Laptops: Apple or Window's based?

I have deciede that its time to upgrade the computer, and have decieded to purchase a laptop. However, I have run into a problem, I have no idea how much "power" I need, and am also wondering about the positives and negatives of the Apple's. Use will be the typical internet surfing, photo editing, maybe some video editing and definately for music. Any recommendations from other users would help me out a great deal. Thanks in advance.

great question as I am in the same boat, the more I think about what I really want my notebook to do the more I like the apple, but on the $$$ I can thru peeps I know get a other notebook at a good value...decisions decisions thoughts????

i've used both and for your needs apple will be much better.

the only real drawback of apples is that they are not widely accepted in the business community. well that and they can be a bit pricey.

if you don't need to hook up to a network or use software that is only pc available you'll be very very happy with an apple.

I switched to Apple 18 months ago and would never go back to a Windows based PC. I am using the PowerBook G4 laptop, and am 100% satisfied with it. I struggled for years doing video editing on Windows and ran into new problems every time. The Mac just works so well, and the programs all work so well together. If you are in Imovie(basic editing package that comes with Mac), you can access your music, graphics, and photos, instantly. Also, I haven't had to use any anti-virus software. The Mac doesn't crash or lock up everytime you load a new program, either. In Iphoto, you can edit your photos, make a slide show of your photos and put it to music using the Ken Burns effect,(a technique that puts motion to your pictures) within minutes. Yes, the Macs do cost more, but they are worth it if you are doing graphics, photography, video editing or publishing. Just ask anyone in the business.
Also, the Mac laptops are virtually silent compared to some laptops that sound
like they are powered by Cummings. At first, it can be a bit frustrating learning to do things a little differently than Windows, but well wort it. It used to be harder to get Mac compatable software, but that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore. Besides, just look how sexy the Apple products are!

BigBull

internet surfing, photo editing, maybe some video editing and definately for music.

for these purposes, and assuming your not interested in doing any gaming...MAC all the way

I'm not much of a "gamer", although I do play some on-line poker and other games such as Be-Jewelled to help kill some time when I get bored.

There is nothing you cannot do with the Mac machine. If you have a piece of software that you absolutely can't do without and there simply is not a Mac version of the software then you can partition the drive and set aside some space to make a Windows based machine on part of your Mac. You can run that software there and when you want to do everything else easier, faster and cooler you can use the Mac OS.

Macuse....i'm guessing that if he doesn't quite know what OS he wants to be running and what he needs to look for in a new computer, then perhaps a dual boot/OS partitioned hard drive might be a little bit beyond his needs