pedro_sandchez Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 So basically, I've been on the market for a mac for a long time now. I've just been waiting for my current pc laptop to give me a reason to. Well, this thing finally seems to be biting the dust for the last time and I'm going to be purchasing a new mac laptop sometime soon. Originally my plan was to get the mid range macbook. As in, the most powerful one in white. for the system I would want, with one gig of ram, (including student discount) the price comes to 1289. Or I could go the refub route and upgrade the memory myself for a total of just under 1200 But then yesterday while at compusa looking at the macs they have, I took a look at the macbook pro and it really is just an imaculate piece of hardware. This silver is so sleek and even though it has a larger screen, it really isnt that much bigger. Including student discout and one gig of ram this would come to 1889 or roughly 1800 from the refurb store. However,the specs just dont seem to be enough better to justify the cost. The only real difference is the larger screen and the better graphics (of course I'm probably missing something). Basically I'll mostly be using it to do your basic college stuff, papers, projects, presentations etc... The most intensive things I do on my pc are 1. audio editing...I do do some audio recording and editing for some of my friends that are in local bands using a 4 track firewire interface. 2. intensive matlab operations...being an electrical engineering student, matlab programming is a big part of my corriculum and typically for projects (both for class and my job in the research lab) require pretty intensive use of matlab scripts. so basically my question is, can the macbook handle the audio editing and intense number crunching that I'll be doing? Or do I need to spend the extra 600 or so dollars on the pro just to be safe? Thanks, pedro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 You won't notice anything the MacBook Pro will offer, because the only difference is a dedicated graphics card. The only advantage the Pro will offer is if you're gaming or running Aperture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro_sandchez Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 thanks, thats exactly the sort of input I was looking for. If I'm not gonna notice any difference other than graphics then there really is no need for me to get the pro. I dont do any gaming nor do I do much with photos or graphics. I just do audio stuff. So I'm thinking the extra 600 dollars would be better spent on an external display to give me more space for mastering audio mixes. anyone else have an opposing view? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K4bren Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 If you don't need the pro, don't get it. I wish I had gotten the pro, for the remote times I do game (haven't tried them on my macbook, it's been sent in to Apple for RSD)I think you will be plenty sastified with the macBook. It's an amazing machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livestrong Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 I would completely agree with everyone, the MacBook is just a remarkable machine and you get so much for your money. Personally, I just cant justify spending $600 more for a slightly bigger screen and better graphics. Go with the Macbook, especially in that beautiful white classic mac color! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non sequitur Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 I would completely agree with everyone, the MacBook is just a remarkable machine and you get so much for your money. Personally, I just cant justify spending $600 more for a slightly bigger screen and better graphics. Go with the Macbook, especially in that beautiful white classic mac color! the macbook pro is great for me, because it runs so fast in my games. the price was worth it to me, because the x1600 is great. i can game and i have osx for everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark4181 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 personally, if i was gonna get a macbook or a macbook pro, i'd wait for the upgrade to core 2 duo this holiday season. prices will likely be similar to what they are now... on the other hand, there may be a sale to get rid of remaining core duo machines, could be a good deal in there for you bottom line, if you are going to game, get a mac pro... otherwise, get a macbook. a couple inches of extra screen and an ati gpu doesn't justify an extra ~$1000 in my view. all the other specs are about the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpvl66 Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 2. intensive matlab operations...being an electrical engineering student, matlab programming is a big part of my corriculum and typically for projects (both for class and my job in the research lab) require pretty intensive use of matlab scripts. Thanks, pedro Matlab may be a problem (it's what's holding my purchasing of any intel mac): matlab has not officially released an intel native version. You can run the ppc version via rosetta but it is painfully slow. Having said that matlab just last week released their first beta of native intel (2006b) for osx. I've been using it for a week and it works fine, however bench scores are rather low (bottom of their bench scores). I am not quite sure why that is. They will be releasing their first official version of matlab for intel macs in 2007 so things may improve by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldimeneira Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Since you aren't running 3D graphic intensive apps then the MacBook is good enough (if you don't mind glossy). When I get my first Mac it will have a dedicated video card... but that's because I will use it for graphic apps (some 3D modeling, OpenGL, etc). For audio editing and engineering the MacBook is great (...you may even wait for Merom). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trav1085 Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 The macbook pro has a standard 15" screen or a better 17" screen and the macbook only has a 13" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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