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It's a damn shame that Apple support doesn't scale, because support from the PC side of the spectrum is absolute shit these days.

I use MBP pro in my job as a sysadmin. I bought it for a few reasons, but one WAS the support. I've used the Genius Bar once in the three years I had my laptop. I called to setup an appointment, showed up at that time, and was out the door with a fixed laptop in about 30 minutes. OTOH, we've had repair incidents with the Dell and Lenovo laptops that most of our users use that have taken weeks. The most recently was an LCD on a Thinkpad that had died. We pay for NBD support on all our laptops. The tech WAS there the next day, but it took three weeks to get the part in and the laptop repaired.

As far as docking stations goes, there's a nice one from Bookendz:

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/

Always with the docking stations crap. When are you people going to learn to use that new fangled Google thing to find your bloody docking stations. Must I always do it for you?

It's about the 50th comment recommending a Macbook, despite the other 50 comments noting that a Macbook doesn't qualify for any of the OP's needs.

It doesn't qualify for any of the OP's needs? OP says "The extra battery option is especially appreciated"... Well looky there, an external battery. OP says "Docking station / port replicator: I like having my home setup with keyboard, network, and dual screens (a necessity)", looky there, a dock. And without a dock I have several connections to my MacBook Pro. I even had an external monitor connected, showing an extended desktop. OP says "It runs Linux", looky there, "How to install Ubuntu 9.04 on an Intel-based Mac laptop", which I plan on doing.

About the only thing a MacBook/Pro does not qualify for on OP's list is a hot swappable drive bay, however there are external drives for that. Right now I have 3 external drives connected to my MBP and I could connect more.

Falcon

The OP specifically mentioned a hot swappable drive bay, the ability to use an extra battery, and docking ports as features he desires, and MacBooks have none of those.

MacBooks/Pros don't have a hot swappable drive bay but there are external batteries and docks.

Falcon

BookEndz has MacBook/Pro docks.

you'll want to cough up 50-100 for more RAM before too long if you go this route I think

Apple's RAM prices are outragious. I've even had employees suggest I buy more RAM from someone else then install it. And the handbook that came with my MBP from Apple tells how to add RAM.

make sure you have maxed out the RAM (can make a very big difference)

Yeap, sometimes adding RAM can speed up things. I'll probable do that before I replace my MBP.

take a good hard look at SSDs that may fit your budget. A good SSD will completely change how you use your machine

For a 17" MBP a 256 GB SSD cost $650 more, and that's the biggest they have now. I use more storage than twice that. Now what would be nice would be to have both an HDD and an SSD. The HDD can be used for mass storage while the OS and swap partition is on the SSD.

Falcon

A 13" MacBook will fulfill some but not all of the requirements listed by the OP (the major missing one being a dock) for $1,200, and it's relatively easy to virtualize and/or dual boot all three major OSes (Windows, Linux, OS X). What more is there?

BookEndz sells a line of docks for Apple laptops but they look kind of clunky to me. Thanks to the USB hub in my display and bluetooth all I have to plug into my 13" MacBook when I sit down at my desk are the power cord, the Mini DisplayPort connector and the USB root connector which takes all of five seconds so I never felt the need to shell out €€€/$$$ for a dock. What really annoys me about the new MacBook Pro line is the built in battery, 7-8 hours of wifi enabled battery life are IMHO irrelevant. I want the ability to swap batteries without having to reach for a screwdriver and if that means having to put up with squeezing only 4 hours of life out of each battery then so be it.

I've found that plugging and unplugging three cables, all at the side of the machine, not the rear, on a daily basis was actually a lot easier than dealing with a docking station.

I don't have or use a dock for my laptop now but I did with my first laptop and I'd rather have one. I've thought of getting a BookEndz dock for my next laptop, I've had my current MBP 2 years without one and would rather save my money than buy one for it now.

On the other hand, having three or four cables (power, display, USB, Ethernet) is pretty quick to connect/disconnect, doesn't change the hardware profile of the machine and can be hot pugged/unplugged without having to tell the OS that anything is happening.

When I had a Windows PC Windows complained when I unplugged or turned off a USB device without telling Windows I was going to, and now that I use OS X Leopard it does the same. Sure devices can be unplugged but OSes still complain.

Falcon

The reason I could never take MAC seriously for any sort of business is lack of docking ports..

Though Apple doesn't make any there are docks for Macs. When I get my next MacBook Pro I may get a BookEndz as well.

