On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 10:35 AM, Malcolm Greene <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> I'm biased to the Air because of the weight, but wondering if I'm going
> to regret not sucking it up and buying a slightly heavier/larger
> MacBook Pro with more RAM and a larger display?
>

Years ago, my advice was bigger and heavier was less important than power
and capacity. Even when I was flying around and commuting by bus, I
appreciated the power I had. I was also running local runtimes and
databases on the local machine.

Now, I've deployed most of my stuff to development and staging servers on
the local network or via the internet. I can access those on the road far
more easily and faster than was practical a few years ago.  In addition,
the incremental improvement in storage and CPU power means running local
LAMP for single-user access to an app is not a huge drain on the machine.
So, a mid-level machine can work as a standalone dev machine on those rare
times you're not connected to the Internet.

1. Memory: 8 or 16 Gb of RAM? I think the latter forces my hand on the
> MacBook Pro vs. Air? I'm thinking 8 Gb min in order to run the
> occasional VM.
>

Does the occasional VM actually have to be local? If you're playing Windows
games, yes, but if you're running old Windows VFP apps or accounting
software, how about putting them on a PC on your network and running remote
via VPN or Remote Desktop? You may even get better performance by running
the machine on a mid-range machine remotely.

2. CPU: i5 or i7: For my use case am I really going to benefit from an
> i7 upgrade?
>

Depends on your local/remote decision.


> 3. VM software: Parallels, VMware, other? Ideally I would like to
> virtualize my existing Win 7 environment and have it available on a
> limited use basis.
>

No opinion. Let's ask the mac fans...


> 4. Text editor: TextMate, BBBedit, open source EMACS or VI, other?
>

That is a religious question, not technical. Craftsman v. Husquavarna v.
Milwaukee. Depends on what you like for power tools, best way to be
compatible with team, etc.


> 6. Anything else?
>

-- 
Ted Roche
Ted Roche & Associates, LLC
http://www.tedroche.com


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