Jaco Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Hi, I am a swicther and about 8 months ago I stumbled onto OSX86 and installed it onto my Dell E1705, runs fairly well and the display is gorgious at 1920x1200. The problem though, I travel a lot and it's not the easiest laptop to use on an airplane, especially if you already kind of big and 6 foot 3" and get cramped into coach. There is no way this fits on your lap and when the guy in front of you recline - forget it. A few months ago I broke down and bought myself a Mac Pro Quad Core to work at home - beautiful machine. Then after working on it for a while I wished I could trade my Dell laptop for a real Mac because it has some problems with OSX, like sleep not working, one of the 2 core is not working, etc.... but I could not really justify replacing a fairly new laptop just yet. Then I found some one that was willing to buy my laptop at a reasonable price. Now I have a dilemma - which mac book to buy. I do a lot of amateur photography and some video editing (iMovie and maybe Final Cut Express but Final Cut Studio is too advanced and I just don't have that much time to spent on making Family movies) Of course I want a MacBook Pro, not because I need it, just because of the looks - it's so cool but I have already decided the 17" is out, if I do get one it will be the 15" model Now just 2 weeks ago apple refreshed the macbooks with faster processors which make my decission more difficult. Would 1280 x 800 vs 1440 x 900 really be worth the price difference because that is really all I want it for, I don't play games so the integrated videocard is fine, actually had it on my Dell and it worked just fine. I do want to run parallel on the macbook so that I can run some Windows programs that I need for work so I am planning on upgrading RAM to at least to 2GB. I mostly works with emails & Office documents during the day when I at work and it's at night that I can play on my machine with my photos etc, and really if I need to do the powerstuff I will do it on the Mac Pro at home over the weekends. Guess I just want to hear peoples opinions about what Macbook you think will work, I think the MacBook should be sufficient - it's just the thought of going from 1920x1200 to 1200x800 that really scares me! Althought I think 1920x1200 is almost to small for the 17" screen, have to zoom a lot in emails and word, excel documents because font is so tiny. Also I know Apple is probably going to refresh the Macbook Pro line soon, I am not sure if they can add much more speed to it, looked on intel site and it looks like 2.33 is about the fastest right now. What I would really hate if they dropped the price quite a bit, what are the chances of that? Love to hear your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacSimilian Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 I mostly works with emails & Office documents during the day when I at work and it's at night that I can play on my machine with my photos etc, and really if I need to do the powerstuff I will do it on the Mac Pro at home over the weekends. --->macbook Of course I want a MacBook Pro, not because I need it, just because of the looks - it's so cool but I have already decided the 17" is out, if I do get one it will be the 15" model --->macbook, or you have money u can waste on a cooler design, cause i dont have^^ Also I know Apple is probably going to refresh the Macbook Pro line soon, I am not sure if they can add much more speed to it, looked on intel site and it looks like 2.33 is about the fastest right now. What I would really hate if they dropped the price quite a bit, what are the chances of that? heard that too, i dont think there will be a major pricedrop, but i think they will include SANTA ROSA. And maybe a graphics update... i would wait untill the WWDC in mid june. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyhighmac Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 heard that too, i dont think there will be a major pricedrop, but i think they will include SANTA ROSA. And maybe a graphics update...i would wait untill the WWDC in mid june. I heard that as well and I agree with Pedschgo. If you can, you should test drive the macbook and macbook pro for a while to see how your eyes adjust. The guys at the apple store won't care, and they'll answer any questions. Wait until after WWDC to buy one, but head over to the apple store to see what screen you like best. I don't presume that apple will be changing screen sizes on the notebooks. Another rumor: apple is going to release an ultrathin notebook, one without a optical drive. So wait until after WWDC to make you decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Marvin Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 I think after using an aluminium Laptop for so long, I am slightly biased... But I would recommend the Pro. The aluminium enclosure is so nice. They are light, yet feel solid and strong. Also, the keyboard is a dream to use - the backlighting is gorgeous too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacSimilian Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 paranoid man i'm thinking about getting a macbook pro in the USA, because i'm going one school exchange year in the usa and i will probably buy a macbook pro at the refurb store. in the usa a refurbished mbp is about 300$ cheaper then in europe/germany. so u recommend the mbp, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaco Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 Yes that is what I like about the MBP - it looks very solid and expensive where as the Macbook looks a little plasticy but I heard it's actually more durable than the aluminium case. The backlit keyboard is nice to have. I think I will wait a few weeks and see what apple comes up with for the MBP. I configured the Macbook and MBP with same amount of memory, same size harddrive, same 2.16 GHZ cpu and it looks like about a $600 difference between the two for: * 1440 x 900 vs 1280 x 800 * Backlit Keyboard * aluminium case * Option to upgrade to 3GB Ram instead of Max 2GB RAM Thanks Pedschgo, You just gave me an idea to look at a refurb MacBook pro and if I can get one for $300 less, then it might be a better deal for me, think I can live with a $300 difference for a MBP rather than $600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacSimilian Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Yes that is what I like about the MBP - it looks very solid and expensive where as the Macbook looks a little plasticy but I heard it's actually more durable than the aluminium case. The backlit keyboard is nice to have. I think I will wait a few weeks and see what apple comes up with for the MBP. I configured the Macbook and MBP with same amount of memory, same size harddrive, same 2.16 GHZ cpu and it looks like about a $600 difference between the two for: * 1440 x 900 vs 1280 x 800 * Backlit Keyboard * aluminium case * Option to upgrade to 3GB Ram instead of Max 2GB RAM Thanks Pedschgo, You just gave me an idea to look at a refurb MacBook pro and if I can get one for $300 less, then it might be a better deal for me, think I can live with a $300 difference for a MBP rather than $600. glad that i could help ;-) i'm looking forward to get to know what apple will upgrade and when they will do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apowerr Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 * 1440 x 900 vs 1280 x 800* Backlit Keyboard * aluminium case * Option to upgrada to 3GB Ram instead of Max 2GB RAM *Ability to have a 2.33 Ghz processor * Up to ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics with 256MB SDRAM Dont forget that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riktor Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Its not a well known fact but I thought I would add it... you can add up to 3gb of RAM in a vanilla macbook if you have a Core Duo 2 Processor just not with apple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacSimilian Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 i dont think there will be a major pricedrop, but i think they will include SANTA ROSA. And maybe a graphics update...i would wait untill the WWDC in mid june. oh I was so right graphics update: Geforce 8600GT Santa Rosa included and no pricedrop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap18 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Apple has made it clear finally that the macbook will always be a few months behind the pro model. By upgrading the macbooks a few weeks ago, but not to santa rosa and a new chipset, Apple will most likely wait till the end of this year to update the macbooks again. If I were to buy now, I would go with the macbook pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacSimilian Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 If I were to buy now, I would go with the macbook pro. Depends on what you need and how much money you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassJAw Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I love my Macbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProMacUser Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 If you aren't going to use some stunning graphics, buy a macbook. I said somewhere, that the only reason to buy a Pro, is it's nVidia GeForce 8600 GT card, it's cool for gamers like most of my friends and the Pro is better for music creating, just right for me, but you already own a Mac Pro, so you can do all of this on the high end great machine, while using MacBook for work, fun and some low graphics needs. Buy a MacBook. PS You should wait a little cause Apple is going to produce 15'' MacBook, if you want to have a bigger screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts