Advantages of MacBook over MacBook Pro

drlau9 · Jul 3, 2008

Macbook

That's another thing! Macbooks are plastic so they don't give off static discharge !

Another great reason on getting a macbook (chuckles to himself)

Derek.

jwilke · Jul 3, 2008

for me personally, the macbook is the perfect choice. i bought the top of the line mb (black) and could buy a 20in monitor and upgrade to 4gb of ram for less than the low-end mbp. the processors and cd/dvd drive are the same, and the mb has a larger hdd. gaming wise, the only gaming laptops i know of are thick, big-screened monsters that have poor portability. i have an xbox 360 for games and so have no need for gaming or the dedicated graphics card. i can easily put my mb in its incase sleeve (which fits perfectly in my backpack) and take it anywhere without worrying about dents.

the bottom line is, if you are going to do PROfessional work with dedicated software (photography, music production, video editing) then the mbp is for you and worth the extra money as it has better speakers, more ports, and the matte screen. for casual needs, (itunes, web browsing, watching movies, some light gaming, iwork or ms office) the mb is perfect.

i compared the two for about a year before deciding on my blackbook, and i am not disappointed and have no buyers remorse, knock on wood

2 inches of screen space and a backlit keyboard are not worth $500 to me.

i hope this helps!

jwilke · Jul 3, 2008

sorry to double post, but if i could afford it, the middle mbp with a 30in cinema display would be a dream come true. im 18 though and cant afford or justify that much money right now. plus it would be major overkill for my computing needs, just a kind of 'in a perfect world' and or if i was loaded

Simms · Jul 4, 2008

jwilke said:
for me personally, the macbook is the perfect choice. i bought the top of the line mb (black) and could buy a 20in monitor and upgrade to 4gb of ram for less than the low-end mbp. the processors and cd/dvd drive are the same, and the mb has a larger hdd. gaming wise, the only gaming laptops i know of are thick, big-screened monsters that have poor portability. i have an xbox 360 for games and so have no need for gaming or the dedicated graphics card. i can easily put my mb in its incase sleeve (which fits perfectly in my backpack) and take it anywhere without worrying about dents.

the bottom line is, if you are going to do PROfessional work with dedicated software (photography, music production, video editing) then the mbp is for you and worth the extra money as it has better speakers, more ports, and the matte screen. for casual needs, (itunes, web browsing, watching movies, some light gaming, iwork or ms office) the mb is perfect.

i compared the two for about a year before deciding on my blackbook, and i am not disappointed and have no buyers remorse, knock on wood 2 inches of screen space and a backlit keyboard are not worth $500 to me.

i hope this helps!

Amen to that. Sounds exactly like me. Love my Blackbook it's awesome!

kovalchuk71 · Jul 4, 2008

You guys are talking about how processors between the MB and MBP are different when they are the same... They both use Core 2 duos and the Top end MB is 2.4 while the MBP is 2.5

Oistrakh · Jul 4, 2008

The MB would probably be the perfect laptop for me, if it weren't for the fact that the screen is so small, compared to what I'm used to (I'm tying this on a 23" SHARP LCD Monitor with 500cd/m2 brightness)

rianm7 · Jul 5, 2008

One big thing is the dedicated video card. This offers much better performance for applications like Final Cut or Photoshop. The screen is also much brighter, and I say this from experience -- the last time I went to an Apple Store (one week ago) the Macbook screens looked inferior to the MBP in my opinion.

Hit · Jul 5, 2008

The 13.3" Screen is nice, makes the laptop lots smaller

I prefer 13.3" above 17"

worldsmediashop · Jul 5, 2008

not that much of a differences.. I sell these laptop .. and customer ask me the same question.. I tell them that there is not a big differences unless you are a professional game player or rgraphic editor ...If you are using for school or work.. then i would buy the macbook .. and if you are looking for either macbook or macpro.. i can help you choose the right one at a low price too.

Oistrakh · Jul 5, 2008

I've also read on here that you can't use the MBP on your lap because it gets too hot. Could you use MB on your lap though? It would really suck if I'm in like an Airport or waiting area and can't use an Apple notebook

Also, when I was comparing MB and MBP at a special Mac store in a hotel, the MB screen seemed brighter than the MBP Matte Screen. This particular store didn't have MBP Glossy Screen. Is the MBP Matte screen supposed to be a lot dimmer than the MB screen?

darrenscerri · Jul 9, 2008

rianm7 said:
One big thing is the dedicated video card. This offers much better performance for applications like Final Cut or Photoshop. The screen is also much brighter, and I say this from experience -- the last time I went to an Apple Store (one week ago) the Macbook screens looked inferior to the MBP in my opinion.

