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rocky raccoon · Aug 11, 2006, 07:42 AM

hello all,

i am abou tto make the switch to mac.

im having a dilema though.

i dont know if i should pay the extra £300 and go for the macbook pro or would the macbook be good enough?

what are the main differences?

i'm wanting to use my mac mainly for entertainment purposes - playing music throughout my house, recording digital tv and recording guitar. i know all the extra pieces of hardware and software i will need, but should a macbook be more than sufficient?

any help at all is much appreciated!

mBurns · Aug 11, 2006, 09:23 AM

There are some other posts on the forum that are similiar to this. I would point you in the direction to look there for some answers.

planemaniac · Aug 11, 2006, 12:07 PM

Hi,

I made the switch to Mac about 3 weeks back now, on a MacBook. Now I use mine for school work and stuff, and I find it's just fine for that (it also runs games well which is good). For entertainment purposes, I would say a MacBook would be sufficient. The main differences between the two are: The size, MacBook Pro's are bigger coming in at 15" and 17". The graphics card in the Pro is also a more heavy-duty one. But GarageBand runs just fine on a MacBook. All I can say is it 'Just Works' with a Mac.

Hope this helps!

BillB_SD · Aug 12, 2006, 12:33 PM

Wait a while... neither product is up to spec yet... just search these groups or online to see all of the issues people are having.

My mac book (#2 in three months) is now experiencing "sudden shut down" and I have to have the logic board replaced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spRCLTiQG74

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBkUHsqDZow

clevin · Aug 12, 2006, 04:16 PM

main difference, afaic, pro has way better graphic card,
and, of course, the mb is white/black, mbp is silver

techtrucker · Aug 12, 2006, 06:25 PM

I'm doing exactly what you want to do with my new MacBook, I think you'd do fine with one. Sure, there are some nice features of the MBP, but if $$$ is a concern I think you'd be very content with a MB.

deslock · Aug 12, 2006, 09:15 PM

QUESTION 1: MacBook vs MBP

The MBP has a bunch of extra minor features, though the major ones (to me) are:

larger, higher resolution screen (with an option for matte finish, if you prefer it)
better GPU
backlit keyboard

I don't play games so the GPU doesn't matter (the MacBook is fine for media playback and anything but more recent games). The backlit keyboard on my PowerBook was definitely handy, but typing in the dark without it isn't difficult to adjust to.

For me, that leaves the screen as the only significant disadvantage... while 1440 pixels across would've been nice for programming, I decided it wasn't worth the cost ($1800 for a 15" MBP vs $1200 USD educational pricing). Also favoring the the MacBook is that its hdd is easily-upgradable (while the MBP's isn't).

QUESTION 2: RELIABILITY

BillB_SD brought up the question of early adopter reliability. FYI, macintouch compiled some stats on MacBook/MBP reliability and repair rates (by surveying almost 3000 owners). They found the MacBook repair rate to be 8.7%. I dunno how that compares to new model laptops in general.

Anyway, since the MacBook has been out for 3 months, I suspect that recently built units are less likely to have the shutdown, discoloration, and other issues. And since Apple is taking care of the problems that have come up, I decided to risk it and I picked up a MacBook (white, 2GHz, build-week 30) for work last week.

MY EXPERIENCE SO FAR

I run a temperature monitoring program and my CPU cores generally hover around 65 C under normal use and max at 85-88 C under heavy load (some have theorized that the sudden shutdown problem is from faulty logic boards and/or high temperatures). It has not suffered any sudden shutdowns (actually, I've never had a Mac crash or fail to resume from standby).

It's a hot laptop, but not any worse than some others I've used. It makes the "Mooo" fan noise if the CPU cores hit 70-75 C or above. But it's not so loud that it bothers me (for purposes of comparison, it's significantly quieter than the optical drive). It has not experienced any other issues and I'm happy with it so far.

BUY NOW OR WAIT?

Some say that any computer is obsolete the day you buy it and it's not worth worrying about when new models come out. That's often true, but on the other hand if you know a new revision is imminent, waiting a few days, weeks, or even a month might be worthwhile (depending on your timetable).

