MBP or Mac Pro??

[Carbon Copy]

Hi, i've jus sold my long serving 800mhz quicksilver g4 tower and i am now looking for a new mac, i was intending on waiting till april, but the right money was waved in front of my nose and now i am macless.

I've got a dell 24" wide screen, which is ace, so i'm looking for something to plug it into.
The mac will be a home machine, doing light to medium cs2 work and web work, as well as normal home computer stuff.
So i'm caught between the two 15" mbp and the mac pro, as i dont think this mid range mac will ever be made, or not anytime soon!

Up to this point i have never needed a portable, but as i tend to make my machines last 6 years you never know ( I'm still quite early into my graphics career).
Saying that in six years i can keep upgrading the mac pro?

Also, will i see any big difference in the two different graphic cards in the mbp, I dont play games, but i do watch dvds and tv on my mac.

Your help would be great.

P.s is there any chance of a price drop at the end of Jan? as i can wait a bout a month??

Cheers.

 

[trainguy77]

it also depends on your price limit. If you have no reason to have a portable then the mac pro may be the way to go. As it will last you longer. The mac pro is also more expensive. Its really depends if you willing to put the money in to put the 2nd gig of ram into the mac pro.

 

[Carbon Copy]

Well in the Uk, both the top end 15"mbp and the mac pro are about £1699.

 

[Fearless Leader]

if you want 6 years of use you'll have to get the mac pro.

 

[Carbon Copy]

Yeah thats true, i just figured that the pro wud be serious over kill for what im doing atm, but yea i guess my problem is a case of long term value for money rather than wots relavent now, as i cant afford to uprgade my machine every 2 years. Thanks

 

[trainguy77]

Yeah if you want a machine that will last you for a long time I think the mac pro would be the way to go. If you went with the mac pro I would recommend you get 2 gb of ram, the x1900 may also be worth it as it will help the machine last longer the 7300 is a pretty pathetic card it will handle all regular use but its not great for gaming it will handle most games but if its driving a 24" it may not handle games great. Also who knows what new eye candy will be in the next couple OSs. The 7300 would handle you currently and you can upgrade later if you want. So if you not going to do any gaming then you could go with the 7300, 2gb of ram, 2.66 ghz. You may want to consider going with the 160 gb drive then buy a second as the 250 is over priced. You can spend the same amount by going with a 160 gb and something else and have more gbs.

EDIT: People here all told me that a mac pro would be overkill for what I do as i am not a pro user. However, I am glad I went with the mac pro. I do something use the CPU when working with video and such. I don't use the power all the time but this setup is great and will last me longer.