for design students: macbook or pro?

just to start: I’m a powerbook guy, a G4 that I have loved and used for over 3 years. It’s falling behind in its useabilty and I hope to get myself some brand new top-of-the-line core N duo when the time comes around; but for now I’m here on these forums for another reason.

My sister in law has just started design school last semester and already she’s feeling the pinch from trying to cram in all her work before the computer labs close at 8:30. [italian computer labs. my stateside lab hours ran deep deep deep into the night on Sun Indigos a decade ago.]

A professor told her class that each and every one of them should get a macbook pro because it has a dedicated graphics card and better for what they will be doing in the school. Now she’s busting my working-class parents-in-law for this silver thing that they don’t understand the use of.
The problem is: she is unable to back up her request for this macbook pro (which is horrendously expensive in Italy) because her only experience of any graphic programs up until this point is the one that came with her digital camera for a cobbled-together PC the family has back at home.

When I try to explain to her that even my old pbG4 is basically good enough for the kind of things she’s doing (I’m talking normal design programs, they aren’t asking her to do any HD editing or 3D rendered or realtime animations on her own laptop in her freshman year) she just repeats what this one professor said, ‘dedicated graphics capability.’ But I have doubts, as her computer literacy is not the best, as I’ve (merely) touched on above. To a lesser degree I am apprehensive in trusting any Italian’s judgement on what machine is better for what job, as I’ve encountered an overwhelming amount of uninformed or misinformed techies in this country. [i hope i ain’t offendin no one with that, just my experience.]

I’ve been reading specs, benchmarks, and user reviews between MBs and MBPs and it seems that for a 1st/2nd year design student, a new Macbook more than does the job. Except for the lack of FW800 it seems leaps and bounds over my current G4 in every way. Money -is- a question for this family, so I am trying to help them make the right decision.

Am I right here? Is this mysterious professor just saying “Yeah get the best one because it’s the best and you are all rich people here at this school so it won’t be a problem,” or does he know something I don’t?

sorry for the length, hope someone can help

Doesn't the G4 powerbooks have dedicated graphics cards in them? I think that a used powerbook should do the trick.

I know a lot of people in my graphic design class that use 14" iBooks and have no problems. We use photoshop cs2, illustrator cs2, indesign cs2, flash 8, and dreamweaver 8. I think if money is an issue, which you said it is, a macbook should be fine. If a 2 year old 14" iBook can run these programs, a new macbook can definitely run it.

i think another thing to consider (im fairly new to macs so here is my understanding) is what she is going to be running at the same time for her work. Ive just got a new intel based Mac Pro and upgraded to 2gb - why? because i need to run web browser, text editor, dreamweaver and photoshop at the same time while doing my web design work so wanted the 2gb so they could all run smooth

As for graphics, ive done web and graphic design on 6 year old dells that would struggle to even play low end graphic games, so depending on what work it is she will be doing, depends on what system she will need. The only reason i went for upgrade to ATi x1900GT 512MB is due to the fact im going to be doing 3d rendering, film production and animation work as well.

What sort of work is it she is going to be doing? What programs will she be working with over the next couple of years?

Also check to see if her school can get her discount at apple or shop around for a 2nd hand one or a re-furb?

Good luck!

joe,
thanks for the input. This is one problem, she isnt sure what programs she needs. I am going to find this stuff out for sure though, but its difficult to get this info out of someone who's never used computers before except for simple PC stuff.
She's great at design, but contrary to american schools, she went to a design-centered high school and they do everything by hand there.

But anyway, all in all my understanding of the MB vs the MBP, multitasking is a question of how much ram, not whether or not you have a graphics card; so the thing will be slow with that much stuff open if you've got 512 on either the MB or the MBP, right?

As for the suggesions on getting a normal powerbook, i think that is a bad idea as all the software is migrating to intel and the powerbooks are just getting slower and slower in comparison. Plus they have the problems i currently have with mine, which has been crippled and relagated to running as a desktop sitting upside-down connected to this 19" monitor (a year ago the monitor stopped showing the bottom 1/3 of the screen), with my non-magnetic powercord occasionally not working at all, maknig me fiddle with it for a minute.

Im currently studying BSc Computer Animation which is a range of different creative media technologies such as web and graphic design, film producing, animation, 3d work etc. For all the graphics side of things we are taught on the adobe apps - mainly photoshop and macromedia apps - flash and dreamweaver. Also when i was at college studying Media and Film i was also taught on adobe applications - again mainly photoshop.

So im sure she will be taught on adobe and macromedia apps

I think its a big ask for a professor to tell his students that they should go out and buy a macbook pro, maybe she can speak to him to see in her school can help her with the purchase? Education discount from apple?

Also is it a macbook she wants, is an imac not an option? or does the professor suggest the pupils bring there macbooks into class in order to work from?

Unless she is going to do alot of graphics heavy rendering work, i cant see the real need to have the uber spec graphics card in there, but im sure some other guys on the forum will be able to give better guidance for this.

I've been trying to figure out which to buy also. The only REAL difference I see between the two is the graphics card. But I'm not sure how big a difference it will make.