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MB VS MBP Tech comparison

S

Smgkw

macrumors member
Original poster
May 25, 2008
38
0
I am thinking of buying a laptop, the features on the Mac's are stunning, so are the prices, but that is besides the point. I would like to know is it worth it to buy the Mac book Pro, expensive as it is. Or should I just go with the cheaper Macbook?

I read a lot of the same titled thread and I got a lot of opinions, but I never saw a technical comparison of the two. The best Mac pro (17") VS the best mac book (balck). Price vs specs vs ports etc...

Thank you all for your help,and I hope this thread helps others as much as it will help me.
 
It all depends on your needs.

If you don't care about price, and you don't mind the bigger size of the MBP, then the MBP is better in almost all aspects compared to the MB.
 
I know it depends on my needs, and the price does matter in a way. I dont wana be throwin away my money for no reason. That is why i need a technical comparison which would make it easier for me and many others to make a choice. With that i would know if the mac pro is overkill or not.
 
Smgkw said:
I know it depends on my needs, and the price does matter in a way. I dont wana be throwin away my money for no reason. That is why i need a technical comparison which would make it easier for me and many others to make a choice. With that i would know if the mac pro is overkill or not.
Click to expand...

Technical comparison? For this you could only go to Apple.com and find out the technical differences between each other.

If you want us to help you out choosing the best option then we need to know what you are going to do with it. Are you going to edit a lot of videos? Play games? What apps do you plan to use? Etc.

I can't really add anything extra from what Apple already tells you if I don't know your needs.:)
 
Ok my needs
-I download and watch movies and tv shows ( but i can maybe plug it into my 40" 1080p LCD) so bigger size screen doesnt matter that much, all I need is a tv out
-I might play some video games everyonce in a while
-emails web surfing and writing
-music is a must
-portability, I work in two different departments of a company so I go back and forth
-Hard disk space and ram are important
-I play around with Photo shop somtimes
-And im interested in the MAC softwares like Final Cut, garage band, aperature etc.. so atleast the laptop should be powerful enough to run these

I think this sums up my uses for a laptop...
 
Smgkw said:
-I might play some video games everyonce in a while
Click to expand...

Some video games won't work. The video card from the MB isn't very good compared to the one in the MBP. The randmos Age of Empires or Civilization would work, but don't expect to play Doom or Battlefield in it.

-emails web surfing and writing
-music is a must
Click to expand...

The MB is on par with the MBP in this area.

-portability, I work in two different departments of a company so I go back and forth
Click to expand...

The MB is perfect for it's size. But I don't find the MBP too big neither.

-Hard disk space and ram are important
Click to expand...

Both can be upgraded up to 4GB of RAM and both are avaiblable with 250GB hard drives.

-And im interested in the MAC softwares like Final Cut, garage band, aperature etc.. so atleast the laptop should be powerful enough to run these
Click to expand...

The MB would run all this programs fairly good. I have Final Cut Express and Aperture 2 and find my MB quite capable of handling them. But the MBP would be even better for this. It really depends how far you want to go in video editing. For example, Final Cut Studio won't work with the MB. Do you plan on going far with video editing? Or just the casual movie from a vacations trip?

I hope this helps.:)
 
Smgkw, MacBook would perform all of those tasks admirably, but I'm not quite ready to recommend it fully because of your video games comment. Could you give us some examples of what games you would like to play on the computer?
 
Well the games I play range from simple typed games like worms - the more complex type like age of empires 3 or sim city 4
 
If I am not mistaken the MBP will offer better response when you connect the external monitor. Also, while they will handle music the same, I have found the speaker configuration on the MBP to be more pleasing. Another thing to consider is if you will be using the laptop in dimly-lit to dark settings. If so, the backlight on the keyboard would be nice.
 
Having had both, the MBP is a much better machine - I strongly recommend it over the MB.
 
sennejm said:
If I am not mistaken the MBP will offer better response when you connect the external monitor. Also, while they will handle music the same, I have found the speaker configuration on the MBP to be more pleasing.
Click to expand...

As someone who's just recently presented a 3D game on a projector using Windows on a MacBook, I have to say that this comment is complete nonsense. You will of course get better framerates in any 3D application from the MacBook Pro, but that doesn't mean that the MacBook is incapable of ouputting to an external monitor.

I agree, the speakers are better on the Pro, but in order to have them where they are you've got to have a bigger enclosure. As someone who owned the original MacBook who has upgraded, I can say that there have been significant improvements made to the speakers. The new MacBooks can now output a much louder volume and the sound is much clearer.
 
Well then I guess the macbook pro's lower end 15" is the better choice for me... This way I can get good quality video, and performance while still maintainig the portability that the macbook (black) has and the 17" lacks. I think this one has the best price to quality ratio.
 
neiltc13 said:
As someone who's just recently presented a 3D game on a projector using Windows on a MacBook, I have to say that this comment is complete nonsense.
Click to expand...
Wonder if he meant maximum external resolution?

MB = 1920 by 1200
MBP = 2560 by 1600
 
neiltc13 said:
I agree, the speakers are better on the Pro, but in order to have them where they are you've got to have a bigger enclosure. As someone who owned the original MacBook who has upgraded, I can say that there have been significant improvements made to the speakers. The new MacBooks can now output a much louder volume and the sound is much clearer.
Click to expand...

I think the 15.4 or 17 in screens require a bigger enclosure and the extra space around the keyboard just happened to be used for speakers, not the speakers were there, so they made a larger enclosure. Plus look at the width of the case around you screen on a MB compared to a MBP and tell me that they weren't making your enclosure significantly bigger independent of the screen size.

MBP is a good choice, I think you will be happier, and will have the chance to play more games if you ever go that way. Not to mention the programs you will be running will work slightly better, especially if you add some more ram, its cheap to get 4gb these days ($100 extra) and you can sell your old ram.
 
I'd get the baseline MBP which allows you to play games and run Final Cut Studio which you can't on the Macbook (just FCE and FCP IIRC). This is because of the integrated graphics in the macbook.
 
nick9191 said:
I'd get the baseline MBP which allows you to play games and run Final Cut Studio which you can't on the Macbook (just FCE and FCP IIRC). This is because of the integrated graphics in the macbook.
Click to expand...

Incorrect. The new graphics chip in MacBook means that all elements of Final Cut Studio now work.
 
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