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BlackBook vs. 2.4ghz MacBook Pro

J

jraneses

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 7, 2008
28
0
For those who picked up a BlackBook, I'm curious as to your decision between it and the low end MacBook Pro. I've been in the market for a new MacBook Pro for the past few months, and have went through 4 machines with various issues, from a bad hard drive, to unevenly backlit displays with yellowing and backlight bleed.

I was just at the Apple store earlier today, and I had myself convinced to ditch the idea of getting a MacBook Pro altogether, given my bad experiences with them of late. As an alternative, I've been thinking about getting a BlackBook, but every time I see one next to a Pro, the MacBook looks like a greasy, fingerprint ridden plastic toy. Performance wise, if I outfit a BlackBook with a 7200 rpm drive and 4 gb RAM, it'll perform about as well as a low end MBP in most tests, but I'm having a hard time getting over the fact that it's looks and packaging aren't as sexy and polished as the MBP.

I'd be really interested to get your thoughts and opinions...

Jason
 
I got the new BlackBook. I really love it. The reason I've never gotten the MBP is the aluminum case. I've seen what happens when they fall. I've already dropped my BlackBook once and it's perfectly fine. If I weren't so mobile, I'd have gotten the MBP though. The screen is great and it has a dedicated video card. But given that I already have a desktop with a 24" display, I really don't need the MBP either. I would say it depends on your needs. They're both awesome computers.

Oh- and using iKlear once a week to clean a BlackBook will keep it from looking greasy. It really isn't a problem.
 
Its you're call on which looks better, no one can tell you which you like the look of more.


If you're doing GPU based stuff, I'd get the MBP, and risk any problems(but to be fair, all computer have problems, so a MB might have a problem, just like your other MBPs did)


If both serve you're requirements well, and its down to looks, that one is up to you my friend.
 
I got it because it's essentially the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro minus a video card (don't need) 2 inches of screen real estate (don't need) and the multi-touch trackpad (meh) but with a larger HDD (definitely loving the 250GB).

It's an awesome little machine, super fast, nice and cool but FAAASSST and it's just that little bit more portable than the MBP.

And it was $600 cheaper...
 
Thanks for all the input, it's much appreciated. I will rarely be using the internal display of whatever I end up going with, as I have a 24" Dell LCD at home and at the office that I'll hook the notebook up to. Given my normal usage pattern, I'd probably be better served not being so critical of either machine's LCD, as I won't be staring at it all that often. Yet, if it's not up to par, I don't want to drop extra cash on it either. It's a tough call for sure.

On the rare occasion that I don't have the machine connected to an external display, say at a coffee shop or another location, I don't want to regret not going with the 15" MBP if I have to get a lot of work done. I've never had a notebook with anything less than a 15" display, so I don't know how productive I'll be able to be with a 13" screen. That's definitely an edge case though, so it's only a small part of the the decision.
 
Well I can say I work everyday off of a MBP connected to an external display. The MBP is maxed out with ram but it's older. I just bought the new blackbook for my home computer and threw in 4gb of ram and could not be happier. It runs just as well or better than my older 2.4 MPB. I prefer the compact size as well.

The fingerprint issue is there but if it's connected to your monitor perhaps you're using an external keyboard? So you really wouldn't be touching the blackbook too much anyway. The screen on the macbooks is definitely lacking comparing to a MBP. What are you using the computer for, which programs? I don't think you can go wrong with the 2.4 macbook though.
 
I had a similar debate. After battling my wallet, ego and needs I went with the Macbook pro. Actually the deciding factor was that I needed the video card for video editing and the larger screen would help with that as well. I fooled around with my sister's new Macbook prior to that and it was great, the screen was bigger than I thought and I got used to it fast. As you have a large external screen, I'd say get the Blackbook if you don't need to run apps that need the video card.

But man do I love this MBP.

