Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

1150A · Jan 18, 2008, 01:53 PM

Hey,
First.. sorry, I know this topic is brought up a lot but I'm a bit desperate for some advice.

I have a Revision A MBP, that I just gave away to a family member.. I liked it a lot but.. for school, I want something that doesn't run super hot, and has decent battery life.. a more portable solution would be great too, but not necessary.

I've been thinking of a Macbook. Anyone ever downgrade from a MBP to a MB? I don't play games, but I do plan on video editing, though nothing super serious. Looks are not a huge deal for me, the only thing stopping me from going is the graphics card. I don't play any games, but I know the graphics card is essential for some other software too? Mainly, I just want to know how well it will do with Final Cut Pro, or Express..

And also, the battery life. Is the battery life any better on an Macbook than a Macbook Pro? If not, I'd rather just carry around the extra 2 inches and have the more powerful MBP.

What do you guys think?

I'm a college student and I basically use my laptop for, surfing the net, email, music, movies, and I would like to get started with video editing.

shinykaro · Jan 18, 2008, 02:09 PM

I'm getting a MB next week because I absolutely love them.

If your video editing is going to be primarily in iMovie or something like that, you'll be fine with the MB. Just max out the RAM and have a ball with it.

bishopazrael · Jan 18, 2008, 03:16 PM

Hey 115. I'm a professional computer tech by trade and I'd had first powerbooks, and then Macbook Pros, and now I've made the jump from a CoreDuo MBP like you have. Mine was i think 2ghz w/ 2gb of ram. But I just sold it so I could get a Macbook, a current one and max it out. I spent about $200 extra at newegg.com for a larger hard drive and the 4gb of memory, and I'm completely satisfied. I run parallels all day long doing virus scans and downloading of torrents all while I'm doing email, ical, camino, safari, itunes, activity monitor, adium and usually one or 2 other things. All at the same time. If you don't specifically need the dedicated 128mb of video memory... I'd say go for it. The money you'll save you can buy other needs such as:
hard shell case for macbook
keyboard silicon skin cover
4gb of memory
160 gb sata hdd
Wireless keyboard and mouse.. usb hub... whatever else you may need.

My point is basically that the Macbook for all it's simpleness, is a great machine that will fit about 60% of the people's needs.

Good luck,
Bishop

JustinHorne · Jan 18, 2008, 04:03 PM

It's easy to view the MB as a downgrade, but in a lot of ways, it really isn't.

Don't get me wrong, MBPs are more powerful and faster, but not ALWYAS 'better."
I don't even think the MB will run final cut pro, as it requires a 'real' graphics card. It runs FCE well though.

If you don't need a real graphics card, and the extra few hundred MHZ doesn't matter too much to you, then a MB is the way to go. I bought one because I dislike large laptops, but honestly: IF you don't need graphics card, they're very similar in power.
Assuming you don't do 3d work, you'll probably be very happy with a MB.
Also, I don't think the battery life is much different in the real world at all.. Maybe an extra 20 min on the mbp?

THAT said... If you're serious about video editing, the 2.16 v 2.6 GHZ IS noticeable in rendering time.

1150A · Jan 18, 2008, 04:12 PM

Hey everyone, thanks for the help.

I forgot to mention.. my previous MBP is a 2.0 Ghz Intel Core Duo with 2 gigs of ram. What I want to get is the top of the line Macbook with 4 gigs of ram.

I'm not serious about video editing, but I would like to be able to run Final Cut Pro if I ever needed it. That being said, at my previous school, we were using eMacs and I thought that ran Final Cut Pro fine. But from what I've read, eMacs have a ATI Radeon 9600 64MB.. is the integrated graphics card on new MB's comparable to this?

MacosNerd · Jan 18, 2008, 05:40 PM

I went the other way. MB to MBP. The main reason why, well the two main reasons why was the screen size and the GPU. I use Aperture and as I'm sure you know that application relies heavily on the GPU. The other is screen real estate. My 40+ eyes had increasingly difficult time reading the screen

If you're comfortable about the screen size and since you don't play games go for it.

hardcat1970 · Jan 19, 2008, 11:32 AM

i think aperture is more than adequate in macbook but its screen is not good enough for color correction.

MacosNerd · Jan 19, 2008, 11:52 AM

Maybe for you but I found it extremely sluggish. Will it work yes, will you be sitting there frequently with the spinning beachball of death - yes. There were two main reasons why I moved from a MB to a MBP. Screen size and aperture performance.

The Placid Casual · Jan 19, 2008, 03:16 PM

I am going from a (sickly) 2.16 CD MBP to a Macbook... I am so tempted to buy, but hanging on for the next revision.

I am going from 2.16 Core Duo, x1600 256mb, 2 Gig of RAM, to whatever comes next in terms of the MB. Just hoping it has backlit keyboard, and some decent graphics options

JustinHorne · Jan 19, 2008, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by MacosNerd

Maybe for you but I found it extremely sluggish. Will it work yes, will you be sitting there frequently with the spinning beachball of death - yes. There were two main reasons why I moved from a MB to a MBP. Screen size and aperture performance.

I don't know what you were doing with it, but running 8.5 MB canon RAW files, it performs just fine on my MB. The MBP only has .3 more GHZ, it's not that drastic of a change. Aperture never beachballs for me...