Broken Jar:Absolutely, if you main focus isn't editing software for pics, vids & music and the digital design style stuff then it makes complete sense to get a Windows based machine. I can never understand why people buy Apple's and then run Windows on them?!?! That seems crazy to me, but I guess it goes back to the whole fashion statement thing.

 Exactly. It's all about being fancy. That's one thing about computers, if people can find a way to do something in a different way to everyone else they will and they'll try to draw attention to themselves when doing it too!

I've got a good PC at home and it does the job, doesn't look fancy and is quiet. What more do you want from a computer? :)

Absolutely, if you main focus isn't editing software for pics, vids
& music and the digital design style stuff then it makes complete
sense to get a Windows based machine. I can never understand why people
buy Apple's and then run Windows on them?!?! That seems crazy to me,
but I guess it goes back to the whole fashion statement thing.

Broken Jar:I kind of agree with that, Apple's are very 'in vogue' at the moment so I think a lot of people will buy them as a lifestyle choice rather than as a technical choice - and I'm not saying thats a bad thing. It's as much about enjoyment as anything else. I bought mine because I mainly use it for music, pictures and video's, and it's fantastic for that. I much prefer the Apple for doing this kind of stuff than the PC but if you're going to be using Microsoft software then you might as well save some money and buy a PC. I've got MS Office running on the Mac and it works fine so an Apple was perfect for me but if you only it would be an expensive choice for others. You're always going to get people who are either in the Steve Jobs camp or the Bill Gates camp and they'll each say that the other is rubbish, so if you don't really care either way just look to what you'd be using the laptop for and then the choice should be simple.  

 I'm not really part of a camp as such. I merely want a product that has the most functionality. Mac's are not too bad when it comes to doing all the things you'd want a PC to do but they don't play games, you can't use whatever hardware you want and they cost more. This for me is enough to make me a not Mac person and a Windows person by default :)

I kind of agree with that, Apple's are very 'in vogue' at the moment so
I think a lot of people will buy them as a lifestyle choice rather than
as a technical choice - and I'm not saying thats a bad thing. It's as
much about enjoyment as anything else. I bought mine because I mainly
use it for music, pictures and video's, and it's fantastic for that. I
much prefer the Apple for doing this kind of stuff than the PC but if
you're going to be using Microsoft software then you might as well save
some money and buy a PC. I've got MS Office running on the Mac and it
works fine so an Apple was perfect for me but if you only it would be
an expensive choice for others. You're always going to get people who
are either in the Steve Jobs camp or the Bill Gates camp and they'll
each say that the other is rubbish, so if you don't really care either
way just look to what you'd be using the laptop for and then the choice
should be simple.  

ty4that:

That's interesting. I always get the feeling that the 'informed' - not me - will plump for an Apple all things being equal. I don't really know why... 

 I disagree strongly. An Apple is merely a fashion statement. Unless you're doing graphic design or video an Apple is merely an expensive PC with no real advantage over PC's. Owning and Apple is "cool" at the moment and that's why people buy them.

That's interesting. I always get the feeling that the 'informed' - not me - will plump for an Apple all things being equal. I don't really know why... 

I've recently bought a MacBook and absolutely love it. It's fantastic.
Depends on what you want to use it for though I guess. It does run
windows pretty well if you need to use MS software, but then I guess it
would be simpler to buy a non-Apple laptop if you were gonna do that.

Snap! I always assume the worst. Just bought micro hi fi from Comet online BUT I e mailed them originally and said I wanted to buy but was put off by having to take back to store if problem. They then said if problem in first seven days they would pick up - clearly they want people to go to store although they can get it picked up. I'm the only person I have ever heard of that would worry about taking something back in that context. Wonderful, wonderful Argos!

Hi there,

To be perfectly honest i dread having to buy anything electrical or has the tiniest moving part in it !!. I am planning on buying a beautiful 18ct diamond cross this week which is quite a few hundred pounds , but knowing my luck that will probably self combust within 24 hrs of purchase!!!!!

If you are talking to me meg that's really funny. The PB was my third laptop because I took the other two back as faulty. The first one was an Acer!!! BUT I bought it from Comet as with number two a HP - they were great. When I saw the PB at a great price in what was Dixons I had another momentary lapse and bought it. I am not a fan (diplomat in advancing years) of the Dixons Group and in fact have now gone back to my near lifetime boycott of anything touched by that great retailer Sir Stanley Kalms.

If you are looking to buy the Acer DON'T GO TO PC WORLD !! they may be a bit cheaper,but what you will save on price you will certaintly spend on high rate phone calls( if you have a problem) average 1 hour 30mins per call ,only to find you have to take your laptop to the store ! !   been there, done that many times ! ! 

Bought it about 15 months ago and haven't had any problems with it. It's the silver one and as a bonus it's aesthetically the nicest one I looked at.

I have a Mitac late PIII vintage here (I forget the model etc) running XP comfortably. It's very good indeed and hasn't given me a moments trouble in the few years that I've had it. The Easynotes of the time were rebadged Mitacs as were many other popular notebooks. If that's what you've got, then it's a pretty solid little machine.

Please be honest I've got a Packard Bell EasyNote. ???????

Dells used to be very good indeed. Not really upgradeable but they were designed for corporate use - Easy but non standard component replacement and scrapped after a year or so. I have a slightly later Dell (An XPS 500) which is still in use and cannot be broken! It weighs a ton and if it could be kicked from here to Timbuctoo and back it would still function without problem.

In comparison, the Dells I've seen of late are little more than ugly black sardine cans with a bunch of USB ports hanging from every orifice. I avoid working on them whenever possible.