I'm worried I may be straying off topic, but I do have to disagree. I broke from a string of Linux machines a year ago to buy a MacBook Pro, and I'd have to suggest you think very carefully about that decision. I have nothing against Macs, mind you, but I find the reliability just isn't there, and I'm starting to wonder about the relative merits of OSX versus Linux. I would still certainly recomend a MacBook over most consumer laptops I've seen, but I do have to say that in ten years I've never seen the equal of a Thinkpad. I like my MacBook, but I'll be buying a Thinkpad again as soon as I can manage. Just a data point for you.