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13" MacBook owners did you consider the MaBook?

maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
Original poster
May 3, 2009
74,597
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As the title suggests, in deciding on purchasing the 13" MBP model did any of you consider purchasing the MacBook instead. Why did you opt for the MBP?

I had a friend as which laptop is best for her, i.e., MB vs. MBP. Made me think about which laptop I'd choose.
 
really the only thing you get with a 13" pro that you don't get with a MB is a FW 800 port, SD card reader, alu design, and backlit keyboard.

not worth the extra money imo
 
I read somewhere that the MBP's display has a wider gamut, making colors richer - is this true?
 
no clue.
kids at my school have both and I can't tell the difference, although I haven't seen them side by side.
 
And an extra 2gb memory.

I personally think the alum body alone is worth it.
 
When I got my MBP (2009), the unibody macbook was not out yet, only the older white macbook that looked like a rubbish computer. I would have definitely considered the unibody macbook, but I prefer the pro because of the aluminum and back lit keyboard. It would just come down to price.

My sister has the 2009 unibody macbook and compared to my macbook pro, the colors are definitely not as rich. This was very easy to notice side by side. I have no idea if this is still true with the 2010 models.

^Yeah, I'd be all over a matte black macbook as well. I have no idea why apple stopped making those.
 
maflynn said:
As the title suggests, in deciding on purchasing the 13" MBP model did any of you consider purchasing the MacBook instead. Why did you opt for the MBP?

I had a friend as which laptop is best for her, i.e., MB vs. MBP. Made me think about which laptop I'd choose.
Click to expand...

I personally chose the MBP cause it didn't have the plastic case. I had a MB prior and I was sick of the cracking plastic that seems endemic with the plastic they use on the MB (Mine was a 2007, pre-unibody, but I hear even the current ones still have the problem). And there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Also I wanted three input ports (2 USB and a firewire on the MBP) and the MB only has two USB. I really wanted the light up keyboard and I much preferred the black frame around the screen (monitors/screens/tvs look a lot better with a dark/black background).

So those are the reasons specific to why MBP over MB for me (There is a few other reasons I upgraded but when deciding MB or MBP they are moot points cause they are the same between the both). But really, there was no way I would have considered the MB for the case alone reasons.
 
The MBP also has an infrared port (for using the Apple Remote) and a battery charge gauge on the side that aren't on the MB.
 
mulo said:
really the only thing you get with a 13" pro that you don't get with a MB is a FW 800 port, SD card reader, alu design, and backlit keyboard.

not worth the extra money imo
Click to expand...

You just described what mad me buy the MBP instead of just the MB. The aluminum unibody design is worth it in its self. I was never really happy with the MB durability.
 
I had a white MacBook a couple of years ago, then swapped it out for a MacBook Air, and finally swapped that one out for a 13" MacBook Pro a few months ago when I realized my old MBA couldn't run all of Adobe CS5. I did not consider going back to the MacBook at that time because the price was so comparable (I went with a refurb mid-2009 model).
 
weird, my MB came with 2x USB 2.0 and 1x FW 400, it is enough for me, also it has a battery check light on the bottom (however it sees heavy use so the MBP is probably better, but I jumped at the MB Early 2009 for $800 including 4GB RAM and Applecare, which turned out to actually be a PSC)
 
DewGuy1999 said:
The MBP also has an infrared port (for using the Apple Remote) and a battery charge gauge on the side that aren't on the MB.
Click to expand...

Well, maybe I'm wrong cause I am basing this on my 2007 MB but my 2007 MB had the infrared port that worked with remote (I still have the remote even), a battery charge gauge on the battery cover (that I could see having changed when they went to unibody design).

But, I do know they did reduce things on it (mine had a firewire port that the new MBs don't have).

CaoCao said:
weird, my MB came with 2x USB 2.0 and 1x FW 400, it is enough for me, also it has a battery check light on the bottom (however it sees heavy use so the MBP is probably better, but I jumped at the MB Early 2009 for $800 including 4GB RAM and Applecare, which turned out to actually be a PSC)
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 2007 macbook had a firewire port. The new ones do not.
 
tigress666 said:
Well, maybe I'm wrong cause I am basing this on my 2007 MB but my 2007 MB had the infrared port that worked with remote (I still have the remote even), a battery charge gauge on the battery cover (that I could see having changed when they went to unibody design).

But, I do know they did reduce things on it (mine had a firewire port that the new MBs don't have).

Yeah, the 2007 macbook had a firewire port. The new ones do not.
Click to expand...

Yep, the unibody MacBooks do not have the firewire port, battery indicator, or infrared port. Previous models did, unibody doesn't.
 
I've got the rare (?) or at least odd-one-out Aluminum MacBook, and an older white MacBook. The Aluminum design feels much sturdier, although I suppose the plastic unibody is better now. Looking at them side-by-side in the Apple store, the MBP does seem to have a bit better display, if that is a concern.
 
I didn't consider it at all. I thought the additional things you get with the MBP was worth the price difference.
 
talmy said:
I've got the rare (?) or at least odd-one-out Aluminum MacBook, and an older white MacBook. The Aluminum design feels much sturdier, although I suppose the plastic unibody is better now. Looking at them side-by-side in the Apple store, the MBP does seem to have a bit better display, if that is a concern.
Click to expand...

I didn't have a choice either, it was this or a (too big IMO) 15" MBP. I love it to bits, and when my mum came to chose her 1st MacBook, she went for a 13" MBP too, because she didn't like the white.
 
I had a white Macbook from late 2007. They scratch easily and have crappy speakers. The decision to pass that one along to my kids and buy an 15 MBP i5 wasn't exactly difficult.
 
I considered it but @1k, it wasn't much of a contest

my bro got a white MB, I'll just pass down my ram to him when I upgrade to 8GB
 
One thing that the MB has over the 13"MBP for me is that it doesn't have that layer of glass on the screen so reflections are vastly reduced. Plus if you get it from Amazon it works out to be a lot cheaper than the MBP
 
Aluminum body is completely worth it IMO. This thing is solid! (I heard there were some build quality issues with the plastics of the mb as well as the discoloration, but they might have gone away with this release.)
 
AAPLaday said:
One thing that the MB has over the 13"MBP for me is that it doesn't have that layer of glass on the screen so reflections are vastly reduced. Plus if you get it from Amazon it works out to be a lot cheaper than the MBP
Click to expand...

For anyone that's on the fence making a buying decision between the two and price is an issue, if you've got a Micro Center nearby, they've got the current lowend MacBook Pro (MC374LL/A) for $999.99.
 
maflynn said:
As the title suggests, in deciding on purchasing the 13" MBP model did any of you consider purchasing the MacBook instead. Why did you opt for the MBP?

I had a friend as which laptop is best for her, i.e., MB vs. MBP. Made me think about which laptop I'd choose.
Click to expand...

I did because i liked the white more then the silver but opted out because i wanted the thinner, lighter, backlight key pad, sd card slot plus the all white look seems old to me.
 
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