British Expatriate Network

A MacBook to be accurate (which is mor than I can say for my typing!). Hubby has got this Macbook on loan for a week so that I can try it out. So far I am liking it very much, having got used to using a Mac at work.

Currently I use my pc mainly for the internet (obviously), documenting my family tree research, photograph editing/storing and preparing tables, calendars, booklets & notes for my school council and church work. In addition to that I would like my computer to be able to burn cd's (at the very least) and not keep freezing up or catching viruses.

So despite the fact that all Mac users love them to death, what do you think I need to know before we purchase one of our own?

I am torn between a MacBook and an iMac at the moment; I just have to decide how important portability is to me.

I've bought about 100 macs over the past few years for work and have a Powerbook for work/home.

If you need portability, the Powerbook is a must but if you are going to just use it at home, the new iMacs are really very nice. I put 25 in over Christmas and kept thinking one would go nicely at my house. They take up so little room and the lack of fan noise is a treat.

Of the 25 I put in back then, only one went bad which is not a bad ratio.

Just don't think that a Mac will never crash. They can and do although certainly not in the same league as Win-doze PCs.

I'm counting down the days now unti I can upgrade my Powerbook. It's been very good indeed but I'd like one of the new ones with Intel chips that can run Windows - Microsoft's Virtual PC for Mac is probably the worst and slowest software ever to be experienced and I use it as little as possible.

Thanks for that Pilgrim. I agree about the fan noise - it's very annoying. I am leaning towards an iMac right now although I know there will be times when something portable would be very useful.

Hubby has a G4 powerbook and he also likes it very much. The new macs all have the dual processor so as far as I can tell it's win-win with macs!

Getting a MacBook for christmas...counting the hours and days.