Need advice on Mac for first time

yes the mac emulator of pc sucks badly, and would be even worse on a laptop

 

Emulators will run incredibly slowly, don't bother relying on them for anything above the basic necessities. I have VPC emulating Windows (2000 and XP) on my iBook and it's ridiculously slow.

What will you be using the laptop for? For most people, the 12 inch iBook is great for college. It offers sprightly performance in a very affordable and very mobile package.

 

if your on a budget go for the 12"inch ibook
if money doesnt matter or if you need a big screen go for a 15" powerbook

 

Get Office for mac. All my prof's notes/assignments are done in either word excel or powerpoint, of course u might not run into that.

I would go with the ibook because of the semi recent updates. powerbooks are great but the price difference is much.

 

I agree, the iBook is great for a college student. Office for Mac will prove useful as well. Good luck with your decision!

 

You didn't say what your major is, but for most college students, the 12" iBook is perfect. Get Microsoft Office for Mac, you'll almost certainly need that.

As for Virtual PC, it gets a bit of an undeserved bad reputation I think. I've heard some switchers (personal friends) think that they're going to get a Mac, but just run everything in Virtual PC because they "need" a bunch of Windows software. That's ridiculous for a couple reasons. First of all, VPC is pretty slow, and there's no reason to buy a Mac if you're mostly going to run Windows software. The second reason it's dumb, is because usually when you ask people what Windows software they need to run, it's just a bunch of fairly basic stuff for which there are perfectly good Mac replacements. I do have a couple programs that I need to run for school that are Windows only (electrical engineering stuff), and for those programs, Virtual PC runs just fine. I don't use it often, so the slowness isn't really a problem. That's what Virtual PC is for, running the occasional application for which there is no Mac version, and that doesn't really need a lot of speed to run.

 

The best performer for the usage you've indicated will be the 1.67 GHz 15" PowerBook with the optional 128 MB VRAM. Combo or SuperDrive is up to you.

You can buy it with the stock 512 MB RAM, then add another 1 GB third party
from Crucial or Macsales.
Apple(Samsung) RAM is way overpriced.

If you already have "licenced" versions of your Adobe and Macromedia software, they will send you the Mac versions for the cost of shipping.
If not you're school probably can get you bulk education pricing.

You should be fine with the education versions of MS office for Mac.

THe 17" models are nice, but quite bulky to lug around.
You're better off spending the difference on RAM for your 15"

 

I LOVE my 12" PB, perfect size for school. I'm glad I didn't go the 15" route. I'd definitely say check out the iBooks (and maybe get an iMac later down the road if you can affourd it) or the 12" PB (just up the RAM!). I use the PB as my main computer and it works wonders; video editing, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, the works. AND it's so portable, especially coming from Windows laptops a la Dell!

 

I regularly take my 17" around campus!
Definitely get Office and extra RAM though regardless of whicih size PB you buy - all are great!

 

Look at NeoOffice before spending on Office. It may do everything you need, it's free and compatible with Office. I have used the Linux equivalent for years with no problems and the OSX implementation is even better.

 

I take my 17" to college pretty often. But it sounds like a 15" PB is everything you need and more, so if you have some extra cash to spend then go ahead. If not, then 12" iBook will suit you well.

 

Absolutely it will. You're going to need lots of screen space. But a laptop monitor isn't ideal for graphic design. It might be better to buy a smaller laptop and use the extra money to buy an external monitor. Lots of folks around here recommend the Dell 24-inch monitor, which can be found for under $1000. You could get a 12-inch PB and the Dell 24-inch monitor for less than a 17-incher.

 

If you go the 12 inch route I would suggest getting an external monitor. The extra screen space is very helpful in photoshop, keynote, iphoto.

 

For potability sake I would go with the 15" PowerBook. The 17" is just so large. I think that you would really like the 15", good luck.

 

12 inch w/ external monitor is a killer combo

 

With computers, the longer you wait the better--but you give up HAVING and USING the new machine, so you can't wait forever. It's a personal call.

Ideally you'd wait (6 months?) for an Intel-based Mac laptop that would almost certainly be able to run Windows at excellent speed, one way or another.

Until then, a PowerBook G4 is the best laptop on the planet (I won't claim the fastest) and new ones MIGHT be coming this month at Apple Expo (or after--if they have been delayed as some speculate).

You could also make do with a cheaper iBook, saving up for something faster after the Intel change.

As for Virtual PC--yes, it's a slow PC (at least until an Intel Mac version comes out, which I expect next year) but it's still a product I really like. Why?

* Both Mac and Windows without carrying two laptops. Convenience is worth the loss of speed.

* Easy data sharing between apps on both sides. No network needed, just drag and drop!

* There's something cool about having apps from two different OS's share the screen

That said, you may find you don't need VPC at all--especially if you keep your old Windows machine around "just in case."

I thought I would need a Windows PC and couldn't do everything on Mac. First I bought a new Windows PC, and then I bought VPC... and now it turns out I don't really need either. Mac apps do all that I need, and exchange data with my Windows clients just fine.

Re screens: I use those same apps you do, every day, and I have a 15" PB. A 17" would be an even better screen... but in fact, I wish I had the 12"!

Because the 12" is just SO much more portable. Then, at home, I'd have a 20" or 23" Cinema Display (or Dell flat display--some excellent deals can be found on their 20" widescreen). Best of both worlds.

That's what I'd do--get a 12" (if portability is key) or 15", PLUS a second display for home base.

Good luck.