Depends on your usage, if you drain the batteries in 3 or 4 weeks get the higher rated ones. I've Varta for my flash and they are very good but not really cheap though.
If you do longer with your batteries get Sanyo Eneloop or similar because they hardly drain themselves and after 4 weeks is roughly the turning point they have more power than the normal NiMh.

Ni-Zn are different batteries, they have a higher voltage but you can only get them in the States for now and they can damage devices.
If they can handle Lithium batteries it should be safe to use them.

You just could make more kids right?

I know but what will that cost me to get the Mac version?

@Danny
There are several Raid versions you know.
There is also one that use 3 disks and have the back-up feature and the increased performance, and with that you will only the size off one disk. So 3 disks of 500GB will give you 1000GB with increased performance and security.
It doesn't sound so simply as I say now though so read more about it.
RAID 5 is the option you see the most but there is also RAID 3 and RAID 4.

btw RAID does increase input/output times so you might see an increase in performance with SSD but don't know if it's worth the money

You sure what you're saying there?
Mac is lacking behind in terms of security with Windows actually so if I'll use a Mac I would be even more sure to update everything and use a virus scanner certainly because some giants like Google are now mainly using Mac and some users don't think Mac needs a virus scan or is at risk. This can go so wrong.
Still Mac is more secure but it is not as secure as Windows.

Linux really isn't an option because I need to use Adobe products for the study.

The most problematic software I run is Adobe and that's exactly what we need to use and I've heard that software is more problematic on the Mac than on the PC

On some courses they say Mac but with others I see nothing, all the PC there's are Mac as well so they are Mac based. The main software they use is Photoshop and that's the same on both platform as far as I know.
I personally want a Matt one for outdoor use but normal glossy wouldn't be a problem if the screen can be set bright enough.
Not sure what you mean, never spend time maintaining Windows 7, could you give an example?

I can't shift system fully because I've windows programs that I like to keep on using and shifting system would cost me quite a lot off money so that's not an option.
Windows will be the main OS for me but if I go for a Mac then the Adobe software would be used on Mac OS but for the rest nothing.

It's digital only, they don't even have a darkroom on the campus.

Algi I'll simply save it as a PSD file and then with lightroom transform that to JPG, that should do the trick I hope

The specs of the Sony looked better for that price.

SSD is great to run programs from because of the fast access speeds but for storage of your photos I would simply get the old fashion hard disks.
Putting SSD in rate would only increase throughput I believe so not really worth it if you use it for programs and the OS alone but that's what I think and I can be completely wrong.

I know Danny will do

But the handling of the device is only half off the story, Apple is very good with their user interface so I'm sure I'll enjoy it but the hardware must also comfortably support the software and that won't be a problem but it will have the performance off a laptop that cost half as much
I would then be happier to go for a cheaper notebook and make my own PC at home.

I'm now putting all the software on a list and see if I can exchange or if there are alternative and what the prices are.
The most important is some 3D software from Autodesk, I've no idea if I can exchange that to a Mac version.

Andrew cool down okay
I just did the Sony laptop and every upgrade on it so far I could tell was cheaper than with Dell so yes you also pay a premium there it seems.
With premium with Apple I meant that it is a product for the masses and that you pay for the design, name and such things as well but that's nothing new or shocking that happens everywhere.

The MBP does seem to run better as laptops with similar specs the only problem is the price difference and when you compare them at the same price class the MBP isn't king any more but they still have an amazing battery life though.
Also the problem is most of my software is windows based so I need to have windows on the MBP but since the specs are less than others it would mean I would have less performance or I need to switch/exchange all software to Mac OS. I totally forgot about that

That's not too bad than, hopefully it doesn't cost much.

I know Danny but you also need to have the time for it
Will try to see what I can do.

Thank you Andrew, I've look at Sony now and the F series is very nice. I wonder how good the screen is though compared to the rest.
Also the upgrades cost less, difference between 4GB to 8GB RAM is only €150 so that's a better price.

Dell has a new a special offer, the 3 year warranty for the price of the 2 year so that's interesting, the 4 year is just too much of a difference it will add around the €300 over the 3 year

We already know about the prices off Apple but it's a premium product after all.