Ok. I am a Laptop kind of guy...

[ob81]

I am stuck. I can't decide between buying a MacBook Pro, or a Mac Pro.
After months of hardcore saving, I can finally afford to buy a decent setup Mac Pro with a monitor, or a Macbook Pro.

I currently own a Blackbook and there is a 12" Powerbook floating around my home that a crazy person uses. Anyway, I have always been a Laptop guy. I had a iMac G5 with iSight, but I sold it when the intel version came out and I ended up getting the Blackbook.

When I had it, I used my iMac for video editing(like heavy duty weird dad with a video camera stuff), and a lot of photo editing. I burn a lot of DVD's, but I noticed I stopped a lot of this when I lost my desktop.
The Mac Pro may be overkill, but with it, I can be comfortable for a few years knowing that I have the power whenever I need to tap into it.

The Macbook pro will put me up there with the current "top of the line" overall laptop power, and a few of the things that I like to do, I can do them on the Macbook pro, probably just as well as I could on the Mac Pro.
If I do get a Mac Pro, I have to get either a 30", or maybe 2 20". Well, maybe a 23". GAH!! (don't really need 2 monitors, but hey...)

What would you buy?
For people that have Mac Pros, do you find having a Tower unit to be a bit clunky? I have not had a tower unit in years, I wouldn't know what to do with it.
Would keeping the Blackbook and getting the Mac Pro be the better solution?

 

[Eidorian]

Unless you're running Motion, the BlackBook will handle your encoding just fine. I'd go with a Mac Pro if you REALLY need it over the BlackBook.

 

[ac-mac]

might i suggest keep the blackbook, and get the 24" imac - that way you can do decent film editing (assuming your 'dad with camera' isnt modesty for blockbuster hit) and have the advantage of portablity when you need it

 

[Eidorian]

To be honest, I don't see any great performance gain unless you want to shave seconds off if you get another Apple laptop or an iMac.

If you're going to run a lot of processing in parallel then I suggest the Mac Pro.

 

[aaronw1986]

I am in this same boat, but I don't have a blackbook, . The decision should be easier for you...go with a Mac Pro since you already have a blackbook for on the go.

 

[Igantius]

The Macbook pro will put me up there with the current "top of the line" overall laptop power, and a few of the things that I like to do, I can do them on the Macbook pro, probably just as well as I could on the Mac Pro.

All depends what those kind of things are!

The Mac Pro is going to be overkill for your needs from what you've outlined - but if you can afford it, that's no reason not to get one But coupled with what you've said about perhaps finding it clunky, you do run the risk of buying something that you're not using to its full potential and taking up more desk space than you would like.

As for a MBP, nothing you've said that you'll be using it for, makes me think 'yup, you definititely need to get one'. If you've no intention of using an external monitor and want to just have a single computer, I would lean towards the MBP more though.

If I was in your position, I would be looking at a laptop (in this case keeping the MB) and desktop. As I say, a Mac Pro sounds like overkill - but you do have soomething that's going to last you for years, as you say.

 

[Dynamyk]

Best of both worlds my friend.

Grab the Mac Pro and pair that with your Blackbook and you're set.

 

[fairnymph]

Best of both worlds my friend.

Grab the Mac Pro and pair that with your Blackbook and you're set.

I agree with this!

I was always a laptop person -- ages 7-22, but since switching to desktops -- I'm 26 now, I'm a total convert. So much more power and upgradeability. I inherited my PB, and it's nice for traveling, but to be honest I rarely use it.

 

[zap2]

Mac Pro...you laptop is "fast enough" for daily stuff, any system intense stuff, you give it to you Mac Pro, and that bad boy will eat it up!.

 

[ob81]

I think I agree that the blackbook is sufficient for "daily" things like email and surfing. Plus its portable when I need it. So I really don't NEED another laptop I guess. I would have to end up selling a perfectly decent laptop, just to upgrade to a slightly better one.

Someone brought up the 24" iMac. Apple just doesn't quite get it with the iMac, and their laptops are superior to it. I had a iMac G5, then Apple released a laptop brand that was better than my desktop So I couldn't ever own one of those again, unless some drastic change was done.

Very strong points were made for purchasing the Mac Pro. Plus as technology advances, I can upgrade it. I will probably save up a few more months so I won't be in debt after purchase, and get the latest. Hopefully an Apple monitor with iSight will be out!! Thanks dudes!