I considered some more… Maybe I could live with another MacBook or MacBook Pro and possibly the iMacs.  Hmmm The iMac’s are reasonably priced but I don’t like the all in one design.

iMacs: There’s no space to put in more had drives and I do not like the idea of having to take the whole computer in to be fixed if something goes wrong!  Sure you can get external hardrives but I prefer to be able to have the lot in one case. iMac prices currently  start at $1999 and go to $3699.  I know I’ll want the 24 Inch version and at least the top range for the faster processor.  Afterall I need to run the TV at the same time as programming and all the associated software on a virtualised Windows XP.

The Macbook Pros are good too but the cheapest 13′ former MacBook does not have a proper graphics card so I’ll need the 15-inch version with the 2.66GHz CPU at the very least.  This version is priced at about $3,199.  Honestly I think I’ll need the faster processor so the next one up is $3,699.

The prices are serious money that I’m not willing to part with.  (For an Apple or PC)  I guess that price is the ultimate issue I have.  Performance concerns come next.  Since I already use a decent MacBook I know I can run all that I want but its not the fluid speed I demand.

Apple MacBooks are now priced competitive with their PC counter parts.  Sure their processors are numerically not as fast but the OSX is more efficient and I know that although lower in supposed speed they are just as fast as the supposedly higher rated PC notebooks.  Besides even the fastest processor on a PC notebook is not fast enough for what I need it to do.  It has to be a desktop I think.

I do not need the new main computer to be portable and do not want particularly want another notebook as a main computer.  So I was not happy with the current outcome.

Then I found out about the yet to be released Windows 7 which Microsoft have promised proper XP visualization so all my old software will work.  They say they will also include a anti-virus for free – a bit ironic don’t you think?

Based on the current prices of PCs I could get a seriously fast machine that could do everything for under $2000.

So I’ve decided to hold of until the new OS is released – my perfect computer could well be a new Windows based PC – AGAIN!