Cheers
 
jecapaga said:
Well I can say I work everyday off of a MBP connected to an external display. The MBP is maxed out with ram but it's older. I just bought the new blackbook for my home computer and threw in 4gb of ram and could not be happier. It runs just as well or better than my older 2.4 MPB. I prefer the compact size as well.

The fingerprint issue is there but if it's connected to your monitor perhaps you're using an external keyboard? So you really wouldn't be touching the blackbook too much anyway. The screen on the macbooks is definitely lacking comparing to a MBP. What are you using the computer for, which programs? I don't think you can go wrong with the 2.4 macbook though.
Click to expand...

Yep, using an external keyboard and mouse. I'm mainly using the system for software development, and will be using VMware Fusion quite a bit.
 
Somewhat going off the deep end here, but the 17" high res MacBook Pro is starting to entice me as well. The resolution on the 13" MacBook is not enough, the resolution on the 15" MacBook Pro is barely enough for my purposes, and the resolution on the 17" high res MacBook Pro is stunning.

It's funny how we justify these types of purchases. Maybe having a nice 17" desktop replacement would allow me to work outside my normal environments more frequently. It might be a nice change, and it's not a financial stretch for me to go that route. Yet for the price, I could buy two BlackBooks. Damn, does this ever get easy? :)
 
For the price of the 17 inch, you could but a BlackBook, an HDTV, and a PS3. Or, you could buy a Mac Pro.
 
I don't do anything on my laptop that requires any significant graphics horsepower, so I'm much happier with the smaller & slightly lighter footprint of the MacBook.

Plus, my 2.2GHz C2D MacBook runs tons cooler than my rev. 1 2.16GHz CD MBP did. That thing was a blast furnace. The bottom of the MB, on the other hand, is usually only barely warmer than ambient temperature (perhaps a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea).

I wipe my black MacBook down every couple of days with the included cloth and it stays nice and clean. The ones in the store always look bad since they're in a very public place being handled by all sorts of people with all sorts of grime on their hands.
 
archesdevil said:
For the price of the 17 inch, you could but a BlackBook, an HDTV, and a PS3. Or, you could buy a Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the reason I sold my mac pro and macbook pro and opted for a single 2.4Ghz macbook! I ended up saving a little over $5k! Plus the 2.4Ghz macbook does everything that my macbook pro did (since I dont use the gpu at all or game at all either).
 
I really miss the backlit keyboard from my previous Powerbook but 13.3 is a great size to go mobile. Also the fingerprint trace is very annoying... but for the use I give my mac (not video editing) I couldn't justify 2000 euros for a pro.
 
I was looking at refurbs of the Macbook Pro, but the Blackbook just felt more comfortable once I played with it at the Mac Store. Specifically the new keyboard. The primary use of the laptop for me is writing, so that was really important. And as far as portability, I didn't want anything bigger than a Macbook.

I have a Mac Pro at home for all of my photo work, and the Blackbook has enough power to handle CS3 and Lightroom, if I need it. Especially once I up it to 4gigs of ram. I would have liked a matte screen as an option, but that was a small sacrifice.
 
Didn't need the video card, as others have mentioned, and it's a perfect fit for my Mac Pro 3.0. BlackBook also looks great next to my Sony Bravia 40" LCD, while running mirror displays for Keynote or PowerPoint, and the occasional DVD or a downloaded movie. :cool:
 
Sadly I had alot of problems with the 2.4Ghz macbook so I took it down to the genius and got it exchanged once again. But this time I opted for the 2.4Ghz macbook pro and paid the $500 difference.

IMHO connected to the 23" ACD, the 256vram gpu drives the 23" ACD much much faster with dual monitor mode. And I dont know if its just me but the colors on the 23" ACD seems to look more vivid with a dedicated gpu as well.

