The Switch [revisited]

Hey, some of you prolly remember me - i was the guy on the verge of switching to a pbook. (I'm holding on just to see what happens during boxing day)

i was totally bought..until today when I saw this:

Asus Z63A Base System Asus 14.1" Z63A Base System
CPU Intel Pentium M Processor 750 1.86GHz 2MB
Memory1 1 GB DDR2 533 PC4300 SO DIMM (Kingston)
Memory2 1 GB DDR2 533 PC4300 SO DIMM (Kingston)
Hard Drive (2.5") Fujitsu 80GB 5400RPM 8MB (MHT/MHV2080AH)
Wireless Kit Internal Intel Pro Wireless 2915ABG
Optical Drive DVD+-RW 8X Dual Layer Drive for Z63A
TV Tuner ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0
Warranty 1 Year Parts & 1 Year Labor Warranty

Now, I'd still love to use a mac - but the 2gb ram is hard to pass up, + switching all those programs is not an easy task.

I'd be getting a 12inch pbook with 768mb for almost exactly the same price (pbook is 50 bucks more. not that big of a deal)

once again, i do use photoshop, dreamweaver, web design, dvds, movies, and of course the usual school junk + chatting, etc. etc. and play the occasional game of starcraft and nba live (which i'd miss if i got the pbook...but probably time to grow up eh?)

I'd like to try making videos, along with creating music and such. (hence I'm pretty excited about GarageBand, iMovie, and the rest of iLife)

Now seeing that this is a mac forum, I'm expecting a bit of mac bias. Therefore, if most of you guys still tell me that the asus is probably the better way to go (or more bang for buck), then its most likely that I'll go with that.

I will not wait for the 13inch ibook rev1.

Thanks a lot for your help/opinions once again.

I'll never understand why every 14in widescreen laptop has to come with integrated graphics. It is such a nice size for a laptop, but I would want something with at least 64mb dedicated vram.

^^ me either. if it wasnt' integrated, i probably already woulda bought it.

Well, the way I look at it is you can get hung up on specs and SUPPOSED value for the $, or you can look at the smoothness of how Apple integrates its hardware and software and the absolute beauty of using Mac OS X vs. any version of Window$. Having been a PC user until this past May, I can say without hesitation that OS X is such an excellent OS in ways that I really don't know how to put into words - only your experience with OS X will define this for you. The bottom line is that I won't be switching back to any Window$-based system anytime soon, if ever.

At the very least, even if you find Window$ to be better or more user-friendly than OS X (which is only if you haven't taken the time to learn all those "little things" that make OS X better and more user-friendly, IMO), you won't be fighting viruses and the built-in firewall has not caused me any problems while surfing the net. The only problem I've encountered is some spam but apparently this is an issue I need to work out with my ISP and not a problem with my Mac itself.

So after having been on both sides of the fence, my conclusion/advice is this: What have you got to lose by going with Mac, besides missing out on a few games and certain programs that have decent (if not better) Mac equivalents? If you really want to be certain about going Mac while not missing out on any Window$ versatility, wait until Intel chips have been tried, tested, and true in new Macs (coming soon, apparently) since they, too, will supposedly run Window$ as well. And I've heard that those who currently run Window$ on Macs using VirtualPC find Window$ runs better on their Macs than on their Window$-based machines (fewer crashes, freeze-ups, etc.), so I can imagine the same will be true if Window$ can run on the up-and-coming Intel-based Macs.

Yeah, it really comes down to the OS in the long run. If you only care about sheer power vs. money, then a 12" PB is simply not the way to go. x86 laptops are just more powerful right now. That's why Apple is switching. I personally think the OS is overwhelmingly worth it, but that's me. It's up to you to judge. If you max out the RAM on the PB (another 100 bucks if you buy it third party like you should; it'll probably come out the same to have 1.25 GB third party as 768 from Apple), the PB will perform beautifully. And with its dedicated VRAM, it should still beat the x86 book in graphics programs, but in other areas, the Windows laptop WILL beat it.