New Macbook vs old MBP

[natebookpro]

Hey everyone, Im considering selling my early 08 MBP and picking up a Unibody Macbook. I wanted to know what anyone who had made this switch thought of it.

-Are you happy you did?
-Pros and cons that you have come across?
-Anything else you feel like sharing about it!

Thank you all for your input!

 

[shady825]

There was just a thread a few days ago about someone doing the exact opposite trade.. Please use search
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/647510/ <-- this isnt the exact one but it shows what searching can do

 

[natebookpro]

There was just a thread a few days ago about someone doing the exact opposite trade.. Please use search
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/647510/ <-- this isnt the exact one but it shows what searching can do

should have seen that coming

 

[shady825]

should have seen that coming

Im not trying to be a jerk at all! I'm just saying I myself have seen that thread posted a few times. It just always helps to search first.

 

[natebookpro]

Im not trying to be a jerk at all! I'm just saying I myself have seen that thread posted a few times. It just always helps to search first.

I have read quite a few of them myself. Just wanted more opinions before I make a big switch like this. No worries though.

 

[lazydesi]

nope,

I won't do like that. I will wait until next rev (oct 09). FYI the performance of MBP is better then UMB and UMP screen ***** all the way when compared to MBP

 

[lankox]

I went from a 2.2 SR MBP to a 2.4 Alum Macbook and I'm loving every minute of it. Feel free to ask any specific questions.

Pros:
More portable
Magnetic latch
Much better trackpad
Unibody construction
Accessible Hard drive
Keyboard (chiclet, audio keys, expose)
Faster (confirmed by xbench and real-world use)
Little cooler and quieter

Cons:
Smaller screen
Screen not as nice
Graphics card
isight lower quality
No Firewire
No express card slot

The main reason for switching is that I wanted something more portable. The Rev A MBA are too slow and the Rev B are too expensive. I really believe the new Macbooks are the perfect balance of performance, price, and portability.

 

[natebookpro]

I went from a 2.2 SR MBP to a 2.4 Alum Macbook and I'm loving every minute of it. Feel free to ask any specific questions.

Pros:
More portable
Magnetic latch
Much better trackpad
Unibody construction
Accessible Hard drive
Keyboard (chiclet, audio keys, expose)
Faster (confirmed by xbench and real-world use)
Little cooler and quieter

Cons:
Smaller screen
Screen not as nice
Graphics card
isight lower quality
No Firewire
No express card slot

The main reason for switching is that I wanted something more portable. The Rev A MBA are too slow and the Rev B are too expensive. I really believe the new Macbooks are the perfect balance of performance, price, and portability.

Thank you! Very much what I was looking for. I was thinking about the rev a MBA with the ssd, but am worried about the issues they had. Does the screen really bother you? how bad are the viewing angles? I have looked at them in the store before, but there is no way of knowing what panel you will get. Thanks for your help!

 

[lankox]

Thank you! Very much what I was looking for. I was thinking about the rev a MBA with the ssd, but am worried about the issues they had. Does the screen really bother you? how bad are the viewing angles? I have looked at them in the store before, but there is no way of knowing what panel you will get. Thanks for your help!

I wanted a MB for sometime but was put off by all of the negative comments about the screen. One day I decided to load up a bunch of different high quality pictures onto a thumb-drive and headed off to the apple store. I spent about 1.5 hours looking at the pictures on different machines. I decided that the MB screen issue was blown way out of proportion. The MB blacks and viewing angles are a little worse than the MBP (realized that the MBP viewing angles aren't the greatest either). The MB colors and whites are better than the old MBP (no grainy look on the MB that exists on the matte MBP). For me, the biggest issue was the reflectiveness of the display. I have a huge window in my office, and the reflectiveness is not as bad as I thought it would be. It's a little bothersome, but something I can definitely live with. At home, it's not an issue at all, as the window is much smaller. My wife has a white MB and my Alum MB is superior (better blacks, colors, whites, viewing angles). I have seen a lot of pictures of horrible MB screens on the internet, and I can honestly say that the screens at my local apple store and my own personal MB screen are not anywhere near as bad as some of those pictures. I can only assume that there must be different quality screens floating around.

 

[raremage]

Thank you! Very much what I was looking for. I was thinking about the rev a MBA with the ssd, but am worried about the issues they had. Does the screen really bother you? how bad are the viewing angles? I have looked at them in the store before, but there is no way of knowing what panel you will get. Thanks for your help!

I made a similar change from a previous gen MBP - 15" 2.5. Performance for business use (rather than graphical manipulation) and development / coding is identical. Screen size has not been an issue for me.

My main motivator was size and weight, as I am always carrying it with me from client to client to office to home. I much prefer the smaller size and find the weight difference and increased portability to be quite noticeable.

With regard to screen quality and viewing angles, all it takes is angling the screen right and I have no problem with the screen. Yes, it's a bit smaller, so I lost a bit of real estate, but the quality of the display has not been an issue for me. If I were editing photos or video, I may feel differently, but doing programming and web development (with a touch of image editing in Seashore) it hasn't been an issue. I don't usually try to view it from a 40 degree offset, so that has not been an issue for me either.

 

[SHADO]

I would stick with the early '08 MBP because as people have said the graphics card is better and it is just a faster machine with better internal architecture.

 

[lankox]

I would stick with the early '08 MBP because as people have said the graphics card is better and it is just a faster machine with better internal architecture.

How does the old MBP have "better internal architecture" than the Alum MB? Other than graphics, my 2.4 MB is faster than my 2.2 SR MBP, verified by xbench and real-world use.

Speedmark 5: 2.4 MBP (Feb 08) = 200 / 2.4 MB (Alum) = 212

 

[polaris20]

In my opinion, if you've already got a decent Mac lappy (which you do) I'd wait for the Nehelem-based machines to come out, then buy a MacBook. Then it'll be a much more profound difference in performance, and worth the trade out. In terms of MB vs. MBP: I actually wish I had gone with the MB, because I've yet to use the FW and ExpressCard, nearly always leave mine in 9400m mode, and hate traveling with a 15" laptop, and would prefer the smaller size.

 

[ViciousShadow21]

In my opinion, if you've already got a decent Mac lappy (which you do) I'd wait for the Nehelem-based machines to come out, then buy a MacBook.

and when that comes out there will be something waiting in the wings that will be worth putting off the upgrade again and then again. man its a vicious cycle. i just wish they would come out with the best there ever will be NOW!!! haha

 

[natebookpro]

Well the MBP is on ebay, we will see how it sells and hopefully have my macbook soon!