New to Macs - MB or MBP, advice needed

[g-boac]

I know this has been beat to death, but being that I am new to Macs, I can use the help of people who own them in selecting one for myself.

I know I want a laptop, and I'm waiting for Leopard. I am trying to decide between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro. Here's how I'm planning on using it, in descending order of use:

-internet surfing (Mac Forums, and couple others)
-personal finance (Quicken)
-work (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
-DVD movie watching on MB (e.g., on an airplane)
-Burn DVDs from TV programs recorded on my DVR
-music and pictures (iTunes; download, sort, and store photos from digital camera. . .MAYBE an occasional touch-up in Photoshop or comparable to reduce red-eye or resize image for web, but no heavy-duty, professional photo editing)
-MS Windows -- about 15-20% of the time, using either Boot Camp or an Emulator, to run a couple of programs that are only written for Windows.
-OCCASIONAL, infrequent game (Flight Sim, Star Wars), but only to blow off steam. Maybe a couple hours a month at best. not heavy gaming.
-I can also envision making use of Spaces on Leopard: I'd probably have a space open for work or Quicken, and a second space for all my internet pages.

I put a premium on smaller size and weight, but if the MBP has SIGNIFICANTLY more capability for my planned use, I'd steer toward the MBP. I place the highest premium on not having a "limping" computer -- if, for example, the MB can't play a DVD movie without constant pausing, jerkiness, or video lagging sound, or if playing a DVD would mean that I would need to close every running program, while an MBP would not require this, I'd get the MBP.

However if the MB would let me do everything I described above efficiently, and it would not hang up or "limp" anywhere, I'd prefer the MB.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! And had anybody owned both?

thanks!
Mark

 

[SamIchi]

Definitely MacBook. Besides the gaming, MB will handle everything great. The gaming Im' not sure since I never game on my MB except for StarCraft. But I've hear of people running WoW on MB's so I don't think you'll run into any problems. Only go with Pro if you're in computing for the Pro apps, particularly the video intensive ones. Considering how expensive the Pro is you can save a lot with the MB and buy cool accesories like RAM, sleeves, and stands.

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

For all of those needs, I'd go Macbook as well. You might have issues running graphic heavy games like some demanding Star Wars games, etc., but since you said you won't really be playing them at all, a Macbook would suit your needs just perfect.

 

[g-boac]

Thanks!! Please keep the replies and advice coming! You've definitely got me leaning macbook.

As a counter example, can anyone offer a simple, but specific example of something that I could NOT do if I had a MacBook, that I could do with a MB Pro?

Can the Macbook accept a/v input from my DVR and allow me to burn it to DVD? Also, can it output to both standard and HD-TV's and displays?

thanks!
Mark

 

[Andrmgic]

Not to hijack your thread, but I'm also interested in an answer to the question you asked above about whether there was anything that a macbook couldn't do that a pro could.

I'm having the same conflicted thoughts about MB or MBP myself.

 

[astudentis]

Hey,

I am a university student, and i bought my first mac a couple of weeks ago. I was having the delema deciding between MBP and MB, but i finally we with the MB? why? because the smaller size to carry arround, however, the MBP seems wider, but for some reason it seems lighter (comparing my MB with friends MBP) probably because pro is made of aluminum. Also note my black mb seems to attract finger prints quite easily, though thats i wasnt too too worried about. I was just looking for a fast computer (dam 20sec to turn on from shut down!) that i can listen to music on, movies, burning, wifi with blutooth capabilities which i might say this computer fully meets. I also run ms office perfetly fine, however it is kind of slow at loading because it wasnt meant for intel processors, however office 08 to be released in jan will most likely run faster i presume. As for the gaming, you are out of luck, there isnt much varity that runs natively on mac os, however i presume if u install bootcamp with xp, u should be able run some games, I personnly didnt care about gaming on laptop because i already have a psp and ps2... so its not too bad for me i guess, + being a student i dont get time to game that often either so it worked out for me. So overall i am quite satisfied with my MB + its portability factor + battery life: ~4hrs with internet surfing.

 

[macinthebox-nan]

MB will definitely give you more bang for the buck. From what I understand of what you are going to use your new computer for, there is really no need for a MBP.

 

[amac4me]

A MacBook should suit your needs just fine. Good luck with your decision.

 

[g-boac]

I got a MacBook!

Sorry for my delayed response to this, but I just wanted to post a follow-up and bring closure to this thread by telling you guys that I got a MacBook (black, Santa Rosa chipset) in November, and I could not be more satisfied with it!!! As a matter of fact, I was so satisfied, that I bought my parents an iMac when visiting for Christmas. Their Dell was SO loaded down with viruses and spyware, that thing was beyond hope.

Macs just work.

regards,
Mark