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So, am I being silly to consider the MBP?

eXan said:
Pro, definitely :)

It is what you REALLY want, judging by your post. If you get a MB, you'll never be happy with it and always think "How it would be to own a Pro..." etc

Not to mention the Pro has soooo much stuff that makes it a far superior to the MB!

(From my experience: I was given a MB for my birthday, although I wanted a Pro, I thought it was still fine and I'm really greatful for this present. Ever since, the longer I had it, the more I wanted either a Pro, or the last gen G4 PowerBook (basically same case, KB, display). Now that my iMac will soon need to be replaced by something newer, I'm lost between getting a new iMac OR selling this MB and getting a MBP (new or used). Morale of the story: get something you really want, otherwise you'll end up regretting your decision)
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I tend to agreed, I was disappointed in the screen size and lack of a good video card when I bought my white MB in the winter of 2006. I sold it and bought a MBP in the summer of 2007. Now I've never had a problem with my MBP and I play games in bootcamp (Windows) when I'm not work in OS X.

However, I'm surprised no one mentioned this looming nVidia 8600 issue. With all the uncertainty as to which systems are or will be impacted, should we recommend buying a MBP now (other than perhaps used/refurb systems containing ATI x1600 cards)? Wouldn't this be particularly true in light of the impending Mac upgrades purportedly due next month?

Should this be a factor in his decision?
 
tuffluffjimmy said:
What's one single reason? If he's not doing any media work, just email and document editing, then the air is more than enough.
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You are hindered by HDD size no matter what you do. The single biggest reason against the MBA is the price followed by speed.

panzer06 said:
I'm surprised no one mentioned this looming nVidia 8600 issue. With all the uncertainty as to which systems are or will be impacted, should we recommend buying a MBP now (other than perhaps used/refurb systems containing ATI x1600 cards)? Wouldn't this be particularly true in light of the impending Mac upgrades purportedly due next month?

Should this be a factor in his decision?
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I'm wondering the same thing about the graphics card. I'm in the market for a MB/MBP. I'll probably end up going with the MB as I have my year old iMac for everything besides the mobility I need in a computer in med school. Sitting in one spot for studying drove me nuts in my first year and it still is. I started 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting on Apple to come out with new notebooks. I'd also like to see aluminum on the MB then it will be a great-looking computer.
 
brop52 said:
You are hindered by HDD size no matter what you do. The single biggest reason against the MBA is the price followed by speed.
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From what the OP has said he'll just be using his computer for document editing, he didn't mention any media work which is the only thing a large hard drive is good for.

...now why does he need a bigger hard drive than 80GB?
 
tuffluffjimmy said:
From what the OP has said he'll just be using his computer for document editing, he didn't mention any media work which is the only thing a large hard drive is good for.

...now why does he need a bigger hard drive than 80GB?
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After formatting the drive you lose a good chunk. Leopard. Some music. Even when you have less than 10% left things will slow to a crawl. College students usually have notebooks as their primary computer. A MBA is not meant to fill that niche. How long before a computer that can't expand is unusable at such a price tag?
 
brop52 said:
After formatting the drive you lose a good chunk. Leopard. Some music. Even when you have less than 10% left things will slow to a crawl. College students usually have notebooks as their primary computer. A MBA is not meant to fill that niche. How long before a computer that can't expand is unusable at such a price tag?
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Most college students just use their computers for music and documents. a 30GB iTunes library and 10GB of documents (I can't imagine ever actually having 10GB of documents) would easily fit on a Macbook Air's hard disk.
 
As others have said, in your place, I would go with the MBP- there's a very low chance that you will regret getting it.

And it would be more future proof.
 
anirban said:
As others have said, in your place, I would go with the MBP- there's a very low chance that you will regret getting it.

And it would be more future proof.
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True. I have my MBP, and its wonderful. My wallet is empty, but I am happy. :D
 
wow! thanks for all the replies! that is why I come to this site!

Now to those of you mentioning the MBA, that is definitely something I have not considered, and honestly, I do not believe that to be my best option. I do have a huge itunes library and tons of movies and such, I like having the extra ports, and I definitely just do not think the MBA Air is right for me. But thanks anyways for the input, any other college student might have been swayed!

And to this rest of you, I am aware since I'm in a MBP part of this forum I was going to get mostly favor in MBP direction, but that's also what I want as you can tell. SO thank you! I guess what it comes down to now is when to buy and how to configure my MBP. I've read up on all this NVidia stuff and to me it seems over hyped, I mean, apple covers computers if they fail from hardware, right? And I think I am just going to take the plunge on the current one since it's definitely great for my needs and although I certainly would be pretty bummed if an amazing machine came out in late september, I'd still eb happy with what they've got out now. I'm still not sure yet though, any more input is greatly appreciated! thanks!

