After several years of using ThinkPads running Linux and BSD for mobile work, both my X24 and T30 died within a few weeks of each other. I thought about it for

After several years of using ThinkPads running Linux and BSD for mobile work, both my X24 and T30 died within a few weeks of each other. I thought about it for a couple of weeks, then bought a mid-spec MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo, LED backlight, okay RAM/HD specs). It cost about five times as much as I'd ever paid for a laptop, but I haven't regretted the decision for moment, even though functionally, I don't use it for much more than I did my old Linux systems. (The only exception for me is Adobe Lightroom, which by itself had previously been reason enough for me to keep one Windows desktop machine sitting around.) Why, after gaining all my hard-earned knowledge and credibility shoving Linux and BSD onto poorly-supported machines, would I shell out the extra money for a "trendy" machine? Simple: I got sick and tired of wasting my time trying to make my f'ing machines work. Instead of fiddling with xorg.conf lines, or downloading proprietary wireless card firmware, or manually twiddling the list of modules to be loaded and unloaded on suspend, I have spent the time in which I've owned the MBP actually doing work. That alone is more than worth the difference in price, especially since that difference actually wasn't very substantial.