I got a Mac

Macbook Pro
I sent the Dell back last month and decided to get my first Mac. I”ve had my Macbook Pro (13inch) for a week now and let me offer a quick review.

This thing is fucking awesome.

Design- I never realized how cheap and clumsy my PC laptops were until I opened this aluminum wonder. The design is top notch. No space is wasted. The computer is super thin for a pc (though not as thin as the Lara Flynn Bole inspired macbook Air). Form and function collide into a very modern eye catching laptop.

Software- I like to think of myself as a creative person and my brief introduction to Iwork and Ilife have me very exited at the possibilities. Word, Powerpoint, and the awful line of windows video editing software always felt like they were in the way of my work.

With the mac software I feel inspired and unincumbered. It reminds of when I was playing guitar and I would get a new piece of gear (Big Muff Pi anyone?). I just want to create with this thing.

Price- The only downside is the price premium. However, it’s not as bad as I thought. Probably about 25% more expensive than a similar PC for the functionality.

Legal software- ‘m still PC at the office I can’t find a work around for my law firm software suite (elaw) and pro docs. I’m considering getting around pro docs by signing up for the Lexis or Westlaw pacakges that offer canned motions etc. I just like having a template available. I also practice some civil law and find pro doc a necessary evil. Hopefully I can go completely PC less in the near future.

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6 responses to “I got a Mac”

  1. Mark Bennett says:

    Parallels for anything you want to run that isn’t available for Mac.

  2. Jack McCauley says:

    I was going to say the same thing. Parallels gets me around anything that doesn’t have a mac equivalent or a mac equivalent that I want to use.

    Running in congruence mode, I can barely even tell I’m running windows on top of my mac and windows programs alongside my mac ones. It’s really very, very transparent.

  3. I’d recommend using VMWare Fusion instead of Parallels. I’ve tried both and in my experience it runs better/quicker and consumes less system resources on my MacBook Pro and on my iMac. Just like parallels, it allows you to run a virtualized Windows environment from inside of Mac OS X which means you can run any Windows only program. I use it mainly for ProDocs.

  4. Welcome to the fold of Criminal Lawyers with a Mac. Many of us are waiting for something like Pro Docs for the Mac.

    I do think you will overcome the premium price, once you realize how little time you will spend on firewalls, virus scans, spyware and Trojan email. However, this “value” is realized down the road a bit.

  5. Anonymous says:

    You said “fuck.”

  6. David says:

    You should also look at CrossOver. It allows you to run specific windows programs, without needing to install windows on your mac. (It’s inexpensive, too about $50, IIRC.)

    As for a replacement for ProDoc, there are a few programs out there. If you use Word, there is a plug in called SimplePrompter which does document assembly. There is also a script for Entourage, which makes Word merging very easy. Both are around $100. I think the Entourage script is made by Larry Staton, and SimplePrompter is by WordSite.com
    Finally, you may wish to join some of the mac legal community such as MacLaw.org, Macattorney.com and the google list MILO (macs in the law office.)

    Welcome to the club!

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