Would love some advice on a new purchase . . .

Question

I want to buy a new laptop. I currently have a 2001 PowerPC G4. 500MHz with 640 RAM. I'd love some advice on a new purchase. Sorry if this gets long-winded.
These are my desires:
(1) A serious upgrade in speed, into the Giga world. I work for a law firm, and I do a lot of research. Lexis-nexis seems to put a serious strain on my G4. I see some of the new models are over 2 gigs. I've read that 2 gigs is not 4x faster than 500Mhz, in the linear sense. Will going from 500 to 2 gigs nevertheless be substantially noticeable.
(2) More memory. In the near future, my employer is going to give its attorneys outside access to our email system and hard drive files. It would seem to me that I'll need to clear as much memory to make room for that. It look like most of the new models have a max space of 2 Ghz. That's more than 3 times the space i currently have. I'd like to think more memory will make my OS run more smoothly. If that's true, I wouldn't mind spending more money to get the biggest memory chip.
(3) I do a lot of word processing. I grew up on Macs (California girl), but I gave up on AppleWorks a couple years ago. I hated it. I purchased Word:Mac and have been very happy with it. Nevertheless, Word:Mac slows me down. Again, that seems to be consistent with the whole need for more speed and memory.
(4) I want wireless connectivity. I assume new Macs come with this capability (Airport?), but I'm not sure if I'll need an upgrade during the buying process. And I really have no idea how buying the airport hardware/software impacts my need what I have to but from my ISP (my cable company).
(5) The 15 inch seems like a nicer upgrade; 17 would be nicer, but I don't need it.
(6) I really don't want to spend more than $2500.00. But I'll spend a little more if it makes sense.
(7) Protection. I've read that Tiger is substantially safer than other OS's. That said, if someone could infect/corrupt/whatever my files (or access client files), that would be a disaster. I've read that Norton slows your down and is unecessary with Tiger.
There's a lot of pretty cool things Mac offers that I DON'T use. Like making movies or the isight stuff. I'm mainly a girl who is either writing, researching, emailing, or reading stuff online.
I'd love some advice. Some of the stuff I've read online has left me with too many questions.
Thanks!
Lindsay

Answer 1

(1) Comparing clock speeds isn't a good way to compare processors. That said, because of various architecture changes, the MBP is probably a solid 8-10 times faster than your G4 system.
(2) Definately max out the RAM. My advice is to get the stock, single 1GB stick from Apple, and then head over to Crucial and buy yourself another stick. It's fairly easy to install, and Apple gives you a step by step guide on the MBP manual. You could have Apple pop in another stick, but it'll cost you more than double what you'll pay by going with Crucial ($300 vs. $135)
(3) Office:Mac will work just fine on your MBP. It might be a little slow to open when you first boot up (6, 7, 8 bounces on the dock), but after that everything starts right up. It should make too much of a difference, but since Office is running through emulation the 2GB will help.
(4) The wirless in an MBP is the same as in every other computer: 802.11B/G compatible. It'll work with any router out there; no need to go out and buy an AirPort router from Apple if you already have one. Then again, at $200, I don't know that I'd ever buy an AirPort. A plain old Linksys for $50 should work just fine...assuming you even need a router.
(5) You said it. The 15" is nice, but the 17" is nicer. The 17" has a few other goodies (a few extra USB ports, a FireWire800 port, an extra FireWire400 port), but unless you have a ton of devices you're plugging in, or an external hard drive you're constantly reading from/writing to, they're a non-factor. If you wanna save some money, go with the 15"; if you wanna live a little, the 17".
(6) On the laptop itself, that shouldn't be a problem. You can get yourself a nice 15" with AppleCare for right around what you're looking to spend. Of course, depending on what addons and software you get (MS Office, a bag, mouse, etc.), you're probably looking at closer to $3000.
(7) You hit it right on the head. There's really not much you need to do. Turn on the firewall built into OS X; make sure your router is secure (MAC address filtering, strong pass code, WPA2 encryption); and make sure you change your passwords every so often (every month or two should be more than sufficient). While it's not entirely necessary, based on your line of work it, it would probably be wise to get yourself an external hard drive (HDD) onto which you can backup your files. A MyBook from Western Digital wouldn't be a bad idea. If you go with the 17", get the Pro edition for higher speeds with FireWire 800. If you go with the 15", get the Premium. And, to save some money, buy through Amazon.com
Some suggestions on what you should get to compliment your MBP:
The first is a nice bag to carry it in. I personally like Marware's black italian leather CEO Milano. But if you're not into leather or don't want to spend that kind of money (why money would be a problem when buying a $3000 computer, I don't know...), then check out Brenthaven. They have some quality bags with plenty of storage for all your gadgets and whatnot.
The second thing you needs is AppleCare. While I personally find it ridiculous that a person who just bought a $3000 computer doesn't get at least a years worth of tech support, AppleCare is well worth the money. It extends your tech over the phone tech support from 90 days to 3 years and your warranty from 1 year to 3.
Apple's tech support is second to none (and they actually speak english ), and the extended warranty is a must. The best part of all is being able to take your computer to the Genius Bar in an Apple store. There's nothing quite like being able to walk into a store and have a living, breathing person help you. No crappy music while your put on hold, no having follow directions over a phone... you just give your Mac to a genius and let them do all the work.
If for whatever reason you're unsure about getting AppleCare, you don't have to buy it right now. So long as you buy it and register your MBP within the initial warranty period (1 year), you're all set. So, feel free to try out AppleCare under your current warranty before you drop $300 or so on the extended AppleCare.
The final thing that I recommend you buy, especially if you plan on having this baby on your lap, is a cooler. That is, a laptop tray with fans to provide some extra cooling capacity. Your MBP (or any other laptop/portable, for that matter) sits on top of, or attaches to, the cooler and provides power to the fans via USB cable. I don't know that you'll be getting any burns if you use this thing on your lap without a cooler (or any kind of tray, for that matter), but it certainly isn't comfortable.
As for particular brands/models, I can't really give you one. These things are put out by a lot of smaller companies, and come in so many different variations that it's hard to keep track of. For example, the website I bought mine from no longer exists and I've yet to see anything else that quite resembles what I have. That's not to say these things aren't quality, but don't go looking for something from a name brand company. All I can say to do is search on Google or Froogle for laptop cooler. On the bright side, you'll find plenty of coolers to choose from and you'll have something totally unique.
Well, that covers the three musts. There other various things that you may or may not like...maybe a Marware protection pack or a mouse...but it's really a matter of preference from here on out. Personally, the only other thing I'm getting is a mouse. I've never been a fan of trackpads. I much prefer using a mouse, especially if I'm at a desk writing a paper or doing research. But that's just me...
Anyway, I hope this helps. Good luck, and enjoy your MBP!
MBP: 17" Matte; 7200rpm 100GB HDD; 2gig RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.7)