Performance difference btwn MB and MBP?

[under_par_00]

Obviously besides 3D gaming, or anything that relies on the video card, are there any major performance differences between the Macbook (Black with 2gb ram, 2.16 Ghz, etc) and the MBP 2.2Ghz?

Do they both have the Santa Rosa chip?

Which would have better battery life?

As far as downloading torrents, playing DVDs, surfing the internet, viewing powerpoint and PDFs, researching/university work (reports). And all of this at the same time, is it worth the extra $450 (CDN) for the pro? Or would the performance be similar?

Thanks

 

[blinkdude182]

Go for the Macbook, it will do what you want and a lot more, just little less than the MBP.

 

[ct_rob12]

lol.. i laugh when people underestimate the macbook (not you btw) by saying it's not capable of running games. do a quick search on youtube "macbook gaming" and you can see the macbook run games like halo, counter strike, world of warcraft and most of the games you can think of. now before the bashing starts... of course the mbp is more capable but the macbook is really capable of running some recent games:

halo being played on the macbook:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUS5nMWil6I

world of warcraft being played on a macbook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnSA-1ophR8

you can do the task yourself... search for other games you'd like to play on it and you'll see. i read your topic and i know it doesn't have to do with the questions you asked but i just wanted to clear that a bit so you can appreciate the capability of the macbook.

 

[reko]

Obviously besides 3D gaming, or anything that relies on the video card, are there any major performance differences between the Macbook (Black with 2gb ram, 2.16 Ghz, etc) and the MBP 2.2Ghz?

Do they both have the Santa Rosa chip?

Which would have better battery life?

As far as downloading torrents, playing DVDs, surfing the internet, viewing powerpoint and PDFs, researching/university work (reports). And all of this at the same time, is it worth the extra $450 (CDN) for the pro? Or would the performance be similar?

Thanks

no santa rosa chip

I think the Macbook Pro 15' has the better battery life due in part to it's LED powered display

but still, the Macbook is MORE than sufficient for what you need

there really isn't that much of a reason to upgrade, plus the Macbook is lighter and more portable

 

[CL33Zero]

For the "busy work" that you are describing, just about any mac could do that VERY easily.

 

[Skyrider007]

Go for the high end MacBook Pro

 

[rjharary]

macbook pro was waaaay too big for me, I'm back to my PB 12" g4 the best computer ever made! I do miss those LEDs though

 

[killedbyinterne]

Go for the high end MacBook Pro

For what the OP said he was going to be using the machine for I don't really understand why you would recommend him a MBP, much less the high end model.

 

[Levi]

The MacBook will do fine, but for an extra $450CDN you might want to consider the MacBook Pro.

- Aluminum enclosure. Not only does it look better but it's more durable.

- Ambient light sensor. Automatically adjusts the screen brightness and keyboard backlight

- Double the RAM

- Dedicated graphics card

- Doesn't need an adapter for an external display

- Larger screen (13" really isn't that much [I find 19" a squeeze sometimes], especially if it's a primary computer)

- FireWire 800 port. You probably wont need this, but it's not a bad thing to have.

- ExpressCard slot so you can add functionality down the road.

- Newer processor.

- The speaker grills look like they'll give better sound.

You do lose some HDD space, about 30 mins battery time, and it is very slightly bigger and heavier though.

Like I say, a MacBook will be fine, but it seems like a small price for a machine that will do a whole lot more and probably last longer.

[EDIT] To answer the original question, processor intensive tasks such as video encoding are almost as quick on the MacBook as the MacBook Pro; but anything that uses the graphics card, or a lot of memory will run a whole lot faster on the Pro.

 

[DJLanglois]

I'm in a very similar situation. I'm hoping to get some feedback, and I'm hoping that Levi will respond to my post as well (since his post was very helpful).

Basically, I'm similarly drawn to the MacBook, but still considering the MBP. It isn't a financial decision (I should be able to afford either); it is a practical decision.

I'm starting a new program in the states in September, and I need a new laptop. 95% of the time, I'm going to be using the laptop for the following: e-mail, word processing and printing, MSN, Skype, iTunes, watching movies, surfing the web, and a little bit of photo editing. Every now and then, I play a game on my computer, but very rarely. And, those games which I do play are not graphics intensive (e.g. Galactic Civilizations, the Civ games, turn-based strategy games, etc.). When I want to play "bigger" games, I use my Wii, 360 or DS.

Portability and battery life are also extremely important to me, because I'm going to be lugging this thing around Boston every day. (I'm getting rid of my current 17" desktop replacement because I'm sick of big laptops with crap batteries.)

So, anyway. Because everything I'm planning on doing is pretty low key, and because I need portability, I'm figuring that the MacBook will be more than sufficient.

My plan, as of this moment, is to get the 2.16ghz white MacBook, with an extra gig of ram (2GB in total), and a 120GB HDD.

But, part of me thinks that I should pay the extra $500 for an MBP. Is there any reason for me to do this, or am I just being silly? I don't care about "light sensors". I certainly don't care about larger screens or external displays (since this thing is almost always going to be used on the go). I don't care about FireWire or an ExpressCard slot. And, in truth, I need something with a long-lasting battery and a compact form. The aluminium case would be nice, but it is hardly a deal breaker.

So, the ultimate question is this: considering that I'll be getting 2GB of RAM in the MacBook, is there any remaining reason for me to consider a MBP? If it is going to perform noticeably better in day-to-day operations, then perhaps I should take the slightly bigger machine and worse battery life. But, if I'm not going to notice a different, day-to-day, then I should stick with the MacBook with 2GB of RAM.

