[Porco]

Just sounding out the board... I'm contemplating selling my macbook pro 15" that I got in February 2008 (as a replacement of my 2.2 taht died) and getting the new macbook unibody. The processor is same speed, but I wouldn't mind the smaller form factor. I will miss the espresscard slot, but I guess i could use a usb card instead...

What are you guys' thoughts?

[jogi]

Screen quality is much worse on the macbook compared to the pro (both Unibody and previous generation LED model).

Another thing to consider is the graphics card and if you are actually using it (plus the potential of Snow Leopard using the GPU for intensive operations like video encoding.)

[Porco]

I have done some video encoding on my MBP, but gave up on it because it was much slower than my imac 24". I encoded one 50 minute movie and it took a day to render out... bah. I'm not sure that I would be doing that again.

My biggest concern is whether the new MBP is worth the additional cost for me at this point. Processor speed really hasn't had any breakthrough. The GPU speed is the only change that means anything to me. Is that worth the extra $1000 when I would rather do video editing on the desktop? With HD footage taking up so much HDD space, you would have to have an external drive with you all the time..

[amazing]

well, I wouldn't make any changes until you could get a laptop that comes with the next system software version. namely Snow Leopard. You don't sound like you're in a rush? Is your present MBP matte or glossy?

And you may really miss the expresscard slot, depending on what you're using it for. What do you mean by "a usb card?"

[Porco]

No, definitely not in a rush. My present MBP is matte. I would be selling my MBP to do a favor for my dad. I happen to be in Italy now, which is where he lives, so I could leave it with him.

About the USB card, I meant I could use a USB 3g data card instead of the Expresscard one that I am currently using.