It is actually alot harder to find comparisons, than I would have thought. But of course when you do, it's hard to peel back the bias. I would have thought that this is a Hardware comparison issue, and price, from you own point of view. I don't know enough about Macs to give great advise, but your concerns seem more based around hardware capabilities, than OS vs OS.

It seems to me also, that you would prefer to get an Apple, simply from what you have said, and I can't think that either OS would fail to be capable of your needs.

Personally, I would ensure that you have a suitable minimun spec. Most new systems have a capable CPU, but you should ensure you at least have 512mb ram, but I would advise an upgrade to 1Gb. I would ensure you have a branded Graphics Card, ATI, VNidia. Better support, better quality. Avoid anything built in. Finally a decent screen. I would want at least a 15, if not 17inch screen, capable of at least a 1280x1024 (or widescreen equivalent). Hard drives not so important, as expensive to upgrade in a laptop, and external drives are great value these days.

Still it all comes down to finance. good luck

If you can use both, then choose which ever you like. But, if you decide to get a PC, don't get a Dell. I know you said you don't like them, but I was just reassuring you Alienware would be my choice of a manufactured computer. Apple or PC.... It's a toss up. Both are excellent.

What you get depends on what you want to do with it now and in the future.
I've pondered getting a Mac on the side myself for image processing and just to have one but thought why bother.
PC works well enough for that for my purposes and I need it for other things as well (development work, testing, and I'm active in the MS Flightsim community) and have a big investment in Windows software already.

I'm actually more likely to get a SparcStation (Sun Solaris) now than a Mac, and use that specifically for Java development.

But first a new PC at some point, maybe spend my vacation money this year on a new nice Alienware

hey everyone thanks for all of your replies they have been helpful. now to make this a bit easier what would you suggest for a pc laptop? ive been looking at the Toshiba Tablet PC. So lets compare apple and that. Am I better off with the Apple or Tablet PC? The Tablet will be able to run the software I use. It has 1 gig of memory that meets over the requirements for them. What is the advantage between having an apple and a tablet pc? Also I found the PoweBook G4 17 inch for 1,854 at niceelectronics.com a lot cheaper then through the apple store. And the Tablet with the options I selected for it is 1,655 I think. So the pricing is close.

That's a tough question. I like the Apple 17inch, and have looked on the Apple site a while ago, and loved some of the Apple Features, particularly in multimedia, (was thinking about a Mac Mini). But I also commented on someone else looking at a R15 Tablet, or Viao FJ series model. I think the benefit of a Tablet PC would be good if you like to work away from a desk environment. The fact that you can fold away the keyboard, makes it easy to rest on your lap. I could picture myself maybe video editing, or a spot of photo manipulation, quite comfortably on a sofa, and this would be a big plus in my opinion.

Personally, I think of Apple a bit like Sony. Their products are good on their own, but combining them, really improves functionality, and both companies are very focused on these ideas. If you may expand to other Apple products in the future, this might tip a decision.

As for both, sounds nice, but necessity ???

Have you ever played around with a tablet pc? I used one once and didn't really like it too much. I think it was a toshiba. Nothing wrong with the computer as for as quality goes(at least I think!), but I just didn't find the tablet part as useful as I thought. You can write fast, but not as fast as you would like and it has a lot of trouble converting to pc text.....That is, if you write as messy as me.

Oh well, it's up to you. I'd take an alienware over it

Well I finally made my decision. I sent an email to my moms computer tech where she works and asked for his input and he highly suggested Apple and gave very good reasons why. I also asked him about the Tablet and told me to stay away from those for right now because they still need a lot of work because he's heard that people are still experiencing odd crash issues. He's able to get me the 17inch PowerBook for 1,600! What a deal! He's also going to hook me up with Microsoft Office 2004 because he has it. I'm guessing it's a corporate license he has not sure. I also get a free printer and carrying case! So my decision is Apple! Thanks again for everyones input you've all been of great help!

- Dave

What were his reasons?

probably the typical "it's not Windows so it must be good"