Mac advice...

Exactly! Most people use a computer more as a internet appliance. Email, web browsing, instant messaging, etc. You could do that sort of thing over many different types of platforms, hardware and/or software. It’s pretty much down to how much do you want to spend and how much patience do you have for electronic devices, in general.

Just to clarify though - I am by no means a Mac fanboi- I use them because I know how to make them work well for what I want to do.