FYI, rumor has it that MacBooks/MBPs with Core2 Duo chips will be available in September or October. I only got the MacBook now because I had an opportunity to get it through work (an opportunity that might not have existed next month). Otherwise, I would've waited myself.

rocky raccoon · Aug 14, 2006, 03:19 AM

one more thing...

i think heard people talking about the macbook pro having extra ports and better graphics cards so that you can power extra monitors?

im planning on having on having my macbook linked up to my 32" lcd tv and then use a wireless kayboard and mouse on my bed. so that i can then use my tv as a huge monitor. would i still be able to do this ok with a macbook?

deslock · Aug 15, 2006, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by rocky raccoon

one more thing...

i think heard people talking about the macbook pro having extra ports and better graphics cards so that you can power extra monitors?

im planning on having on having my macbook linked up to my 32" lcd tv and then use a wireless kayboard and mouse on my bed. so that i can then use my tv as a huge monitor. would i still be able to do this ok with a macbook?

Video-output-wise, the only thing the MBP can do that the MacBook can't is run a 30" 2560x1600 display (such as Apple's 30" Cinema and Dell's 3007WFP).

Both the MBP and MacBook can run the 20"/23" Cinema displays and LCD TVs. However, you should check the input options on your TV, just to be certain (my guess is that either it'll work with both laptops or neither).

Also, you'll need to buy a $17 adapter (educational price) either way (mini-DVI to video for the MacBook and DVI to video for the MBP).

rocky raccoon · Aug 17, 2006, 06:03 AM

what you just said interests me. because i am wanting to link my laptop up to a 32" widescreen tv. it isnt an lcd tv, just a standard widescreen. will it still be able to function ok?

deslock · Aug 17, 2006, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by rocky raccoon

what you just said interests me. because i am wanting to link my laptop up to a 32" widescreen tv. it isnt an lcd tv, just a standard widescreen. will it still be able to function ok?

Both the mini-DVI to video and DVI to video adapters have composite video and S-video connectors. As long as your TV has one of those inputs you should be fine.

rocky raccoon · Aug 17, 2006, 10:14 AM

but you said

"Video-output-wise, the only thing the MBP can do that the MacBook can't is run a 30" 2560x1600 display "

does this not count for a normal widescreen?

deslock · Aug 17, 2006, 01:35 PM

It's not an issue of aspect ratio (the 23" and 20" Cinema displays are also widescreen) or screen size, but rather an issue of connector type and screen resolution.

The MacBook has a single-link DVI, so it won't work with any dual-link DVI display. The only displays that I know of that use dual-link are the 30" 2560x1600 models I mentioned before (single-link DVI doesn't support resolutions that high).

The MBP has a dual-link DVI connector (which also works with single-link DVI displays).

More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

Javizun · Aug 17, 2006, 01:55 PM

about 3 weeks ago i was going through the same dilema.

a dedicated graphics card will always be better then a shared graphics system.
While vista from what i hear will run aero under 950 chipset, i took into consideration both system specs for
vista and for mac os x leopard (i still dont know it yet but im pretty sure a dedictaed card will mosty likely be recommend specially for future pro apps) when i am computer shopping i look into the future and i see if the computer im buying now can at least hold me down for the next 3-4 years worth of new software or updates. I want my computer to be able to run anything i throw at it without major limitations thats why between the 2 i chose the macbook pro.

now dont get me wrong the macbook is an awesome machine but seeing how often chipsets are updated i try to stay away from integrated video.

plus i just love teh whole alluminum enclosure and the backlight keys on my macbook pro.
the 128mb gddr3 vide ocard comes in handy with pro apps- i dont play games but i like to know that if i decide to play a game or 2 i wont be killing my machine because it cant handle it.

just my 2 cents-

chefpastry · Aug 17, 2006, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by Javizun

now dont get me wrong the macbook is an awesome machine but seeing how often chipsets are updated i try to stay away from integrated video.

Dedicated graphics chipsets get updated all the time, too.

Javizun · Aug 17, 2006, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by chefpastry

Dedicated graphics chipsets get updated all the time, too.

im pretty sure you know what i meant by it. A dedicated graphics will always have an edge over shared in many diffrent aspects to a computer (power,memory etc).

rocky raccoon · Aug 18, 2006, 03:39 AM

thanks very much for your help guys!