buying Macbook or PC laptop?

[neurignacio]

I have to buy a new laptop due to the early decease of my excellent Toshiba and I'm in the ethernal doubt of buying a dell (or similar laptop) or the new macbook generation.
I want it smooth when I'm processing my pictures with photoshop at home and I don't do video editing or gaming. I'm married with Windows (as happy as you can be when you are married) but I'm in love of OS X and I cannot avoid flirting with Linux, as well. I like small laptops, so I can bring it from work to home without injuring my back.
Reading through, people usually recommend macbook because it allows to install OS X and Windows, which is an excellent point. However, I already got my old Toshiba smoothly running OS X (although just for experimenting). So the point is that PC and Intel-Mac systems are in equal conditions regarding OSes, no?
My bugdet should be the lowest although realistic. I put myself a limit of 1000€, more or less.
What I found in Europe is the following macbook and dell configuration (up to today):

MacBook
--------
processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.16 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 667 Mhz FSB)*
* Unfortunately, 2.0 Ghz model doesn't ship with DVD-burner
memory: 2x1024 Mb, 667 Mhz (needed for photoshop dirty jobs)
graphic card: intel GMA 950, 64 Mb shared, 1280x800, 13.3"
hard disk: 120 Gb at 5400 rpm
other: 2xUSB, no card read
weight: 2.3 Kg
price: 1275€ (discounts applied)

Dell Inspiron 640m (nice example)
-----------------
procesor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 667 Mhz FSB)
memory: 2x1024 Mb, 667 Mhz
graphic card: intel GMA 950TM, 224 Mb shared, 1280x800, 14.1"
hard disk: 80Gb at 7200 rpm (better faster than big)
other: 4xUSB, card reader and every item you can find in any other laptop PC.
weight: 2.5 Kg
price: 1150€ (shiping included)

From this list, dell seems to win, however, macbook is soooo cute, that I don't know if I can regret it if I follow my feelings...

Any nice advice from you, guys? Any recommendation?

Thanks

[winwintoo]

I am really curious how you got OSX to run on your Toshiba?

Margaret

[neurignacio]

Originally Posted by winwintoo

I am really curious how you got OSX to run on your Toshiba?

Margaret

It's possible but it's not legal (Mac Os X must only be installed in Apple computers). I did only to experiment with different OSes (Vista, different Linux, OS X,...) which would give me a hint about what system to buy next. OS X in PC runs smooth, although not 100%. Check wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OsX86) at your own risk ;-)
Although, remeber the legal (i think) choice by emulation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearpc)

So this was my point, if theorically one can install both OSes in both laptops, should I buy Macbook or an equivalent laptop PC? :-#

[Swampy]

I would look further down the road. Will your emulation of OSX on the PC be fully supported in the future?. When OSX Leoparad is released? At least you know that Apple will be supporting the Intel/PC side of OSX. And you have the added bonus of being "legal" Get the Macbook.

[winwintoo]

To paraphrase a saying: "people who don't want Mac computers, never wonder if they do"

LOL

Margaret

[neurignacio]

Originally Posted by winwintoo

To paraphrase a saying: "people who don't want Mac computers, never wonder if they do"

Nice saying. The point is that I do like Macs because they are stylish but I would like to get the most for every single cent I will spend in this purchase. If I could afford it, I would buy the Macbook Pro without double-thinking (that back-lit keyboard drives me reaaaally crazy! ). But I just want a laptop that can run OS X, XP and Photoshop the best.... and the idea of the Macbook seems the best, or not?

[winwintoo]

I use an aging PowerBook that is still performing like a trooper, but I will likely replace it with a MacBook when Leopard comes out. I've had many Mac computers over the years and most of them are still in use by somebody - yes I'm a very happy Mac user LOL

My son has one of the first MacBook Pros and we put Bootcamp and Windows XP on it. I used it for a while to do my paying job that I need Windows for and in my opinion, Windows "felt" more stable on the MacBook Pro than it does on the Compaq laptop I normally use.

The only problem I found was the necessity to reboot to get to the other OS. At the time, Parallels was just a dream, so I don't know how Windows works under Parallels.

When I look at the price of a MacBook and the price of a "good" Windows laptop, I think the MacBook is more bang for your buck.

But I readily admit, I'm biased toward Mac.

Margaret

[Photo678]

Get the macbook......one plus that most people don't realize is that you get a full one year warranty on the macbook.....should anything go wrong, it's covered, free shipping, quick repairs, and free overnight shipping back (usually)...

Load up the ram...get an external monitor when the money is right, and you will be in heaven.

I have been using mine solely for a year on all of my work. I have the first gen macbook and it had some wrinkles...random shutdowns (which they fixed) bad harddrive (which they not only fixed, but upgraded me) bad battery (overnighted me a new) and the staining of the top palmrest(replaced)......all of those things have been ironed out.

best bet is to get down to an apple store and really play with one.....you;ll be happy......good luck