Three months after I bought my MacBook, the hard drive crashed and could not be recovered. So I should hate this thing, right? Wrong—thanks to great Mac programs like Time Machine (which backs up your hard drive, so you can restore its contents easily) and the excellent service offered by the Genius Bar at my local Apple store (installed a new hard drive while I waited) my computer was back on its feet within a day and I love this computer and this company more than ever. A few of the reasons I love my MacBook:

Service: As I mentioned, when my computer had a problem, it was fixed immediately and with none of the grilling that accompanied previous attempts to have my PCs repaired under warranty ("Did you drop it? Jostle it? Immerse it in water? Look at it funny?") Instead, the Apple store employees politely and professionally dealt with the problem immediately. Even though I had no problems with the Ibook I owned previously (it's about to turn 7 and still working, though it has gotten a little slow in its elder years), I elected the extended warranty (about $300) for the computer, for the piece of mind of being able to take it to the Apple store for any issues in the next few years.

Compatibility: I'm a business school student and my school warned me pretty strenuously against bringing a Mac to campus, saying that they wouldn't support it and that I wouldn't be able to run all the necessary programs. I was nervous, but decided to bite the bullet, thinking that I would do better a Mac than a potentially buggy PC.

I'm pleased to report that Mac has been handling MBA coursework like a champ. For the one stats program I absolutely couldn't run in Mac's operating system (OSX 10.5 Leopard on my computer) I was able to run my computer in Windows mode, using the Bootcamp program and use the stats software that way. I don't use Windows very often, but for those who do, you can either use Bootcamp (you choose when you start the computer whether you want to run Mac OS or Windows) or you can buy a program like Parallels (about $75) which lets you run Windows at the same time as Mac OS (and you can switch back and forth between the two). Because of all the problems experienced by students with new PC laptops running Vista, my school has reconsidered and will be supporting Macs for next year's incoming class.

The MacBook runs all Office programs without problems and can easily read documents sent by PCs and vice versa. My only caveat here—the regression functionality in Excel 2008 for Macs is not there so if you use this data analysis tool frequently (I do!), you may prefer to load the 2003 version of Office on your computer until the regression issues are ironed out in the 2008 version. Also, sometimes when I send a PowerPoint presentation to a PC, it doesn't look exactly the same as it does on my computer (usually because Mac has superior graphics capabilities).

Features and Appearance: MacBook offers some great features, including Time Machine (which I discussed earlier) and a built-in camera and programs for video chatting (iChat). It also is sleek-looking, with an apple icon that glows on the back of the laptop screen. The MacBook is available in white or black (for about $100 or so more). I personally went with the white and have no complaints, other than the keys and the wrist-rest area look a little grubby over time. I love the layout of the programs on the screen and they are organized into the "dock" (which is a bar across the bottom of your screen) for easy access. You can even sort your applications in the Spaces application, and set up separate Spaces for different areas of your life (i.e. work, school, fun). And finally, although Macs theoretically can get viruses (and I have antivirus protection on my MacBook just in case), it doesn't actually seem to happen in the real world—so you don't have to panic about email viruses the same way your PC-owning friends do!

Overall: If I can speak this highly of my MacBook after a hard drive crash, you can tell it's the real deal. This is a great machine—more expensive than its PC counterparts, but in my opinion, well worth the extra money for the extra performance and service you receive. It can do everything a PC can do and more!