Why Should I Get A Macbook Pro?

[TheLegend]

My PC, an HP laptop has really given me a beating, and has broken down almost completely over the past few months. I'm looking to buy a Macbook Pro at this point (I think if I buy a Macbook the Pro is worth the extra money versus the Macbook).

I just need some reasons to justify my purchase of a Macbook Pro.

I do currently own an iPod touch which I love and use everyday
I would use the laptop for browsing, iTunes, word processing and some other software including FL Studio and Starcraft 2.

Thank you for your help.

 

[JamesGorman]

Did you want a 13" or 15" ?

 

[TheLegend]

Did you want a 13" or 15" ?

I think I'd be buying a 2010 13" Macbook Pro

 

[JamesGorman]

Ok, well thats a good starting point. If your going with the 13 Inch, Id recommend the lower spec'd one. The little bit of extra processor speed is not noticeable, and is definitely not worth the price increase. Id recommend Purchasing a speedier HDD in the future, 7200RPM, or an SSD(when they become cheaper). Besides that, maybe up the ram to 8GB's if you need it. But don't do it through apple, you can get it much cheaper elsewhere.

 

[NickZac]

If you aren't going crazy on graphics go for the 13 def. If you are using high resource programs you may want the 15 given there are more powerful processors available. The past 13 inch MBP is very similar to the current, minus predominantly a different graphics card.

If you like the 13, get either processor, as little RAM as possible, the smallest hard drive possible. When you get it buy 8GB of Crucial RAM (MUCH cheaper than upgrading), a solid state drive, a $10 kit to make the HDD in your computer an external drive, and of course a good case. I say get either as you should look at refurbs...you can save some money on computers that are still essentially new. The 13s are by no means slow and IMO they are among the best truly portable and truly useful laptops available

 

[jvmxtra]

It all depends on the budget.

If microcenter is available near you, they sell 2010 mbp 13 basic model for $999.. which I think is the best deal.

If you can wait for next iteration, go ahead.. OR since you don't do much w/ your laptop, perhaps go for 13 inch mb air 2010

Either way, you will LOVE the mbp

mb is not a bad option either if you can still find them for $800 w/ 4 gig

 

[dizmonk]

I had a crappy Dell my office bought me. I caved and paid for a MBP (2.66Hz ) for a few reasons.
The battery life.. (you really can easily get at least 5-7 hours) out of it.
The design. (Really like the backlit keyboard.. Allows you to work in poorly lit places.)
The most positive thing which has surprised me is the response time. Boots up WAY faster than Windows, shuts down faster and programs seem to open up faster.

 

[maflynn]

You're asking whether to buy a MBP on a Mac fan site, I hate to state the obvious but I doubt you'll get anyone here telling you to go buy an HP or a DELL

The 13" MBP is a fine machine, I own one, but if your need is immediate, don't want to wait 6 months, and you want a core i5 processor then I may suggestion the 15" MBP.

Personally, I really like my 13" MBP, it performs great and does everything I expect it too. I don't play games so I cannot report on its performance for that, but over all its a great light, well built laptop, running the best OS

 

[croooow]

...I think if I buy a Macbook the Pro is worth the extra money versus the Macbook....

If you are looking at the 13" MBP, I think it's worth the extra $200 for the Pro (And you can find it for the $999 MacBook price at MicroCenter)

The 13" Air might be worth the extra $300 (compared to the White MacBook) to you as well.

You're asking whether to buy a MBP on a Mac fan site, I hate to state the obvious but I doubt you'll get anyone here telling you to go buy an HP or a DELL

I think he is asking about a MacBook Pro vs. a MacBook. I don't think he is going Windows.

 

[Bending Pixels]

Hi - my name is Charles, and I was a life-long Windows fanboy.

Seriously - I swore off (and even swore at) getting a Mac...up until I spent some time with fellow photographers, and realized that the Mac really IS the best platform for anything related to digital content creation. And...really anything else (as I've come to learn).

Photoshop CS5 was announced right around the time that Apple refreshed their MBP line this past April. I knew that it was time to switch.

From a life-long Windows users perspective (hey...I even beta tested Win95), the build quality of the MBP is very good - in many cases, at least IMHO, exceeding what HP, Dell, Gateway, whomever offer. Yes, they offer "gimmicks" like different colors and such, but it's what's inside that counts. I've done several comparisons for friends, and when you try and match the same components (i.e. processor, RAM, hard drive, graphics) in a Windows laptop that are in a MBP, the price is often almost the same.

