!
I think I'll pass on v1.0 of the Macbooks. Maybe I'll consider them again in the future.
Thanks again for your all your help!
tom
Bob
I think in my case it was less an issue with design and more that of manufacturing quality. Four of the five replacements I had were attributable to build/cosmetic defects. Perhaps I'm picky, but I have certain expectation of quality when I'm spending $2000 on something.
I've read that the new Macbooks have already had a few revisions (I think they're up to rev D) in the few months they've been released. So, even if you did chose to buy, it's no longer a rev A.
Ken
three straight years of record U.S. vehicle sales, it still hasn't reached its latest goal
That's gotta stress out the staff to no end.
Nissan, meanwhile, is having problems getting people to move away from the West Coast, so no wonder they took him.
-juice
Actually, Nissan is moving 42% of it's entire staff - that includes every employee - they currently have in LA. IIRC, they've only lost 2 mid to top level executives due to the move. They never expected every assitant and clerk to move.
-juice
Bob
"I'm a $50K a year accounting clerk at Nissan. My whole life, family, etc. is in LA. I was born and raised here. Am I really going to move to Nashville??" The answer is typically a resounding NO.
The important thing is that Nissan has retained it's the vast majority of it's management. The vast majority of those who are not moving are in operational roles - roles easily filled locally.
As for Fred Adcock - his role with Nissan sounds like a step down IMHO.
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/apr2006/bw20060427_580559.htm?chan=aut- - os_autos+index+page_autos+lede
John
No way I can buy a house in LA on $50k/yr. But I can in Nashville!
Of course, how long they stay in Nashville is another matter...
Jim
But they also got a flood of resumes for the 200 job openings.
-juice
We need a better energy policy if we're going to have real alternatives.
-juice
That's right in line with the 42% retention rate I noted above. Again, the important thing is the retention rate of the management of the company. That was close to 100%. Clerks, accountants, assistants, et al are easily replaced from the local talent pool.
But they also got a flood of resumes for the 200 job openings.
Hmmm - interesting. 750 bodies not going but only 200 jobs available in Nashville. Looks like Nissan was able to cut costs in 2 ways.
Last weekend I asked the guy at the mulch place what it weighed and he said around 800 – 900 pounds. I again asked him today, and again he said the same, but this time he added per yard! That means I was hauling 1600 – 1800 pounds of mulch on top of the trailer weight of 675 pounds. So I would say I was somewhat the 2K towing max—and waaaaay overloaded since I don't have trailer brakes!
The good news is that the Toaster seemed to handle the load okay, as long as paid close attention to what I was doing. The other good news is that I only had to travel about 4 miles with this load, on a 2-lane country road with a speed limit of 30 mph, and little traffic. There was no question that the brakes were overtaxed with this load, so I was sure to plan my braking well ahead of time. There was one long downhill stretch and I put it in 3rd gear, and that seemed to work, although I was ready to put it in second gear if I had to in order to get more engine braking if I needed to.
Would I have traveled with this load on a major road with higher speed limits? No, because of the brake issue. If I had trailer brakes, yes.
Bob
I usually haul wood chips, playground type, and those are dry, so they do weigh a little less.
What does a bag of mulch weigh? Maybe we could do the math that way. 27 cubic feet in a yard, right? If a yard really does weight 900 pounds, then a cubic foot would weigh 900/27 = 33 lbs.
The bags usually come in 2 or 3 yard sizes, so that would put a bag of mulch at 66-99 lbs.
Nope, mulch is just not *that* heavy. I carry bags around all the time. They way a lot less than a 50 lb bag of sand, for comparison. My guess is about half of what they told you, about 400 lbs per yard or so.
You want a heavy load? Haul stone. Pea gravel. One yard weighs more than 3 yards of mulch, easily.
-juice
Of course, how moist it is will have a big effect. Did you go when it was raining yesterday?
-juice
Bob
I didn't like the direction he was taking them in, trying to go premium and increase volume at the same time. He was putting way too much pressure on SoA.
Hopefully the new guy will be more realistic, and they can stick to their more traditional strengths.
-juice
Jim
The new MacBooks are out and look good. (These are the iBook replacements... the MacBook Pros replaced the PowerBooks.) In addition to the iBook standard white, a matte black version is available as well.
Apple's MacBook page
MacWorld's first impressions
Still trying to decide. With all the problems with the MacBook Pros, I'm a little hesitant to get one. I'm leaning towards the Lenovo Thinkpads- they're bullitproof and reasonably priced (I get employee pricing through a friend) so other than running windows it seems like a good idea.
I saw the new MacBooks. I like the aluminum shell better.
tom
tom
-juice
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-26-200- 6/0004369657&EDATE=
-juice
They're cavernous. Adults actually fit in the 3rd row. And 20/27 from a V6 (FWD though) ain't bad. The one we drove was $32k and lacked a moonroof and GPS NAV, but had a DVD and leather. They had no AWD models in stock.
But...fit and finish are well behind what I'm used to. The door panels were loose on both sides, just poor fitment. There were sharp edges on the mold parts, exposed screw heads on the doors, stuff like that.
The drive? It's heavy, so the V6 struggles to get it moving. Once going it's OK, nothing special. There is a lot of body roll, pitch and dive. We had our 2 kids with us and my 3 year old son kept saying "Bouncy, Daddy!". He was in the 2nd row.
To be honest I would not mind renting one for a week, to have all that space for the kids and gear on a trip. But a van does everything better. We had a loaner Freestar van last year and my wife and I both agreed we liked it better.
Used ones depreciate rather quickly so that could be a bargain, but as Bob told me once, "no boring cars".
-juice
Hmmm - Bob, did you steal that from David E. Davis?
-juice
http://blogs.edmunds.com/Straightline/1070
Plus I was out of town for 3 days, without Internet...
Bob
Bob
Again, a good month for the Impreza (and Forester).
Bob
Nothing wrong with stealing as long as you admit it.
IMHO, DED kind of lost his focus towards the end of his tenure at Automobile. Spent more time talking about shotguns, hunting pigeons, and his big estate/farm.
Therefore I could find a Class VIII big-rig truck, or a John Deere tractor, or a locomotive every bit as interesting as a Subaru STI, or any other so-called performance vehicle. That's why I have little interest in many Korean cars, many Toyotas, most badge-engineered cars, and anything else considered ordinary or "boring."
Bob
I guess riding mowers can be raced, so maybe...
-juice
But he might drool over my '66 Econoline Pickup with the 3 on the tree and the motor in between front seats (that is if I could ever keep the thing running
John
As a side note, I just had my son's OBS in for the 7500 service at FitzMall Gaithersburg. While there I checked out a couple of new Toyota FJ Cruisers (6-speeds) that they had on the lot. No, I didn't drive them, but I checked them out pretty throughly. I have to admit that's the most interesting, and least boring Toyota that I've seen in a long, long while. Even with it's faults, I would love to own one.
Bob
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060604/BUSINESS/606040333/1- - 152
Bob
-juice
http://www.subaru.com.au/news/?newsid=12509
Canada
http://www.subaru.com.au/news/?newsid=12510
In both countries , as is here, Impreza sales are way up.
Bob
It is interesting, because NY and other states have been using ethanol, then MTBE, and back to ethanol as an oxygenator (reformulated gasoline) since the late '70's. But for some reason, their map shows NY as a non-alcohol consumption state.
My understanding since the beginning of this was that economically, it is a loosing proposition, as the cost and BTU's (in fossel fuels in) in does not equal what is produced. And according to this article, that situation really has not changed that much in 25 years. So despite the hype, there is no alternative fuel answer in easy grasp.
Steve