Macbook Q's for a prospective purchaser

Hello -

I am considering purchasing one of the newly released Macbook (black one with 160gb hd) and have a few questions.

I need something that is durable and just works. I own a small law firm and want to use it for work/pleasure. Would you consider the build quality to be durable and reliable (as compared to a Lenovo T61)? How is the realistic battery life running internet and other non-graphics intensive apps? Will the battery last through a full length dvd? I have a few pc only programs and would need to run Parallels or Bootcamp (can it run Vista or should I use XP Pro)?

Is the Macbook something that would last me at least 3, preferable 4 yrs? To me the Macbook is pretty unknown (I have used one but it is hard to tell until you really own one) and I am considering the Lenovo T61 just because I know it is durable, a quality machine, and I am comfortable with PC's. I am not a big fan of Vista because it is such a resource hog that it kills battery life in a laptop.

Thanks for the information.

 

The Macbook's build quality is not as good as the Thinkpad T61. The Macbook is a consumer laptop and the Thinkpad is a business laptop, hence the different build traits. Although the Macbook's build quality is one of the best out of all consumer laptops.

The Macbook's battery life isn't the best compared to business notebook. I'd estimate about 4-4.5 hours of battery life just surfing the web with the lowest brightness setting. That should be enough to play one full DVD movie. Both Bootcamp and Parallels support Vista, but XP tends to run faster.

Overall, the Macbook has been out in the market for quite some time now. It has matured; bugs have been fixed and flaws have been re-designed. The T61 Thinkpad is a whole new laptop, so it might not be the best idea to get the latest and greatest.