So, i have been looking at replacing my aging and dented (dont ask) Power Book G4 with something a lot more powerful for the last while. I know i have just bought the Advent 4211 a few days back, but thats a small, lightweight portable laptop, which will be used exclusivly for email, browsing, etc. the new, more powerful laptop is being tasked as a portable work horse: photo editing, development work, large things that the Advent cant do, or would do too slowly.

So, i ask you, my readers (i think there are a few of you out there, somewhere… Is this thing on… *tap* *tap*…) which deicent spec machine should i go for?

Requirements:

  • Good processor: 64 bit would be nice, dual core very nice.
  • Lots of RAM: 4 gigs is a target
  • nice screen: minimum 12” display
  • fast hard drive: size dont matter (to much). 7200RPM is ideal.
  • nice graphics card: ideally i dont want it using memory from the laptop, should have its own.

there are a few i have been looking at. Apple’s MacBook, MacBook AIR and the MacBook Pro are on the list, but after that, maybe a ThinkPad of some sort? If i go with Apple, which one? the AIR looks really nice and really thin, but is it fast enough? The MacBook looks nice too, but is it profesional enough. the MacBook Pro thicks all the boxes, but then you come on to the question of the “Apple Tax”. i could probably get a non Apple machine with simular or better specs for a lot less… and then you have OS… OSX is a nice to have, but i dont use it enough. the OSX Partition on my Mac Pro has been removed reciently, and i dont look back. i used it rarley, and when i did, i just got angry at it and went back to Windows…

So, i ask you: What should i do? Please leave recomendations, links, etc, in the comments! Thanks!