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Macbook or pro?

D

dmsee

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 30, 2007
52
0
I am in the middle of buying a new laptop, I was really into Macbook Pro's but then realized I wont be doing too much heavy stuff and its really big to carry. I looked into Macbooks and I really like it but one problem is video card. I just wanted to know how is that video card performs. I know Pro's have the best graphics
Any input on the video card and its capabilities and 2.1 or 2.4ghz?
 
Unless you are doing any gaming or video intensive applications than the Macbook's video card is adequate. The Macbook Pro base model is a 256MB video card which is plenty, even for most games and applications. The upgraded 512MB is plenty for anything. The only application I have noticed that needs an upgraded video card is Aperture. I haven't really tried many other apps except Adobe CS3, Logic Pro, Final Cut. etc. All those work fine on Macbook or MBP but Aperture would require a MBP to run.

The difference in weight is hardly noticeable. The size is the biggest. But, the MBP has the illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor. It is very cool and comes in handy sometimes.
 
Yeah basically what MacDaddy said the macbook will work fine for everything that does not require 3D graphics. This includes intense games, aperature, and motion. There are obviously some other programs as well, but in general the regular Macbook will be more than enough. But if you decide to get the pro the 256mb card will be all you need.
 
Macbook is really powerful the Intel C2D are amazing cpus. The Pro version is way too expensive compared to PCs. Make sure to not purchase a Macbook that has an integrated Intel GMA graphics device, they are pure crap.
 
hands down i wish i would have bought a pro over a macbook, but thats just me, and i am very happy with my macbook.
 
I had two laptops: a 17" HP/Compaq nx9240 (2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 256MB Radeon X1600 graphics and a 100GB 7200RPM drive) and a 15" MacBook Pro (2.16GHz Core Duo, 256MB X1600 graphics). The MBP was my main laptop and the HP is a machine I use for some specific work-related apps (doesn't get used too often actually).

I gave the MBP to my wife and bought a 2.2GHz black MacBook. There was nothing wrong with the MBP except its size. I'm much happier with the smaller, (slightly) lighter and much cooler (temperature-wise) machine than the MBP.

I do lots of word processing, PDF creation, Keynote/PowerPoint, email, iCal and some minor stuff with Bento and Omnigraffle Pro. I also have Parallels with Windows XP and boot camp with Vista SP1. As far as I'm concerned, my little MacBook is the laptop-that-could. Very stable and overall faster than my MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo vs. Core Duo and faster FSB).

I couldn't be happier. Periodically if I'm working on a large project, I'll connect the MB to a desktop monitor for some additional real estate, but otherwise for most things the 13" screen for me is perfectly adequate. And again, I can't stress enough how much smaller the footprint of the machine is compared to the MBP.

So, depending on what you plan to do with the machine, a MacBook can be more than satisfactory, especially if mobility is important. Just because the MBP has a few higher specifications on paper doesn't mean its better in the real world.

And I still almost never use the beast of a machine that is the HP above. I'm going to see if I can get my office, which owns the machine, to replace it with something substantially smaller, like the HP/Compaq 2510p ultralight.

I'm so pleased that with the old Intel vs. AMD race to the top, the bottom has come up so high that the top itself, or even anywhere near the top, isn't really necessary any more.
 
archesdevil said:
I have been running Aperture on my MacBook flawlessly. I recommend the MacBook.
Click to expand...

Really? I tried to install Aperture 2 on my Macbook and it told me the video card wasn't sufficient to install it. I have it on my MBP but I can't seem to install it on the MB, did you have any install problems?
 
Maybe I will try it again then. I just have the 1.83 CD and when I tried it wouldn't let me. Maybe something with the CD vs. C2D??? I will try to install again and see what happens, maybe one of those "fluke" things that can't be figured out.
 
I think Aperture has some sort of minimum RAM requirement least it does not run, though hacks around this are easy to come by though I wouldn't recommend trying to run it with 512... In any case, I run 2.1 on my MacBook which is first REV, works like a dream and my library is touching 15GB of RAW images. I have 2GB of RAM. Logic runs fine as well, I really don't think there i much difference in performance between the PRO and the Macbook, other than for gaming or intensive 3D work.
 
I have plenty of RAM, 2GB on both machines, so I know that wasn't my issue. I'll just have to try and install it again. I run Final Cut studio on my MBP and it seems to run fine but i tried running it on a MB and it doesnt run as well. The Motion application mainly. Definitely the Pro for video intensive work.
 
While my Core Duo MacBook would likely still be fine if it had 802.11n (and I was tempted to upgrade the Airport card in it to gain it), I have since decided I'd rather get a MacBook Pro and know that I comfortably have more then enough power across the board for whatever I might need for the next 3-5 years.
 
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