Imac notebook vs other laptops

If you are interested in modelling I suggest you get yourself some clay

Seriously, I think either an iBook or a "normal" laptop would be able to do either of those tasks easily but it is usually agreed that people in the 'creative sector' use Apple products, that is certainly who they are marketed at.

A PC user, although maybe not for long.

depends on the spreadsheet modelling involved - Macs have a different operating system, if the software you need to use is only on Windows then it will not work on a Mac without an emulator (Virtual PC). If you have to use an emulator you will need at least a Powerbook - great machine but a chunk of coin.

That said, the Mac version of Excel is v. good and the database software Filemaker is, to my mind, much better than Access, YMMV.

I would just search for the software you use and see if it is available on the Mac platform.

It is easier to share between Macs and PCs these days, but the need to share project files and worksheets may be a limitation if no one else is using a Mac.

Huw

Richard and Huwge

Thanks for the responses

Regards

Dipak

Make sure you are comparing like with like -- the only laptops which come anywhere near Apple's offerings in terms of overall product quality are ThinkPads -- this accounts for much of the expense.

In terms of internet stuff, since all Macs now run a version of Unix, they are excellent internet citizens. For "spreadsheet modelling" there is Excel -- probably the best thing M$ have ever done. Moving files between Macs and Windows is simply a question of moving the file -- as long as you have a version of Office you should have no problem with Office files, irrespective of anything else. Support for PDF is infinitely better on Macs, since it's native to the OS (everything you see on the screen is effectively in PDF format).

As stated above, it's only if you need to run proprietary Windows software that you are likely to run into a problem. VPC is frankly a pain, and if you needed to spend much time in it, this would likely swing the balance in favour of a ThinkPad. However, there is always the astonishing iEmulator, which costs 24.00USD (not a typo) but requires that you have your own copy of Windows.

Whatever, with a Mac you will only get maximum potential performance available if you have 1GB or more of RAM, so don't stint on this. Pluggin in other stuff to a Mac is also markedly hassle-free -- it actually works, rather than "plug and pray".

Best of luck!