I work at my Uni's bookstore as a sales consultant and as a tech. I owned my ibook for about two years and I had a mbp core duo for over a month. There is no comparison, if you want an all-in-one machine, the mbp is the solution. My ibook was a good addition to pc tower that I also have. I am a film major and do some post production work, and all I can say is that the mbp was more than enough.
Seriously, my friends do their design work on a macbook, but what they lack is the dedicated video card. I personally do not like glossy and I want a bigger display. I always ask my customer this, I hate trying to convince them. I don't want to sell them something that they do not need.
1.) What is your primary reason for buying a new machine?
2.) What kind of work are you going to do be doing on this machine?
3.) Do you need the portability for notes and basic web surfing?
4.) What applications will you be using with the portable?
5.) Do you need the extra power of a dedicated video card?
6.) Can you afford the machine that you are looking for?
Answer these questions and you'll see that you need this.
1.) I need a new machine because i sold my ibook and my desktop is dying. Post production requires me to have a powerful machine. I am going to run photoshop and design programs, but I need to learn After Effects and Final Cut Studio. I need portability, but power also to manage my notes in class and my work. I do need the extra power of the video card because the software relies on a dedicated gpu. I cannot afford this machine, but I will definitely wait until I save enough money.
See that was easy, so either buy what you really need or buy what you want, but it all comes down to you and not what anyone else tells you. Some people here are too fanatical, but hey... We are all under Steve Jobs reality distortion field...
).
