Psh, I'm too tired to argue for a mac right now...
at $1500, i would take a serious look at a mac...The microsoft word is windows compatiable, but you'd have to buy microsoft word for mac. $1500 is good enough for a high end ibook or a upgraded 12 inch or stock 15 inch laptop. Plus you get all that free software, and the power PC arteciture is makes a Mac about 2x as fast as a PC with comparable clock speed...unless it's an AMD laptop, then it's more like...1.5 x as fast...
businesses usually use IBM think pads, you their customer service is pretty good. But beware, thinkpads are now under the command of some chinese company, so customer service might faulter.