I am completely under the Apple spell right now. After a few years persisting with my iBook running 10.2.8, I have finally upgraded to the latest 15" Powerbook. All I can say is WOW! It rocks - completely and absolutely. It is a great toy, and it is crunching through all the processes my G3 iBook struggled with for so long. I should have done this much earlier.

It wasn't an easy task getting this system. Apart from the rigmarole of dealing with my now ex-investment company, it took absolutely ages to get this system from Infinite F#ckups. Despite assurances that the system would be ready by the 10th of March, to my *disbelief*, it wasn't there...! Shock! Horror! A relatively calm phone call whilst impersonating an on edge postal service representative later (and dealing with another agent), my problem was solved. Due to the pain and suffering involved, I managed to wing a couple of free bonuses, such as an STM Glove, a wheel mouse and a $50 voucher to spend in the store (with which I contributed further to and purchased Apple's iWork software). One word of advice, don't rely on any delivery deadline they state. Get angry.

Apple Australia is having a special promotion right now to coincide with the start of the University year; buy an Apple laptop & a 20Gb iPod, and get $200 back by rebate. So obligingly, I'm now the owner of an 4th generation iPod. Shifting my entire music collection to MP3 has been an onerous task, but well worth it. My [gf] wasn't too happy with my choice to format it for use with Apple systems, but hey, it was my $$$. I don't think I'll raise the amount of $$$ I owe her right now, but babe, you can use the iPod anytime (I'm not using it...) ;P .

We'll work it out my sweet!