So, I, as well as a lot of people I'm sure, am trying to decide between the macbook and macbook pro. At first I was MBP all the way, but when I went into the apple store the other day just to play around, I found the 13.3" screen wasn't that small.
Here's how I would be using the laptop: music, photos, video, and editing all of them to some degree. For music, iTunes and Garage Band would be my main applications. I wouldn't be doing anything fancy with garage band. Just plugging in an electric piano and recording from the line input. For photos, I would say I am sort of at the intermediate point in terms of editing. iPhoto won't cut it, but Photoshop is too much for me. I would use Aperture, but it's too expensive, so I'd probably continue using Photoshop Elements. For video, iMovie would suffice for my video editing. I wouldn't be doing anything fancy there, just importing and cutting and pasting different clips. I don't see myself using Final Cut or anything like that. I also wouldn't be using the laptop for any gaming at all. As far as monitor size, I have a 22" LCD that I would use if I was doing anything serious at my desk.
So, I would either go with the 2.4 GHz MBP with 4 GB of RAM or the 2.4 GHz MB with 4 GB of RAM. There are certainly a few perks the MBP has over the MB, like the better trackpad, backlit keyboard, etc but the main thing is the graphics card. Obviously, the MBP has the advantage there with the separate NVIDIA graphics card, but the big question is will it make a difference for what I want to do with the laptop?
This could change if we see new MBP and MB at some point. I'm not in a hurry to buy, so I will definitely be waiting, but I'm still curious to see if the current macbook would be able to handle my needs. And what if I decided to do anything beyond what I described? Am I better off going with the MBP? The difference in price is ~$550 so, that certainly factors into the equation as well.
Here's how I would be using the laptop: music, photos, video, and editing all of them to some degree. For music, iTunes and Garage Band would be my main applications. I wouldn't be doing anything fancy with garage band. Just plugging in an electric piano and recording from the line input. For photos, I would say I am sort of at the intermediate point in terms of editing. iPhoto won't cut it, but Photoshop is too much for me. I would use Aperture, but it's too expensive, so I'd probably continue using Photoshop Elements. For video, iMovie would suffice for my video editing. I wouldn't be doing anything fancy there, just importing and cutting and pasting different clips. I don't see myself using Final Cut or anything like that. I also wouldn't be using the laptop for any gaming at all. As far as monitor size, I have a 22" LCD that I would use if I was doing anything serious at my desk.
So, I would either go with the 2.4 GHz MBP with 4 GB of RAM or the 2.4 GHz MB with 4 GB of RAM. There are certainly a few perks the MBP has over the MB, like the better trackpad, backlit keyboard, etc but the main thing is the graphics card. Obviously, the MBP has the advantage there with the separate NVIDIA graphics card, but the big question is will it make a difference for what I want to do with the laptop?
This could change if we see new MBP and MB at some point. I'm not in a hurry to buy, so I will definitely be waiting, but I'm still curious to see if the current macbook would be able to handle my needs. And what if I decided to do anything beyond what I described? Am I better off going with the MBP? The difference in price is ~$550 so, that certainly factors into the equation as well.