It drives me nuts to see how often MAC gets recommended as a laptop.. Sure.. it's the nicest one you see at Best Buy.. But no corporation should ever consider using laptops that don't have docking ports.

One, see above. Two, Macs, including Mac laptops, are used in businesses. I dated, yes dated, a lady who ran her own business and she only used Macs. If she had to run Windows, and running a business she had to when working with clients as well as for testing, she ran it in a VM. Here's a "CIO" article on "MacBook Pro and IPod on Mount Everest".

Falcon

While I have a MBP 13.3 for dev work, it currently lacks:

1. Docking port + station
2. User-swappable battery. However, the 7 hours of battery life it brings is pretty decent, even while working with WiFi. You can, of course, just grab an external battery power pack from a vendor off the web.

I wanted a dock for my MBP too and thought about getting a BookEndz dock. Maybe it meets your requirements. Now I don't like the non user swappable batteries. An external battery pack may mitigate that though.

Still, it's a good buy. I'd forget bootcamp and just virtualize the other OS with vmWare Fusion.

Though I won't use Bootcamp I will dualboot Snow Leopard and Ubuntu. I'm still using Leopard now but when I install Snow Leopard I'll also install rEFIt to use as the boot selector. I'll also install and use VirtualBox. That way I can boot into Ubuntu and use it at full speed as well as run Ubuntu in a VM in Ubuntu.

Falcon

The 13" MacBook Pro fits within your budget ($1199), has hardware virtualisation so can run any Intel-based operating system under VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop or Virtual Box
You don't get a hot-swap Ultrabay, but you probably don't really need the added complexity. It has a built-in 7-hour battery, has a built-in SD Card reader, has a built-in SuperDrive (Dual-layer DVD±RW, CD-RW) It doesn't have an option for a Floppy Drive from Apple, but any USB floppy will work with it (seriously, does anyone use them anymore? Even Windows doesn't need floppies to load drivers from during the initial install).
It doesn't have an option for a docking station from Apple, but it has all the ports on one side of the machine, rather than at the rear, so it's very easy to plug and unplug - I do this daily and don't miss not having a docking station. If you NEED a docking station, there's a 3rd party one from BookEndz

It has outstanding hardware build quality, comes with a fantastic development environment for free, and can run any of the open-source ones as well, can run Windows XP SP2+ natively on the bare metal, but who wants to reboot these days, so it'll run everything back to DOS in virtualisation. It will also open you up to a new user experience and a new operating environment that you may just end up liking. If you don't you format the drive and install Linux or Windows instead...

That's clearly too much work for these docking station whiners, try the direct approach: BookEndz

Hey upstream docking station whiners! Have you heard of this new fangled thingy called Google? You might like it.

I ask Slashdot: What is your pick for best developer's laptop under $1,200, considering the features above?"

The problem I have with this is the price. I too wanted a new laptop for development, and photography. After making a list of requirements, from a fast CPU to a fast and large hard disk drive, I looked at a bunch of laptops. The cheapest laptop I found that met the requirements was more than twice as expensive. Prices have come down since then and if you have an open mind on the hardware and software then I suggest you look at Apple's 13" Macbook Pro, it's base price is $1200 but of course if you want to run Windows on it then there's the price on an MS Windows license. You also have to consider the docking station, Apple doesn't make any though third parties do such as BookEndz, which adds almost $300 to the cost. A simple MacBook will be cheaper but if you want to run just MS Windows or Linux then don't bother with a Mac.

Falcon

The docking station for Mac laptops is third party: http://www.bookendzdocks.com/

I have lusted for one for years...

That was a better design the the current 3rd party attempts at a docking station which is an automated way (via a handle) to plug in the cables all at once.

What is Apple's resistance to a docking station? One with built in physical security/power/networking/extra USB ports/monitor etc..

No, docks are so you don't HAVE to waste time plugging and unplugging your monitor, keyboard, mouse, external speakers, USB/Firewire devices, Etc. Just slap down (or slide in) the laptop and fire it up. Business-class laptops have had and still have this feature. For some reason home PC users and Mac users don't get that option.

I have yet to hear a logical reason why beyond "well, you can just manually plug them in." Which isn't a good reason because it doesn't address the inevitable wear and tear (and breakage) on a port that constant removal and reattachment of connectors causes.

Heck, this is why Apple swapped to the magnetic power plug! Why are the rest of the connections less important?

