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Macbook vs Macbook Pro '13 low end

M

macappletex

macrumors member
Original poster
Want to buy my son a new macbook for Christmas-need your opinion on which is the best buy? White Macbook vs Macbook Pro '13 low end model. Not giving details about how it will used just need your honest opinion about which one is best buy. They seen to be very close in specs. The only thing I will upgrade on will be to 4 gigs of memory. Thanks for your help!:apple: 🙂
 
I opted for the Pro, for a few reasons:

-better screen.
-backlit keyboard... it is ridiculous how useful I've found this. I'd have a hard time going back to a regular keyboard now.
-FireWire... I have a bunch of FW harddrives and a video camera. I could use USB for the HDDs, but I prefer FW. And I need it for the video camera.
-SD card slot. It's convenient.
-aluminium... it looks nicer, and is less prone to discolouring. I have a black Macbook, too, and it's a mess.
 
mbp, i'd say
there are just little differences in it that make it so much better i.e. backlit keyboard etc. The macbook is a great device but is prone to damaging aesthetically, the macbook pro is a little stronger... whatever you get him, he's one lucky son
signature_SmileyFace.jpg
 
Right now the best bang for your buck is the white one since the pro is kind of nearing the end of a cycle, more than the MacBook anyway.
Unless one needs FireWire and the sd card reader there's probably nothing the white one can't do compared to the pro and they'll be pretty close in processing times. Of course the pro is better and will feel more of a pro portable but it also costs probably too much, due to the cycle thing, comparing the specs.
I'd suggest using your son's educational discount if possible.
 
Great info, I was wondering the same question.
I still think the MBP model is the way to go for those extra specs/hardware and looks! 😉

@svndmvn
You say end of life cycle, what u mean? New MBP models soon to be released?
 
lilskaterpunk said:
Great info, I was wondering the same question.
I still think the MBP model is the way to go for those extra specs/hardware and looks! 😉

@svndmvn
You say end of life cycle, what u mean? New MBP models soon to be released?
Click to expand...

while 3 to 4 months isn't exactly close to end of cycle if one buys a Macbook it will be the newest Macbook for about 6 months and if one buys a Macbook Pro it would be the newest for about 3-4 months. While the Macbook isn't exactly better than the base Pro, it is of better value being updated quite recently, and the MBP got updated in June and is kind of closer to the end of the cycle than to the beginning, if that makes sense. During the Macbook's cycle the Pro will be updated and then it will be of better value, right now it's just better for whoever doesn't take the white one into consideration, IMO.
 
svndmvn said:
while 3 to 4 months isn't exactly close to end of cycle if one buys a Macbook it will be the newest Macbook for about 6 months and if one buys a Macbook Pro it would be the newest for about 3-4 months. While the Macbook isn't exactly better than the base Pro, it is of better value being updated quite recently, and the MBP got updated in June and is kind of closer to the end of the cycle than to the beginning, if that makes sense. During the Macbook's cycle the Pro will be updated and then it will be of better value, right now it's just better for whoever doesn't take the white one into consideration, IMO.
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Kinda makes sense... lol
So as the MBP 13.3'' was introduced in June, we could be seeing an upgrade to the model sometime soon as January/February as its First Quarter starts? I don't think anything will be released anymore in 2009...
 
If you have a Microcenter near where you live, you can get the current MB for $800 after rebate. Of course sales tax also applies.

I'd say that $800 is a great deal for the new MB.
 
lilskaterpunk said:
Kinda makes sense... lol
So as the MBP 13.3'' was introduced in June, we could be seeing an upgrade to the model sometime soon as January/February as its First Quarter starts? I don't think anything will be released anymore in 2009...
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exactly, also Phil Schiller kind of off the record said the product line up for the holidays is set as soon as the iMacs got released with the white Macbook. No more products for 2009, that is.
And January is also the release month for Arrandale, a new Intel chipset offering quite a lot more than Penryns used right now. While not necessarily going into the 13" MBP, it wouldn't make sense to bump the 13" model now and wait to update the 15" and the 17" to something better.
So it's either Arrandale and integrated Intel GPUs for base 13" in January/February or speedbumped Penryns and NVidia 9400s. Arrandales for some 15" and possibly corei7 quad cores for BTO 15" and 17".
 
The white Macbook is a cheaper, has a larger hard drive (250 vs 160), the same graphics, the same CPU, and (should be) the same screen.

However, it is easier to scratch/damage (but aluminum dents, so YMMV) and is missing the backlit KB, SD slot, firewire, and the "Pro" panache.

