What are the advantages of buying the MacBook Applecare Protection Care Plan?

Also, should I get 512MB or 1GB memory? Am I really going to need all of these things?

On the memory or extras, it really depends on how you plan to use the computer. In general, you can buy memory more cheaply and install it yourself or have a friend install it later... Check www.crucial.com for good prices on memory.

The Applecare option is good. Things can and do happen to your computer. So far, I have only cashed in on this with an iPod, but I would have been completely out of luck with a dead iPod if I had not bought the Applecare plan. That makes a believer out of me...

Your Mac book will get a very good protection plan, just in case there is any problem during time range of your protection plan. if you can afford, 1GB is better.

No .. you don't need any of that . . in fact, you don't need a mac. They have great marketing and and iPod player that's pretty cool . .. but that's about it. Don't buy into a computer that holds 2% of the worlds share of computers. Don't get suckered in by good advertising and hollywood product placement. Macs really hold a miniscule share of the world market and when you hold that little share, the rest of the world doesn't give a crap about you.

Software developers (like myself) abhore macs because they are a pain in the *** to write applications on. Hence, there are gazzillions of programs that run on PC's and a miniscule that run on macs. Go to www.Download.com and compare what's availabe on a mac vs. a PC. Try playing Yahoo! Games on a mac . . you can't . . because Macs suck.

Macs are touted for their graphic design, video production and music software. Guess what. It has nothing to do with the mac and everything to do with the software. Adobe Premier (video editing) runs on my PC just like it does on a Mac, if not better because I can more easily swap out better and cheaper peripherals (video cards).

Further, macs aren't easier to use than PC's. That was the case years ago, but that's because it was a simpler and less powerful machine. Today's macs are just as much a pain in the *** to use as PC's and it's because to do what a PC has done for years, macs have had to increase their complexity.

Also, don't be surprised when Macs suffer the same security vulnerabilities that PC's do . .. . that's what happens when you make a system more complex.

I have a PC and don't run any anti-virus or anti-spyware software and it works just fine. I'm just smart about what applications I choose to download and run on my computer.

I should note that I also have a Mac (running OS X ) thinking it would be easier to use for my kids. It's not. Nothing is easy to do on that. The wizards and all of the auto-configuration windows are more a pain in the *** to deal with than they are worth. They've tried to dummy down complex things and it just plain doesn't make the job any easier . . just more frustrating and time consuming.

Buy yourself any other PC based laptop. If you buy an IBM or other tier 1 manufacturer, you'll be able to find quality parts when it needs repair. Also, IBM's come with an excellent warranty.