Eric

  It meets all of the requirements, except for "quad core" because it uses a low TDP cpu, so they're dual core only.  That's pretty standard for laptops, though, and shouldn't be an issue.    Before buying one for business use, I'd definitely go try it out first, especially if you're a decent touch typist.  As someone who types better than 85wpm, I personally found it frustrating.

    Could it be that different people might value different things in a laptop? Perhaps someone else would feel that a laptop without a number pad is a toy.  Or a laptop without two internal hard drive bays.  Or a laptop with a screen smaller than 17". Or a laptop that can't last 10+ hours on a charge.  Or a laptop without a dedicated video card.     I looked for quite a while for a good convertible laptop/tablet hybrid with an active digitizer, but never did find one that really fit all of my needs (that I can afford).  For me, a Surface Pro or a Thinkpad Yoga would be excellent for note taking, drawing quick flow charts, sketching website layouts, etc.  In my opinion, the CD is the new floppy, and I'm thankful that my laptops don't have the bulk and weight of an optical drive that I personally have no use for. The Wacom digitizer and pen would be a thousand times more useful to me.   If someone is looking for those pen features, but a comfortable tablet form factor is less important, I'd suggest looking into the Thinkpad Yoga.  It's a bit bulky/heavy for use as a tablet, but it'd work well on a table top like that.    EDIT: I think you can only get the Thinkpad Yoga with the digitizer/pen directly from Lenovo's website, not from retail/online stores.  Last time I looked, the model that you could get from Amazon was without the pen.   There's also the Fujitsu T904, which had everything I wanted, but it's out of my price range.  Extremely nice though.   EDIT 2: If you don't care about the pen, and just want a hybrid... well, idunno what to tell you.  It seems like you have to choose between a decent tablet that turns into a crappy laptop, or a decent laptop that turns into a crappy tablet.  I don't know that you can have the best of both worlds.

You'll have to spend about $2000 to get the highest end model, probably.     The form factor might be a tablet, but it's normal PC / Laptop hardware.  In terms of power, it's no different from a laptop with a Core i7 and a 512GB SSD.   The problem for me would be the keyboard and maybe the screen size.  Even with the more expensive ($130 extra) Type Cover, the key travel is shallow.  Text size on tax forms might be on the small side viewed on a 12" screen also.

Hey Jack, will you be sticking with your PC laptop?

All that is irrelevant if you don't run it in a virtual machine.  You can run Windows natively on Mac hardware, no virtual machine, exactly the same as running Windows on a PC.  The only differences are minor things like Contrl/Alt/Command/Delete buttons on the keyboard.   Use Bootcamp so that when you start your computer, you can choose to start either Mac OS X, or Windows.  Dual booting is well supported by Apple.   Or buy a PC laptop and don't worry about it.  If you're looking for a nice laptop that rivals the quality of a Macbook, check out the Asus Zenbook line or Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus or the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon.   They're all more expensive than your average laptops, just like a Macbook is more expensive than your average laptop.  But the hardware is a lot nicer than your average laptop, if you care about quality of materials and construction.

I use Windows, Mac, and Linux daily, and don't have very strong feelings about any of them--what really matters is that the software you use is available for your chosen platform.   Like Marco says, it's been a while since virtual machines were required to run windows software on a mac.  The innards of a mac are no different than the innards of a PC these days, so you can run windows on them just as you run windows on any PC hardware.  There is no difference aside from a slight difference in keyboard layout.   Unfortunately, I don't think the answer to the original question is very straight forward.  If you're set on a Macbook, you have to make a difficult decision between getting the right display, or getting beefier specs.   The Macbook Air can't be configured with the best CPU or the most RAM, and from what I've read over the past couple tax seasons here, ATX has become quite a resource hog.  Someone with more experience with the software can correct me if I'm wrong.   And the Macbook Pro with Retina Display, although you can get the best CPU/RAM configurations, most Windows software will look like garbage on that beautiful high resolution display... unless you have really really good eyes.   Windows hasn't had support for super high resolution displays until version 8, and improved in 8.1, but even with OS support, most third party windows applications look terrible.  They either appear too small on the screen due to the high resolution, or they get scaled up and buttons/icons/text get bitmapped/pixelated/blurry.  If you're curious about this, do some google searches for Windows software High DPI" or something like that.  Plenty of PC Laptops are available with even nicer screens than what's available on the higher end Macs, so it's just a matter of time before software catches up.  Don't count on ATX being early to that party though.   I guess I would wonder if you plan on using the Macbook with an external monitor.  If so, plug a standard resolution monitor into a Macbook Pro (like a 1080p 23" monitor, for example) and you'll be all set.   Display aside, I suggest the Macbook Pro with the fastest Core i5 processor available.  Don't spend on the i7 unless there is almost no price difference, and instead put the money into a large SSD and as much RAM as you can afford.  I'll expand on my reasoning a bit:   In a Macbook (and most Windows laptops too), you're probably fine with an i5.  What most people don't realize about the Intel Core i7 processors found in the majority of laptops is that they're not the same as the quad-core desktop versions.  They're dual core low-power versions that are built to use less battery and require less cooling.  This isn't specific to Macs, this is usually the case with Windows laptops as well but there are exceptions.  The difference in processing power between the dual core i5 and dual core i7 laptop chips usually isn't worth the additional cost.  If we were talking about desktop processors, I'd suggest quad core Core i7, but we're not.   In these low wattage Intel Core processors (i7 4500U / i5 4200U for example), the biggest difference between the i5 and i7 is in 3D performance for gaming.  In productivity applications, you'll see about a 4-7% difference in performance.

