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macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 14, 2008
359
0
UK
I'm looking at buying a 13" MacBook to replace my 24" iMac, however I'm not sure if the extra £100 for the Pro is worth it? ...what are the benefits?

Thanks.

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I'm looking at buying a 13" MacBook to replace my 24" iMac, however I'm not sure if the extra £100 for the Pro is worth it? ...what are the benefits?

Thanks.

1qo6ep.jpg


ka1n2e.jpg

I'd get the Pro any day, the Alu is so much nicer.
 
Pros
SD card slot
backlit keyboard
Unibody Al
FireWire

Cons
Smaller HDD, but the HDDs are so cheap that you can easily upgrade to 500GB.
 
Go to an apple store and compare the screens, brightness and colors. That matters the most I think. If Apple uses the same screen. I would go for the macbook if I were a woman.
 
Go to an apple store and compare the screens, brightness and colors. That matters the most I think. If Apple uses the same screen. I would go for the macbook if I were a woman.

I believe the screen is a fair bit nicer on the pro, which I agree makes it worth while alone.

Also the backlit keyboard is really nice, and the aluminum body is really stunning.

When I think of everything they crammed into this little case it really makes me feel like I got a nice piece of engineering for my money. This is compared to picking up a cheap, ugly, plastic PC notebook that bends in my hands, is thicker, and makes me wonder why i'm paying for something that feels like a kids toy.
 
The way the price of the entry level 13 is discounted at some of the retailers, I'd go with the 13. The white one is a good deal too, but you lose the firewire, aluminum, backlit keyboard, etc.

Why not just go with the Pro?
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll go with the Pro.

I'd like the 15" screen, but the extra £400 isn't justifiable in my opinion! :(

I'm going from 24" to 13", huge step down, I know... but I don't really have the cash to put towards a 15" when I sell my iMac. I'd only have to spend an extra £100-£200 to buy the 13"
 
Ram...

Although both machines come with 2GB of ram, you can upgrade the MBP to 8gb whereas the MB is limited to 4GB. I realise not everyone cares but if you use a lot of VM's and server apps 8GB is nice to have and much more usefull than say the 2.53Ghz CPU.

Also from 24" to 13" it's gonna be tough. I went from 22 to 13" and at first I couldn't stand it. THen I learned to use spaces and move windows between them and it's much much better.
 
I sold my alu MB (CE) and bought the 13.3" MBP specifically for the extra MAX ram. I do a ton of virtualization and was constantly ram-constrianed with only 4GB. Now with 8GB, I can do a lot more.
 
Although both machines come with 2GB of ram, you can upgrade the MBP to 8gb whereas the MB is limited to 4GB. I realise not everyone cares but if you use a lot of VM's and server apps 8GB is nice to have and much more usefull than say the 2.53Ghz CPU.

Also from 24" to 13" it's gonna be tough. I went from 22 to 13" and at first I couldn't stand it. THen I learned to use spaces and move windows between them and it's much much better.

I went from dual 24", to 24" (both on PC), to 13" on mac and I was worried too, but overall I love it. Expose and spaces actually makes it easier to organize things on a 13" mac than in PC, even with a 24" monitor.

The only thing that isn't great is the low resolution makes it hard to fit large images or things on the screen, and you have to scroll around to see it.
 
I sold my alu MB (CE) and bought the 13.3" MBP specifically for the extra MAX ram. I do a ton of virtualization and was constantly ram-constrianed with only 4GB. Now with 8GB, I can do a lot more.

Would you mind telling us where you purchased that ram and how much it costs? I have heard that some brands don't play nice with the MBP. Thanks!
 
I went from dual 24", to 24" (both on PC), to 13" on mac and I was worried too, but overall I love it. Expose and spaces actually makes it easier to organize things on a 13" mac than in PC, even with a 24" monitor.

The only thing that isn't great is the low resolution makes it hard to fit large images or things on the screen, and you have to scroll around to see it.

Only thing I miss, when using a large screen at work, is the ability to tile windows side by side with a simple click. Very handy for data manipulation.
 
I went the white Macbook route when faced with this same issue.

I LOVE the Macbook. Definitely worth saving the money.
 
I went the white Macbook route when faced with this same issue.

I LOVE the Macbook. Definitely worth saving the money.

My wife and I just changed to MacBook Pro 13" and MacBook 13" (the new unibody one) from 15" MacBook Pros. We are using the 13's around the house and out traveling from time to time and use an imac as a desktop with larger screen. I think I like her white macbook better.:) Can't figure out why though.
 
My wife and I just changed to MacBook Pro 13" and MacBook 13" (the new unibody one) from 15" MacBook Pros. We are using the 13's around the house and out traveling from time to time and use an imac as a desktop with larger screen. I think I like her white macbook better.:) Can't figure out why though.

Don't get me wrong, I love the aluminum and wanted it, but it wasn't worth the extra $$$. Especially with Microcenter offering me a $200 rebate, a Macbook for $800 is something you can't say no to, even if a refurb Pro is $1000.
 
Don't get me wrong, I love the aluminum and wanted it, but it wasn't worth the extra $$$. Especially with Microcenter offering me a $200 rebate, a Macbook for $800 is something you can't say no to, even if a refurb Pro is $1000.

When you're buying computers a good deal is the most important spec to check :) These things are obsolete by the time you get them home.
 
Although both machines come with 2GB of ram, you can upgrade the MBP to 8gb whereas the MB is limited to 4GB. I realise not everyone cares but if you use a lot of VM's and server apps 8GB is nice to have and much more usefull than say the 2.53Ghz CPU.

Also from 24" to 13" it's gonna be tough. I went from 22 to 13" and at first I couldn't stand it. THen I learned to use spaces and move windows between them and it's much much better.

I know that Apple says 4GB max on the White Unibody MacBook (Polycarbonate) but do do suppose that more would work?
 
I know that Apple says 4GB max on the White Unibody MacBook (Polycarbonate) but do do suppose that more would work?

Well, it didn't work with the previous 2.0 and 2.4 Unibody MB (before June 2009). And at around 500 bucks for 2x4GB sticks it's a pretty expensive experiment.
 
Would you mind telling us where you purchased that ram and how much it costs? I have heard that some brands don't play nice with the MBP. Thanks!
Newegg. G-Skill. You can scope out the price yourself. ;)

I've never had a problem with gskill ram in any of my Mac's.
 
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