If I am not mistaken, the dedicated video card does not make any (significant) difference in Photoshop and Final Cut as their main resource is the CPU.

kristian · Jul 10, 2008

If the real meaning behind this thread is to find out which MacBook you should buy, you can really find a happy medium with settling for the black MacBook, the highest of the MacBooks.

Don't get me wrong, even the lowest end of the pro's are unreal, but the black macbook definitely gives it a run for it's money and has almost the same specs as it for 500$ cheaper.

Hit · Jul 10, 2008

Kristian
The Black macbook is not the best option
Because the White 2.4 macbook has exactly the same specs expect of 90GB smaller Harddisk and its 200 Euro cheaper
So the black macbook costs 200 Euro more for only a 90GB HDD
Unless you want a black macbook, the white 2.4ghz macbook is a better option

If you consider the white 2.1ghz macbook or 2.4Ghz white macbook the 2.4Ghz is definitely a better option for 200 Euro more you get:
0.3Ghz Extra CPU Speed
1GB more RAM
40GB More space
A Super Drive

cwa107 · Jul 10, 2008

Oistrakh said:
I've also read on here that you can't use the MBP on your lap because it gets too hot. Could you use MB on your lap though? It would really suck if I'm in like an Airport or waiting area and can't use an Apple notebook

Most major computer manufacturers have stopped using the term "laptop" to refer to portable computers. The reason for this is that most of them are not designed to be comfortably used on that kind of a surface. With that said, I have no problem using my MBP on my laptop - and I'd imagine the standard MB is even cooler. Even older versions of the MBP (I had an original Core Duo 2GHz model) ran fairly cool if their thermal paste was applied properly at the factory.

Also, when I was comparing MB and MBP at a special Mac store in a hotel, the MB screen seemed brighter than the MBP Matte Screen. This particular store didn't have MBP Glossy Screen. Is the MBP Matte screen supposed to be a lot dimmer than the MB screen?

The MBP screens in the latest models should be significantly brighter than the MB screen when turned up all the way. At lower brightness levels, the two are comparable. What really makes the LED backlit models shine is the fact that the backlight comes on instantaneously at full brightness. Screens that use CCFL backlighting tend to take a few seconds to "warm up" before they're at their full potential.

Having owned both a matte and glossy MBP, I do feel like the contrast levels are much better on the glossy model (or at least they seem to be). Everything on the matte version looked washed out to me, and blacks were gray.

Arthur_the_Mac · Jul 10, 2008

Here is one if you buy a MacBook Pro people will think you are a nerd cause you could have just got a MacBook and it wouldn't have been more expensive

cwa107 · Jul 10, 2008

Arthur_the_Mac said:
Here is one if you buy a MacBook Pro people will think you are a nerd cause you could have just got a MacBook and it wouldn't have been more expensive

C'mon now, there are plenty of valid reasons to buy a MacBook Pro over a standard MacBook. It might not make sense for you personally, but that's no reason to insult those that do.

Andre · Jul 12, 2008

I went through this dilemma 2 months ago, and opted for the MBP. I am a computer science student, so I do some light programming and thought the graphics card was worth the extra money. As a brand new Mac user, I almost went with the MB instead because of the keyboard, but I ended up buying a wireless keyboard/mouse with the money I saved from the ADC discount.

As for the heat, it isn't so bad until summer hits, and lately, I've had to put a fan next to me blowing directly onto the laptop (and on me; it's 30 degrees outside!) to keep it reasonably cool.

As a side note, I would take the larger HD over the faster HD (I bought the 7200 200gb drive), mostly because I don't do any HD intensive tasks, and who couldn't use an extra 100gb of storage?

macwannabe · Jul 12, 2008

Andre said:
As a side note, I would take the larger HD over the faster HD (I bought the 7200 200gb drive), mostly because I don't do any HD intensive tasks, and who couldn't use an extra 100gb of storage?

why not go for both and get the 7200 320GB onsale.com

Andre · Jul 12, 2008

macwannabe said:
why not go for both and get the 7200 320GB onsale.com

I've heard some people say that 7200rpm uses more battery power, but I don't know if it would be noticible. Have you compared the WD to a 5400rpm equivalent for power usage?

Oistrakh · Jul 13, 2008

erggg, still trying to decide to buy Macbook or Macbook Pro and still don't know WHEN to buy either of them, considering there are imminent updates... I just hope the Apple Stores don't run out of these notebooks