  1.) Not many. But, if you want a mac and you want to run windows software, i guess you learn.  They make it easy with Boot Camp. 2.) I guess my advice is to do a little research before any major purchase.  I'm one of those people who agonizes over every detail before finally making a decision like that.     I would have removed Windows from all of my computers and moved them to Linux if it weren't for Adobe Photoshop.  There's nothing really special or superior about Windows itself.  Like Apple and iOS, they're successful mostly because of the software availability, not because of quality of the operating system (although apple fans may disagree).

If I may geek out about computer hardware for a minute...   There are a couple ways to run Windows software on a Mac.  You can run a Windows virtual machine on top of OS X, or you can dual boot, and run actual Windows, no virtualization required, which is what I would recommend.  This is possible these days because the hardware is identical to PC hardware (same off-the-shelf Intel CPUs).  The only possible issues I can think of that you might run into is adjusting to a Mac keyboard layout.  (Command vs Control button, and all that)   Apple products aren't necessarily superior, but they do make some nice stuff. They just don't make any low-end cheap plastic crap to compete with the cheap plastic crap available running Windows, which is why people say they're overpriced.  If you're going to compare apples to apples, say a Macbook Pro to a Windows laptop of the same build quality and comparable specs (Thinkpad Carbon X1, Asus Zenbook, Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus) it costs just as much for the Windows machine.   I bought my Macbook Pro because: 16x10 aspect ratio screen is superior to the 16x9 screen you find on every Windows laptop.  The extra height is nice to have for everything except watching movies. Better support for High DPI screens.  Retina displays aren't just marketing fluff.  They are absolutely beautiful to look at and super crisp.  There are plenty of Windows laptops available with even higher pixel density, but while Windows 8 provides OS support for these high resolution displays, a lot of windows software still lags behind.  The result is ugly pixelated application windows, or applications with user interfaces that are too small to use.   Battery life.  I get 9 hours of use on a charge.  This is uncommon among thin/light laptops because batteries are heavy. Excellent keyboard and trackpad.  If you can type worth a damn, then keyboard feel/decent key travel is important.  The trackpad is awesome too, very responsive, and I actually use the gestures.  Things I don't like about my Macbook Pro: Keyboard layout.  Windows Keyboard layout is better.  I hate having so many key combinations to remember for things I can to do with a single key on a Windows keyboard. Fixability.  They try to keep you out of the machine by using weird pentalobe screws to hold it together, and even when you do get in, you can't replace anything because the battery is glued in and the connections are weird and proprietary.  I fixed a friend's 2011 Macbook Pro two weeks ago.  The hard drive cable cost more than the hard drive. Certain things about OS X drives me nuts.  You can't sort file lists so that folders are grouped together and listed first.  That's dumb. I would personally never buy a Mac desktop because I believe they are overpriced.  I can buy a high quality anodized CNC laser cut aluminum case for $150, and fill it with ridiculously powerful components for half the price of of of those trash can looking Mac Pro machines.   And that's the end of my nerd rant.  Sorry about that.

cbslee: You are correct.  Google wasn't hacked, these passwords were collected as a result of people's own carelessness--victims of phishing or malware.   If you use a web mail service that supports 2 factor authentication, you should definitely enable that feature if you can endure the short term inconvenience of setting it up.   It's a bit of a pain because you have to put in a secret code and authenticate every device/computer you check the email from (usually a one-time thing per device) either by getting a text message or an automated voice message to your phone, but it's a HUGE improvement over simple username/password authentication.    https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/180744?hl=en   Even if you get malware or fall for a phishing scheme and someone gets your password, they still can't get into your account without having access to your phone too.

Is there anything math can't solve?   

Downgrade your computer to Windows XP, prior to Service Pack 1 Disable all antivirus and security software Using Internet Explorer 6, browse high risk websites heavy with flash and java applets Make sure to open all suspicious emails.  If an email has an attachment in EXE format, make sure to execute it.  Multiple times. If the error persists, take your PC to the bathroom and plug it in.  Fill your tub with water, get in, and with your body submerged, quickly lower the tower into the water. These steps may or may not fix the problem, but at the very least it'll give you lots of other things to worry about, and hopefully keep you from calling us back for a while.   /s

Marilyn, who did you talk to?

