cheap Macs?

[cellio]

Dear LJ brain trust,

I'd like to get an inexpensive laptop. It won't be my main machine; it's for travel and other situations where portability is useful. So it doesn't need to be studly; it just needs to be reliable and support basic tools like Firefox, emacs, SSH, FTP, and that sort of thing.

This would be a prime opportunity to explore the Macintosh, which some of my friends rave about, except for one little thing: I can get a (new) Dell laptop for around $400, but Macs start at $1100. Is there some less-expensive option I'm missing?

Comments

[murphstein.livejournal.com]

Since you're a Mac proselytizer, would you tell me if there's a Mac version of right-click?

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Replace the mouse :-) (We have a Logitech mouse with a split mouse button, and right-click works just fine....)

[geekosaur]

Control-click, with single-button mice.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

What shalmestere said. If right clicking is thoroughly ingrained, you can get a two-button (or more) mouse and it'll work just find. A few right-click functions can be accessed by click-hold-down, but mostly you just learn the non-shortcut commands. I use Windows machines exclusively at work and Macs exclusively at home, and mostly I've just learned to be bilingual.