Docks exist for use with Mac Book Pros: http://www.bookendzdocks.com/Docking_Stations-Docking_Station_for_17_MacBook_Pro.html

Yes, it isn't made by Apple, but it works. I am sure they will come out with an updated design for the new 17" one soon too.

I don't suppose you've ever considered a third party solution?

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/

Aftermarket, but I have seen them work well.

I tried for a while to use my MBP as my primary machine. Apple desperately needs to make a docking station for that thing.

Yea, I'd love to have a docking station for my MBP. I'd love to be able to quickly and effortlessly pack it up and take it with me.

The 3rd party docks also seem to almost all suck :/

I thought of getting one of those Bookendz but don't think much of them for the price.

Falcon

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/Docking_Stations-Docking_Station_for_15_MacBook_Pro.html

you mean something like that?

they exist and work just fine, even being 3rd party.

I really do not understand people who are obsessed with docking stations. By and large, docking stations suck. I don't get this in the same way that I do not understand people who like to eat Lutefisk. Well, no, that really isn't it, either. It's more like I don't understand chocolate covered insects. What a waste of good chocolate.

But if you must have a docking station, you can have a docking station. BookEndz.

Yet another totally false and bogus, "My #1 Reason for Not Buying a Mac".

Idiot.

I'm still a fan of docking stations, as long as they work. I haven't had any bad luck with them so far, except that they sometimes screw up my mouse in Linux. I'll plug the machine into the docking station, and the trackpad loses its extended abilities (still functions as a mouse, but no scrolling, etc.) I'm sure it's something that can be fixed, but I haven't taken the time to track down how.

Incidentally, BookEndz makes a "docking station" for the Macbook Pro, which is basically just a set of mounted connectors which can slide into place to minimize the physical number of things that you have to plug in. I'm not describing it well, so here you go:
http://www.bookendzdocks.com/Docking_Stations-Dock ing_Station_for_15_MacBook_Pro.html

They're pricey, but they're damned convenient (in my opinion.)

To be fair, the MacBooks are aimed at average consumers, not corporate workers. That's what the MacBook Pros are for. Also, the MacBook Pros do have 7200 RPM drives available -- and I can guarantee that they have for a least a year, because the one I got back then has a 7200 RPM drive. Finally, if you really need a docking station, third-party ones are available.

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/Products.html

This may not be the most elegant solution, but there are docking stations for Apple laptops. Not sure how long it would take for them to support a new model from Apple.

Ok, I just posted this above, but...

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/Docking_Stations-Dock ing_Station_for_15_MacBook_Pro_Firewire_800.html

Ok!

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/Docking_Stations-Dock ing_Station_for_15_MacBook_Pro_Firewire_800.html

* An option for a 7200rpm hard disk (except the "aircraft carrier" model

Apparently, the 160gb (5400 rpm) and 200gb (4200 rpm) drives use PMR. Someone on the forums over at macrumors linked to a benchmark, apparently the 5400 rpm PMR drives are faster than traditional 7200 rpm drives.

* A option for a faster video card

I think the form factor has a lot to do with this. I don't know that they could squeeze an X1700/X1800 or GeForce Go 7800/7900 in the current form factor, and I don't think enough customers would want them to justify the increased size. Really, I don't see such cards being useful for anyone but gamers (is it really going to make that big a different in Final Cut Pro, Motion, or Aperture?), and gamers really should look elsewhere. Really don't know why anyone would want to do serious gaming on a laptop anyway, but that's just me.

* Higher screen resolution

Would definitely like to see this. Leopard is apparently going to support a resolution-independent UI, so you can make the widgets as big or as small as you want. That's just begging for an ultra-high resolution display.

* A docking station

BookEndz makes some port replicators, but they're really not that impressive. I think thats probably the one feature I'd like to see Apple add to the MacBook lines.

* A 12"-ish variant

The MacBook is so close. Discreet graphics are all it needs (though an ExpressCard slot would probably be nice, too). Maybe when Intel's Santa Rosa platform comes out next year.

All that said, I ordered mine, and I can't wait to receive it :)

>No way to dock them properly.

Ignorance of the facts is no excuse. Nonetheless:

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/

What's wrong with this? BookEndz docks

They're most likely more reliable than the crappy connectors on those other laptops. And as a bonus, they don't even go up to 400$ in price.
Apple doesn't have to do _everything_, you know ;)