Convince me or I will go insane.

hey guys for the past few weeks my brain has been tormenting me in deciding which mac to get.

I was going to get a macbook here (uk) but then a refurb macbook pro in the US is not that much more (family going out there in october).

What does the mbp have over the standard macbook, apart from:

- aluminium finish
- graphics
- santa rosa
- larger screen
- more standard ram

My main concern, actually only concern, is the macbook pro being too heavy/large for moving about with? I wont move around too much with it, but I dont want it to be a pain in the neck when I do so. I am currently writing this on a acer 3610, which is to be honest, awful. Overheats, loud fans, pretty large and heavy - same size screen as mbp and weights 2.75kg.

Maybe this question will cure my irrational fear, can you pick up the macbook pro with one hand without too much difficulty?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

 

both are good laptops.

the new mbp has santa rosa, i don't know if the refurbs do... maybe.

slightly faster processor, backlit keyboard, considerably brighter screen (if santa rosa), it has some more ports. thats basically it. maybe a better cd drive standard.

 

Weight is not much of an issue, 2.45kg v 2.35kg and they're pretty small-looking for a 15", though if you care about dimensions, you might still prefer the smaller one.

However, if you're concerned about overheating (at least on the outside) and you won't use the GPU - go for the Macbook (or wait for the refresh). Aluminium cooling so it's sort of warm when it's in use.

But for Macbook sort of specs/pricing, you can easily go for another brand with similar dimensions/weight AND newer innards unless if Mac OSX really appeals to you.

 

Well, if you can pick up the MacBook you can most likely pick up the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is only slightly (really, just slightly) heavier than the MacBook (not even a pound heavier).

My personal opinion is if you can afford it and don't mind the slightly larger size get the MacBook Pro.

 

salient differences b/w macbook and macbook pro -
1. macbook has integrated graphics... while the pro has dedicated gpu.... to the tune of 128/256 mb... so if u like gaming a lot... that's something u'ld want to figure.
2. weight wise there's hardly a difference and the mbp still has one of the sleekest form factors for its class.... portability is not an issue
3. Backlit keyboard is present in the mbp ... good for using the notebook in low light... feature is not present in macbook
5. to the best of my knowledge, the displays are different ... macbook is a tft display.. while the mbp is tft led ... just a newer techology...
6. Battery life wise, the mbp can realistically run about 3-3.5 hrs ... i'm not sure about how long a macbook can run... check that out if long battery life is something u absolutely need....
7. Macbook can be upgraded to a max of 3 gb of ram ... macbookpro can use 4 gb...

hope these differences help u in figuring out wht u need more...

 

I went with a MB as imo 13" is a good size for a laptop, I also (maybe strangely) prefer the look of the white MB over all the other ones currently. I do use mine with an external monitor at home though and if that was not the case I'd have to re-think it all especially as the MB has a glossy screen.

Specs wise unless you want games or anything graphically intensive I doubt you'd see any significant performance differences especially if you max out the MB's ram.

 

The macbook specs will tell you it runs for 6 hours which it probably can under special circumstances but I usually get around 4 and a half hours.

 

The mbp's refurbs are santa rosa.

Can any of you guestimate when the macbook refreshw will be?

 

Nobody but apple knows the answer to that question but most mac rumour sites are predicting a refresh around the time leopard is released (october)

 

October. If not October, then they'll wait for Penryn in 2008.

 

As I said, if you NEED a laptop now, and you WANT Santa Rosa, don't go for a Macbook. Why don't you post in the general "What Should I Buy" forum, since John Ratsey from the UK seems to recommend the new good ultraportables on 13.3" or less (don't know much about them myself).

The MBP is a different story...

 

I like the Macbook pro's keyboard better than the macbook.