[gpro]

i am going to get a mac in january and i am finding it hard to decide shall i get a mac pro or a macbook pro? i will be useing a lot of high end software but i will also like the portability so which one do you think i should go for? i was thinking of the mac pro

[dankar]

MacBook Pro 17". I am using a MacBook CD 2ghz (2gb ram) for some light duty when I have to bring work home, the software I am running are Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, Nikon Capture NX, Keynote and etc. They do run slower, due to the lack of a graphic card and the 32bit processor, but they are just slightly slower than my dual 2ghz G5 (4gb ram, ATI AGP 64mb).

So it would be safe to say that the new 17" Macbook Pro with 2gb ram. Would be a blast! You can go places with the MacBook Pro, but with a Mac Pro, you would need a very long power cord extension...

[Leonard]

What type of high-end software? Any 3D graphics high end work? What is more important to you - performance or mobility? If it's performance you should be going for a desktop. If it's mobility, then it's a laptop. You have to sacrifice one for the other, especially if you're high-end work is going to take advantage of multi-processors. If 3D graphics work is involved, then again, you should be steering toward a desktop, which has better graphics and which can be updated.

[Xyrrus]

Originally Posted by gpro 

i am going to get a mac in january and i am finding it hard to decide shall i get a mac pro or a macbook pro? i will be useing a lot of high end software but i will also like the portability so which one do you think i should go for? i was thinking of the mac pro

This is basically an impossible question to answer based on the information you supplied:

- Are you a professional? That is, do you actually make money off the machine?

- What % of the time are you away from your desk. What is the nature of your "away" work?

- Which "high end software" will you be using? What percent of the time do you spend using it?

- What sort of a budget are you on?

- Do you currently have any other portables?

As others have said, there are a lot of tradeoffs, and the answer depends a lot on the specifics of what you use and how you work.

-Xy

[gpro]

i do have a pc laptop but thats died out now i had it for years and i currently have a desktop pc. i have decided i am going to get a macbook pro.

[Cadaver]

I completely replaced my dual 2.5GHz G5 with a 2.16GHz MacBook Pro (original Core Duo version). The MBP was equal speed-wise in virtually everything with the obvious exception of the HD speed (but quite reasonable with the 100GB 7200 rpm option I got).

I did end up also buying a 2.66GHz Mac Pro, but mainly because I outgrew the 2GB limit of the MacBook Pro. I'm a heavy Osirix user, and with big datasets and another open app or two I still easily eat up my MP's 4GB of RAM, and the 512MB Radeon X1900 does a great job of doing GPU-based preview 3D rendering with Osirix. Looking to add another 2GB shortly.

The new 3GB-capable C2D MacBook Pros probably would have held off my Mac Pro purchase a while longer had they been available when I bought my equipment, because otherwise the MacBook Pro is a fantastic desktop replacement.