157/365 - Play It Smart [For November 2nd, 2010]

Recently, I purchased a new laptop, and it's proven invaluable to me thus far. It's only 14", so it's very portable; I don't even feel the weight of it in my backpack. And it has enough power to run through all my photos and Photoshop, which is most important to me. I'm able to process photos much faster than I can on my aging desktop, or on my previous laptop that has been long dead. I got a good deal on it as well, so I was able to put some of the money I "saved" on a router and another external hard drive, dedicated specifically for all my photos and video.

The lesson here is to play it smart. I know money is a difficult thing for most of us, so I had to think about how to best go about getting a laptop. I already had decided that even though I didn't want to spend any money, I had to if I was going to be on the run, on location, doing photography. And the time I save with processing my shots is a huge help. I originally wanted a Macbook Pro... Well, combine the premium price for an Apple, plus re-buying Photoshop for the Mac, and any other software I'd need... This did not make any sense. So I stuck with a Windows PC, saving, literally, well over $1000. Maybe even closer to $1500. (BTW, I have zero complaints about Windows 7. ;)) I also wanted a smaller laptop, because my previous one was 15.6" and that was just too large for my tastes. I knew I could get more bang-for-the-buck if I purchased another 15.6" laptop, but personal preference said go with a 14". However, I still saved money, once again. I was originally looking at an HP Envy 14", arguably the best 14" on the market, but it was out of my budget, and wouldn't even ship for a while. Instead, I kept looking and came across a lower-end HP 14", which also carried a much lower price. I was sold. This, then, left room for me to afford a new router and hard drive, which I mentioned earlier. Both of which I needed, as my other router was slowing down my internet connection and I ran out of hard drive space; couldn't backup anything, which was a huge problem. Oh, and I got a great deal on the new hard drive, too. ;)

I hope I didn't bore you with details, but I believe everyone needs to really think about these things, especially for us college students or us young adults in general. And in this economy?... We definitely need to spend wisely.