[applesbiggestfan]

Hi All,

I'm going into high-school and I'm getting a Mac notebook and I don't know which to get or if I should decide after the new ones come out. I will be using my Mac in school and at home.

Macbook Benefits: portable, cheaper, 100% good enough, looks nice
Macbook flaws: bad graphics memory, glossy screen

Macbook Pro Benefits: excellent graphics, higher resolution, multi-touch trackpad
Macbook Pro flaws: less portable, very expensive

Any tips or advice you can give about timing and choice of purchase will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[mduell]

Both will be refreshed before the end of the year, probably the MBP before the MB.

Graphics memory isn't the more significant downside of the Macbook's graphics system, the GPU is.

But none of that really matters until you tell us what you're going to do with it.

[@pplejaxkz]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Both will be refreshed before the end of the year, probably the MBP before the MB.

Graphics memory isn't the more significant downside of the Macbook's graphics system, the GPU is.

But none of that really matters until you tell us what you're going to do with it.

Mduell is right, we can't begin to give advice until we know what you'll be using it for. Sure if you'll be using it just for school projects like any other high school student, the Pro will be a little overkill. But it all depends on what your using it for.

[applesbiggestfan]

Okay.

I'm going to:
- Just surf the internet, play some games, many tabs open
- Microsoft Office
- Video editing on iMovie
- GarageBand
- Chatting
- Photoshop (not too high-tech)
thats pretty much the relevant stuff.

And mduell, I haven't really thought about the GPU yet. I don't know almost anything about the MBs and the MBPs GPUs... can you tell me more about them and how much difference would I notice with the things I will be doing.

Thanks

[davidbk1]

Depends on the games you want to play, but everything else is CPU intensive not GPU intensive. Ergo the MacBook should work just fine. The Pro is a poor choice economically speaking. If you can wait a couple of months, it's probably worth it to see what comes out next.

[mduell]

Go with the Macbook... you don't do anything that really uses the GPU.

MacBook GPU: Integrated into the chipset, uses system memory instead of dedicated graphics memory, relatively high featured but low performance, consumes about 5W peak, costs about $4.
MacBook Pro GPU: Discrete chip on the logic board, has dedicated graphics memory, relatively high performance for a mobile chip, consumes over 20W peak, costs about an order of magnitude more (hard to get accurate price figures).

[applesbiggestfan]

Alright thanks.

I've always preferred the Macbook over the Macbook Pro because of it's style, and size, and it's good. I'll go with the Macbook, but I have one question for all of you.

If someone came to your door now and had a Macbook 2.4Ghz and 4GB of RAM and a Macbook Pro 15" 2.6Ghz and 4GB or RAM...

Which one would you choose if both were 100% free?

[Simon]

Obviously the latter. Even if you preferred the MB you could sell off the MBP for more than the cost of a MB and pocket the extra cash. Apart from that the MBP in your example has a faster CPU. Of course it also has a bigger and better screen, a faster GPU with actual VRAM as well as more expansion options.