Speaking as someone who uses both Mac's and PC's daily, I would recommend a Mac for your use, but itounds like you are leaning towards the Mac as it is. Only suggestion, I would seriously consider the AppleCare warranty as it does give a few more years of ease of mind. I am lucky enough to be near an Apple store and the number of horror stories I have heard from laptop users make extended warranties, well, warranted. Also, as you are looking at a refurb, I would definitely want to be covered. My only problem with the Macbook is it does not have dedicated Video Ram.

As for Vista, I have yet to hear of one person who likes it. My IT people hate it and will not switch the computers over until it improves.