Apple keeps changing the design. The older polycarbonate white/black macbooks have a swappable battery. The original 'unibody' aluminum MacBook that came out last year has a swappable battery (one I own).

However there was a redesign a few months back, the aluminum model got Firewire and the battery is fixed now and has been relabeled as the entry level MacBook Pro. The new polycarbonate Macbooks that came out yesterday also have a "fixed" battery. By fixed it means you can't just slide a tab and swap batteries. To replace one you remove the 8 screws from the bottom, lift off the cover and it's right there to swap out. Pretty easy. Generally with a long life of the Apple batteries I've never seen the need to have two on hand, maybe for a road-warrior it would be a concern.

If you have a newer Intel based Mac you should try running your EMS software in a virtual Machine on the Mac. I recommend VirtualBox because it's FREE. Free as in, Beer. You will however need a licensed copy of Windows as you'll need to install it on to the virtual machine. If you ever want to give it a shot, let me know and I'll be happy to help you set it up.

 

 

We have 3 Mac's and have been Apple people for a long time.
I just recently got myself a MacBook Pro 15". I set up bootcamp so I can run Windows Visa Pro if I need to do stuff for work. Great compromise for me. Yes Mac's are $. But well worth it. Like Scott says, windows is very unstable and has issues that require much maintenance. Mac's are real easy.

 

i've never had any unstable machines running xp pro and my office PC (dell optiplex755) has NEVER crashed

Ted / Scott - does bill need to hack the machine if he wants to run MS office and apps like that?

 

Nope , I have MS Office for MAC or you can run OPEN OFFICE

 

I'd get a thinkpad no question. Save a bunch of $$ and run Win7, which is by far the best windows OS ever. Thinkpad is basically the opposite of a macbook. It is designed so that every component can be easily removed and replaced by a layman home user. Anyone on this board could replace the HD, ram, and leyboard all together in about 10 minutes total. Something breaks? IBM sends you a new part, you replace it in 5 minutes, and you're good to go. You can't even remove the battery on a macbook.

 

You can... you just void your warranty by doing it.

 

Actually that statement is incorrect. Opening the laptop and servicing it yourself, or bringing it to a non-apple certified repair person does not void the warranty.

 

I won't jump on the Mac bandwagon, though Becky never had anything but macs.

I've found I'm limited in my software choices with the mac and hate using Becky's Mac. The software she does have by the same name operates differently and I've built so much muscle memory with the software I've been using for years (word, excel, outlook) that its difficult to change and operate her mac.
When her last mac failed (motherboard, and was told it was a common failure by a mac tech) we had to find a specific person to work on it and of course that costed more than finding someone whe could repair a PC - they are a dime a dozen. Because more of the components are hard installed they are more difficult to quickly repair.
Upgradablility is important, though I know you say you just want to turn it on and beat on the keyboard. Upgrading allows you to stay current without dropping big $$ on a new machine.