I had owned 2 other laptops before I bought this Macbook pro 3 months ago when I got into university. I was a little bit afraid as some people said that it was hard to use, which made me hesitate for a few days but I was so in love with the design and the look, owning a Macbook had been my dream. And I didn't regret buying it.
It seems to be more expensive comparing to other laptops with similar Technical Details but if you can afford it, you should definitely go for it. I had student discount so I bought the 2.53GHz one at £999. I was a bit unfamiliar at first but once I got used to it, it's great. It starts up and shut down in seconds, unlike Windows and the graphics are amazing. I haven't got any trouble at all. The multi-touch pad is an incredible invention, you've got to love it. You don't need to worry about purchasing anti-virus software or whatsoever, which is pricey and definitely slows ur computer down. The Mac runs smoothly without making any sound and it isn't too hot.
And in my opinion, you shouldn't bother to buy Office for Mac as it often crashed, iWork is a lot cheaper and has a lot of features. However, sometimes the files aren't compatible with Microsoft Office but you could try to run Windows parallel. If your work involves working with designs a lot, you should absolutely own a Mac. Unlike on Vista or XP, Adobe PS CS4 runs very smoothly on my new Mac.
I'm not sure if because it's 13-inch Macbook or not but the max battery life for me is about 5 hours, and if you have quite a few programs running, it would be around 3 hours. Good enough for me!
Overall, I am happy with my decision.