Gettting a laptop this weekend, macbookpro or a windows laptop?

[JJBro1]

I get really frustrated sometimes with windows and its bugs and crashes, I heard that macs don't really get that so that perked my interest. However I heard that macs are really expensive (which i see) and that there is really no need to buy a mac when you can buy a laptop with the same specs for cheaper. However you can now run windows on a macbook pro. My requirements are basically the macbook pro specs http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/, I want it to have more than 3 usb ports and if its a pc I would prefer one with a blu ray drive. So basically my question is this, why should i get a pc or why should i get a mac?

[Jeff Wilson]

You didn't mention what you are going to use the portable for, so it's hard to give an answer. If you have a specific application that you need a PC for, then get a PC. I like the Mac because it's less likely to get viruses, adware, spyware, etc., but if you keep your protection up to date and do all the updates religiously and are careful to read all the warnings, then perhaps a PC would work well. What OS? Do you go with the aging XP, the somewhat bloated Vista or wait for 7? For the Mac, you have the same issue. Do I go with Leopard or wait for Snow Leopard? The thing for me that makes the Mac a wise decision is the iApps of GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD and iWeb. I do everything from digital photography to making movies and burning DVDs as well as dabble in podcasting. Once I bought a Mac, I had the software which allowed me to do all of these things in an integrated fashion. I have my music available in iMovie, I have my pictures available in Mail, etc. A lot of people balk at spending $300 - $500 more for a Mac than a PC. It doesn't take too many visits from the Geek Squad to clean up a PC to eat that extra amount up or to pay for Internet Security suites. If you have to buy software for movie editing or DVD mastering or music creating/podcasting, that money gets used up rather quickly as well. You'll probably have this machine for a few years, so think about the total cost of having that machine vs the original purchase price. I've never regretted getting a Mac.