IF I am successful in my applications I am considering buying a Macbook or Macbook Pro for my studies. Reason is that they seem to last longer and all I want to do with it as word processing, bit of video editing, internet and music.

Anyone else here on a PhD with one and are they worth it?

Yep - I have the smallest ibook G4 laptop and it is superb. It has NEVER let me down in terms of performance. Also VERY portable and extremely hardy - have dropped and sat on it more times than I can count! It is also great in terms of managing photos / graphics etc.

If you want Word, you do have to budget in buying Microsoft Office for Mac, but you can get a good discount on it if you're a student.

I can't speak highly enough of Macs :)

You can currently get a legitimate copy of Office 2007 for around £38 if you have an academic or other education email... but offer is only valid until April 2008, so you need to hurry. It's available at that price for both Windows and Mac.

http://www.theultimatesteal.co.uk/

Look away now if you have scruples....

http://thepiratebay.org/browse/302

Hi, I've had my macbook for about 18 months now and it is one of the best things i have ever bought. It is brilliant! I find them very reliable, they hardly ever crash or freeze on you and i've never had any issues with compatibility. They are also easy to transport being both light and small. However if you are not familiar with the mac format they do take a little bit of getting used at first but I'd definitely recommend one, it is just the small little things they do differently that makes them amazing

Hmm - golfpro, I just wouldn't feel comfortable downloading stuff like this, not from a moral point of view, but where my PhD work is concerned I'd want to feel 100% confident in the software I'm getting . . .

In terms of the basic stuff (like Office 2008, iLife 08, iWorks 08, etc.) its exactly the same thing on the torrents that you'd spend your monies on at PC World (just for nothing). The more obscure (academic) stuff doesn't get on the torrents. I personally haven't bought any software for my Mac. All torrented stuff.