11-29-2007, 10:23 PM

Hello everyone. I've lurked around on these forums for awhile now, and since I'm about to purchase my first mac product, I thought I'd ask the people that know best.
Now as much as I'm sure everyone loves to see the "macbook vs. macbook pro" threads, mine is a little different, and possibly even kind of a stupid question.
I'm a musician and really want to get into recording audio, as well as some video on the side. Now as far as I know, if I opted for say the black macbook, threw 2 gigs of ram on there, it would be about as fast as the base macbook pro, correct? Or as far as audio recording goes, is there a significant increase in speed or efficiency?
I really fell in love with the pro originally, but I'm really trying to decide if I can justify shelling out a few hundred more unless it's going to help improve productivity in those areas.
As far as gaming goes, it's not an enormous concern, but at the same time I wouldn't mind throwing in halo or kotor every now and again.
I apologize for such a long winded post, I've just been reading up for quite some time and want to make sure I make the right choice. Thanks in advance.

11-29-2007, 10:28 PM

Welcome!

Although I can't answer your technical questions, I'm wondering how much will you be carrying this around? I have a MB and although I have some screen envy with my MBP friend, hers is so much bigger and I don't really want to carry the extra size and weight. I take it around a LOT. I could use the screen real estate b/c I'm doing a lot of graphics and could use a tad more screen. But I'm doing fine with what I have.

HTH and have fun here,

11-30-2007, 12:34 AM

I've messed with both, and really the size isn't a huge deal, although I could forsee the size of the regular macbook being really convenient. Thanks for the hasty response.

11-30-2007, 10:51 AM

The MBP is a better computer, any way you slice it. With the exception of a little bit better battery life on the MB, and a little bit more portability with the MB...the MBP is better in every way. You just need to decide if you're going to miss a few hundred dollars a few months from now. The only other thing to consider is that the MBP hard drive is not considered user upgradeable, so an upgrade will void your warranty. The MB HD is, and you can get after market drives for very reasonable prices these days.

Now, that's comparing a new Black MB to a new Base MBP (the Base MB is a good deal cheaper and widens the gap significantly). I bought my Black MB refurbished, and I can tell you, the price difference was a lot larger than a few hundred, and at the time, I couldn't justify the extra money. But i've had the MB for a while, and i'm very happy with it. I am, however, going to get into some serious video editing, so I may very well upgrade to the MBP sometime.

At any rate. Keep a few more things in mind as well. With the Pro, you get the following things:
-An extra USB port (17" MBP only, thanks Thundermoon!)
-Firewire 800 port
-Option of Matte screen
-Much better graphics performance
-Card slot

That being said. I do a lot of recording on my MB with Garageband, and it works wonderfully. I have 2GB in the computer and it's pretty snappy. I haven't used any other sound recording apps on it. But Garageband runs quite well, and I suspect that would be the case with more demanding apps as well, provided you have a decent amount of RAM. The MBP will no doubt be faster when it comes to things like exporting and converting large projects. But as far as actually being able to work with the computer recording music. The MB is definitely powerful enough to handle it. The computer is more powerful than its small size and plastic enclosure suggests.

Hope that helps. You really can't go wrong either way. But it all comes down to a matter of how much you'll miss a few hundred bucks, and whether or not that extra price is justified...unless, of course, things like portability or being able to upgrade your HD concern you.

-Nick

11-30-2007, 12:11 PM

It should be pointed out that unless you get the 17" MacBook Pro, you don't get an extra USB port. You just get the convenience of having one USB port on each side, which is nice if you like to use a mouse and are right-handed.

11-30-2007, 04:05 PM

Thanks Nick, that helped put some things into perspective. I'm still just torn as of now as to whether or not I can dish out the extra cash. However, it's very reassuring to know that the macbook can handle it as is.

12-01-2007, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Thundermoon1994

It should be pointed out that unless you get the 17" MacBook Pro, you don't get an extra USB port. You just get the convenience of having one USB port on each side, which is nice if you like to use a mouse and are right-handed.

Ahhh...you're right. Post fixed, thanks for catching that.

Originally Posted by Playwithbadgers

Thanks Nick, that helped put some things into perspective. I'm still just torn as of now as to whether or not I can dish out the extra cash. However, it's very reassuring to know that the macbook can handle it as is.

Well, there's no rush to buy. Just think about it and pick one of them up when the decision comes to you. They're both great machines, it's just a matter of which is best for you with the budget you're on.

-Nick