Great posts, atpcliff. I learned a lot from them. You sure know your stuff.

Thanks for the Cliff's Notes (no pun intended) on hardware and software.

Vagabond:

Atpcliff told you everything you need to know to get a PC. If you want to save some money and still have a good computer, follow his tips. If you just want to buy a computer and not have to worry about spending hours looking at various computers and then spend even more time setting it up so that it works the way is is supposed to, go for a PC. If you just want to buy a computer and never have to worry about maintenance or how it works, get a Mac.

I am computer literate and enjoy shopping for computer parts, deleting extra software, and tweaking it to run faster, so I use PCs. It is sort of like an old muscle car. If you take care of it everyday and are willing to spend some time getting dirty every few months to fix it, you will have a good time with a PC. Neglect any sort of maintenance, and trial software, registry errors, and viruses build up like rust and dirty oil, and your computer runs like a piece of junk. A Mac is like a brand new Honda/Toyota, the only thing you have to know is how to turn it on and you will probably never have to open the hood for the entire time you own it.

Either invest your money in a Mac, or invest you time in a PC and follow atpcliff's good advice.

Great post cliff. I now know who to go to for any computer related questions. I am almost due for a replacement laptop for my 4 year old Dell, and learned a lot from your post.

A buddy of mine did it with his AAO, but like I said, the showstopper was the lack of being able to use the wireless. And as I mentioned, maybe there's been a hack or some code that will get it to work. He just went back to using Ubuntu.

If you go to the aspireoneuser forum it has all the various ways to do it.

Apple makes good products. But they are expensive products.

I have a PC laptop running Win7. Absolutely no problems and I only spent $600.

If I only use my machine for email, internet, and a word document here or there ... why spend top dollar for a Mac?

My next laptop will be one of those small notebooks that can fit in my jepp briefcase sideways. Lighter, smaller is better.

Depends on how you weigh the cost, if you're talking buying a new machine vs. refurbed.

Fork out the money for a MAC, that will last for years. Save money, and deal with windows, and how it slows down over time. As well as spwnding money on things like virus software, if you're paying or it.

It's a way, way easier thing to carry around, especially for a commuter. I don't know how guys carry the behemoth 14-15" and bigger machines. Also, if you get a netbook that can lay on top of your pubs in your case, when you lay the case sideway on the xray belt, well.......let's just say there's a lot less taking certain things out and putting them back.

Appreciate you taking the time to write all that stuff down atpcliff, very informative!

Lol i love how this turned into a mac vs PC argument...

Look heres the deal, APCliff is 100% correct...

MACs are better as far as the operating sytems on them, less virus proned and very cool applications that are included. PCs are becoming more and more reliable depending on how well you take care of them.

If you want a cheap computer that will do everything you mentioned and more then there is no reason not to by a PC, with the new Windows 7 you cant go wrong spending 600$ for a very nice laptop from HP or Dell..

If you have money to burn or an image to maintain (coffee shop) then a mac might be for you. However if you have any children who play games then you might run into some problems with the mac seeing as how 90% of the video games out there are made for PCs.

For what you need it for i would go with the PC, half the cost and if you install a virus protector and run adaware or spybot once a week you will be fine and every bit as efficient as a MAC.

I got to my coffee shop this morning to find a UPS note that my Acer netbook will be delivered on monday. It is supposed to run on windows 7. Will keep you all posted on any problems etc. Using my Palm Pre to log on and do email is painful!

btw, my shop is going to close early on Dec 8 for the Lakewood police memorial service at the Tacoma Dome. The procession starts at McChord and goes north on S. Tacoma Way. If you are from here, I hope you line the street as well.