From a usability standpoint, yeah, it took some getting used to Snow Leopard vs. Windows, but I found that all the "features" I liked about Vista/Windows 7, were all available in Snow Leopard.

As to a recommendation, my personal suggestion would be to look at the 15" MBP over the 13". The main reason is the larger screen.

 

[shyam09]

You're asking whether to buy a MBP on a Mac fan site, I hate to state the obvious but I doubt you'll get anyone here telling you to go buy an HP or a DELL

The 13" MBP is a fine machine, I own one, but if your need is immediate, don't want to wait 6 months, and you want a core i5 processor then I may suggestion the 15" MBP.

Personally, I really like my 13" MBP, it performs great and does everything I expect it too. I don't play games so I cannot report on its performance for that, but over all its a great light, well built laptop, running the best OS

sigh. ok ill argue for HP/Dell? windows computer than


ok so there are two platforms- Mac OSX and Windows 7

now this all depends on your purposes and your budget.
from HP you can get the HP ENVY Beats for only $1149, which is 5 bucks cheaper.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...exp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/ENVY/ENVY14be_series
youre getting 6 hours of battery life, but face it youre getting an inch and a half of screen size (14.5) thus you will have bigger screen, better processor (i5- 2.53 GHz!) and Built-in hard drive protection. heck when compared to the MBP, you will be getting a RED backlit keyboard, which might be way cooler looking than apple's.

but lets go a bit lower on the budget now, lets see what is offered:
amazon offers a sexy looking Toshiba Portege! only: 799 with no tax and nO shipping!!
its specs are:
Intel Core i5-460M Processor 2.53 GHz (2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology), 3MB L3 Cache
Configured with 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (max 8GB)
500GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive with TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor), DVD SuperMulti drive supporting 11 formats
13.3" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1366 x 768 native resolution (HD) with Native support for 720p content and LED backlit, Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 64MB-1696MB dynamically allocated shared graphic memory
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 8 hour battery life (measured by MobileMark 2007)

it came out just a couple of months ago, September 2010!
it ways about 3.2 pounds ish.. and the con i see is the Intel Integrated Graphics, meaning no switching graphics card.
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Porté..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=08GPZJK8MN1GGKEEMTXZ

so face it dude- 799, and youre getting better specs (except the graphics card) than the MBP.
as far as windows 7 is concerned. yes there are viruses, yes there are malware, yes it can get damaged, yes there are security factors, yes this/yes that.. but you just have to have MalwareBytes Anti-Malware on your computer and Avast (for me) and well i have not had a single virus ever since i had gotten my computer, i did once but that was when i had Norton, so...

yeah the outer design looks nowhere near as sexy as Apple's, but who can beat apple on aesthetics? This computer is not bui8lbuilt for the consume class, but the business class, thus it is more sturdier, etc. a thing to keep in mind, the business class always gets the best products so try looking for windows on business class level (it will be expensive, but stronger and better)

personally, its a tough choice for me. these toshiba looks very very very nice but im currently in love with the MBP and thus getting that. but if i was to get a PC, it would def. be this toshiba....
good luck deciding and keep us posted, !!!!
as an above poster mentioned Microcenter offers this for $999, but its in store pick up only! (im getting mine tomorrow!)

 

[shyam09]

As to a recommendation, my personal suggestion would be to look at the 15" MBP over the 13". The main reason is the larger screen.

true, i think the larger screen is better, but is it really worth $600 to get two inches of screen? its an utter waste of money, you can can buy the 13" and get SSD/8GB of ram in that much money.
i mean it does depend on the product and the use , but as i was originally getting a 15" (now to 13" over price)apple really needs to see the difference between its products. its just arg!! lol!

 

[croooow]

...is it really worth $600 to get two inches of screen? its an utter waste of money...

You do get more than a larger screen.

 

[aCondor]

You're asking whether to buy a MBP on a Mac fan site, I hate to state the obvious but I doubt you'll get anyone here telling you to go buy an HP or a DELL

I would get a Dell. Sure, they are pricey but worth the cost when you think of the benefits. Usually a thick, hard, heavy dura-coated plastic mold is used instead of the Mac's aluminum casing. This plastic mold will break and shatter if dropped onto a hard surface, saving your ceramic tiles or hardwood floor from costly scratching.

