Backup of David's Livejournal

 The oldest computer in the household, "That Fucking Laptop", running Windows XP, is finally giving up the ghost.

We're thrilled!  Finally, we get to replace it with something that can actually run a client for Minecraft.  Finally, we get to replace it with a system that'll run the latest Firefox correctly.  (Firefox 4.0 doesn't show the Bookmarks Button in Windows XP.)  Nevermind that Microsoft itself won't allow that computer to upgrade to a modern Internet Explorer.

So, here are the uses for the computer:

• Web Browsing
• Casual Gaming, especially Minecraft (for now)
• Web Development (Often remote via ssh, usually PHP, Python and Javascript.)

Here are the things I'm really curious about:

• Google Go  (Suggests Linux/Apple, but I don't have products in mind.)
• Xcode (Suggests Apple, but I don't have products in mind.)

We've been saving up forever.  Options include buying a generic laptop and installing a Linux distro on it.  (But which one?)  Or, I could hop on down to the Apple store.  Here are some contenders:

• MacBook Pro 15" - Most expensive, but the bigger screen is really good for development.
• MacBook Pro 13" - Less expensive, but more powerful than the air.
• MacBook Air 13" - Wonderfully portable, probably as powerful as I need, but it costs a little extra.
• Some cheap, powerful laptop that I could install a Linux distro on - Lots of work to maintain, but a fun experiment.

What are we going to do?  Suggestions?