netbook vs notebook vs pc

this will be a long one so bear with me, with all the recent netbook/notebook thread, i figured it was a good time to put this out for opinions
my current pc, a custom built, is getting a little old,(5-6 yrears), 2gb ram, windows xp, while i'd dearly like more ram, 4-6 or more, i can't do that without a massive upgrade, meaning a new board, and that forces me into vista, somewhere i'm not happy to go.
camera upgrade from the 5d, even if i do a mark 2, requires a software upgrade, as cs3 does not support the mark 2, although i do 90% of my work in lightroom 2 and maybe future lightroom upgrades would allow the abandonement of ps
a mark2 or future full frame is going to force me into larger and more expensive udma cards, so i may have to go the 1 - 2 cards and a storage device route
1. netbook, not much more expensive than a straight storage device, e-mail, etc, cons, small screen, no editing, although how likely am i to do any editing while on vacation/bluegrass fest, etc
2, a true laptop, now here is where the decision tree really gets crowded
for $1000 i can do a macbook, 13 screen, 2gb, but for 2000 i can jump up to macbook pro, 15 screen, 4gb ram, etc
given the well known problems with pc, crashes, virus prone, popups get through a lot, etc, would the smaller macbook be a way to start my migration over to apple?? i would be able to run lightroom as a basic review, weed out the obvious nonkeepers, etc, i could burn the keepers to dvd as dng in the field, etc, and resume final editing at home on the pc
i learned windows many years ago in my prior career, since it was all on the company dime, i stayed with it for home use. i don't think i would make that decision now
if i do go mac laptop, that will postpone by 1-2 years my camera upgrade as i would follow the laptop with an eventual move to apple desktop
for those who would ask why not a top of the line apple laptop and let that be both systems, i'm currently using a 32 inch westinghouse flat screen tv as my monitor, works just fine, plenty resolution, colors are fine and i can calibrate monthly as usual, if i go mac desk, i'm going to end up having to consider a pretty expensive cinema monitor, 30" currently retails around 1800$, i do like a big screen, plus a lot of my software would need replacing, such as my color spyder calibrator as it's for windows
the bigger laptop cancels out all the size/weight advantages of the netbook for travel
also keep in mind that i'm pretty much a techno goofus, i can turn it on, i can follow a kelby book in editing, but i have not the time or desire to learn real IT stuff, that's why i just pay phanfare instead of trying to learn how to make my own website, i just need to web gallery with a little commentary and captions
as an aside, i don't do any gaming at all, so no extra $ need to go into that function, it's photos, websurfing and the occasional text document, and that's it
i'm eagerly awaiting the thoughts of one and all, and thanks for getting this far, i felt that this is such a fork in the road decision that it deserved all the info i could provide for getting informed opinions

 

good question, i'll have to call adobe for the answer

so i'd stick with the current tv as monitor?

so this now becomes my new home system? with the added ability to travel if weight constraints are not an issue, and never an issue when traveling by 5th wheel camper

roger may be on to something here

 

I'm a very happy Apple owner so you know where I'm coming from. ; I use an older Apple Powerbook laptop and will be upgrading to a new MacBook Pro next year. ; It's a 15 inch version which I really love. ; My daughter has a 13" MacBook and, though the screen is wonderful, it's a bit too small for my tastes. ; The 17 inch ones are just too darn big unless I was full pro, I would never concider it.

I hope to someday get an Apple Cinema display so I can do the duel screen photo editing. ; Otherwise, if you have an HDTV, look into using that but not sure if you could do photo editing using it. ; Roger?

 

I have a small 20" Visio HDTV which has an HDMI port. ; Can the old Powerbook push HD at it via some kind of DVI to HDMI adaptor?

 

my westinghouse hd tv is a dvi connector, it's just fine with the pc, so i could use the 15 mac pro for travel editing and the tv for home base
and some good news, lightroom, optical color calibrator and my wacom tablet are all useable on the mac, no licenses to buy
i'd lose imagineomics noiseware,they only do windows releases, but if i skipped getting cs4 the funds could buy the whole nik bundle for mac, so i'd get a probably equal noise reduction software, plus some really cool nik products in the bundle

 

it's starting to look more and more like i'll go the mac pro 15 route as a dual mode system, my concern is how are the usb hubs these days, there were some problems a few years ago, that's why in my home pc, i have some case cut out and a bunch more usb ports, the mac only has 2 and i need 3 if i want my external hd, wacom tablet and color spyder all plugged in at once

 

Another vote for Apple here, but I'm biased. ; Gary, seems like you need to decide how much of a hurry you are to get a new new camera. ; If you can hold of for awhile (maybe ; 5D MkIII or 6D ?) it would seem like the 15" Macbook Pro would serve you well. ; I agree with 17" being too much to carry and even a 15" is a bit much after awhile, but I think it has the horses to the photo software you have.

The Adobe Lightroom disc has both Mac and PC versions on it and Adobe allows two simultaneous installs, so one could be on a Mac and one on a PC or a Mac Desktop/Laptop combo. ; This is nice since it allows for a desktop and laptop combo. ; Libraries can be combined (laptop to Desktop e.g.) ;

For Photoshop, does Adobe give you a break if you switch from PC to Mac or vice versa and keep the same PS version?

Another point to keep in mind is that Apple will be releasing Snow Leopard (thier next OS) next Fall I believe, if you wait until then it will be free, although they are only charging $30 for the upgrade.

 

i'm not in much hurry to upgrade the camera, but the pc might not hold out that long, i've had 3 sudden shutdowns with 2 startups in safe mode in the last month, and the fan sounds a little louder these days
plus i use webroot and i feel like it's working overtime lately in the war against spyware and trojans
so i might have to do this by pixelmania
photoshop doesn't seem to be any kind of break for the switch, but i can live without it for awhile, and who knows, i get better versed in lightroom and ps may just become a distant memory, or wait for cs5 and buy a used unregisterable cs4
and i may still get a hyperdrive for dual backups, the cf cards and the drive, until i do the computer upgrade

 

Its got a DVI port, Roger. ; The Visio has an HDMI, Component and PC (VGA) ports. ; I need to pull out the manual and check at AVS forums for compatibility.

 

so i think it's the mac pro 15, now given the use of the 32 hdtv as monitor at home, do i go 256 graphics or jump up to 512, remember not a gamer so is the additional $ needed
stay with 4gb ram or put up the $589 and go to 8gb,, again the external factor is that this needs to be my photo computer for 5-6 years, as that seems to be about my rebuild cycle, allowing photo gear purchases and body upgrades to proceed along the timeline
these 2 choices jump me up from $2000 to closer to 3000

and as an aside, the netbook went out of choice when i realized that the tsa yo's will make me pull it out and turn it on at the chokepoint anyway, so if i've got to deal with that it might as well be the real equipment

 

Gary, listen to Roger, upgrade RAM later. ; You'll save lots of money and still get quality memory.

Roger, I have the DVI to VGA already. ; Came with the Powerbook so I'll try that first and see how it looks. Though I'll probably try the DVI to HDMI and see if it's better.

 

well thanks for everyone's input, i'm pretty decided it'll be the macpro 15, i'm going to do the 512 graphics card as factory installed it isn't a whole lot more than the 256, 2.8 ghz,intel duo core, 4gb ram, upgradeable to 8, 500gb hard drive, the smaller hard drive version costs more , i guess because it comes with parallel desktop 4.0 software, whatever that is, ;