Switching in Seattle?

I have been looking at notebooks for the last 7 months, watching and waiting for the next best thing to arrive. Then, when I read the reviews on these machines I hear nothing but issues with the HD, screens, video, sparkles, heat and so on. And although I'm fairly competent when it comes to computers, frankly, the thought of partitioning, reinstalling the OS, drivers and such really doesn't appeal to me. I have a family and simply don't have time for this nonsense. I have always used a PC and have been guilty of making fun of Apple people.

I think I've visited most of the notebook forums on the web and what strikes me is how few issues folks seem to have with their Macs. So now I'm at a crossroads...

I am close to pulling thtrigger on a 15" 1.5 PB. I get a govt. discount, which brings the price down to about what the Asus W3V and Z70's cost. Again, I've heard many complaints from owners of these machines.

Has anyone used Virtual PC with XP Pro? Is this what I need to get a Windows app to work on the PB? Do all Windows apps work through VPC? And, can I use VPN client on the PB to get into Govt servers?

I would appreciate your comments. Thanks.

 

Apple is not perfect. Click here and scroll around, paying attention to words like "bug", "crash", 'hang" and "overflow" .

 

I spoke to a friend tonight that uses a Mac and has tried to use Virtual PC to use a VPN to get into work servers (he works at an investment bank) and he says nothing but nightmares in regards to attempting that, and the IT department at work runs away from him if he tries to ask them about it. Apple is a darling in the media for sure, dig down and you'll find they're certainly not perfect, although their product is very good I will say. For me there's too much software that I can't go without to even allow me to contemplate switching to a Mac.

 

I'ved used VPC with WinME mostly. (I booted Win2k once but it was painfully slow) You can use VPC to run most Windows apps on a Mac. I would suggest not doing so, due to how slow they run. I would suggest getting a Mac version of the software, or Mac equivalent of the software. One of the class of Windows apps that creates difficulties running on VPC, on a Mac, is VPN clients. Again better to get a Mac version. Cisco has a native Mac version of their VPN client, and Apani Networks sells a Mac version of the Nortel Contivity client. Also there is a VPN client that is part of OSX, that may be able to be configured to work with some VPN servers.

 

Thanks, jas.

Well I took the plunge and bought a PB today. So far, so good. It recognizedmy wireless network and printer w/no problems. I't's running remote desktop flawlessly and I'm able to sign on to my at work with a click of an icon.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to load my accounting software on it, but I still have a PC for that.