Student Macbook/ Macbook Pro advice- which to get?

[Spandexman]

Cheers- very good advice.

Is the external monitor a necessity if I do go for the 13"?

And do apple still sell the aluminium MB or will I have to find it on Ebay or something?

I'm a student in the UK, just 4 years further on than you I got the white macbook when I came, and really it's big enough for what I use it for, which seems to be the same as you, typing, internet, etc. Seriously, save the money, unless you're doing something more intensive with your computer you don't need the extra power/screen size of the pro models. Of course, this is entirely my opinion, and you may well want a bigger one I've occasionally hankered for a 15" or 17", but never for the screen real estate of an external monitor!

Just for reference, here are the UK prices with full HE discount:

Macbook : £701.48
MBP 13 : £789.60, £1009.33
MBP 15 : £1142.10, £1301.90, £1475.80
MBP 17 : £1606.23

And you get a £70 rebate on a printer (and they do sell ones for £69.95).

 

[Hellishness]

i also suggest that you wait for the next gen, especially since you don't need it until september.

 

[kny3twalker]

I would say go with the 13". look around online, and there are still some aluminum MBs out there brand new with the 2.4 processor for around $1100 to 1200 (around the same as a base 13" MBP, but faster and a bigger HD). I love my computer and it does everything I need it to just fine, I even do some light gaming and it handles it no problem. I also have a 20" external monitor that I got for about $150, that works great and is plenty big enough to have multiple documents open, plus I can use the screen on my MB too. I don't think i would bother with a 22", most 20s and 22s run the same resolution, and if your dorm is anything like mine, you'll be short on space. In any case though, I would recommend the 13" with whatever you get, and if you need more space, an extra monitor is bigger and cheaper than getting a 15".

Good luck!

The problem with your reasoning though is that the 2.4 Ghz MacBook Aluminum is slower than the 2.26 GHz MacBook Pro. And the display on the Aluminum MacBook is terrible in comparison to the MacBook Pro.
The only reason the 15" is even considerable is not for the screen size, but for the matte display. While the colors are excellent on the glossy display, there is too much glare.

Cheers- very good advice.

Is the external monitor a necessity if I do go for the 13"?

And do apple still sell the aluminium MB or will I have to find it on Ebay or something?

I got personally have a 24" Dell Ultrasharp. I would have probably looked for something a bit bigger if I had not had the monitor. But I really think the large monitor plus small notebook is the way to go, over large notebook.
The price difference between the base MacBook 13" and 15" is $500. That buys a very nice monitor.

 

[Seamoose17]

I'm a student in the UK, just 4 years further on than you I got the white macbook when I came, and really it's big enough for what I use it for, which seems to be the same as you, typing, internet, etc. Seriously, save the money, unless you're doing something more intensive with your computer you don't need the extra power/screen size of the pro models. Of course, this is entirely my opinion, and you may well want a bigger one I've occasionally hankered for a 15" or 17", but never for the screen real estate of an external monitor!

Just for reference, here are the UK prices with full HE discount:

Macbook : £701.48
MBP 13 : £789.60, £1009.33
MBP 15 : £1142.10, £1301.90, £1475.80
MBP 17 : £1606.23

And you get a £70 rebate on a printer (and they do sell ones for £69.95).

The 13" sounds pretty good then.

I'll probs go into an apple store to check out the sizes for myself.

When did you buy your white MB?

I might just wait and save for the MBP- not sure though!

 

[Seamoose17]

The problem with your reasoning though is that the 2.4 Ghz MacBook Aluminum is slower than the 2.26 GHz MacBook Pro. And the display on the Aluminum MacBook is terrible in comparison to the MacBook Pro.
The only reason the 15" is even considerable is not for the screen size, but for the matte display. While the colors are excellent on the glossy display, there is too much glare.



I got personally have a 24" Dell Ultrasharp. I would have probably looked for something a bit bigger if I had not had the monitor. But I really think the large monitor plus small notebook is the way to go, over large notebook.
The price difference between the base MacBook 13" and 15" is $500. That buys a very nice monitor.

Yeah, I see where you're coming from.

I'm quite happy to get the 13" and my Dad has an old monitor I can use because we have a new TV now.

I've checked out a few videos on Youtube too and it seems pretty easy and cheap to connect to a monitor.

 

[alust2013]

The problem with your reasoning though is that the 2.4 Ghz MacBook Aluminum is slower than the 2.26 GHz MacBook Pro. And the display on the Aluminum MacBook is terrible in comparison to the MacBook Pro.

I have to disagree there. I have used a 2.53 GHz MBP, as we have one at home, and the displays look nearly identical, and mine runs nearly as fast, although I have the MB with the nicer display than the original aluminum MB. Either way, it's not really an appreciable difference, especially for what you will use it for in college. One disadvantage though is that there is not a FW 800 port on the MB.

 

[CJS7070]

Keep in mind too, that as a student, the 13" would also be easier to carry around and use. Just throwing that in there.

 

[kny3twalker]

I have to disagree there. I have used a 2.53 GHz MBP, as we have one at home, and the displays look nearly identical, and mine runs nearly as fast, although I have the MB with the nicer display than the original aluminum MB. Either way, it's not really an appreciable difference, especially for what you will use it for in college. One disadvantage though is that there is not a FW 800 port on the MB.

Real World speed differences would not be noticeable between the 2.26, 2.53, and older 2.4. I was stating this based on benchmarks. And read the reviews, the new MacBook Pro 13" has 60% wider color gamut than the older aluminum MacBook. I believe this might even be stated somewhere on apple.com.

 

[alust2013]

Real World speed differences would not be noticeable between the 2.26, 2.53, and older 2.4. I was stating this based on benchmarks. And read the reviews, the new MacBook Pro 13" has 60% wider color gamut than the older aluminum MacBook. I believe this might even be stated somewhere on apple.com.

Interesting, didn't know that about the screen. Oh well, I don't plan on replacing mine anytime soon, and even though I got it right before the 13" MBPs came out, I would still rather have it, just because it's unique

 

[Seamoose17]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I'm just gonna see what happens with this update and have another think.

Time to start saving!

 

[Spandexman]

The 13" sounds pretty good then.

I'll probs go into an apple store to check out the sizes for myself.

When did you buy your white MB?

I might just wait and save for the MBP- not sure though!

I got my macbook about 3.5 years ago, maybe a little more. It's still chugging along with a 2Ghz core duo and 1GB 667Mhz Ram. No breakdown problems at all, except things that weren't its fault. It's *quite* slow sometimes, especially when I've got several things running at once, but I don't full on need to update, so i'm waiting until the upgrade. I'm graduating (so long as I actually finish my dissertation, rather than going on here all the time) on 1st July, so I'm praying the update's before then so I can still use the student discount!

 

[Seamoose17]

I got my macbook about 3.5 years ago, maybe a little more. It's still chugging along with a 2Ghz core duo and 1GB 667Mhz Ram. No breakdown problems at all, except things that weren't its fault. It's *quite* slow sometimes, especially when I've got several things running at once, but I don't full on need to update, so i'm waiting until the upgrade. I'm graduating (so long as I actually finish my dissertation, rather than going on here all the time) on 1st July, so I'm praying the update's before then so I can still use the student discount!

What size screen do you have?