Why did you choose a Macbook over a MBP

[marbles]

Heh, I love my iBook 500MHz. Runs GarageBand and surfs the web swimmingly. I chose the iBook over the MacBook's because it's 12"s and I really do no need that much power when I am on the go.

I wish my 2x G3 iMac's where running GB ...they do browsing the web ok and can record audio without crashing too often, but they draw a line with anything more taxing

See I'm looking for something that is mobile & will replace these ageing lovely's as a desktop for a while till I can afford a permanent replacement ( hopefully a mini revamp)then use the mobile for , well , mobile tasks .

 

[daneoni]

And I'm sure Apple would hate for that to happen.

My white MacBook doesn't show fingerprints, and the "sharp" edges have never bothered me at all. My hand doesn't really graze the edges often.

Haha yeah. The white doesn't show fingerprints as much as the black. I think i suffer from the sharp edges more because i have large hands

 

[marbles]

One of the features I miss the most is the backlight keyboard on the MacBook cause I just can't seem to convince my wife to sleep with the light on...

...I'm hoping they put the backlight on the macbooks this nextime for the same reason

 

[skye12]

If they were the SAME price I'd still want a MB. Are you aware od studies where people were asked what wine they preferred? The cheap one or
the more expensive one. They keep switching it around and everyone wanted the more expensive one.

 

[G8AMB]

how about video and photo editing

this is an interesting thread, I had convinced myself I needed a MBP!

Do any of you do much photo editing and video editing.

I was wondering if the screen is up to it?

 

[neiltc13]

this is an interesting thread, I had convinced myself I needed a MBP!

Do any of you do much photo editing and video editing.

I was wondering if the screen is up to it?

The screen is "up to it" - I remember people used to do video editing on the 1024x768 screen of the 12" PowerBook so it's certainly sufficient. Possibly not as roomy as people here expect but everyone has been spoiled by extremely high resolution desktops in the past few years.

The rest of the computer too is capable of Final Cut Studio etc. Might take a little while longer to render the movie, but it's not so much that it becomes a pain, in my opinion.

 

[dbyl2]

graphic work

The screen is "up to it" - I remember people used to do video editing on the 1024x768 screen of the 12" PowerBook so it's certainly sufficient. Possibly not as roomy as people here expect but everyone has been spoiled by extremely high resolution desktops in the past few years.

The rest of the computer too is capable of Final Cut Studio etc. Might take a little while longer to render the movie, but it's not so much that it becomes a pain, in my opinion.

I have been in contact with apple about this they assure you that it will run ps cs3 and final cut very well aslong as you upgrade the ram. and i have worked on 12'' before what you have to do is put it in full screen mode and close all the pallettes you are not working with except layers, i am going to buy a macbook this september for my gsce art (70% photoshop, illustrator,flash based) and apple assured me that design premium or standard will run fine
hope that helps
paul

 

[Ladybug]

I bought a MB because I already had an iMac for when I needed more power and a larger screen. Price was also a factor. While I would love to be have a MBP in the future, the little MB has served me well and it does everything I need. It's portable, does internet, email, and all my documents. I didn't see any point in spending the extra money for a product that was only going to be used for these things. My iMac is used for graphics work and light gaming, I don't need to do those things on my MB.

 

[eXan]

The screen is "up to it" - I remember people used to do video editing on the 1024x768 screen of the 12" PowerBook so it's certainly sufficient. Possibly not as roomy as people here expect but everyone has been spoiled by extremely high resolution desktops in the past few years.

The rest of the computer too is capable of Final Cut Studio etc. Might take a little while longer to render the movie, but it's not so much that it becomes a pain, in my opinion.

haha good luck running Motion and Color on integrated graphics

 

[marbles]

I was wondering if the screen is up to it?

hmmm , that depends if you work in a dark space or a well lit one ...I say this as when i had my macbook (1st gen) the screen was ridiculously reflective in a lighted space ...I couldn't see much that was on the screen at all .the viewing angles are a bit of a bother (for me ) too ....

