yes, its the same old MBP vs MB for my mom q.

[lurk01]

Hey guys,

First off, a couple of things,

1. I know this is a rehashed topic, however, it's not one that easily supported by the search function
2. I paged back more than 10 pages on this subforum researching this topic.
3. I am new to mac, have been a pc user for more than 15 years.

Now.

I need to buy my mom a new laptop. She is a amateur photographer hobbyist with a Nikon DSLR D700, and she takes her hobby pretty seriously.

I currently have her set up on an Acer 15.4" laptop running Adobe CS4 on XP pro, but it is time for an upgrade, and we have decided to go the mac route. She's a bit of a technophobe, and while i'm rather tech savvy, i know pc's not macs. anyway, as far as i know, graphic design = mac, and mac is supposed to be uber user friendly, so that's what we're doing.

Now, She'll mainly be using CS4, and she will probably also need some software to convert photographs into "slideshow" 1080p movies, maybe in avi format for now, i can always add an external blueray burner later. I'll be adding a 24" screen and cordless mouse & keyboard too. Right now, I'm leaning towards the ACD. Her studio is free of glare issues, and i read bad things about the new Dell displays. She often prints massive canvas photographs as artwork, so i'll need something that I can calibrate pretty true, and the 24" CD fits that profile.

So, the question is,

Do I get her a Macbook Pro 15.4", or will a normal, more portable for travel Macbook 13.3" do?

 

[macgrl]

Personally I prefer the MBP for the screen size and if she is going to travel with it and not have access to an external monitor I would go for the MBP

 

[maflynn]

If she's going to be using photoshop, on the laptop w/o an external monitor, then I think its a no brainer - the MBP. I've used PS on both a MB and a MBP and found the 13" screen of the MB too confining.

Also consider the following trade offs with the MB
Cheaper display panel that washes out colors more then the MBP
No FireWire
integrated GPU (which is pretty powerful)

The MBP can be upgraded to a faster CPU, more vram, and more L2 cache and then there's the dual GPU.

All things considered I was debating the same thing last October but the thing that one me over was the dual gpu, while pretty impressive, I figured more and more software was going to rely on the GPU and getting the MBP provided a little more future-proof insurance, i.e., should last longer then the MB.

 

[Feng Shui]

Definitely a MBP. I think the base model will do, and you can order 4gb of ram for upgrade.

 

[angemon89]

The MacBook will do all that stuff, but the MBP will do it better. The biggest difference that your mom will be able to notice is in the screen size and quality. If she's serious about what she does then the MBP is a must because of those 2 factors.

 

[lurk01]

Not sure I understand. Will the 9600 GPU have an significant impact on the work she will be doing? Or is it with the better screen that she would see the main benefit? Another thing, how is the screen better? Resolution & size, or is it actually a better quality/more vivid screen?

Last thing, it's probably worth waiting till WWDC before buying, yes?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the input.

 

[Warranty Voider]

Not sure I understand. Will the 9600 GPU have an significant impact on the work she will be doing? Or is it with the better screen that she would see the main benefit? Another thing, how is the screen better? Resolution & size, or is it actually a better quality/more vivid screen?

Last thing, it's probably worth waiting till WWDC before buying, yes?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the input.

The screen is better in 2 ways. 1, the MBP display is 1440 x 900, while the MB display is only 1280 x 800. 2, the color quality is much better on the MBP than the MB. There are a bunch of threads about how the MB's display's blacks are horrible. Also, a larger screen is always better for graphic designers and photographers. If you can afford a MBP, get it.