Necessary Versus Luxury

I just laid out carefully for the CoastlandTampa planting team the necessary equipment each will need to have in hand to get started when we hit the ground.  Some are in Tampa already.  Others will be arriving shortly.  All will be on site by the middle of September.

In case you are interested, here is the list of what we all need: 

a. Mac laptop. I get a lot of questions on which one is the best to get.  This is a personal question based on your work habits, where you see yourself headed in ministry in the next couple of years (Windows machines last two years at the most realistically – Macs will last at least 3 years if not longer – then they hold their value amazingly – kind of like Volvos – in fact the two markets tend to blur together… make that used Volvos!) 

NOTE: Prices of all Macs dropped in the past two weeks by close to 10% and they released a significantly faster processor.
-    would not recommend less than 1 gig of RAM
-    would not recommend less than 100 gigs of HDD

If you see yourself writing a lot, consider moving up to a 17” – though it is pricier, think of this similar to a car purchase; the difference is not significant for the power windows, 5 CD player, iPod hook up, leather seats – when you consider the daily huge increase in pleasure over vinyl seats you would have had – and you are paying like $87 more per month or something like that if it were a car payment; sometimes our fear of “not enough” overtakes our better judgment and we don’t get what we really need… that’s how I tend to evaluate things – and amazingly God always shows up with what is needed!  Bottom line – get what is needed! 

b. Digital recorder that syncs with a Mac laptop.  Recommend the Olympus brand.  If you haven’t already gotten one, check out Recorders.com for a decent selection and good prices. 

c. “Point and shoot” style digital camera – in light of the Mac syncing factor and cost issues, I recommend you confine your search to Nikon (I research this all the time – just make sure you are getting an American made Nikon, not “grey market” one that is greatly reduced in price – they carry no warrenty).  The cameras you are looking for run about $220 to $250 and take “SD” memory cards.  Recommend you get a couple of these cards – you will be glad you had one reserve card.  We will be taking LOTS of shots – of your family, spouse, things happening, etc.  We will be really glad we took the time to bookmark all of this in a few years – believe me.  Our website will have lots and lots of pictures – smiling faces of people loving people.  To find great deals on SD cards at a great price check BensBargains.net for just a day or two and you will find some great prices.  Keep in mind – many of these types of cameras don’t take cards that are super inexpensive or that don’t specifically say they are made for high speed digital cameras.  Also, don’t get cards that store more than 2 gigs worth of information – some cameras don’t take cards larger than that, FYI. 

d. Smartphone style phone that will sync with your Mac

e. Journaling software.  We are all going to be blogging at least twice a week of our learnings / journey from before the time we start our services.  The software I recommend, MacJournal, allows one to go right from journal to our blog.  This also allows for one to have several journals – very handy.  It is perhaps the most amazing and helpful piece of software I use. 

f. Headset that will allow you to hold Skype conversations.  I recommend you invest in a slightly more expensive version that is noise canceling than a $10 one that may work or may not depending on the relative humidity.