Should I get Macbook or Macbook Pro?

I am going to get a mac soon, hopefully laptop, and am undecided between the Macbook or macbook Pro.
Well first, here's what I plan to use it for: Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop (some graphics design), Macromedia Studio 8 (web page development), itunes, very few if any games, and Quicken. I kind of will use a wide variety of programs. As well, since I currently have a windows laptop I am undecided between keeping that or selling it to get a nice mac laptop that I'd then run Parallels or Bootcamp.
First, for differences I can tell the graphics in the macbook pro is better. Is this a big step up? I know the screen size is larger which I like. As well, one thing that caught my eye is the Macbook Pro has a Expresscard/34 slot which I assume is similar to a PCMCIA card in a windows system. How important are these? I know in the windows laptop I have a pcmcia card which reads memory sticks, sd cards ,etc. and if I'm right the macbooks don't read these. Are there many cards for the mac though or do most items connect through USB?
Last, I had looked heaviliy at mac minis and know they and maybe imacs are in for a upgrade within a couple weeks (to meron chips possibly). Are there any changes due for the macbook or macbook pro? I could easily put my purchase off until late October.

Well the notebooks will also be upgraded to the core2duo architecture sooner or later, but when is anyone's guess really.

Expresscard is the successor to the PCMCIA standard, so you should see lots of peripherals coming out as it is adopted by more PC manufacturers as well. The real "killer-app" for the slot seems to be UMTS/EVDO cards though, everything else can be found as a USB version.

For your uses the macbook would probably suffice as you don't seem to have any graphically intensive apps mentioned there. But the larger screen is quite nice

^What if he wanted to run Final Cut Express, then would you suggest he get the MBP?

Not necessarily. FCE will run on both systems nearly equally well, although the MBP will do better with unrendered previews.

The only apps where I'd strongly recommend the MBP are Motion, Shake and anything else that involves complex 3D rendering. Also heavy gamers will appreciate the better performance in the Pro.

i just purchased a Macbook, and i run all the apps you just mentioned perfectly.
And the screen size is perfect.
I suggest the MacBook.

I would probably go with the macbook, I have the macbook pro and the screen size is larger than you think once you finally get it in the mail. although if you have went to an apple store or something and have acutally tried them out and like the bigger screen then go with the mbp. Either way, I don't think you can go wrong

I think I will go to a Apple store to compare screen sizes. I did leave out I plan to do some video editing, taking in video from a camcorder and using a program such as final Cut Pro to edit and burn DVD's but 3d rendering and games are two things I won't do.
I currently have Cingular and use the bluetooth to tether with my own laptop for internet on the go. This is currently slow speed but soon theya re going to broadband speed but at that time I will still tether with bluetooth, not use a UTMS card.

What's you're budget? I mean, if you can afford it, why not go Pro?

Well I could afford the Pro but obviously want to save money if possible. I just don't want to get something that months later I want to upgrade but for now I'm holding off to see if anything comes out new. I can easily wait well into Oct. to make a purchase. Of course buying now would be nice

go with the MBP, if possible.

wait until after september 12th

why do you say wait? I have a g4 ibook and am about to get the pro, but was just curious as to why i should wait (I wouldnt be able to get it until after that date anywyas).

Any reason I would want to wait until 2007 or summer of 2007? I just want to have it before college but can hardly wait and might get one sooner; but I wonder if there would be any advantages/ improvements in the future that I should wait for. Like when is leopard coming out?

markw10 said:

...I did leave out I plan to do some video editing, taking in video from a camcorder and using a program such as final Cut Pro to edit and burn DVD's...

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I'm trying to decide which to get also. The only reason I'm considering a Macbook Pro over the Macbook would be for doing a bunch of video editing. For video editing, will i notice much of a difference? I don't want to shell out an extra $500 or so for an upgrade that wouldn't be a significant benefit to me.

I think the main benefit you would see regarding the MBP over the MB would be screen size. Im faced with the same dilemma, yet I cant really justify spending $500 more for basically a 2" larger screen. A larger screen would make editing easier.

i think you're also missing the point of the graphics card, the mbp's is much better.

^He doesnt plan on running many intense 3D programs.

He said he will be doing some video editing though. Buy a macbook pro after the 25th. By then you will get the new processors and when you start doing some editing you will be happy you went with the pro.

People underestimate the power of the graphics card when doing video editing. The graphics card is a very important part of the puzzle. With the RTE effects of FCP not having the graphics card would make it very slow, or may not function at all when trying to preview your work in real time. If you are doing something extremely complex this will help you to see if the effect is how you like it before you waste time rendering only to decide it is not good enough for what your project is. I feel that if you are going to be doing any video editing at all, the pro is the way to go, unless you are sticking with iMovie which you are not.

This thread was helpful to me in deciding which way to go. Unlike markw10 (thread creator), I'll most likely just use iMovie for any editing I do. I'm going to go with the white Macbook w/ superdrive. It sounds like that should be sufficient for me.

topgun072003 said:

He said he will be doing some video editing though. Buy a macbook pro after the 25th. By then you will get the new processors and when you start doing some editing you will be happy you went with the pro.

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Is this a certainty?