... best bet is to go in store and have a look see -as some folk love the glossy and some don't

 

[njudah]

price, mostly

for what I do, the graphics card was not entirely necessary and I bumped up the memory to 4 gigs. the price jump was rather high, and I decided instead to save the money and wait for a break on the ipod Touch instead. It ended up being a choice of the top of the line MB or low end MBP and a difference of several hundred bucks, for not much of a bump in speed, etc.

also, I had a 12" powerbook g4 I valued for its portability and durability (have had it 5 years now). But it was slooooow with an 867mhz G4 processor and a dying hard drive, so repairing/upgrading didn't make a lot of sense.

if there was a 12" MBP I might have considered it, but such things aren't coming back so it's not worth thinking about.

 

[Slovig]

For me, price was one, even though it was only $400 difference, that's still money to be saved. Plus, I really didn't need all that of a MBP, I would like to get one, and probably will one day, when I have a well paying job, but for now, my BlackBook will get me through college.

 

[neiltc13]

haha good luck running Motion and Color on integrated graphics

They work fine on the new MacBook which has a vastly improved graphics chip compared to the original. The performance in some applications is similar to that of the X1600 which shipped in the original MacBook Pro.

 

[StuBeck]

I had a MBP for a little more than a year but just sold it because of money issues. I also wasn't happy with its performance in Leopard, nor did I use the extra capabilities. A situation just arose where I could get a MB for cheap, so I bounced. I never used the extra capabilities of the MBP, I have no firewire devices, I have a 360 so the video card wasn't very useful, and the screen was pretty crap too (my replacement IBM X31 had a better screen!)

Also, the inability to easily upgrade the hard drive was annoying. I did upgrade it myself, but it was a longer process then I was hoping for. And for spending $2k on the machine, I was extremely disapointed with the build quality. The "chrome" on the latch had worn away, the power button had recessed a little, the spacebar constantly had problems working, and the lid would not shut. Of course, when I went to Apple to fix this, they said they wouldn't

I wanted to get a MB before they replace it with another crappy aluminium one, since I trust the ability for plastic to hold up better and don't trust anything first edition from Apple either. I was going to just build a desktop, but I like being able to use my computer at the same time as watching TV (was going to use tv as monitor), and I don't have a good place to put it in my flat.

 

[dalvin200]

i think i'm realising the limitations of my blackbook in that it struggles to edit raw 1080i footage..
indeed, imovie 08 even warns you if you try and import it that the macbook might not be able to handle it and there might be stuttering etc...

i have the original blackbook late 2006 with gma950..

can the newer macbooks handle 1080 video ok? be interested to know this compared to a MBP

 

[eXan]

i think i'm realising the limitations of my blackbook in that it struggles to edit raw 1080i footage..
indeed, imovie 08 even warns you if you try and import it that the macbook might not be able to handle it and there might be stuttering etc...

i have the original blackbook late 2006 with gma950..

can the newer macbooks handle 1080 video ok? be interested to know this compared to a MBP

The main (only?) difference performance-wise between MB and MBP is the graphics card. So unless you work with Motion, Color or other Core Image apps, the difference is close to none.

The newer MacBook will not be significantly faster than your 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo. 2.4 GHz CPU will help encoding time, but not by much.

Edit: noticed your sig says Core Duo MacBook, so Its not late 2006, which was Core 2 Duo. Yours is early 2006. Core Duo is significantly slower than C2D at certain tasks, video encoding being one of them.

 

[toby jones]

Black. Of course. If Macbook Pro's came in black then I might be tempted. But they don't. So I'm not.

Portability. The size and weight does make a difference. If there was something that came in 12" I'd be tempted. But there isn't. So I'm happy with my 13"

Price. The price came close (Blackbook with memory upgrade) but it was still cheaper to do that. I don't think I'd notice a difference in performance because all I use my pootie to do is to 1) Check message boards / email. 2) Write my thesis in TeX. 2) Download and read articles. 3) Make powerpoint presentations. It is perfectly fine for what it is that I do with it. I even enjoy the odd game (nethack at the moment and freeciv before that and enigma before that). If you do graphics stuff the situation might be different but basically... I don't. So what would I want a dedicated graphics card for?????

