Macbook Pro or Macbook with external monitor?

I'm torn between the two setups. I don't need the extra power that the Macbook Pro offers, but I would like a screen larger than 13", and the Pro is the only one that offers that. An external monitor would be nice, but it takes up room and can't be easily moved like a notebook. The extra portability of the Macbook might be nice though. A Macbook with an external monitor would cost less too. Anybody have suggestions?

 

What are you going to be doing on your Mac?

 

I'll be using the internet, listening to music in itunes, doing a bit of photo and movie editing, and music editing with garageband.

 

I think for you then, the MacBook is the right choice .

For the money you save on not getting a MBP, you can get a nice 22-inch or 24-inch display with money to spare .

 

I agree with Sam... go with a MacBook (perhaps the middle configuration: white MacBook with SuperDrive) and then use the money you'd save to buy a nice widescreen LCD... 20+ inches.

 

... or buy MB and find out you don't need anything bigger. Many people have this dilemma - they don't need the power of MBP but think that 13" is too small. MB is a wise choice! Play around with it for a while and then make a decision if an external monitor is needed.

I bought a MBP but I am thinking about an external display. On the other hand, with properly configured spaces the problem disappears.

 

That might actually happen... People have told me that the Mac OS makes things seem bigger than they really are. I've never actually sat down with a Macbook. Also, I think that the MB is nicer looking than the MBP. Anyway, I'll see what happens when I go to the Apple store in a few days. Thanks for all of the help everyone.

 

Spaces can give you a lot more room, too - make sure to take advantage of that when you get your computer (whichever you do choose).

 

I don't think it's because the OS makes things seem "bigger than they really are"; but rather that the GUI is so elegantly designed, that everything 'fits in' harmoniously on the screen. You really have to use MacOS to have some sense of the elegance of the interface. In MacOS, the way screen space is used, the way windows behave, the way objects on the screen guide one's gaze, etc. etc. are quite radically different from how things are with Windows. (13" *might* be small for a Windows machine: Just consider, that each window would in that case have a menu bar of its own, and a thick border around it. Especially given the latest transparency gimmicks, etc., Windows graphic designers seem to be more interested in "what looks cool", rather than what looks most efficient, and elegant (just compare 'flip 3D with expose)----which is funny, because it's the Mac which is derided for being all about 'looks'.)

 

The one think that was difficult for me in the beginning of my MacOS X experience was maximising windows. As you know, Apple's philosophy is a bit different - your windows don't have to fill the whole screen so you can easily interact between them including drop & drops.

I quickly learnt the new way of working with the OS and like it much better than when everything was maximised. In the past I had to have it like that so that I wasn't distracted by other elements. Now - no problem. I like the "MacOS way". It works better for me.

I also think that the option to show a desktop and hide windows (F11) is much better that Windows minimise everything and go to the desktop. Why? I press F11, find something on the desktop and press F11 again to bring all my windows back in the same order.

I am sure you will enjoy your MB, Ella Grande.

 

Probably the default dock size scared them off..

 

That's absolutely true. In the beginning one may find OSX's windows management system or its "file browser" somewhat annoying; but gradually one comes to understand that within the Mac environment, they make the most sense.

I used to maximize absolutely all windows on XP. That's how I continued doing things after the 'switch', but somehow that no longer 'felt right' after a while. One of the things I realized about the MacOS GUI was that the design of the program windows *allows* and *encourages* one to lay things out on the computer desktop the way one arranges his books and notes and whatnot on his "real" desk. The borders (there are no unnecessary thick frames around each window) and menus are elegantly designed and don't take up much space at all, leaving more room for the content of each window----what's best, borders and scroll bars and menus etc. all fade into the background as you work, and don't keep reasserting themselves as huge concrete-like structures. For on thing, there's a single Menu bar in MacOS, situated at the top of the screen; this saves lots of space, actually: If each program window had its own menu bar as in Windows, this would have made it quite cumbersome *not* to maximize.

Also, many applications come in really small, compact panes, with additional functions etc. tucked in separate drawers which you can hide or show at will.

Considering that you don't need your *whole* screen to display a website, or your e-mail client, what you can do instead is to arrange your windows in such a way on the screen such that each shows something important that is ready to your sight: Right now I have in a non-maximized but perfectly convenient window the NBR website, on the left is a bit of the Mail window sticking out, where I can keep an eye on my mailboxes; underneath Safari on a little strip I can see the HandBrake progress bar. And yes, all this fits very nicely on the 13" MacBook display. Of course, some programs do require the whole screen; and you'd have no hardships (!!!) fully maximizing them; in fact the green button does maximize fullscreen when necessary.

Mind you: I don't know about Vista, but on XP such an arrangement of windows would look really awkward, and tiresome to the eye----that's not to say that XP's windows management is inferior to that of MacOS; all I'm saying is that they handle their overall visual workings, as it were, differently, and I think MacOS is a lot more efficient for my purposes.

 

I'd get the macbook and an external monitor. I find that my general productivity is much higher when I have more retail space - one monitor tends to be used for the dynamic work that I'm doing, and the other for status updates and relatively static content.