Thoughts?

 

[walkerj]

Portability and battery life are also extremely important to me, because I'm going to be lugging this thing around Boston every day. (I'm getting rid of my current 17" desktop replacement because I'm sick of big laptops with crap batteries.)

So, anyway. Because everything I'm planning on doing is pretty low key, and because I need portability, I'm figuring that the MacBook will be more than sufficient.

My plan, as of this moment, is to get the 2.16ghz white MacBook, with an extra gig of ram (2GB in total), and a 120GB HDD.

But, part of me thinks that I should pay the extra $500 for an MBP. Is there any reason for me to do this, or am I just being silly? I don't care about "light sensors". I certainly don't care about larger screens or external displays (since this thing is almost always going to be used on the go). I don't care about FireWire or an ExpressCard slot. And, in truth, I need something with a long-lasting battery and a compact form. The aluminium case would be nice, but it is hardly a deal breaker.

So, the ultimate question is this: considering that I'll be getting 2GB of RAM in the MacBook, is there any remaining reason for me to consider a MBP? If it is going to perform noticeably better in day-to-day operations, then perhaps I should take the slightly bigger machine and worse battery life. But, if I'm not going to notice a different, day-to-day, then I should stick with the MacBook with 2GB of RAM.

Thoughts?

That MBP is going to be just as not luggable as your old 17" laptop. The Macbook is all about portability, and should serve your needs just fine. The main thing people have issue with is the screen. I've posted this before, but I'm one of those types who like as big a screen as I can get (I'm posting this with my 22" widescreen LCD external at my desk) at the highest resolution possible. Despite this I find the 13.3" LCD of the Macbook to be perfect, and the portability is awesome. When I'm at that office, I have a 20" CRT external available, but rarely use it instead favoring the internal LCD when I'm out and about.

A Macbook (especially one with 2gig of RAM) is exquisitely powerful, and I don't think you're going to miss anything if you don't get the MBP.

 

[Levi]

I'm in a very similar situation. I'm hoping to get some feedback, and I'm hoping that Levi will respond to my post as well (since his post was very helpful).

Basically, I'm similarly drawn to the MacBook, but still considering the MBP. It isn't a financial decision (I should be able to afford either); it is a practical decision.

I'm starting a new program in the states in September, and I need a new laptop. 95% of the time, I'm going to be using the laptop for the following: e-mail, word processing and printing, MSN, Skype, iTunes, watching movies, surfing the web, and a little bit of photo editing. Every now and then, I play a game on my computer, but very rarely. And, those games which I do play are not graphics intensive (e.g. Galactic Civilizations, the Civ games, turn-based strategy games, etc.). When I want to play "bigger" games, I use my Wii, 360 or DS.

Portability and battery life are also extremely important to me, because I'm going to be lugging this thing around Boston every day. (I'm getting rid of my current 17" desktop replacement because I'm sick of big laptops with crap batteries.)

So, anyway. Because everything I'm planning on doing is pretty low key, and because I need portability, I'm figuring that the MacBook will be more than sufficient.

My plan, as of this moment, is to get the 2.16ghz white MacBook, with an extra gig of ram (2GB in total), and a 120GB HDD.

But, part of me thinks that I should pay the extra $500 for an MBP. Is there any reason for me to do this, or am I just being silly? I don't care about "light sensors". I certainly don't care about larger screens or external displays (since this thing is almost always going to be used on the go). I don't care about FireWire or an ExpressCard slot. And, in truth, I need something with a long-lasting battery and a compact form. The aluminium case would be nice, but it is hardly a deal breaker.

So, the ultimate question is this: considering that I'll be getting 2GB of RAM in the MacBook, is there any remaining reason for me to consider a MBP? If it is going to perform noticeably better in day-to-day operations, then perhaps I should take the slightly bigger machine and worse battery life. But, if I'm not going to notice a different, day-to-day, then I should stick with the MacBook with 2GB of RAM.

Thoughts?

I think you'd end up disliking the MBP judging from your post. It sounds like the MBP is a negative in everyway, except the alminium... like you say, hardly a deal-breaker.

From what you'll be doing, I don't think you'd notice the difference in performance in those tasks. The MBP might shave 5 seconds off ripping a CD, or processing some tricky Photoshop filters, but you're not going to even notice it.

 

[reko]

really for the tasks you guys are talking about

it's almost ludicrous to get a MBP

a regular macbook will handle all that with stride

I even made movies and such, had no problem transferring it to the comp through firewire, and then encoding it for DVD

no probs, whatsoever

my buddy is a web designer, has the same setup (macbook, default setup, 2.16 with the superdrive, yada yada yada) and has no problems doing his work

for what's being described in this thread

definitely, hands down, macbook (get the one with the superdrive)

I will say though, one things that has bothered me is the stock speakers on the macbook, which are pure, unadulterated crap

I'd makes sure to have some good headphones or perhaps a good speaker set for home use

 

[DJLanglois]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. You've helped to reassure me that I'm doing the right thing by getting the MacBook.

Besides the aluminium case, there's not much about the MBP that is of any serious positive consequence for me. And, I am now pretty convinced that the extra size and weight, and the shorter battery life, are major detracting factors. Sure, I bet that at some point over the next couple of years, I will stumble across some game that won't run on the MacBook which I'd like to play... but, it would be so rare, and so unimportant, that I can't view it as a deciding factor. (Besides, I should be using my computer for work, not for play. I'm going to have a busy few years. And, if I need to game, I've got my DS and Wii.)

So, yeah. Thank you very much to walkerj, Levi and reko. You've all been extremely helpful!