Come on people!

Ok so, I have a few Choices for computers in mind. There is, of course, a mac powerbook which all you snobby macophiles will perhaps recommend thinking that I am made of money, or pehaps that I excrete money (which i don't). This costs over 2 grand. Then i found a Dell with 2 gigs of memory, 80 gig hard drive and such for 1300. Now, As long as this dell has usb and fire wire, then I am in. But At the time of looking i could not determine. I think I am going to wave off a sony inspired by inconsistant praise of their machines. (incidnetally, the 2 grand mac had only 1 gig of memory but was expandable to 2) Please leave recommendation with reasons.