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Help me choose a notebook please!

S

Soundburst

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 4, 2006
691
20
Hey everyone!

I have a MacBook Pro from 2006. Its got a 2.16GhZ core-2-duo processor and I'm thinking I need to upgrade. I use Pro Tools to do some sound design and audio jobs so need a reasonable screen like my 1440x900.

Therefore my choices are between the new 13 inch MBA (I need*128gb) 1.7 dual core i5 or*the MacBook 13inch Dual core 2.3 i5 with 320gb.

Can anyone tell me are those much faster than my current core-2-duo 2.16? Or should I just wait a few months for another upgrade.

Wich of those machines would be best. . .are they both as fast as each other? If theyre equally fast then I'd happily choose the original MBP as I get more storage on it. :)

Thanks for any help :)
 
The 13" MBP 2.3 scores 5910 GeekBench
The 13" MBA 1.7 scores 5795 GeekBench

The difference CPU wise isn't huge.

Your existing laptop scores 2850 GeekBench



Either of those would be better than your current machine.

But as you are recording Audio, the MBP supports more Ram, and has FireWire so you can hook up fast external drive for capturing Audio into ProTools. It also has more ports if you have any audio dongles and input devices.

----

The MBA however has SSD which is a lot faster than the 5400rpm drive in the MBP and it has a higher resolution screen than the 13" MacBook Pro.

But less ports, and only 4GB ram.




So it's a compromise between the two, but realistically RAM is important for ProTools especially if you use any plug-ins or virtual instruments. The fact 8GB ram can be picked up for $55 to upgrade it, whereas you are stuck with 4GB on the MBA could be a real hassle.





Oh and ProTools hasn't been updated for Lion yet has it? In which case if you got the MBA you would be stuck waiting for Avid to update it, and that could be a waiting game, whereas with the MBP you could at least run Snow Leopard on it.
 
What an amazing reply :)

God it's a tricky decision. . 1280 or 1440 resolution! How will choose :( The MBP is clearly the best option for me but how will I adapt to the smaller resolution. Suppose it's not that different :S

Maybe the next MBP update will update the screens to the MBA screen. I'll wait until the next MBP update and then get the 13 I guess!

Thanks for those stats though , very helpful :):)
 
Soundburst said:
What an amazing reply :)

God it's a tricky decision. . 1280 or 1440 resolution! How will choose :( The MBP is clearly the best option for me but how will I adapt to the smaller resolution. Suppose it's not that different :S

Maybe the next MBP update will update the screens to the MBA screen. I'll wait until the next MBP update and then get the 13 I guess!

Thanks for those stats though , very helpful :):)
Click to expand...

Your welcome :) by then Avid will probably have updated ProTools to support Lion also :) :)
 
I second the 13" MBP.

You can upgrade the RAM and HDD yourself and it will not void the warranty. Assuming you do this your machine will be faster than the MBA. I suggest going for 8GB RAM and intel 320 SSD.

Later on if you want a better screen you can buy that too. Dont go for the air just for the better resolution.

You can buy a high res monitor for the MBP but you cant make the MBA perform any better once you have bought it.
 
You can manually upgrade the normal MBP hard drive to an SSD? :eek: Awesome.

And yes MacRumorUser hopefully by then Avid will have sorted it out. . .they usually aren't in a rush to bother updating their software for new Apple OS' :)
 
They took so long to update for Snow Leopard I didn't even bother upgrading SL! I'm still on Leopard with 7.4 lol. When I get my new MBP I'll get the new Pro Tools LE for it :)

Thanks for the help
 
Then again is it a safe bet that the 13" MBP will survive? Apple recently dumped the 13" MB, and there has been quite a bit of speculation on how long the 13" MBP is left for this world. I have no doubt that there are those who are better served by a 13" MBP than a 13" MBA but those numbers may not be enough in Apple's mind to justify its continued existence. My 13" MBA has completely replaced my 15" Unibody MBP 2.53 but the only Pro level apps I'm using are PS CS5 and Lightroom. MacRumorUser raises a good point about ports but you need to consider what the Thunderbolt* scene will look like in six months.

I have no idea how much of a difference 4GB / 8GB of RAM means to ProTools, but I wasn't at all impressed by the performance gains I got on my 15" MBP by upgrading to 8GB (back when 8GB was over $300 even when you didn't buy it from Apple). If the lack of additional RAM is a deal breaker than the MBP is your only option. If 4GB is doable then give the MBA a chance, you will have 14 days to evaluate it before you need to decide one way or the other.





* I really wished they had stuck with LightPeak, I know their using copper in this implenmentation but LightPeak had such a cool connotation, while Thunderbolt kind of has a Dell/Microsoft ring to it.
 
reputationZed said:
I have no idea how much of a difference 4GB / 8GB of RAM means to ProTools,
Click to expand...

This is a god point, if you buy the base MBP it comes with 4GB RAM. Test that out first and if you find it too little then upgrade.

The SSD will make you machine seem a lot faster and more responsive though. Thats the biggest upgrade you can do.
 
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