Can't believe you guys had to detour from Taiwan. I'm currently here for a few more days before I head out to Korea.

Dude, you're going to have to teach me your magic Cocoa powers!

@washbourne - You're preaching to the choir man. I did Cocoa development for a long time and love the software development systems for OSX. I have had Powerbooks, Macbook Pros, a couple iMacs and a handfull of MAC Minis...and I used to love the Macs. In all honesty, though, the hardware is going downhill and the quality is suffering. I saw this happening as a Mac guy a year ago and decided to get out before the DRM craziness got worse.

Nah Im open-source through and through...thank you for the advice though just the same!

@DB: NO! It's the dark side! The Thinkpad will consume all your data and corrupt your bits!

Just kidding: I had one. They're exactly as advertised. Sturdy, unbreakable almost ( I saw a guy poor water into his keyboard and it worked ). Reliable. Yes, you can run Ubuntu on it ( I did for 2 years ). No, it's not easy. Good luck finding drivers for the touch screen, the graphics card, and decent power management. Since I left Linux a little over a year ago to transcend into the realm of the MAC, I'm not sure how they've progressed.

Be sure to ask for the stupid restore-DVDs or CDs that DON'T come with the laptop. Without them, you won't be able to restore Windows. No, the stupid partition on the main drive will not work once you've had GRUB on the system with your Ubuntu.

I could never go back to Windows or Linux. They're just 5 years behind in OS development. Usability, Technology, Design, Mac OS X is just better.

There is exactly ONE reason not to get a Mac:

You are a professional gamer. If not, GET A MAC!

By the way: they're not expensive. I bought mine for 800€ 1 1/4 year ago. Now it's selling for 650-700€. That's maybe 150€ loss in over a YEAR. No other electronics do that.

Alright you guys. I gave in and shelled out for a Lenovo like yours (the same one) and it should be here by Thursday. I am a Linux guy and once I saw it as a recommended linux machine in a magazine I realized the signs were too plentiful to ignore.

I'll letcha know what I think.

Dear Tynan,
Have been reading your stuff for a while, and this is the first time I've seen you talk for an extended period of time. It's really nice to see and hear the man behind all the great writings. Provides the reader with a more complete experience of "Tynan."

You are an inspiration

sincerely

Alex W

So THAT'S how you do it.
Though I'm not sure if it beats my ultra-mini packing while down in Yakushima. ;-)
Hope you've met some cool boasty slaves and toasty maids over in Taiwan. Totally jealous right now.

@tynan - I ordered a good variety of the Alocsacs...thanks for telling me about them. I've used regular ziplocs in the past but it only takes ten minutes for the compression to go away and the air to leak in again.

Would you guys be open to doing a meetup in Europe? I'll meet you guys wherever you'd like and we can do a joint podcast or something...? If you want to talk about details, email me at i@christiandavidholmes.com and we'll talk about it.

You guys rock.

Vince: Thanks! Yeah, I mean that people in the places we've been have been far less paranoid. I still wouldn't do it at the airport, but public parks and such have been no problem.

Washburne: I think we may make it out there. We plan to get train passes from August on and go everywhere.

Tynan

@washburne I will totally take you up on that offer. I'll be in Germany within 3 months. I'll come over to Hamburg and we can all unite! How's it sound?