Enjoy being part of the crowd? I am always able to introduce myself to people and bypass awkward pauses by instigating the "virus chat." Usually I limit myself to the current Trojan that is swamping the PC community. I mean, I don't want to be chatting to the same person ALL day.

I need a new prescription for my glasses. Just to be sure, I always try to update my Windows operating system to ensure that I will be staring at my computer screen for hours and my eyes are fully strained. I can be sure that my optometrist will notice a true decrease in my vision - I really want those new Transition lenses!

I can give more examples in a couple hours. I am really busy right now with customer support. So helpful!

 

[TheLegend]

You're asking whether to buy a MBP on a Mac fan site, I hate to state the obvious but I doubt you'll get anyone here telling you to go buy an HP or a DELL

The 13" MBP is a fine machine, I own one, but if your need is immediate, don't want to wait 6 months, and you want a core i5 processor then I may suggestion the 15" MBP.

Personally, I really like my 13" MBP, it performs great and does everything I expect it too. I don't play games so I cannot report on its performance for that, but over all its a great light, well built laptop, running the best OS

I asked on multiple other forums too.

Thanks to everyone's input. I think I'm still leaning towards the MBP 13"

 

[fibrizo]

I asked on multiple other forums too.

Thanks to everyone's input. I think I'm still leaning towards the MBP 13"

Excellent choice. I have one, great price from microcenter. My only issue is that I haven't booted it up once in the past month since I got my 11.6 inch air lol.

But on a serious note, if you can't get the 999$ deal at microcenter, spec wise you're probably not going to notice much difference from the macbook. ie 4gb vs 2 gb of ram, but you can easily upgrade. Processor and gpu are the same and aside from having your keyboard light up and the sd card slot and firewire, it's the same computer. Ask yourself if those are necessary for you.

One more point to keep in mind is that microcenter also does sales on the macbook, every so often I see the price drop to 799 for the macbook.

3rd point to take is that there is a distinct possibility of a hardware refresh soon, as CES is just around the corner and we'll see sandybridge products.

 

[shyam09]

You do get more than a larger screen.

true but 600 bucks for screen size and processor really cant be that much.. its insane. i feel like apple just charges what ever it feels likes cuz it knows that its product will sale.
but it is still a ridiculous price

 

[Eddyisgreat]

true but 600 bucks for screen size and processor really cant be that much.. its insane.

yeah cuz, ya know, the 13" and the 15" are practically the same machine, once you take out the iX architecture (which has several differences, not only the processor speed), the 9600M GT, the separate audio in/out both with optical, the extra screen size, the bigger battery, etc.

 

[TheLegend]

And I'm assuming the MBP 13 comes with all the goodies I come to expect now from laptops at that price? Like a backlit full size keyboard for example?

And what is the spill resistance like? I don't expect it to be "spill proof" and I have no desire to get a clunky old bulletproof laptop, but I just want to know if I should be furiously shaking the laptop after getting a few drops of water on the touch pad.

 

[JamesGorman]

And I'm assuming the MBP 13 comes with all the goodies I come to expect now from laptops at that price? Like a backlit full size keyboard for example?

And what is the spill resistance like? I don't expect it to be "spill proof" and I have no desire to get a clunky old bulletproof laptop, but I just want to know if I should be furiously shaking the laptop after getting a few drops of water on the touch pad.

The 13" comes with the backlit keyboard for sure. And as for spill resistance, A drop of water on the trackpad shouldn't do anything, depending on the size of the drop. But a single drop over the keyboard, and you could fry your machine. I can't stress how important it is to be careful with your laptop. My best advice, dont eat or drink anywhere near it.

 

[rkaufmann87]

And I'm assuming the MBP 13 comes with all the goodies I come to expect now from laptops at that price? Like a backlit full size keyboard for example?

And what is the spill resistance like? I don't expect it to be "spill proof" and I have no desire to get a clunky old bulletproof laptop, but I just want to know if I should be furiously shaking the laptop after getting a few drops of water on the touch pad.

No keyboard is going to be spill resistant. The best solution to that is using your head for more than some place for your hair to reside. All kidding aside, keep liquids away from your keyboard. MBP's have liquid sensors inside so if something is spilled and taken in for service it will immediately invalidate your warranty and/or AppleCare.

If you spill water you have half a chance, spill anything with sugar in it ( soft drinks, wine, juice etc.) and kiss it goodbye.

 

[smallnshort247]

I'm sure everyone has left you some great reason why you should go with a MacBook Pro. I didn't read them all, but I'll hopefully give you some new reasons or tips.

