Help me with a quick comparison...

Ok everyone, bear with me and help me out. Im pretty indecisive.


Mac Book Pro
15.4" 1440x900
2.0ghz
ATI Raedon X1600 128mb
80gig 5400rpm
* Height: 1.0 inch (2.59 cm)
* Width: 14.1 inches (35.7 cm)
* Depth: 9.6 inches (24.3 cm)
* Weight: 5.6 pounds (2.54 kg)

$2,038 w/ AppleCare

MacBook
13.3" 1280x800
2.0ghz
Shared 64mb Memory
80gig 5400rpm
* Height: 1.08 inches (2.75 cm)
* Width: 12.78 inches (32.5 cm)
* Depth: 8.92 inches (22.7 cm)
* Weight: 5.2 pounds (2.36 kg)

$1,427 w/ AppleCare

So, aside from design, size, 2 inches of screen space and a backlit keyboard, the main difference I see is the video ram. Now, I would upgrade the ram in either one of these machines, so whether its 2x256 or 1x512 already installed doesnt matter...

My question is this, how much of an improvement would the regular MacBook , with its intergrated video be over my 32mb Raedon 9200 G4 iBook?
I am looking to use Final Cut and PhotoShop. I can run both on my iBook, but I want a bigger and brighter screen, and I want to do things a little faster.

I dont know if I can justify spending $600 more for a video card and 2" of screen.

I think either screen would be a big improvement over my 12" iBook display.

Price is a factor, otherwise I would obviously just purchase the MacBook Pro..


Thanks in advance.

Anyone?

Well if price is a factor then I don't think you have much of a choice, but if you really can afford the macbook pro the seperate video card will really help out alot.

Greenredfield said:

Ok everyone, bear with me and help me out. Im pretty indecisive.

Click to expand...

Okay, but it seems to me that you don't really have an issue with this decision...

Greenredfield said:

I dont know if I can justify spending $600 more for a video card and 2" of screen.

I think either screen would be a big improvement over my 12" iBook display.

Price is a factor, otherwise I would obviously just purchase the MacBook Pro..

Click to expand...

...it would seem to me that you have already made up your mind to get the MacBook. :black: You are going to be adding more RAM to it anyway, so you will have a fine machine for your needs with the MacBook.

I guess my question would more along the lines of this; do you feel that the MacBook Pro justifies an additional $600?

Greenredfield said:

I guess my question would more along the lines of this; do you feel that the MacBook Pro justifies an additional $600?

Click to expand...

If you're a professional doing professional grade work each and every day on a regular basis as your livelyhood to earn your living...yes, it is worth it.
If you aren't a professional and don't meet the aforementioned statement, then no you don't need a MacBook Pro and you can save your cash. :black:

I agree with D3v1L80Y, for example, I have friends who jsut fool around editing with final cut pro, photoshop, etc, etc. I however, use my computer to make money to support myself and to give myself extra money to spend.. I would not buy less then the macbook pro, but I would not tell my friends to buy it since they are just fooling around, they don't depend on their computer for money.

Ok thanks guys, my last question is this.

How much of an improvement is the intergrated intel 64mb video than my raedon 9200 32mb?

Are programs of this nature primarily effected by system ram and processor?

Hmm, I guess thats two questions...

Thanks again.

I am not sure, but I think that the macbook can handle what ever the 32mb card can handle in osx, its not the best card, but its not absolutly horrible.

It will do better in windows then it does in osx. Apple underclocked the card under osx to only take 64mb of video ram, while in windows the more system ram you have the more video ram it will take. ( I am not sure weather apple did that for performance of the system so the system has more ram to access, or if they underclocked it due to heat?)

maybe somebody else on these forums will have a better answer.