I am ambivalent about the glossy screen, I have to say. It is pretty, oh so pretty, when it is shiny and sparkly after just being polished. But when I try and work in cafe's I do have to fiddle a little to get a viewable screen to work on. I'm not sure if the matt screens would be better for that (I've never compared them directly). If there was anything I could change it would be matt screen and backlit keyboard). But really, they don't change the fact that: it is 13" and it is black!!!!!

 

[Qwest905]

i picked up a MBP 15" and compared it to my macbook

damn the MBP feels lighter even though it is weighted heavier

 

[marbles]

The main (only?) difference performance-wise between MB and MBP is the graphics card. So unless you work with Motion, Color or other Core Image apps, the difference is close to none.

I'm really trying to find out what ,if anything I will need a graphic card for ....

When I get a new mac I will be diving right in to all the apps I haven't been able to play with on the G3 I have now.....I have Logic express 7, Reason 3 & Serato Scratch Live all ready to go on the new machine straight away.
Also, I'm interested in video editing , making album cover art and will probably do some photo editing too...
I'll probably need some external HD's and possibly a audio interface of some description

So , my question is...
Which machine would you recommend look I at buying or would a Macbook do these things for me or would I need a MBP?

I ask as you seem to know a good bit about all this

cheers

 

[neiltc13]

Marbles, if it's just light video editing then the MacBook will more than meet your needs. It might take a little longer than the Pro to render video but it's not going to be any more than a small inconvenience.

Looking at this comparison from MacWorld seems to suggest that rendering their sample movie in iMovie took just two seconds less on a MacBook Pro compared to a MacBook.

 

[eXan]

I'm really trying to find out what ,if anything I will need a graphic card for ....

When I get a new mac I will be diving right in to all the apps I haven't been able to play with on the G3 I have now.....I have Logic express 7, Reason 3 & Serato Scratch Live all ready to go on the new machine straight away.
Also, I'm interested in video editing , making album cover art and will probably do some photo editing too...
I'll probably need some external HD's and possibly a audio interface of some description

So , my question is...
Which machine would you recommend look I at buying or would a Macbook do these things for me or would I need a MBP?

I ask as you seem to know a good bit about all this

cheers

In your place I'd get a MBP. You don't need graphics card for that stuff, but the Pro is just suited better for that kind of work. On paper they don't look much different, but in real world the difference is evident.

MacBook is just a budget laptop ment for students/for people on tight budget, it has its "cheap feel" to it.

I don't want to go into the specs of both machines, because, again, on paper they look rather similar.

Hope this helps.

 

[priller]

I bought a MB because of the price, MBP has no advantages for me that make it worth paying over double what I paid for a MB.

 

[marbles]

...see below

 

[marbles]

In your place I'd get a MBP. You don't need graphics card for that stuff, but the Pro is just suited better for that kind of work.

cheers

I was hoping you wouldn't say that though ....I wonder why you did , as you mention that none of the apps I am going to be using will need the graphics card ....I've been looking at both machines intently now for some time so the specs I am aware of .....just the lack of decision making is troubling me

I suppose its fear of buying a Macbook then realizing I actually needed the MBP or buying the MP and realizing I didn't need it and could have saved .. ....money is an issue for me as well so refurb is probably the way to go for me unless they give a really special higher education discount soon

 

[neiltc13]

cheers

I was hoping you wouldn't say that though ....I wonder why you did , as you mention that none of the apps I am going to be using will need the graphics card ....I've been looking at both machines intently now for some time so the specs I am aware of .....just the lack of decision making is troubling me

I suppose its fear of buying a Macbook then realizing I actually needed the MBP or buying the MP and realizing I didn't need it and could have saved .. ....money is an issue for me as well so refurb is probably the way to go for me unless they give a really special higher education discount soon

You get a giant whack of a discount from http://apple.procureweb.ac.uk if you're eligible. I've bought all of my Macs this way.