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Bought a used MAC Book to learn the oS and other stuf. Fairly entry level mach. Played with it, kinda learned and liked it. Have a friend MAC. He helped me a lot. Sold it. I lost the $52 for the rAM.
Now getting ready to pull the trigger on either (Yes) IMac, or MB Pro. (The only thing I don't like about the Apple site is that the 'Buy Now' button really works.)

Looks like I will have to have XPPro on it. I am concerned about hard drive space. I will have IWork8 on it, some Photo Shop stuff (I don't remember the name but a friend of mine knows what I need. Also XP Pro SPX, and a few MS programs. Does Windows put a swap file on the XP partition? How big do I need to make that partition. I have another friend that just bought a MBPro. Dropped approx $4K on it. He went to put (Not boot whatever, the other one.)

The only reason I am considering a Laptop at all is that I plan to travel in a year or so, and the portability isn't needed immediately.

The IMac is the 24, 2.0, 2.4 with a 320 in it. This will prob be the last machine ever. The MB Pro is the 2.4 GHz, 15.4 inch, 2.0 RAM, and the rest is the same.
I would add RAM to either one. It actually made quite a diff in the basic MBook
Couple of other Q's. What are Widgets?

Be patient.l The only thing that have concerns are the HDD size. I did get a Seagate 500 GB external. MC had them for $129 for two hours. It was DOA. Just got it back. Going to connect to the Time Machine

A couple of answers: Yes, Windows XP will by default put the swap file on the same partition as the OS, unless you specify a different one. Most likely, your friend with the MB Pro installed either VM Ware or Parallels if he did not use Boot Camp.

As for iMac vs MB Pro, I would probably go for the iMac simply because you do get more at a lower price point. Since traveling is not a consideration for a while, then save your $$$ for next year's MacBook Air for your travels. I would strongly recommend that you MAX out your RAM and buy your RAM elsewhere (especially given that Apple overcharges from RAM upgrades). http://www.crucial.com would be my recommendation.

Time Capsule ought to work for all Macs with OSX Leopard. It should work just fine on future Macs. Just get the 1TB model for all your external HDD needs here. http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=D6F49591&fnode=home&nplm=MB277LL/A

I found a few examples of Widgets here. http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/ Good luck and tell me how your new Mac is working out.

Dont have the new MAC yet. Ordering it Mon or TUES.

I say an all in one computer like the iMac is a complete waste. In 3 - 5 years, the 24inch iMac will be unusable yet you will have to throw away the screen. Such a waste.

You could say the same thing about a portable but you get MUCH more with a laptop. In fact i don't believe in desktops anymore. Their value isn't worth it for the lower price.

I'd suggest to buy a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air. Buy them with the LOWEST amount of RAM and HD. You can then buy a better HD and lots of RAM from a 3rd party. Apple RAPES when it comes to the prices they charge for any upgrades.

Adi

At the rate the LCD market is maturing, I think in 3-5 years upgrading your display will be worth it.

And just how will it be utterly "unusable" unless it croaks?