Dear Matej,I recommend getting an intel-style laptop, simply because so many components are available at lower prices, both new and used. Macs are indeed better for durability and for internal consistency. I am writing this to you on a Mac that I have used continuously for 7 1/2 years, which says alot right there (I have upgraded the CPU and hard drive). But the internal consistency of Macs is a trade-off: these machines are not cobbled together from such a wide variety of (potentially-conflicting) components because the market-share of Macs is so much smaller. But since fewer manufacturers produce components that run on Macs, not only do you have fewer possible conflicts, but you also have a less competitive market and therefore higher prices for components. Apple has had better quality-control over the years, which is why my 1995 Powermac7500 is still running so well. In the i386 world, Dell has emulated this practice by testing the components that go into their notebooks. I have also been surprised at how much support IBM provides for its older machines, and they continue to update BIOSes, etc. for older machines. I am running Linux on a 1998 ThinkPad 770.
Pietro Matěj Hausenblas wrote:
Hello, I have relatively old PC for today and when profiting of GNU/Linux multitasking, My computer gets slow (it's a Celeron 466MHz) and so I'mthinking of upgrading the hardware, by Motherboard&CPU upgrade and what goes with, or (and what I would prefer) buy brand new Computer and in this case itshould be a notebook.Now I stand before a decision, what to buy, I've heard that the Macs are more powerfull and aren't so quickly obsolete as PC's, but I never touched a Mac and so if Debian is ported to Mac, it shouldn't be such a big step(?!) Also there's the difference in prices, PC is nowadays not expensive for quite agood performance, but in 6-12 months it wouldn't be so hot:-)So if someone who has experience with Mac Powerbook or Ibook could tell me, if there are some big problems (I heard of proprietary HW and Apple) or ifeverything seems be OK. Also I would like to know, if Ibook can be bought without MacOS or if it's like with PCs:'-( Thanx Matej