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For me... MBP, which spec? or even a MB?

R

RzrbldeSuitcase

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
20
0
Hi all, I'm a first time switcher to mac and have been waiting for the updates to buy.

Basically I like to buy a computer and have it last me a fair few years til having to upgrade, I dont like to mess around upgrading all the time, and was looking for some advice on what to buy. For Instance I am still using, quite happily speed wise (but not OS wise) an Athlon 2200+ at 1.8Mhz, Nvidia Geforce 6200 256mb 1gig ram.

Thing is I want a laptop now, and I'm a bit confused about smoe of the specs. First of all I want to be able to use it in the garden in the summer, so from what I've read that rules out the glossy display? So matte for me?

My activities on the thing will be:
- Basic stuff emails, word processing, internet
- iTunes, and watching movies
- Some photoshop work as I like to mess around a bit and try be a bit creative.
- Possibly create a few flash websites
- Probably use music recording programs a fair bit as I'm a musician

Think most of my confusion comes from that, as sound card differences between the MB and MBP are not really mentioned.

- Some gaming, not extensive - Sims 2, Footie manager, some FPS maybe, not much

the questions i have, assuming you all don't think MBP is overkill for me, is it worth getting a midrange MBP as opposed to the lowend one that I'm leaning towards, is the extra 256VRAM that much better, also how much performance difference be with the difference in cache (and extra 0.1Ghz)?

The other question is about the 7200rpm hard drive, whats the performance diff between that and the 5200rpm? I will be using an extrenal hard drive for most of my files so am looking at keeping the installed harddrive pretty freed up in terms of space.

Thanks for any help from a first tmie switcher!!!
 
oh question also about how big an improvement would i see if i went for BTO 4gig ram option as opposed to the 2 gig, it wuold only cost me 240GBP
 
Based on what you plan on doing, the biggest difference is probably the screen size - MBP (15"/17") vs. MB (13.3"). You'll also notice an improvement in gaming and graphics work with the MBP due to its superior graphics card.

I also doubt you'll see a huge difference of 2GB vs. 4GB RAM.
 
not sure what you mean by music recording programs, but if you plan on using Logic/Avid/ProTools I would get the MBP.
 
LeMacK said:
not sure what you mean by music recording programs, but if you plan on using Logic/Avid/ProTools I would get the MBP.
Click to expand...

not sure exactly which programs i will use not ever having used a mac before, but i would be using the mac for music recording definitly, using a midi keyboard and guitar, maybe mic such as a shure sm57
 
any comments on which screen? if i want to use it in the garden over summer, is anti-glare/matte screen a must?
 
Please help with my decision on screen, glossy or anti-glare, im driving to the store in about an hour.

basically I want to be able to use it outside occassionaly during the summer so that rules out the glossy does it? Matte best for me is it?
 
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