If this is not a new laptop, you will need to tell us the model before I can tell you its limits. You are correct that you will need fewer ports and get less internal disk capacity in a laptop. Pay attention to how many USB ports (USB 2) and FireWire ports it has and what you plan to connect at the same time. Laptops use 2.5 inch disk drives, not the 3.5 inch drives in most desktops, so storage capacities are lower for laptops. Most laptops have only two memory slots, so I like to buy the highest capacity chips available.
This laptop can be upgraded to Leopard for about $109 plus shipping as I write. Since it has an Intel processor, upgrading to Leopard before you install any software would be a good idea. More Windows programs will run in Leopard with an Intel processor without emulation. You can also check dual boot, an option in Leopard, or Parallels, a separate product, to run Windows. The latter will let you switch back and forth; the former is a reboot to go from Mac OS X to Windows. Adding an external USB or Firewire disk drive will provide the opportunity to use Leopard's automatic backup, TimeMachine. Its usefulness to you will depend on how convenient it is to carry the external drive around with the laptop, and how often you will be carrying it around. Apple sells extended warranty, from 90 days to three years, for something like ten percent of purchase price. I don't know if that covers dropping the laptop or running over it with the car, I would guess not. Most people buy it because Apple provides great telephone tech support, so check that out to see if would be helpful for a Mac OS newbie. Thank you, Mark Snyder -----Original Message----- From: Computer Guys Announcements and Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [CGUYS] Buying a Mac PowerBook Pro Gosh, so many replies about serial ports and floppy drives on laptops. I'm thinking of buying a Mac PowerBook Pro (college daughter bought one and loves it), but I am a Windows person and don't know how to select and I've never had a laptop. The one that I am considering is a 15.4" screen, 2.2 GHz Intel processor, 1 GB memory, sells for $2000 but available at a discount for $1800. Questions: 1. What is the best software that emulates Windows on a Mac? Or, is it better to install Windows as a partition? I need this because of the very many Windows applications that I have. 2. The discounted $1800 notebook is advertised with the OS Tiger, not Leopard. How important is the latter OS? 3. How expandable is the memory and/or disk drive? I'm used to having 1.5 TB disk space, so 120 GB internal is very small. Is 1 GB memory adequate? 4. How many ports? (My desktop has 16 USB ports and 5 IEEE ports, and all are used. Of course, I know that a laptop will not need so many.) 5. Should I buy "drop" insurance -- i.e., insurance for repair if I drop it or run over it with my car? 6. Other advice? ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************
