The Airs don't work for me because the screens are too small.

I get that Retina is really impressive and super duper, but...my current screen is really nice too. I'm not actually feeling a lack, so it's not high on my list of things to pay for. And the 512GB is way more than I need to spend on a laptop.

The idea of a flash drive is very seductive, but the extra spend is offputting. Maybe if I'd done this with bonus money...but an extra grand right now? Can't justify it.

Is there noticeable lag between the 5400RPM drives and the 7200? What kind of usage would benefit most from that? I'm at 5400 now, and I'm trying to think of when I felt the lack.

I do use my CD/DVD drive often enough that I'm not willing to go external for it yet. I don't have space for that in the same way I don't have space for a mousepad.

Interesting, Rob. I got one of the Touchpads during the fire sales and...it's neat? I mean, I like some of the handling choices, like flipping up the window to get to what's behind it, and stuff.

But why is so much of the app store pay to play? I mean, there's stuff I can't test drive, and I'm not willing to randomly plonk dosh down for my backup tablet. I want to *know*.

Is there something about the development/certification process that makes it relatively expensive, or what?

It sounds like the best machine for you is the standard Macbook Pro then. You can still get a traditional hard drive in it, still has the optical drive, and still has the standard screen resolutions.

Before I started switching to SSD most of my machines were 5400 RPM drives and they are fine for most uses. The only time I've needed 7200 is when I'm doing audio recording and editing to the drive that has a high track count and high edit density.

Yeah--that's what I'm thinking--I'm not editing anything real time, audio or video, so really at best it's irritation, not messing things out.

SSD sounds great, but like Retina, it should probably wait until my next upgrade.

Which leaves me at 2.3GHz, 15" screen (maybe hi res?), 4GB RAM, default 500GB 5400RPM...yeah, I'll look into that.

Thanks for the perspective!

Is there something about the development/certification process that makes it relatively expensive, or what?

I don't think so. It could be less competition allows the developers to keep the prices higher.

From where I'm standing, I *feel* like the barrier to entry as a user is too high. So I'll spend money on a few Android apps (even $20 one time...whoa), but that's because all the free apps locked me into the platform, so now it feels more like investing than spending.

But with WebOS, I feel like the developer community is pricing itself right out of the market.

Oh, and the front facing camera is unwieldy.

I've decided to go with the 2.3GHz with a hi res display. Nothing super fancy.

Going way back...

Gris, thank you for the MyBackup Pro recommendation. It worked out really well. It's got my endorsement for rooted phones. The restore process was quick and easy.

Next question for the hivemind: Over/On-the-ear headphone recommendations? Noise cancellation would be nice, but not necessary. I have a decent pair of earbuds, but I'm looking for something that has better sound quality.

Are the Beats Studio or Bose QC headphones all hype? I'm willing to spend the money for the performance, but I'm out of the loop. I've heard good things about Audio Technica and Sennheiser, but I need to find a B&M store that carries them.

I know output will only be as good as the input, so I will primarily use them to listen to mp3s/AACs on my iPod. At what point would I hit diminishing returns?

eta: Ars is not Audio. Two totally different things.

Bose is all hype, per my friend who did tons of research. Audiophiles snark that it stands for Buy Other Stereo Equipment. But I don't actually know anything, so I'll step aside for them as does.

The best headphones I've ever had were my Koss Porta-Pros. Extremely high quality, especially for the price, and convenient form factor. I did have to take advantage of the lifetime warranty about a year after I bought them when sound started to get it out, but two weeks and seven bucks in shipping later I had a new pair. I eventually lost them and still sometimes regret not getting another pair.

For over the ear, I like my super cheap Sennheisser HD201s. They are often reviewed as having sound quality well above their price range. They cost about $25 and at the time it appeared I would need to pay $70+ to get undeniably better quality.

Individual brands are only a moderately useful metric for deciding if headphones will be good, at least according to my research. Sennheisser makes both good and bad headphones. I I think most of the Beats branded stuff is pretty decent, but if expensive, but I am sure there is variation.

The hard thing will be getting decent headphones at a Brick and Mortar store if you don't want to pay a hefty price. Unfortunately, most of the lower priced headphones at Best Buy and such are pretty bad - the better to encourage you to pay more next time. I did buy my HD201s at a best buy, but I don't know if they still carry them. They are pretty ugly so they may still carry them as they probably don't compete to heavily with their prettier more expensive lines.

These are the ones I bought on recommendation of ND--though they're earbuds, not over the ear, they are noise-canceling. I do like them on the plane.

[link]