Thank you Terry and Marilyn for the recent donations, and to everyone else who has donated. I'm looking forward to getting and installing the big upgrade in the next few months... but I'm one of those people who looks forward to big software changes--I know some of you are probably less than enthusiastic, but I'll make the transition as painless as possible

Last time I checked, you didn't need a PayPal account to make a donation through PayPal, just a credit card.   Near the bottom of the PayPal Donation page, there are a couple lines of text     Click the Continue link.   Thanks!

Well... I was going to wait and do all of the forum changes at once, but since I don't have any time frame for the software updates, I figured I should put the new forum up early.   I'll likely make changes later, I just put this together quickly to have something available.  

Nobody wants a club full of flatulating mathematicians. 

  So... you're expecting new skin cancers? /s

Mr Curly makes me wish I knew how to play a clarinet.

  I'm a private person, so I'm hoping that keeping the new forum locked down is something most people will agree on.  I do have some good photos from our camp; I'll post a few to get things started once the new forum is in place.  I wish I had taken my whole camera bag full of lenses with me--the one lens I had is better suited for portraits.  Even so, I got a decent photo of a bald eagle grabbing a fish out of the water right in front of the camp.         My thought is that new members won't know about it until they hit the magic post count, which wouldn't be very high.  I'd prefer not to have any trace of it visible to the public.    Personally, I don't care if there are a few NT posts mixed in like they currently are, so we'll have to figure out if it'll stay that way or not.

Also, I plan on having a post count requirement to view the new forum.  It will be invisible to the public, and even new members won't see it until they have created a few posts.   The Off Topic forum will therefore not be crawlable by search engines or spam bots or anything/anyone else that isn't a contributing member of the community.

I'm just going to jump in here to share some internet wisdom. Adding /S to the end of a line or a post indicates sarcasm.

I've been away on vacation for a while, in a place with no cell phone service or internet connection.  Just a lake, kayaks, hammocks, and books. It's been a nice break. KC and Judy and I had discussed closing down the politics forum some time ago.  Now it's gone (I'll delete the forum itself soon) but I'd like to replace it with something else eventually. I thought it'd be more beneficial for this community to have a place to discuss more no-tax topics.  Right now, I think General Chat has a comfortable balance of Tax and Non-Tax related posts... but that balance is what keeps me from posting much, since I don't have anything tax related to contribute.  My feeling is that I would share more NT stuff if there were a dedicated forum for it and I think other people might too. I'd like to shoot for an Off Topic forum that focuses on more personal/friendly threads.  Talk about your kids/grandkids.  Post photos.  Post articles / videos about subjects that you find interesting.  A recent example I really enjoyed was Catherine's post about Fibonacci numbers / the golden ratio.  There are plenty of places to argue about politics.  We have a good community here and I would personally prefer to grow this community in a more positive way.  I'm really hoping that our members have more varied interests than just politics, and I'm hoping that people will share those interests here so that everyone can get to know each other beyond their political views. I don't have a timeline for these changes.  There is a very big forum upgrade on the way--I've been doing beta testing on and off for the past few months, reporting bugs, and testing fixes.  The changes will be significant, and so I'd like to lump that upgrade with the forum changes and do it all at once.  There is no timeline for the release of the new version, but it's looking pretty polished at this point and I can't imagine that it'd be more than a few months away. Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

I'll close this and create a new thread.   New thread is here: '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

I've been away on vacation for a while, in a place with no cell phone service or internet connection.  Just a lake, kayaks, hammocks, and books. It's been a nice break.   KC and Judy and I had discussed closing down the politics forum some time ago.  Now it's gone (I'll delete the forum itself soon) but I'd like to replace it with something else eventually.   I thought it'd be more beneficial for this community to have a place to discuss more no-tax topics.  Right now, I think General Chat has a comfortable balance of Tax and Non-Tax related posts... but that balance is what keeps me from posting much, since I don't have anything tax related to contribute.  My feeling is that I would share more NT stuff if there were a dedicated forum for it and I think other people might too.   I'd like to shoot for an Off Topic forum that focuses on more personal/friendly threads.  Talk about your kids/grandkids.  Post photos.  Post articles / videos about subjects that you find interesting.  A recent example I really enjoyed was Catherine's post about Fibonacci numbers / the golden ratio.   There are plenty of places to argue about politics.  We have a good community here and I would personally prefer to grow this community in a more positive way.  I'm really hoping that our members have more varied interests than just politics, and I'm hoping that people will share those interests here so that everyone can get to know each other beyond their political views.   I don't have a timeline for these changes.  There is a very big forum upgrade on the way--I've been doing beta testing on and off for the past few months, reporting bugs, and testing fixes.  The changes will be significant, and so I'd like to lump that upgrade with the forum changes and do it all at once.  There is no timeline for the release of the new version, but it's looking pretty polished at this point and I can't imagine that it'd be more than a few months away.   Questions? Comments? Suggestions?