I, too, like the look of the Pro better - but money is money, and if I were buying, I'd probably get the white one. Besides, as mentioned above there's the Microcenter rebate, and if that isn't your thing, Best Buy is going to have it with a $150 gift card for free on Black Friday.

But then again.... you can get the MBP for $999 refurb'ed. *sigh* Decisions, decisions... either way, I think he'll be happy. Only issue I see is that some teen boys (and men, BTW) think that the white is a bit "sissy" looking. You might want to test the waters a bit on that before you buy...
 
svndmvn said:
exactly, also Phil Schiller kind of off the record said the product line up for the holidays is set as soon as the iMacs got released with the white Macbook. No more products for 2009, that is.
And January is also the release month for Arrandale, a new Intel chipset offering quite a lot more than Penryns used right now. While not necessarily going into the 13" MBP, it wouldn't make sense to bump the 13" model now and wait to update the 15" and the 17" to something better.
So it's either Arrandale and integrated Intel GPUs for base 13" in January/February or speedbumped Penryns and NVidia 9400s. Arrandales for some 15" and possibly corei7 quad cores for BTO 15" and 17".
Click to expand...

Cool Cool! Now im getting lost with the new chipsets lol Newer technology 😛
Well I understand how it works for models and updates and yes I dont think there will be a upgrade to the latest 13.3'' MBP models like u mentioned.
I was curious if lets say they would upgrade the video cards in 13.3'' MBP or some huge upgrade that would benefit waiting.... I guess we really can't say until releases are shown.
I guess buying a MBP 13.3'' (Highest model) right now would be worth it...

js81 said:
The white Macbook is a cheaper, has a larger hard drive (250 vs 160), the same graphics, the same CPU, and (should be) the same screen.

However, it is easier to scratch/damage (but aluminum dents, so YMMV) and is missing the backlit KB, SD slot, firewire, and the "Pro" panache.
Click to expand...
White MacBook has a larger HDD? I thought MBP did... CPU is fast in MBP too I thought? lol Im really confused now.

EDIT: NVM, thats for the lower end MBP 😛
 
lilskaterpunk said:
CWhite MacBook has a larger HDD? I thought MBP did... CPU is fast in MBP too I thought? lol Im really confused now.

EDIT: NVM, thats for the lower end MBP 😛
Click to expand...

Yepper... 🙂 BUT... you can upgrade the MBP farther, but that's more money.
 
js81 said:
Yepper... 🙂 BUT... you can upgrade the MBP farther, but that's more money.
Click to expand...

Upgrade what hardware though to make it farther? 🙂
Its prob better to just buy the MBP 13.3'' (Highest model) for the price instead of buying the lower model and spending on new hardware upgrades?
 
lilskaterpunk said:
Upgrade what hardware though to make it farther? 🙂
Its prob better to just buy the MBP 13.3'' (Highest model) for the price instead of buying the lower model and spending on new hardware upgrades?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I meant. You can have factory-installed upgrades... sorry about the confusion. 😀 You can get 2.53GHz, 8GB of RAM, and 500GB HD (or 256GB SSD). But that adds up A LOT. A MBP with those specs (the SSD) is $2899! 😱
 
js81 said:
That's exactly what I meant. You can have factory-installed upgrades... sorry about the confusion. 😀 You can get 2.53GHz, 8GB of RAM, and 500GB HD (or 256GB SSD). But that adds up A LOT. A MBP with those specs (the SSD) is $2899! 😱
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WOW! 😱 Too much for me lol
I think the MBP 13.3'' (Highest model) is perfect as Apple always releases new models and I of course would look into upgrading, so selling an older mac would be the idea... No need to spend a fortune 😛
 
lilskaterpunk said:
so selling an older mac would be the idea... No need to spend a fortune 😛
Click to expand...

My philosophy exactly. 😀 I'm dying for a new machine right now but can't decide how to go about it. I have the two in my sig - the iMac is great, but I want a bigger screen. The PB G4 is quickly becoming dog-slow at EVERYTHING online... too much Flash on the darned interwebs these days!

I can "trade" my iMac to Best Buy for $517 (a GREAT price, IMHO) and I can sell my PB on eBay for $250-300. That'd give me $800, but I can't decide what I'd want - a base iMac ($1149 on ed. discount) or a refurb 13" MBP ($999) or the new white Macbook ($949, and new). The iMac is WAY faster, but the Macbooks are portable... my wife has a year-old Macbook, but that's hers - I don't get to touch it very often (she uses it for nursing school). What to do, what to do...
 
js81 said:
My philosophy exactly. 😀 I'm dying for a new machine right now but can't decide how to go about it. I have the two in my sig - the iMac is great, but I want a bigger screen. The PB G4 is quickly becoming dog-slow at EVERYTHING online... too much Flash on the darned interwebs these days!

