[tlug] Linux-compatible Mac laptop? SOLVED

["Joseph Essertier" <esser@example.com>]

Niel wrote:
"There are several differences between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro you should take into account"

Joe:
Thanks especially to Niel for the message in which he explained the differences between the MacBook and MacBook Pro, but also to everyone else.  The comments and advice, given right away, helped me make a good, quick decision.  I went with the MacBook Pro because I ne...ne...ne...neeeeeed the cool graphics!  (Give me another shot quick!)  No, actually, one thing that I heard from the Mac sales rep. was that the Pro has a nice screen, with less of a glare than the regular MacBook.  One can choose from a regular screen, or a "clear" screen when ordering a MacBook Pro.  And the "clear" screen is the one that's less clear, the rep. explained to me.  If you want a clear screen, don't order a "clear" (kuriaa) screen, stupid!  Order the regular one, which is a "matte" screen.  Whatever...

Niels' explanation was much more helpful than the sales rep's explanation, as one would expect.  Some additional things I learned however, include the following.  He said that the MacBook was lighter, and it is, but I was told that the difference between the 13" MacBook and the 15" MacBook Pro is a mere 0.2 kg.  As he said, the regular MacBook's battery lasts longer:  6 hours vs. 5 hours on the Pro.  But a spare battery on the Pro is actually a little cheaper than on the regular MacBook.  It's possible to edit "hi-vision" video on the MacBook Pro, unlike the MacBook, with "FinalBookPro" software.  A colleague owns a copy of that, I heard.  I don't know if I'll ever need to do that, but it sounds good. 

I've been using a Vaio and, for such a little thing, the screen is very clear.  I've been totally satisfied with that.  But I constantly have to enlarge the type, and not having much space to work in makes for less efficiency.  (Don't tell me there is software out there that instantly fixes that problem).   The glare is pretty bad.  There was less of a glare on my old Mac G3 (Wallstreet).  The Vaio is ridiculously slow also since it comes with a lousy OS--not necessarily Sony's fault.   I've run Ubuntu on it, and Ubuntu is a little better, but some things are slower than the old WallStreet, and a few functions didn't work, like the fan, a problem that someone has fixed, I read.  The point is that I'd really like to to have a laptop with a nice screen that is fast, because I haven't used one for a long time.  I heard that the regular MacBook and the MacBook Pro boot up quickly, and wake up quickly from sleep mode.  But the Vaio I have takes 15 to 30 seconds to wake up from sleep mode, even when all the software has been recently re-installed, and everything is working.  Booting up takes forever of course.  I'm not the only one who has been surprised how slow my Vaio is.

What Micheal said about his experience with the MacBook Pro was also very convincing, and led me to think that I'd be happier with a Pro than with a regular MacBook. 

By the way, I will probably need to use a WinXP VM on my new Mac too (and/or the Parallels software.  Is that a VM?) because I am also often in the same  situation in Japan he mentioned, where you can only do it in Windows, or you can just get the job done a lot faster by using a Windows machine than a Mac or Linux one.  For example, the Japanese language environment in Windows has been fine-tuned so perfectly over the years, it's amazing.  It works just the way you'd like it to, with a few notable exceptions.  The Japanese language input on Ubuntu (can't remember the name of the software at the moment) has about 2 important advantages over the software that comes with Windows, which is impressive to be sure.  (But I bet for a little investment in software, you can get those features in Windows too).  I'm looking forward to seeing how much the Japanese language environment in Mac OSX has improved in the last few years.  Many of the glitches (like Japanese file names getting messed up) are probably gone, I'm sure, but there are just so many more users in the Windows world...  For those times, when I'm working with someone else or whatever, and need someone to do something on my computer in Japanese that I can't do myself, that's another advantage of having Windows available.  I'm not going to be the only one using it.  Japanese Windows users can often say right away, "Oh, just do blah blah blah," and problem is solved.

But back to the differences between Pro and regular, like others said, although the regular ones look like fine machines that can do all the basics, you get more upgrade-ability, more speed, more software choices, and probably, as a consequence, more years of use out of the Pros.  So I'm betting that a Pro will be the best investment for me.

Sorry about my slow response again.  This time it was because my old email address was discontinued.  I knew it would be discontinued, but didn't know when.  Please use the one for this message if/when sending me messages from now on. 

Thanks everyone!
Joe