Most people I know who have used Windows and Mac extensively (for multiple years each) prefer the Mac experience. The line of argument that Macs cost more is not true. Macs include a lot more functionality in both hardware and software, so the price is about the same. A little more or a little less depending on how good a shopper you are. Hint: buy refurbished macs from Apple and save a few hundred bucks.

I have a 13″ Aluminum MacBook, one of the new ones. It’s the best laptop I’ve ever owned: it’s small but not crippled like the MacBook Air. It’s fast, has plenty of memory and disk. It’s incredibly well built, solid like a bank vault. The glass screen is the best thing ever, if somebody touches my screen and leaves a fingerprint, I can just wash it off with windex.

Only if you need to wider screen with more pixels should you pay the extra money and weight for a MacBook Pro.

It’s so sad that other computer companies can’t give Apple some competition in industrial design. Making a really sleek computer is not easy, but if you look at Dell, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba… it’s like they aren’t even trying.

A personal choice, but both of those are very, very good options for someone on the go that wants a stable and easy to use platform. Let us know what you buy Barry!

– The spinning beach ball on the existing iBook might just be the inevitable cruft that builds up. A clean install of the latest OS might help quite a bit. You could even do it (initially) on an external drive to see if it helps, before wiping the current install. A newer, faster hard drive and maxing the ram might also help (total cost ~$250).
– If you are happy with the iBook, a new MacBook is a great upgrade. Basically the same screen size but a much better hunk of hardware. Buy the maximum ram from a 3rd party (not Apple).
– I have a “unibody” MacBook Pro and love it. With a big, fast hard drive and 4 gig of ram I run MacOS and windows simultaneously and get a great deal of work out of it. Other than having to get used to the no-button trackpad, it is the best Mac laptop I’ve owned.
– On the Windows-running side, Dell’s new Studio 14z is rather compelling. A nice compromise between cost and performance.

I’ve had Dell notebooks since 2001. Toshiba before that.

I like Dell’s 3 yr 24hr nbd on site warranty. I buy computing power, not a ‘computer’.

Further, heaps of companies turn over dell notebooks regularly so there’s always a good used market. I currently have 5 D610s in the house, 4 of which cost me peanuts at auction.

Now, the family have backup computing power. And my boys and I can totally strip a Dell notebook due to their excellent manuals and tech friedly build.

I mainly do internet, word, and excel, and occasional DVD movies when on the move. And the Dells although a little cheaply built, are well worth the money.

I live in Australia and I have no idea what Apple’s warranty service is like.
But I know I wouldn’t put up with having to courier my main notebook to an outfit that sit on it for a few days.

Last January I purchased a 13″ MacBook for my wife.

I use both and really like the smaller MacBook. The only reason I got the 15″ was because of the Express port for my cell card. I could have upgraded to the USB version, but like the reliability of the express port. I know of two people who had problems with the USB cellular devices.

Either way I don’t think you can go wrong. I got rid of my windows machine and went to mac at least 6 years ago. Since then all of the techies in my department have migrated to the mac. Most are 15″, however, some go the that 17″ model. Get the biggest harddrive available and at least 4 gig of ram……

Regards,
TDL