[t78VPkdO]

That Apple shown is no laptop -- it's the iMac. Iasked the salesman at Apple today what was the size of teh tower and could I see it

He pointed out that everything is in the body of the flatscreen -- that's the whole thing. Weighs about 20 pounds.

When I say it's a laptop, I mean it's designed like a laptop without the ability to take it with you.

A laptop is a design compromise. To make it portable, components are crammed together in the box; there is no empty space, and heat dissipation is a major challenge. When I look at a solid aluminum frame, I see a heat-sink. No matter how well they are taken care of, heat is what ages a computer. On a hot summer day, you might think twice of leaving the AC off to save some bucks, just to keep the computer happy.

You accept this in a laptop, but a desktop looks the way it does to separate components inside the box. Lots of air space to get rid of heat. If I was considering something like that iMac, I'd get a true laptop as my main computer. Get a big external monitor for home, and just unplug it when you want to take the computer with you.

Macs are fine, but you're going to pay more both upfront and for repair.

If you get a PC, specify XP, not Vista; and upgrade to Windows7 when available. What I hear is that the upgrade will be free if purchase is after July 1, and discounted if sooner.

Whatever you get, make sure you have a good power supply, not a $20 power-strip.