Hey Falls,
For what it's worth...I use both Macs and PCs at work/home (with Mac OS X.4.8 and MS Windows 2000, 2003 server, etc the list goes on respectively). Anyway, I must ask:
- what do you usually use your computer for?
- any particular preference in operating systems? (OS X or Windows)
- your budget of total ownership over the life of the computer?
If you sway towards the PC/Windows end, we have had good experiences with Sony and HP laptops. Sony Vaios are very nice and have proven themselves in the office as very capable machines. However, if you want a tank, I would also suggest a Toshiba. I have an old Toshiba Satellite that's 5 years old and still running strong. We stopped using Dell about 2 years ago because their customer service was just horrible and doesn't seem any better today. However, we still have two old Dell Dimensions in our office still going strong. Not sure of Dell's hardware quality now though either. Also, almost everyone will attest though that maintaining a Windows installation takes a little more effort and attention. You will need to also invest in good anti-viral/spam/etc. software. I suggest McAfee, Symantec, or TrendMicro (we run Trend on our mission critical servers). That and you need to keep your computer up to date religiously. I see enough of that at work. Which is why I...
...am also a heavy Mac user and heavily favor OS X (which is based on proven UNIX) for home and work. I just find the operating system much better for my needs and the solid performance better. That is NOT to say that it is 100% more secure or any less prone to malware, just much less prone to it (for now at least). I also run MS Office natively on my Mac with no problems in file compatibility between the OS X and Windows platforms. And as Sketch mentioned, you can run the Windows OS and its apps on a Mac much easier now (with good if not better performance) since the new models are Intel based rather than the older IBM PowerPC chips. Best of both worlds. As far as readability, I used to have a 15" PowerBook and the screen was big enough to almost fit two pages of a document side by side. You might want to look into the bigger screen of the 15" MacBook Pro (just a suggestion). I just found the 15" form factor a bit hard to commute with so I gave it to my wife and bought the smaller/slimmer (and hell of a lot faster) 13" MacBook. I upgraded it to 2 GB of ram and it just screams with the Core Duo processor.
Another thing to consider is timing. If you can wait about 3 months, both platforms will see a major upgrade in their operating systems. Apple will release the next version of OS X (10.5 aka Leopard) in January 2007 or spring of. Microsoft is also scheduled to release Vista about the same time too. So if you wait a few more months, you can buy your new laptop with the latest OS of the platform of your choosing already preinstalled without the need to upgrade to it. That will at least save you the trouble of upgrading as well as having to pay for the upgrade.
Anyway, good luck with your decision and purchase.
Hey Mark86,
You should give "Parallels" a try the next time you get. It works great as far as emulation goes on Intel based Macs. I am able to run my Windows' Adobe apps just fine (albiet a little slower since the MacBook's video is shared, bummer, oh well). All in all though it works great. A more feasible alternative too if you don't have a copy of Windows XP to install via bootcamp. Parallels runs almost any version of Windows or even Linux should you need to.
