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[DrD]

That *is* a really nice rig. Very sweet. I know you are not leaning towards the mac, and I am not a mac person... but are you going to use this as your home entertainment system as well as computer since you have space limits? Seems kind of a natural extension to me, and it wouldn't be hard to do in your budget. Could even get a secondary flat screen mounted in your rig to go with your laptop to watch your movies. There are wireless speakers you could drop around for surround sound. Eh... never mind. You could do all that just as easy without the mac. :D

DrD

[EvilCouch]

Might want to hold off on getting a new laptop for a month or two. There's a good possibility that MS is going to start letting OEM companies distribute computers running Windows 7 soon.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/05/best ... s-windows/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; And there we go.

[RangerX]

Even if you are buying for your home, a laptop makes a lot of sense. You can get laptops with as much power as almost any desktop these days. Laptops have their own batteries so no worrying about a UPS. Laptops give off less heat and make less noise. If you do decide to go mobile, lugging around a PC is a bitch.

If you want a larger screen then it is easy enough to get an external monitor and plug it in. LCDs don't take up much room these days.

As for the Mac, if you are looking for entry level capabilities then the price point is OK, but still steep in comparison to a comparably equipped PC. That said, I run Ubuntu so I can actually use all that hardware goodness I paid for. OS X is light years ahead of Windows, although some of the iSnobs I know are complaining about the latest version. For a "Mac" daddy Apple, you will pay a significant premium.