Help choosing

I Currently have a dell pc:

1.6 processor
20hd
128 of ram and it is slow

I have been reading into mac's and that they are superior to pc's. Cost wise a macbook fits the bill. My needs are photo editing(wife has a dslr camera), video editing(just family movies mainly), resume's, internet use etc....... I will be adding Windows XP. I'm new to mac's and never used one before but feel comfortable purchasing one but not sure which one, macbook or macbook pro. The main reason that I want a laptop is that our family is growing so I want to try to avoid a stationary computer and computer desk(freeing up room), would like to be able to sit at the kitchen table, sofa, work outside while the kids are playing.

My budget is right around $2000.00ish plus taxes in Canadian dollars. Hopefully someone can give me some idea's and point me in the right direction so I can finally join the mac family. Thanks.

Well if you are going to use it for lots of things at one time or things such as (as you mentioned) video editing i would recommend a MBP.

I'm sure I could sqeeze abit more out of the wallet. Which macbook pro would you recommend? Would the entry level pro be sufficent? Should I worry about the pro's hard drive having a slow RPM?

If your just going to edit the odd home movie once in a while, then a macbook would do you fine, you might want to upgrade to 2gb ram however.

If your going to be editing home movies extensively then a macbook pro would be better.

shahvikram123 said:

If your going to be editing home movies extensively then a macbook pro would be better.

Click to expand...

Thats the idea i got which is why I said a MBP. I would have thought the entry level is perfectly good enough however!

We will be editing photo's extensively but not video's. Video editing is really just for home movie's, maybe 5 times per month. My wife is into pro photography so as long as whatever machine I get can handle extensive photo editing and about 5 times per month for video editing then that is good. I can get:

Apple Macbook $2002.00
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
200GB Serial ATA @ 4200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter
Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth

OR

Macbook Pro for about $2500.00
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
200GB Serial ATA Drive @ 4200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
Accessory Kit

Macbook pro is alittle out of my comfort zone financially but it can be done.

Go for
Apple Macbook $2002.00
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
200GB Serial ATA @ 4200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter
Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth

thats your best option i'd say if your only doing photos you could even go fro top end MB and upgrade the ram if your on a budget

take a look at this this should help you it's a bit out of date but none the less:
Buying a Mac

Normally I'd say that a 2GB equipped Macbook would fit your bill nicely, save for perhaps the video editing (and even then it would be fine), but the caveat for many would be the screen. It's a little small. I don't really have much problem with my Macbook's screen, and until I got this beautiful 22" widescreen LCD to run spanned I happily used my 13.3" screen with the 20" CRT that the LCD replaced dark. However you stated that you want a more portable kind of thing that you can take wherever in the house (which my wife does all the time even if I typically stay at the desk) so while the Macbook is outstanding on the portability side, you don't want to be chained to a desk.

Thus I would say that for your needs, your going to be better served with the MBP with the larger screen for better on-the-go 'real estate'. Don't get me wrong, I (once again) find the 13.3" perfect most of the time, but it sure is nice when I get home and span-up for photo/audio/video editing. You will probably want more and the MBP in addition to the slightly (with the 15") bigger screen it also does higher resolution while still maintaining the portability. We have a MBP at the office, and the few times I've fired it up the screen is gorgeous!