Famous Mac User Setup: Dustin MacDonald
Apple May 15th, 2007Dustin MacDonald is a 18 year old software designer and developer located in Vancouver, BC. He is well known for his work on the application Wallet made by his company Waterfall Software. Dustin blogs at his personal site, where he occasionally reveals details on future projects and speaks his mind about technology in general.
What does your current Mac setup consist of?
My Mac setup consists of a MacBook Pro 15″, packing a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB RAM, and a 160GB Internal HD. I also run a 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo Mac mini with 1GB RAM, and an 80GB Internal HD.
Some of the accessories I have hooked up to my machines are a 23″ Apple Cinema Display, External 160GB LaCie HD, iSight Camera, Apple Wired Keyboard, and a Apple Wired Mighty Mouse.
Why have you chosen this machine?
The MacBook Pro is my main machine. I love notebook computers since they don’t confine me to a desk and I can work wherever is most comfortable. The MacBook Pro is Apple’s only Mac that allows this freedom while still housing plenty of power and a large resolution display.
I bought the Mac mini for testing Universal apps before I had the MacBook Pro, but now I use it mostly as a media center and Subversion server.
What other Apple gear do you own?
I also own a 1st generation black iPod nano (4GB) and an Airport Extreme base station.
What is your next planned upgrade to your workstation?
Eventually I’d love to ditch the Mac mini in favor of a Mac Pro, but I don’t think that is necessary quite yet and won’t happen for at least a few years. As for the MacBook Pro, I’ll most likely be upgrading in a couple years to the latest model, though I’m really starting to wonder if they can get any faster. ;-)
What do you think of Dustin’s setup?
May 15th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Very nice and simple. he should just ditch the Mac Mini and plug the display into the Macbook Pro.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I believe he likes to have one machine permanently running to complete tasks such as torrents, encoding, etc. Correct me if I’m wrong Dustin?
May 15th, 2007 at 11:58 am
That’d be nice to have an extra desktop just to mess around with. I would have had that with my old iBook, but I sold it instead.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
That’s the setup I want. A Mac Mini is always cool to use as a media central or for torrenting :)
May 15th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I am planning to do something like that, but with my black macbook and a 20 inch dell monitor. I am going to use the mac mini downstairs as a media center soon (waiting until the end of the year to do that), but it will be great. Nice setup too, like the series.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I agree with William. The Mac Mini’s graphics card will slow down when handling 3D at 1920×1200.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Nice setup…I wish I could afford to have a similar setup.
May 15th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Love it. My favorite one yet.
I think it proves that way too much power isn’t always necessary. ;)
May 15th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Great setup! I’m just waiting for the new MacBook Pro’s to come out.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Quick question. How big is the LaCie drive in the corner and does he backup on it? If he does backup on it, what app does he use to do so?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Cool setup.
@Glenn: Yes I find it is helpful to have a machine always running that I can use as a server/center for various things.
@Elliott: The drive is 160GB. Select files are backed up to it using Apple’s Backup.app.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Cool, now i want a macbook pro so bad, thanks alot Glenn/Dustin :X
May 16th, 2007 at 6:34 am
I got exactly the same setup, except for the keyboard and mouse. I got a wireless logitech alternative.
May 16th, 2007 at 7:19 am
Nice rig dustin. It’s always nice to see a desk covered in all Apple devices.
I love this series Glenn.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:56 am
I really like this one, nice pick Glenn, and nice setup Dustin!
Question for Dustin, do you like your Mac Mini, I was considering on getting one.
May 16th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Beautiful setup. I wouldn’t ditch the Mac Mini though. Keep it as a media center and then use the ACD as an extended display for the MBP, or save for that Mac Pro!
May 16th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
I really enjoy this series, but why not include information about the desk they use? I know the focus is on hardware, but they most likely took some time in selecting things for the environment they spend 80% of their time in. It would also be fun to have a link to their current wallpaper. Just some thoughts. Thanks for the series.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:04 am
@Taylor - I have two Mac mini’s and love them.
I am a big fan of distributed computing so split my tasks across a number of machines rather than have one ‘all singing’ one. That way I get better value out of my old stuff when I add new stuff into the mix :-)
May 17th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I plan on getting a 17″ Macbook pro with full specs (other than the hard drive, I will get the 100GB 7200RPM) and a 30″ cinema display. I plan on getting it in September….
May 17th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I just realized I have that same IKEA desk lamp. Love it, as well as your traditional approach to keeping the Mac GUI clean.