Decaflon

I recently purchased a MacBook 1.83GHz and just upgraded the RAM to 1GB. Total including the wired Mighty Mouse and shipping was just under $1300. I would honestly recommend it, I think it is perfect.

Yea I would have to agree with Ryan on that. I got the same but added 2GB of ram and it runs dreamweaver and photoshop fine.

Although once you go mac you might just ditch dreamweaver for skEdit.

I have an iMac intel and it is my first mac. I am religious about it now and would never go back. It just makes my computer work feel much better and smoother.

It is really sufficient for the jobs you described. Photoshop is a bit slow still with intel translation but survivable for most tasks and dreamweaver only starts a bit slow. It is workable, but it will increase dramatically later. The 20 inch included screen is really superb and I really love front row more than I thought before hand.

The macbook pro is almost the same as the imac in hardware but with a lower res screen and portable. I think that a G5 is overspending for the tasks you described. It is true that intel is slower at the moment but it will dramatically go past the G5 with price/performance in 6 months. The browser is already much smoother.

But test at an apple store if the intel translation overhead is acceptable for you. I am already living with it so it is easier accepting it :)

I would go for macbook pro or imac. Just decide if you need the portability pricetag vs a larger screen. But maybe a lower priced macbook is also a solution, you can connect an external screen at home and for the tasks you described you don't need the more powerfull GPU. (but Adobe CS 3 could change that somewhat)

Oh and with any mac now, 1 gig minimum is recommended. Just don't buy RAM at apple, installing yourself is easy. The performance increase was dramatic after upgrade.

Oh and a small 35 dollar savings I found in a recent apple mailing: SSPHJMF6LY (they come in regularly so you can ask for them later)

Good luck choosing :)

Mous, thanks for that rundown. I would def. like a larger screen as opposed to portabililty. Luckily I have a Dell laptop already so I always have that if I need to be on the go.

Should I not even consider a Mac mini?

I would recommend getting a MacBook Pro and connect it up to a widescreen display. You get the portability of a laptop with the screen space of a desktop when you need it. I have a PowerBook and an Apple Cinema Display and the combination is magnificent. If you find the ACD pricey (as many do) then consider getting a Dell widescreen, which I think is a more economical solution.

Mac mini is ofcourse also an option. (I forgot that one) Just check if you need a GPU. Mac mini is the same as a macbook in hardware. Like macbook pro is the imac in hardware basics. There is almost no CPU differences between current intel macs, so they perform the same on your webdev fronts.

The Dell widescreen and Cinema display share the same display matrices. So they are almost the same in display quality. (the Dell is only uglier in exterior design but has some media card options and vga connections) But these kind of displays are really worth the price for their colorspace. (the imac has one built in)

But you can expect some updates after the 7th of august when there will be new mac products announced with a preview of the next OSX.

Yeah I would wait awhile more. There'll be some announcements at the upcoming WWDC, which is always very exciting for Mac fans!

I've been toying with the idea of a macbookpro once my current Windows laptop kicks the bucket. How easy is the switchover for someone who has never used a Mac in his life?

Andrew, I've always been used to a PC, and the switch has been easy for me. I started my job a couple months ago and have had to use a Mac all day, and I love it, which is why I started this post, because now I want a Mac!

I'll second the Intel iMac recommend. I've got one of the 20" models, and it's fantastic for all of the web design stuff that I do. Photoshop is slightly sluggish, as it's not yet Intel-compatible. However, upgrading the iMac's RAm (I maxed mine out at 2GB) should offset any major slowdowns.

And yes, the 20" iMac's screen is absolutely gorgeous. It's almost painful to look at anything else.

Well I switched at the end of january with only some experience with the macs at my study. But now I would't go back. (the same with a friend who switched and bought the same 20 inch imac then) I have my old xp license on the other side of the iMac HD but barely touch it and my old PC is catching dust. But I enjoy exploring new stuff and was stunned how fast I catched onto the mac environment. It just felt easier and quicker. Of course there are some changes you need to get used to, but it was not hard to switch. Mostly just copying over my files and asking some mac friends on what the mac versions of some things were. And you can always install windows on it if you don't like OSX. This computer just feels better... But that is a personal experience. Yours may differ.

Unless you already have a kick-ass display, don't do the Mac mini. The price point between it and the 17" iMac (or even the 20", really) is very narrow for a much better hardware solution.

If it matters, the iMac's RAM is user-upgradable; the mini, not so much.