[ale] Macbook Pro 15" or Thinkpad W500?

Doctor Who whodoctor at gmail.com
Thu Jan 1 15:01:58 EST 2009


I'm in the market for a new laptop and am considering either a Macbook
Pro 15" with OS X Leopard or Thinkpad W500 with Linux.  I'm really
torn!

I know several on the list have Mac notebooks, so I'm looking for some feedback.

At this point, I see the following advantages for the MacBook:

* Very well polished user interface
* Support for a lot of commercial software
* Good support for iPods (which I have) and iPhone (which I may get)
* Good support with my corporate environment (Exchange server, Juniper VPN)
* Machine is aesthetically pleasing and light weight for 15" machine
* I like the MobileMe synching capiblity to keep calendars and such together
* You can install Linux on the Macbook, but can't install OS X on the Thinkpad

What I don't necessarily like with the Macbook:

* Price (about a grand more than the similarly spec'd Lenovo Thinkpad
W500)..ouch!
* Being a Linux guy I feel a little odd going with Mac OS X
* Not as much software available for the Mac (I hear Fink doesn't work
all that well / poor stability)
* Not as much 'control' of the OS as you get with Linux & proprietary hardware.

So what are the thoughts on the list?  How do the Mac laptop owners
like theirs?  If you considered a Mac and didn't get one, why not?

Thanks all!


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