Intel announced Robson technology awhile ago, which ships in their "Santa Rosa" platform which is scheduled to ship in May - this month.
Apple has gone a bit longer than usual in releasing laptops... they are overdue for both MacBooks and MacBook pros.
On June 11th Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote at WWDC.
Last week Apple announced that they would be shipping laptops with LED based displays "later this year". Such a change will require a design change in the laptop- eg: a new formfactor. It might be like the aluminum books now, not really a new looking formfactor compared to the Titanium powerbook-- but thuroughly new internally.
Thus, I think the odds are very good that new laptops will be announced on June 11th and that the difference will be significant enough that its worth waiting a month before buying your mac.
A 23" Cinema display is the other obvious choice - much sexier, but the specs are inferior and it costs significantly more.
Or you may just want/need analog inputs that the Apple display can't give you.
And, it even has a card reader and USB ports built-in to the side. It also supports VGA on one button, and DVI on another. You can easily swap what you're looking at by connecting to two different computers at the same time. Then, simply get a wireless keyboard and mouse, and plug the USB receiver into its stand for the main, DVI, computer, or unplug the receiver and plug it into the monitor, for the VGA connected computer, and click a button on the monitor to go to the VGA computer. No KVM switch needed. Just connect to the monitor's USB/card reader cord to the USB port of the VGA computer.
then I got a very nice VESA arm for it.. http://paulstamatiou.com/2007/02/26/review-ilift-vesa-arm/
sorry for the link spam, but i figured it was relevant.
Ubuntu in particular works, but there's a lot of hacking to get it to do so and little issues abound (at least that's my experience).
Anyway, 5 years ago, getting Linux running on a Powerbook was really easy... I would think it would be better now, not worse...
At one point I was using a 13" macbook, but it was just too big. Plus, I hated running non-intel native apps. I had to upgrade the RAM and hd(7200RPM) to get any decent performance. Blogged about the experience a while ago: http://sam.bluwiki.com/blog/2006/09/disappointed-with-my-new-macbook.html
Anyone know how to solve either of these problems?
That said, I still am waiting for Apple to get their act together and release a 12" MacBook Pro. I'd like to be able to run a variety of operating systems via Parallels. Interfacing with the corporate/industrial world unfortunately necessitates the use of Windows-only software. Virtual PC just doesn't cut it. Rumours suggest that one may be in the works but, for now, they seem to be just wishful thinking from other like-minded individuals.
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If I didn't have the MBP I'd probably have replaced the PB by now; it's a great computer, but even a great computer can take only so much physical abuse, and it's over four years old now. I looked hard at the MacBooks, but the glossy screen is a dealbreaker, and the keyboard isn't so hot either, so I'm holding out for a 12" MBP.
I have returned two Macs to the Apple Online store, a MBP and a Mac Pro. Both were too noisy.
A friend of mine returned his iMac 24'' three times until Apple delivered one that was acceptable (even there I think it had flaws from manufacturing, but they settled for a price reduction).
I also have a Dell 2407FPW which I highly recommend - it's cheaper than the Apple equivalent, has a great picture and also has a built in flash memory reader. And unlike most Dell products, the industrial design is pretty nice.
An important thing is that you should probably buy directly from Apple. Every experience I've had buying from third parties resulted in Macs arriving with hardware problems. Could have been a coincidence, I suppose.
If I was buying it again today I would take a really hard look at the MacBooks; especially since they are now as fast as my mbp.
I really liked the 12", but the 15" widescreen real estate is very handy. I'll never get another PC for personal use.
I've had a MacBook for a few weeks (while my MBP was in repair :() and I was so happy to get the MBP back.
I use it with a big CRT in our office and a Samsung 205BW (20" widescreen) in my home-office.
My T40 is dying.
People complain about the weight and size, but I never noticed a problem. Of course, I'm a pretty big guy.
I use the booq backpack. Great fit and it will stand up whether or not you have the laptop in it.