heat? video? other questions

[eldaniel7]

Hello,

I'm buying a macbook and I have to choose between the macbook air and the macbook pro. I'm not a publicist nor I work with video, so I don't really need the power of a pro, but it comes handy some times and, if you can have the power stacked up there waiting for you, why not?

A pretty important factor to me is how much it heats. I like using notebooks in bed on my legs and sitting in a couch on my lap. My mom has a pretty old white macbook (from the time when there where black ones) and it heats like crazy. I really disliked that and I don't want it to happen to my new laptop. ¿How much does the most basic 13 in macbook pro? ¿And with an SSD drive? ¿How much compared to a mba?

The second thing that bothered me, why does a macbook pro come with an integrated grafics card! is there any way to upgrade it?

Is it better to order the mbp with a factory-installed SSD or just to get the normal one and get a 3rd party SSD?

Best regards!

 

[miles01110]

A pretty important factor to me is how much it heats. I like using notebooks in bed on my legs and sitting in a couch on my lap. My mom has a pretty old white macbook (from the time when there where black ones) and it heats like crazy. I really disliked that and I don't want it to happen to my new laptop. ¿How much does the most basic 13 in macbook pro? ¿And with an SSD drive? ¿How much compared to a mba?

Apple portables get hot. It's just a fact of life.

The second thing that bothered me, why does a macbook pro come with an integrated grafics card! is there any way to upgrade it?

You cannot upgrade the graphics card.

Is it better to order the mbp with a factory-installed SSD or just to get the normal one and get a 3rd party SSD?

It's neither better nor worse.

 

[ZZ Bottom]

Well you sound like you would enjoy the Air based on your temperature concerns. BUT, I can attest to the fact that the 13" Pro does not get noticeably hot on the underside under normal usage. Playing a game is a different story; it will get toasty.

Consider the following to help your decision:

Air advantages
-lightweight
-cooler running cpu
-ssd standard
-higher resolution screen

Pro advantages
-ram can be expanded beyond 4gb (up to 16gb)
-hard drive can be upgraded (ssd is a decision you will not regret, but get aftermarket)
-optical drive which can be removed to house a second hard drive
-faster cpu + higher gpu memory if ram is 8gb (512 vs 384 max on air)

They both use the same chipset for video, so don't expect the 13" Pro to greatly outperform in that area. However, I use a 13" pro for a host of professional applications and although I would love more power, it is manageable with some patience; i.e. wish I had more beef for apps like After Effects.

P.S. the Graphics card cannot be upgraded on any of the macbook pros regardless of being "integrated" or "dedicated"

 

[thundersteele]

All Macbooks can get pretty hot depending on what you do. I suggest an iPad, they are cool.

You can't upgrade the graphics card. Only 15'' and upwards MBPs come with dedicated GPUs.

 

[eldaniel7]

Thank you all for your quick answers

Pro advantages
-ram can be expanded beyond 4gb (up to 16gb)
-hard drive can be upgraded (ssd is a decision you will not regret, but get aftermarket)
-optical drive which can be removed to house a second hard drive
-faster cpu + higher gpu memory if ram is 8gb (512 vs 384 max on air)

They both use the same chipset for video, so don't expect the 13" Pro to greatly outperform in that area. However, I use a 13" pro for a host of professional applications and although I would love more power, it is manageable with some patience; i.e. wish I had more beef for apps like After Effects.

How big is the difference with an aftermarket SSD?? Which one do you recommend me?

And what about this vs

The current basic (cheapest) macbook pro
Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro dual-core Intel Core i5 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, Intel HD Graphics 3000, SuperDrive, Thunderbolt port, Aluminum unibody enclosure, Glossy Widescreen Display (MD313LL/A)

One generation older best macbook air.
Apple 13.3" MacBook Air 2.13GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (MC905LL/A)

What do you think? I can get them at about the same price. In this case, getting a SSD for the mbp would make a $300 difference. is the NVIDIA GeForce 320M better than the intel graphics HD 3000?

Is the video card of an older 13'' macbook pro better than the integrated card of the newest 13-mbp, in results (what you get, not the theoric part)?

Do you think is wrong to buy an older generation macbook? (only 1 gen)

 

[thundersteele]

Both the current and the previous (early 2011) macbook pros are fine machines, and the performance difference is very small. On the other hand, I wouldn't buy a last generation (mid 201) Air... the 2011 models are significantly faster.

2011 Air is fine
2011 MBP with SSD upgrade is also a great choice

The Air is lighter and has a higher screen resolution, but is more expensive.
The Pro has a DVD drive and a more powerful CPU - the price is about equal once you factor in the SSD.

 

[153098]

The 320m and HD3000 are on par with each other. The core 2 duo however, is not on par with the icore series. So getting an icore+hd3000 is an upgrade over core2duo+nvidia320.

Also, the icores run much cooler than core2duo's. Fans are on a lot less doing the same things.