Hi,
I'm buying a laptop for school (IB) and am looking at either a MacBook or MacBook Pro 13". However, I am having a hard time deciding between the two, as they are both great computers. The main things I'm considering are:
1. Durability: I'm not going to be throwing it around, but I don't want something that will scratch if one of my little sisters grab it with their fingernails. It will be kept in a sleeve (most likely neoprene), and will also be carried around my house and school.
2. Performance: Both models are 2.4GHz with 250GB, but one has 2GB of RAM vs 4GB of RAM. I don't need an i-# series processor for what I'm doing, so will the RAM make much difference? They both claim to have 10hrs of battery life - would the higher graphics card in the Pro use this faster than in a regular MacBook?
3. Compatibility: I have USB cords for everything I need, but the SD reader in the Pro would be nice.
4. Wireless: I will be using it on wireless only, and in a few different places: home, friend/family homes, school and work. I've heard that some older model Pros didn't have very good wireless reception because of the aluminum, but I asked at a local university dealer where they said that the antenna had been moved to the top corner of the screen. Is this true?
5. Portability: 4.5lbs and 4.7lbs are not a great difference, but large screens (such as TV screens) give me headaches after looking at them for any amount of time. Also, the computer will be doing a fair bit of travel so I would like a smaller screen.
I'm going to be using the computer for:
Music, word processing (most likely OOO Aqua, but iWork '09 or Office '08 may be installed), internet (a fair bit of research), watching movies, Skype, Google SketchUp, Adobe Digital Editions, and a little bit of light photo editing (fixing color, red eye).
Things that I'm not concerned about are:
Blu-Ray, HDMI output, audio/video output, Boot Camp, price. I do not play video games so the graphics card is not of great consideration. I'm also not worried much about Windows compatibility as every computer I will need to work with can view a PDF, and there is a family computer running XP.
Any opinions on this would be lovely, thanks!
I'm buying a laptop for school (IB) and am looking at either a MacBook or MacBook Pro 13". However, I am having a hard time deciding between the two, as they are both great computers. The main things I'm considering are:
1. Durability: I'm not going to be throwing it around, but I don't want something that will scratch if one of my little sisters grab it with their fingernails. It will be kept in a sleeve (most likely neoprene), and will also be carried around my house and school.
2. Performance: Both models are 2.4GHz with 250GB, but one has 2GB of RAM vs 4GB of RAM. I don't need an i-# series processor for what I'm doing, so will the RAM make much difference? They both claim to have 10hrs of battery life - would the higher graphics card in the Pro use this faster than in a regular MacBook?
3. Compatibility: I have USB cords for everything I need, but the SD reader in the Pro would be nice.
4. Wireless: I will be using it on wireless only, and in a few different places: home, friend/family homes, school and work. I've heard that some older model Pros didn't have very good wireless reception because of the aluminum, but I asked at a local university dealer where they said that the antenna had been moved to the top corner of the screen. Is this true?
5. Portability: 4.5lbs and 4.7lbs are not a great difference, but large screens (such as TV screens) give me headaches after looking at them for any amount of time. Also, the computer will be doing a fair bit of travel so I would like a smaller screen.
I'm going to be using the computer for:
Music, word processing (most likely OOO Aqua, but iWork '09 or Office '08 may be installed), internet (a fair bit of research), watching movies, Skype, Google SketchUp, Adobe Digital Editions, and a little bit of light photo editing (fixing color, red eye).
Things that I'm not concerned about are:
Blu-Ray, HDMI output, audio/video output, Boot Camp, price. I do not play video games so the graphics card is not of great consideration. I'm also not worried much about Windows compatibility as every computer I will need to work with can view a PDF, and there is a family computer running XP.
Any opinions on this would be lovely, thanks!