Livin High and Takin it Easy

Macbook Pro Protection Preoccupation

05 May 2010 No Comments

by angkuletin Uncategorized

I love my Mac, even if I have yet to actually get the most out of it. See, I have been a PC user ever since I can remember, which is basically back when my eldest sister Girlie got her own computer for her BS Computer Science course at the Ateneo de Naga in 1993. Uh no, she didn’t get a computer until 1996 or 1997 – and I was in high school by then.

So this is my first ever Mac and I actually thought I would never get to own one as there are so many other so much cheaper laptops out there. Since this Mac is expensive, it is but natural for me to want to take care of it in all ways imaginable, like buying a track pad protector, which I did last weekend and cost me P395 for a thing such as a small piece of transparent sticker.

I had been looking all over for a keyboard protector for the past month. I was told there is a cheap one for P50 at CDR King but I have been to all the nearest branches and I have been told it is out of stock. Resigned on acquiring a very cheap protector, I decided it was time to go to Apple stores. I went to the A Store in Eastwood Mall last weekend but I was told they are also out-of-stock.

So today, I decided it was time to go to Amazon.

I spent a considerabel amount of time looking for and comparing skins, from the most expensive and the nicest-looking like the ones on the iSkin store..

… to the cheapest and most generic one like this one from Amazon…

.. And even reading reviews on blogs such as this one:

From track pad protectors to key board/pad protectors slash skins to screen protectors and on to cases!

I looked up reviews on Speck, Incase and so and so.. to the cheapest one I could find, which was mCover.

Why this preoccupation with protecting my mac, you would ask?

For one, I have a 12-month old baby, who already cost me my Magsafe power adapter, P4,200 I was told by a clerk at the A store, who likes to bang on my laptop every time she gets the opportunity, who likes to sit on my lap and type away furiously every time she finds me in my work room (supposedly) working away.

And two, I have got sweaty hands – hands that have been sweaty ever since I can remember (flashback to Grade 1 days when I had to put handkerchiefs under my palm when writing to protect the paper from getting totally wet and disintegrating into bits and pieces) and hands that attract dust and dirt and cause grime to accumulate on my pretty little black keys.

So after finally deciding on the cheapest skin and case at a total of $22 USD as opposed to a total of $75-85 USD, I click on the check-out button on Amazon only to find out in the end that the sellers do not ship to my address! Aaaaargggghhh!!!

So going back to the Apple stores in the Philippines, I go to the website and it says the following are available for my so-called needs:

• Moshi ClearGuard Keyboard Protector for Aluminum MacBook and MacBook Pro for ₱ 1,590.00
• Speck SeeThru Case for MacBook Pro and MacBook for ₱ 2,979.00
• Incase 13″ hardshell Case for Aluminum MacBook Pro for ₱ 2,979.00

Gah! That’s a total of P4,569 or $102 USD!

I did however, find the following alternatives on eBay PH:

• Hard Shell alternative 1
• Hard Shell alternative 2

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So much for protection..

As a side note, why is the Magsafe with the aluminum head cheaper at P3,990 than the one I have which is at P4,190???

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