Now I can play cod4 with the settings on high if I want to but I dont really game much anyways. But I've missed firewire 800 (now I can transfer 100gb worth files from my 1tb drives in 20-25 minutes instead of the 45-65 minutes with the firewire 400). And I love the aluminum enclosure, led screen is just gorgeous and worth the extra $$ for it to be able to use it mobile and bigger screen as well, multitouch is a nice +, louder speakers, no more external speakers audio popping (this is a huge deal to me as I have a rather high end b&w 805s/htm4 speakers), backlit keyboard is welcome again (funny thing is that I've used my macbook in the dark and it was kind of annoying not being able to see the keys and always had to touch the keys and feel to get aligned and it does make a huge difference with having backlit keyboards again!) and finally the clicker on the trackpad does not feel clunky and cheap again! :D
 
I was also the proud owner of a Blackbook, it was my first Mac notebook. Great performer, I bumped it to 4gb of ram and it was very speedy. I didn't however like the fact that it looked like a greasy mess all the time. I am VERY anal, only used it after I washed my hands, and it still looked cheap. I could live with that, but when the DVD kept giving me Kernel Panics I had enough. The Optical drive was replaced, the Logic board was replaced, and still the Kernel Panics. This is a known issue that Apple refuses to fix. I was offered a replacement Macbook or pay the difference for a MBP. I opted for the MBP and have never been happier.
 
Well i actually gotta a new whitebook with the 2.5 c2d chip just the 160 HD though. I chose it over the pro for a few reasons. I don't do anything really that needs high end graphics. I needed/wanted something portable but at the same time something with a lot of power. The screen size is great. And when i need more realesate i always hook it up at home to my acer 20" LCD so its all gooood. I just didn't need the extras offered up in the mbp. For cleaning btw i just use some monster something cleaning thing and thats it.
 
Chundles said:
I got it because it's essentially the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro minus a video card (don't need) 2 inches of screen real estate (don't need) and the multi-touch trackpad (meh)
Click to expand...

and minus Dual-link DVI, and minus LED backlighting, and minus firewire 800, and minus illuminated keyboard, and minus matte screen option...

it's just that little bit more portable than the MBP.
Click to expand...

Ever so slightly - 0.4lb in weight

Have you ever put a MacBook on top of a MacBook Pro? Practically the same footprint.
 
I had a 2.16 MBP I just had to sell to help some money problems. I'm now thinking of getting a 2.1 MB to replace it. The MBP is nice, but I never really used the video card, not being able to upgrade the hard drive easily was annoying, and I never really used the dvd drive...err, I mean super drive :p

I'm still thinking of possibly spending the extra £100 on the 2.4, but I think I could spend that on a hard drive and 4 GBs of RAM instead.
 
jnc said:
and minus Dual-link DVI, and minus LED backlighting, and minus firewire 800, and minus illuminated keyboard, and minus matte screen option...



Ever so slightly - 0.4lb in weight

Have you ever put a MacBook on top of a MacBook Pro? Practically the same footprint.
Click to expand...

And plus a lot of money. I never needed the dual link dvi, never used the firewire 800 (esata is just as good and cheaper). I can type so I don't need an illuminated keyboard, although the matte screen would be nice, but for saving £500, I can deal without those.
 
StuBeck said:
And plus a lot of money. I never needed the dual link dvi, never used the firewire 800 (esata is just as good and cheaper). I can type so I don't need an illuminated keyboard, although the matte screen would be nice, but for saving £500, I can deal without those.
Click to expand...

I never argued the price difference, I argued the crazy amount of feature differences - you're not paying the extra money for nothing, even if you can get by adequately with the cheaper MB, and that the weight/portability difference was negligible.
 
jnc said:
I never argued the price difference, I argued the crazy amount of feature differences - you're not paying the extra money for nothing, even if you can get by adequately with the cheaper MB, and that the weight/portability difference was negligible.
Click to expand...

Alright, thats fine, I never said you weren't paying for nothing either! Just trying to give another view point, not trying to say you kill baby kittens in the sink or anything.
 
Yeah dual dvi has never been a problem...ive just started using my 20" LCD Acer screen with my Macbook with the vga converter.
 
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