I can "trade" my iMac to Best Buy for $517 (a GREAT price, IMHO) and I can sell my PB on eBay for $250-300. That'd give me $800, but I can't decide what I'd want - a base iMac ($1149 on ed. discount) or a refurb 13" MBP ($999) or the new white Macbook ($949, and new). The iMac is WAY faster, but the Macbooks are portable... my wife has a year-old Macbook, but that's hers - I don't get to touch it very often (she uses it for nursing school). What to do, what to do...
Click to expand...

if I may.. if you can live without the firewire, the SD slot, and the illuminated KB, and the white macbook's screen is fine for you, than that's best between the two.
 
svndmvn said:
if I may.. if you can live without the firewire, the SD slot, and the illuminated KB, and the white macbook's screen is fine for you, than that's best between the two.
Click to expand...

I have (and still use regularly) a firewire DV camcorder. But my wife's Macbook has firewire, so I'd be OK, I guess.

@ the OP: Sorry, totally didn't mean to hijack the thread... got a little sidetracked there. Much of the same advice applies to your situation, though...
 
js81 said:
I have (and still use regularly) a firewire DV camcorder. But my wife's Macbook has firewire, so I'd be OK, I guess.

@ the OP: Sorry, totally didn't mean to hijack the thread... got a little sidetracked there. Much of the same advice applies to your situation, though...
Click to expand...

I agree it all applies to the OP and his son..
In your situation I'd probably get a refurb macbook pro 13", I don't think the black friday discount applies to refurbs but if you can get a 13" pro for a similar price to the regular white one, I'd probably get that. It would just be less of a hassle to transfer videos and edit them on the go as well, not depending on another computer and external HDs for instance. From what I understand the pro also has a better display, since that has been updated silently about a month before the June update. The backlight is also supposed to be brighter, it all adds up🙂
The white one is none the less of great value as I said before, and it's an awesome machine I'd suggest buying to anyone, I do quite often in fact.
 
svndmvn said:
From what I understand the pro also has a better display, since that has been updated silently about a month before the June update. The backlight is also supposed to be brighter, it all adds up🙂
Click to expand...
I never knew that... cool. Silently, thats Apple for ya. You are saying this about the 13.3'' models correct? 😛
 
lilskaterpunk said:
I never knew that... cool. Silently, thats Apple for ya. You are saying this about the 13.3'' models correct? 😛
Click to expand...

When the 13" Unibody became the 13" Pro, or around that time, it got better pannels and I suspect the white one uses the "old" LED backlit pannels, from what I read it looks like the backlight isn't as bright and the definition probably lacks a little.
 
svndmvn said:
When the 13" Unibody became the 13" Pro, or around that time, it got better pannels and I suspect the white one uses the "old" LED backlit pannels, from what I read it looks like the backlight isn't as bright and the definition probably lacks a little.
Click to expand...

Interesting.... Thanks for that info m8!
 
My only problem is that I don't actually travel much at all - I just like to take my laptop around the house, mostly. BUT... is it worth giving up all the extra power of the iMac for that little bit of convenience? Also, by the time I add a decent external monitor (22" or so), then the price of the MBP is equal to the iMac - and the iMac is way faster, has more RAM, and a bigger hard drive, not to mention the IPS screen. See, this has been my dilemma for some time now... I can't afford TWO new machines, so which one should I go for? I'd have to sell at least one (probably both) of my current ones to get it, too...
 
js81 said:
My only problem is that I don't actually travel much at all - I just like to take my laptop around the house, mostly. BUT... is it worth giving up all the extra power of the iMac for that little bit of convenience? Also, by the time I add a decent external monitor (22" or so), then the price of the MBP is equal to the iMac - and the iMac is way faster, has more RAM, and a bigger hard drive, not to mention the IPS screen. See, this has been my dilemma for some time now... I can't afford TWO new machines, so which one should I go for? I'd have to sell at least one (probably both) of my current ones to get it, too...
Click to expand...

do you need the same power when you move around the house?
If you don't then I guess I'd change the iMac and keep the powerbook and get a basic Macbook when that one's toast, just for simple web browsing..
 
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