I'm not exactly sure what you plan to use this computer for, but I recommend you go with the 15 inch. My first Mac was the 13 inch MacBook Aluminum Unibody and I ended up selling that one to my sister and upgrading to an i5 15 inch MacBook Pro. The 13 is a nice entry level Mac, but its not all that powerful in my opinion. With the 15, you have so much more screen to work with.

Which ever MacBook Pro you go with, you usually save money when you purchase the base model and then upgrade parts like the hard drive and RAM after the purchase. For my MacBook Pro I paid 1,788 for the base model. Over the past 2 months I've maxed out the RAM at 8GB and I've just installed a 7200 rpm 640GB hard drive that replaced my 320GB stock hard drive. Those two upgrades cost me around 250 bucks and improved the performance by a lot.

Battery life on MacBooks and MacBook Pros are seriously amazing compared to most other laptops. When I take my MacBook Pro to the airport or library, I can use it without trying to find the nearest seat next to an outlet. Thats usually with surfing the web and running aim, twitter, skype, word docs etc. When I do harder things like gaming, videos or editing, it still holds up fairly well.

Thats another thing..gaming. Macs can game. Its just that most games are PC compatible and not Mac compatible. Thats changing more and more with Steam being available on the Mac. If you find yourself playing a lot of PC games, just install Windows via bootcamp and run them there.

Hope some of those tips helped!

 

[JKK photography]

I'm sure everyone has left you some great reason why you should go with a MacBook Pro. I didn't read them all, but I'll hopefully give you some new reasons or tips.

I'm not exactly sure what you plan to use this computer for, but I recommend you go with the 15 inch. My first Mac was the 13 inch MacBook Aluminum Unibody and I ended up selling that one to my sister and upgrading to an i5 15 inch MacBook Pro. The 13 is a nice entry level Mac, but its not all that powerful in my opinion. With the 15, you have so much more screen to work with.

Which ever MacBook Pro you go with, you usually save money when you purchase the base model and then upgrade parts like the hard drive and RAM after the purchase. For my MacBook Pro I paid 1,788 for the base model. Over the past 2 months I've maxed out the RAM at 8GB and I've just installed a 7200 rpm 640GB hard drive that replaced my 320GB stock hard drive. Those two upgrades cost me around 250 bucks and improved the performance by a lot.

Battery life on MacBooks and MacBook Pros are seriously amazing compared to most other laptops. When I take my MacBook Pro to the airport or library, I can use it without trying to find the nearest seat next to an outlet. Thats usually with surfing the web and running aim, twitter, skype, word docs etc. When I do harder things like gaming, videos or editing, it still holds up fairly well.

Thats another thing..gaming. Macs can game. Its just that most games are PC compatible and not Mac compatible. Thats changing more and more with Steam being available on the Mac. If you find yourself playing a lot of PC games, just install Windows via bootcamp and run them there.

Hope some of those tips helped!

Of course, not everybody needs the larger screen. Not everything requires higher screen resolution. And the significant price difference between thie 13" and 15" models make the 15" hard to justify if you don't have a reason to get it.

I agree with you; the 15" will get someone better gaming performance. It will get a higher resolution screen, which will make some programs easier to work in.

However, even with all those 'advantages' the 15" has, I have been able to get along very nicely in Photoshop on my 13". Any game I've felt the urge to load, it has run pretty well on medium to medium-high settings. Anything else, I'll play on my PS3.

So, while I think the 15" is better for professionals, or anyone who has a hobby that involves a program that eats CPU and screen resolution for breakfast, I think that the 13" is an excellent computer for everyday use. The battery life and build quality, as well as general speed would show this.

 

[ottos]

I finally had enough of annoying windows problems with my Dell
five year old laptop and it was just a pain in the A** ,
I really like my new 13'' base MBP very fast and smooth it just
works the way a computer should work, I like laying down and
relaxing in the evenings dim down the lights, I am typing this
with the backlit keyboard lights on Ya really nice feature, one big
reason I got the MBP and not the MB or MBA.

 

[Buck987]

true but 600 bucks for screen size and processor really cant be that much.. its insane. i feel like apple just charges what ever it feels likes cuz it knows that its product will sale.
but it is still a ridiculous price

yeah...many people that way...UNTIL the ones who dont leave the house often with 13" pro realize how much time they spend on their macbook and how nice the extra 2 " would have been...plus the much better processor and the larger harddrive....the $600 doesnt seem that big of a deal then...