Greetings all!

I came across this site a few days ago and have learned quite a bit by just perusing the forums. As the title says, I'm out to buy my first Mac system (ever). I'm one of those wow-I-love-my-iPod Windows users. I was amazed by Apple's service: my iPod's LCD cracked a few months after I bought it (my fault completely...got cracked in my bag) - 5 days later I had a brand new iPod in my hands. I haven't ever seen service like that anywhere else. And now, as I'm moving into my upper division course work, I could really use a laptop. My back is gonna break from all these books I take home for my papers. Not to mention our whole campus has wireless. A laptop seems to be the right choice.

This is what I plan on getting:
14" iBook 1.42 GHz
- 512 MB RAM
- 60 GB HD
- Combo Drive (NOT SuperDrive!)
Coming out to a cool $1400 CAD pre-tax.

To explain the Combo Drive decision: (1) it saves me $120 over the SuperDrive; (2) my desktop PC (P4 2.8 w/ 1.5GB RAM) has two DVD drives already (a DVD reader and a Dual Layer DVD Burner...plus a third CDRW Drive on top of that), so I really don't think I need DVD burning capabilities on the iBook. If I needed to burn something DVD size, I could transfer it to my PC and burn there.

However, I do have a few questions before I go through with my order:

1. Is the 512MB RAM going to hurt me? I've read a number of posts saying OS X is RAM hungry. I survived 512 on my WinXP for a year before I added the extra gig. The extra RAM was mostly for my gaming needs. But on my iBook I don't intend to game. It's a school machine, not a gaming machine (that's what my PC is for). I also don't intend to use it for any heavy duty graphics work (again, if need be, the PC is more than ready for it). So for my 'school-ish' use, would 512MB be good?
2. If...*if*...I do get more RAM, it will definitely be from an online site (Apple charges way too much for RAM). How hard is it to install RAM on iBooks? I'm plenty experienced with PC's (I built my P4 system myself), but I have never gone digging around inside a laptop - nor a Mac system. So is it a difficult operation?
3. How well does OS X network with WinXP. I'd like to be able to transfer files, and use my laser printer which is hooked up to the PC. Is NTFS going to present a problem?
4. Anything I should be warned about as a first time buyer?

I await the serious mass of wisdom which lurks about these forums.

Thanks!

[kaseyha]

1. For general school related use, I have always found the 512 MB of RAM on my iBook to be more than sufficient.

2. Installing RAM on an iBook is easy. The keyboard pops up when you release the small clips at the top, then you simply remove the Airport card and shield and pop the new memory in. Just don't do anything stupid, like I did, and bust the delete key when you put the keyboard back on... Apple was very cool about it and I had a new keyboard two days later.

3. Connecting to a Windows network is usually extremely easy. If you can find Mac OS drivers for your printer, it will work like a charm.

[holbox]

1. Is the 512MB RAM going to hurt me?



NO........ but with Tiger, put in an extra 512 MB. Everything will run smoother and you'll end up doing it anyway, so why not love your new Mac from the very start?

You're in for a treat!

A Mac vs. a PC is as close to computer paradise as you're gonna get on this earth.

It's a great system & hardware. Why anyone would screw around with anything else is behond me!

[MCQ]

2. PDF on iBook memory installation:
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip/p...4-mem-cip1.pdf

Great pdf! It doesn't look all that hard to do. I assume that the procedure is still the same for modern generation iBooks (since the pdf is from 2003).

I think what I might do is just get the iBook and see how it is w/ 512 RAM. Then if I think more RAM is necessary I'll order another 512MB. That'll also give my poor savings a little rest, which it will soon need...

As for the printer: I checked my manual, and OS X is supported. So everything looks good on that front.

Thanks all for the feedback.