Mac versu PC,{snicker,snicker}

[Slick Fork]

Something else to consider when we are talking longevity. Upgrading RAM is usually the only thing you can do on a notebook other than the hard drive. If you look here at the apple store

http://store.apple.com/ca/memorymodel/ME_15_306_MBP

You'll see that the 8gig upgrade is almost $900

Check out memory express for PC RAM

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...)/Default.aspx

And voila half price RAM! as far as the crappy windows photo editing software goes, you're right on that one... however if you are planning on getting the bamboo pad anyways it comes with Photoshop Elements which I use and am VERY happy with it.