**Oh, and just wondering, what do you think is better to run in bootcamp/VM Ware....xp or vista?? I have a lot of friends with 32 bit vista and they seem to run extremely well. I've heard 64 bit still has issues. Or is xp still my best bet? I might not even install xp/vista at all, but I was just curous what some of your preferences might be. thanks!
 
B1rdman said:
wow! thanks for all the replies! that is why I come to this site!

Now to those of you mentioning the MBA, that is definitely something I have not considered, and honestly, I do not believe that to be my best option. I do have a huge itunes library and tons of movies and such, I like having the extra ports, and I definitely just do not think the MBA Air is right for me. But thanks anyways for the input, any other college student might have been swayed!

And to this rest of you, I am aware since I'm in a MBP part of this forum I was going to get mostly favor in MBP direction, but that's also what I want as you can tell. SO thank you! I guess what it comes down to now is when to buy and how to configure my MBP. I've read up on all this NVidia stuff and to me it seems over hyped, I mean, apple covers computers if they fail from hardware, right? And I think I am just going to take the plunge on the current one since it's definitely great for my needs and although I certainly would be pretty bummed if an amazing machine came out in late september, I'd still eb happy with what they've got out now. I'm still not sure yet though, any more input is greatly appreciated! thanks!

**Oh, and just wondering, what do you think is better to run in bootcamp/VM Ware....xp or vista?? I have a lot of friends with 32 bit vista and they seem to run extremely well. I've heard 64 bit still has issues. Or is xp still my best bet? I might not even install xp/vista at all, but I was just curous what some of your preferences might be. thanks!
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I use 32 bit Vista in bootcamp for my games (DX10 is Vista only) and XP in Parallels for the occasional work app that just must have Windows. Even with 4GB Parallels is too slow with Vista (at least for the apps we use - a bunch of proprietary Notes-based Windows-only apps - makes calls to external .exe and dlls so Mac version of Notes won't run them). XP is OK for the occasional Windows foray.

Cheers,
 
I was about to tell you you didn't need one until I got to Reason Number 1. Screen size/resolution is extremely important, and Spaces/Expose don't make a small screen feel bigger. It's also the only legitimate reason that I ended up upgrading from a MacBook to the MBP.

I say go for it.
 
xp has the best compatibility over Vista. some programs havent made versions for vista, but vista does have eye candy. and xp is cheaper, somthing college students look for.
 
SnowLeopard2008 said:
xp has the best compatibility over Vista. some programs havent made versions for vista, but vista does have eye candy. and xp is cheaper, somthing college students look for.
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Hey, thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it, but unless I've been living under a rock I've seen xp selling for MORE than vista these days. I know, weird, but that's what I've seen, am I wrong? If xp really was cheaper I'd be all over it, but the fact that vista is now cheaper and (I guess) the "future" of Microsoft, I thought it might be the best investment over my old favorite, xp. But idk, lmk where u get ur cheap xp!

And to the rest of you, thanks for all the continued advice! Really appreciate it, still thinking I might buy the current design in the next few days, I head to school mid-Sept (around 15-20, then classes start the 25 or so), so I really would rather get my machine and get acquainted, although I do realize I might slightly regret it when a new model comes out, IDK!
 
You're not wrong. Microsoft has officially stopped vending XP, so you're paying for one of the copies still floating around, and those aren't price-controlled.
 
If money is no option get the MBP...that said, from what you'll be using it for, the MacBook will easily suffice throughout your college term. Its a good computer & the specs aren't too far behind the Pro. For Music, internet & writing papers it will easily do the job at half the price.

Its like buying a car....there are needs & there are wants.
 
I'd say go for the MBP. Of course, I'm biased, as I'm a recent switcher, and am very happy with the MBP I bought last April. It is an excellent machine, tough, fast, powerful, great performance, is aesthetically attractive and features a superb screen. In fact, it is so well built, you will probably get several years out of it.

As was posted earlier, I, too, have found it to be considerably more portable than some of my earlier PCs; for that very reason, I'd suggest not going for the 17 inch screen version, it is far too heavy to lug endlessly around a college campus. The MBP offers a terrific compromise between portability and spec. A number of the posters have quite rightly suggested that you buy at a level a bit more than you think you currently need; in a way, that is future-proofing yourself. Good luck and enjoy the MBp when you get it.
 
I went through a similar dilemma a little over a year ago. I wanted the functionality of a UNIX OS so Mac was a good option.

One problem is much of the world uses ms office crap and you'll need to jump through some hoops to get that on a Mac. It's possible that professors may post assignments in excel and word. On the bright side, you can write your documents in plain text so they'll be TRULY portable:D

I ended up getting the MBP 17" and I'm glad I did: Now I don't have to sit there looking at a 15" screen, wondering what it may be like if it were 17".

Another tip: If you're truly mobile, on the run, then consider getting the matte display and NOT the glossy display. The glossy display looks downright sexy:p but it will be a pain if you're planning on being outdoors with your computer.
 
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