Decisions, decisions.

I have, as of late, been spending a relatively ridiculous amount of my free time reading about laptops, especially during the early hours of the morning when I can't fall asleep. Dells, Macbooks, HPs,  VAIOs - you name it, I've probably read up on it. And what did I learn from it all?

...that searching for the perfect laptop is a fruitless, unyielding activity and I should probably just stop stalling and pick one already, damnit.

The problem with buying a laptop is that the market offers such an overwhelming array of choices, features, and models that it quickly becomes nearly impossible to settle down on just one machine. I actually have to make myself stop browsing CNET sometimes because I start having problems thinking straight after poring over tables and tables of specs for hours on end.

(Yes, I'm aware that probably all the laptops I've looked at so far will probably do what I want them to do just fine. Yes, I acknowledge that computers go out of season faster than you can say "Leroy Jenkins". But at the end of the day, I get to be stubborn and choosy and shallow about things like this 'cause it's my money. You'd be surprised at how pissed off people get at others for buying what they consider to be "inferior" machines or ones of incongruent value to the purchaser. If it makes the user happy, then that's the point, right? To each their own! Laptop compatibility is in the eye of the beholder! Etc etc etc, hurrah!)

My current personal laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1420. My dad and I picked it out exactly three years ago, back before I'd even started school at the UofC. I still remember the conversation I had with my family at the time about which features we wanted to add:

Me: "I dunno. I just want to listen to music. And um, I like the color red."
Mom: "IT NEEDS TO HAVE A WEBCAM SO I CAN SEE MY DAUGHTER OVER THE INTERNET EVERY DAY TO MAKE SURE SHE HAS NOT BEEN STABBED."
Dad: (mumbles something about memory/processors that none of us understand)
Mom: "YES BUT DOES IT HAVE A WEBCAM"

also,

Dad: "Actually, how would you feel about owning a Mac?"
Me: "Aren't those expensive?"
Dad: (through clenched teeth) "Isn't your tuition more expensive?"
Mom: "WAIT THOSE HAVE WEBCAMS RIGHT?

In the end, my mom and I both got what we wanted - a red laptop with a nice webcam. Over the years, my Inspiron has served me well. It's been there for me when I've toiled through papers, it's the vessel through which I've made online friends, and it's endured many a party, download, water spill, and keyboard change. I would even go so far as to say that I love my Inspiron...but now it's just shitty and needs an upgrade, much akin to the lamp in this Spike Jonze commercial which never fails to make me laugh:



After my hours of research, I think I've finally narrowed it down to two contenders. They are: the HP Pavilion dm4-1065x and the Spring 2010 Macbook Pro. And they often engage in fiery faceoffs. I've documented one here:

 Above: This took an hour and three image-editing programs to make

This chart may look biased, especially in lieu of the huge price difference. But to be quite honest I think that despite everything, the two laptops are still about on par in my mind (i.e., if the MBP were $799 I'd snap it up in an instant).

It's been a week and I have been mulling over this nonstop. My brain hurts because it has been forced to engage in activity for more than the usual 15 seconds per day.