Blackbook or Pro?

Hi, I'm intending to get a new laptop around Christmas this year and I'm pretty set on it being a mac. I've decided on getting a blackbook (black macbook) with the 13" screen and upgrading to 2GB of RAM. However, I've got a friend who thinks it'd be better to go with the 15" Pro that comes with 2GB of RAM preinstalled and take the 40GB HDD reduction to 120 GB. Anybody got any advice?

*Note, I'll also be getting a bunch of accessories... bringing the price up about 150-200.

Depends on your needs and what youll use it for.

But in almost every case, youll be better off with the Pro.

What exactly do you plan on using it for? If you're a student and need it only for the basics along with lugging it around with you all day, then I would suggest the Macbook for its portability and small footprint. But if the applications you plan on running require a bit more horsepower or if you don't care much for portability, then the Macbook Pro is the clear choice.

I'm a student, so it's not like I'll be using it for gaming or anything (not that that's true in any case), but my friend says he'd give up HDD space for screen real estate any day o' the week. Oh, and does the Pro collect fingerprints like the Blackbook does?

get the pro. Initially I was using my MBP for really light duty work, but ended up doing a lot more with it. Go with the 15". I'm really happy that I didn't go with the 17". It would have been too bulky to carry around. Plus if you want screen real estate you can always go with the external monitor. (next on my list)

if you ain't going to be using it for games or the graphics card then you mite as well get the blackbook

I've got a Blackbook and I love it, but if you could really get either, I'd get the Pro. It's a better build quality, gets the backlit keyboard, has a larger screen, gets firewire 800, can connect to cinema screens without adapters, has better speakers and has a pretty decent quality dedicated GPU.

The Blackbook weighs about the same (don't be fooled by it's 'smaller size') and it is also thicker. The footprint of the MBP is not that much larger and should still fit snugly in an appropriate rucksack.

I had the same choice as you, and slightly regret my decision. Get the Pro.

I just brought my first Mac few weeks ago, I was having a problem to choose between Black MB or MBP too. I end up brought the white MacBook since its much cheaper and only 40G HD difference, so I used the extra saving to upgrade to 2G ram and got iWork08. I am a bit regret didn't get MBP but I thk most people recommended MBP are more experienced in using Mac and possibly using it for professional purposes. Being a new user, i am more than happy of what I got now and the performance of similar spec PC is no match to Macbook, let alone MBP. (Also i think MB look better than MBP )

So finally my opinion to you is either to blow your bugget on a MBP or get MB and use the saving to get extra bits.. (of course you can do both if you ar rich ;D )

Leungsunfu said:

I just brought my first Mac few weeks ago, I was having a problem to choose between Black MB or MBP too. I end up brought the white MacBook since its much cheaper and only 40G HD difference, so I used the extra saving to upgrade to 2G ram and got iWork08. I am a bit regret didn't get MBP but I thk most people recommended MBP are more experienced in using Mac and possibly using it for professional purposes. Being a new user, i am more than happy of what I got now and the performance of similar spec PC is no match to Macbook, let alone MBP. (Also i think MB look better than MBP )

So finally my opinion to you is either to blow your bugget on a MBP or get MB and use the saving to get extra bits.. (of course you can do both if you ar rich ;D )

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^ No, I'm definitely not rich. unfortunately... but I've got the same thoughts. The Blackbook definitely has a better design than that of the Pro, and black matte beats silver/chrome detailing any day. Yeah... I think I'll go with the BMB. You guys wouldn't say that 13" is too much of an eyesore, would you? Honestly, screen size is the biggest issue for me on this-- that's what we're debating for; I think it's a little small, sure, but 15" isn't that much of an increase. Also like the keyboard on the Blackbook better, anyone able to provide comparative reviews for the keyboards? The styling on the Pro isn't appealing to me-- and the backlit keys aren't much of a drawback either. I've got the keyboard pretty well memorized from years of typing.

I am a switched Windows user, I jumped in to the deep end of the pool with my first Mac, in the form of a MacBook Pro 17. Screen real estate was my primary concern. I couldn't be happier with the screen or functionality. I also find the learning curve from the switch to be minimal.

That said, the case picks up finger prints like mad. Rub marks are starting to show up after only a month of use from where the screen bezel contacts the lower half. The feet that separate the clamshell halves are inadequate.It is a pretty machine though.

I'm no expert but when I saw your post about screen size I had to put my 2$ in... For me even though the macbook I had did all and more it was supposed to do and the quality was there I wasn't using it because of the screen size. After several months sold it because it was just collecting dust. I went through a Dell 17" returned and an HP 17" returned. The quality just wasn't there. I then returned to mac buying a 15" macbook pro and I very satisfied thus far. It's a 2.4 with 2Gigs of RAM. The screen size is fine to me. In the store the 17" looked huge... To me the Pro is an improvement over the macbook. I would also recommend going to a store if possible to actually do a hands on. I went with the intent of a 17" glossy screen and left with a 15" matte...

I've recently purchased the 17" MBP matte screen with the extra high res upgrade (1920 x 1200).

The screen is excellent for my needs. Before this computer, I used a 15" PowerBook for 2.5 years. I never had much of a problem with the 15" screen and found it very serviceable for many of my needs. Being that I'm a graphic design student, I opted for a larger screen when it was time to upgrade.

Honestly, there is a very noticeable difference moving from a 15" to a 17". I would suspect the same is true between a 13" MB and a 15" MBP. I would highly recommend the 15" MBP if screen size is important to you. I think the small MB screen would hurt my eyes after a while.

bump'd

I would say go for the blackbook, I have one and i find its more than capable at doing what i need it for such as website graphics, basic video and photo editing etc... I also think it looks nicer and sleeker than a pro.

Im also a student and i take it to uni with me every day, i wouldent want anything bigger than a macbook. I have a friend in the same class who has a macbook pro, he finds it much more of a pain to get it out and rest it on small lecture desks than I do. he also gets much less battery time from his pro.

Dont be put off from the hardware increase of the pro, The macbooks and especially the blackbooks are not exactly slow laptops that lack power.

Gossimerg said:

That said, the case picks up finger prints like mad. Rub marks are starting to show up after only a month of use from where the screen bezel contacts the lower half. The feet that separate the clamshell halves are inadequate.It is a pretty machine though.

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I honestly recommend getting a keyboard cover - something like this one might do you well. It helps me by a) keeping screen and keyboard from coming in contact and 2) giving a little more separation when it's closed. (The same place has extra-sized feet, too, if you want to go that way.)