Thinking about a macbook.

Ive been a long time Windows user, grown up in a Windows house and working as a PC Tech. Im getting ready for college, and ive been looking around at laptops. Ive been looking and reading all I can about Intel Macs and OS X, and Im very impressed by both. I need a portable, school laptop, with lots of multimedia functions. Encoding, Photo Editing, DVDs, and Very light gaming. Im a long time iPod user, and have always been impressed with the quality of apple products. Especially compaired to the cheap plastic feel that ALOT of Windows based laptops have.

Im not worried about gaming, I built a new desktop machine back in November for that purpose. I was curious about the claims of defects and some of more common issues between the Macbook vs Macbook Pro. I have a friend who swears against getting a MBP. Also, Id eventually like to dual boot with Vista. Im wondering if Apple is planning on releasing boot camp drivers for Vista in the (somewhat) near future?

EDIT: Here are the specs at the Macbook im looking at:
(White) 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, 120GB HDD

If you need something portable for college, then you should go with the MacBook. I have one for the exact same purpose. It'll do everything that you need it to do.

There have been defects like any new line on laptops, but these have all been sorted now. It has never been a better time to consider purchasing a MacBook. For college or school the MacBook would be ideal. It is portable, quick, durable and it is very compatible with its Windows counterparts.

I have never tried, but I think you can already run Vista on the MacBook albeit a bit limited at the moment because as you say a lot of drivers haven't been released yet. I am sure Apple will do its best to try and make these drivers available because this is one of the selling points of the new Intel Macs. You could also try Parallels which maybe kept more up-to-date than Boot Camp.

I have an 15" MBP for college that is great and not too heavy (in a backpack). I would recommend an MBP over a MB just because it has a bigger screen, more powerful, better staying power in the ever-changing technology world and it will probably be able to handle whatever Vista throws at it better than the MB. Plus my MBP runs games like a champ. I'd say sell the PC and step up to the MBP.

My 2 cent.

Overall, the choice to go Mac is a huge step in the right direction. From what I've heard of the current Vista users, it's working completely normally so far and it is also fully supported by Parallels also.

I went the extra mile and got the MacBook Pro I'm very pleased, and very fussy.

And lastly I said, If I'm paying THAT much I wanted a DECENT video chipset!

The one thing I cant forgive MAC for is they put an intel integrated Video chipset With SHARED VIDEO MEMORY YET in a $1300 notebook. NO decent PC manufacturer would have the nerve to put that kind of Junk in a notebook that much over a thousand. Thats purely for the -$900 student books.

Its MAC sleezing you into spending an extra grand, it kept me from buying in a LOT longer than I would have. In the end I wasn't willing to spend performance price for a no performance video solution. If you are going to make the investment, save, wait and get the Pro, its worth the difference.

Otherwise I'd still be running my Dell with Ubuntu.

I agree with Tak and Fleurya.

Wait and get he MBP over the MB. The performance difference is great, and like Tak said, althought the MB is a solid machine, I'm completely ashamed of Apple for putting 64 mb of integrated video memory onto that computer.

If you've already got a Windows box for games, I would go for the MacBook. The video card is the main advantage of the MacBook Pro and you don't seem to need it. You might as well save the money and get a more portable laptop in the process.

I decided on a MacBook for college for the very reasons you gave. Also, if you don't have a lot of money to throw around, it is the cheapest Mac laptop. I've been having a great experience with mine so far (it is my first Mac). Unless you will be playing significant amounts of 3D games, I'd say go for the MacBook.

All of my recent travels have had me thinking that I need a portable to take with me when I travel. I initially started down the same route, thinking that a MacBook would be a nice low cost alternative that would meet the need well. But for all the reasons fleurya mentions, I have decided on a MBP. I am waiting for Leopard to be released before I buy, but as soon as it is out, I will pick one up. So, clearly, an MBP would be my recommendation. The 15" seems a nice compromise between functionality, size and weight.

I would agree, if you have the money get a MacBook Pro. I do wish I had one, but my MacBook suffices well for me, and since I also have my old gaming PC I can hop on if I want to play some graphics intensive games. My MacBook has become my main machine, though.

The MBP configured how I like it is $400+ dollars when its all said and done. I dont think I could justify the money on a 128mb video card. Thanks for your experience and advice; if anyone else has any suggestions let me know.