[eeyore]

you get more performance for your money with a desktop - although apple desktops are still more expensive than the comparable pc.

I used to be an apple user but got sick of software being more expensive plus incompatibility with my work places PC based systems. I now run a windows laptop for internet usage and a windows pc for serious photoediting etc and it would take a serious act of god to get me to revert to apple now

If you are after doing mainly photo editing etc with a windows system you will ideally need at least 2GB (4 would be better but probably too expensive tho it could be added later) Graphics card size isnt important for photo editing but is if you want to play games or watch dvds. I would also get a couple of USB powered external hard drives to keep your images on which avoids glogging up the internal drive and also protects your pics if the computer dies. (on a desktop system i would also have a second 40GB hard drive (of the fastest spec available) fitted to use as a scratch disk in photoshop - but on a laptop this isnt feasible for reasons of space.

By the way some apple users will tell you that with apple you dont need anti virus. But this isnt strictly true, while there are a lot less viruses and malwarez for apple systems than for windows there are still some , and it is unwise to be without protection. Another consideration is that if you shop or bank online there is some spyware written for the apple system and if you were caught out your bank/credit card would not reimburse your funds unless you could prove you had taken all reasonable precautions which they would expect to include antviral protection.