Need Help In Choosing Laptop

I am about to purchase a laptop and need advice. I have been reading some of the posts and you seem to a smart bunch of Mac fans. Let me give you a little history. I am currently using a Sony VAIO A-290 laptop. This has the 17" WUXGA screen (1920x1200) The screen is very sharp with the X-Brite and gloss coating. I have had this computer for 20 months and I really like the screen. The gloss does not bother me at all. I mainly use my computer for digital photography, database using File Maker Pro, ripping my CD collection to iTunes, downloading Bit Torrent TV programs, and web surfing. I do not play any video games or do video editing. I have had several Apple computers in the past: a G4 tower, 17" G4 Powerbook, and the first generation G5 iMac. I really liked the Powerbook and never had any problems in the year I had the laptop. I sold the laptop for the iMac. Big mistake. I had nothing but problems and sold the iMac to purchase the Sony laptop.
I was at an Apple store last week for the first time in a long while and I was really impressed with the Macbook and Mac Book Pro. OS X has really improved since the last time I had an Apple computer. I really like dashboard and the newer iLife software. The nice thing about the Apple store is that you are able to compare the laptops side by side. I first looked at the Mac Book and really like the gloss screen. Normally when I want to test a screen I download photos from dpreview.com. There are a lot of high resolution photos on the site. The pictures looked great on the Mac Book. I chose my Sony laptop based on the screen and I must say the Mac Book looked very similar. I also looked at the Mac Book Pro with both the matt and glossy screen and they also looked good. The salesman felt that the color accuracy was better on the matt finish screen. Now I am faced with a tough decision, which laptop to buy. I like the price point of the Mac Book ($1,300 version).
If I purchase the Mac Book Pro I would buy the $2,000 model. That is a difference of $700. For that I am getting a larger screen, better graphics, a lighted keyboard, more inputs and outputs. I do plan to purchase a 26" or 32" LCD TV at a later date and connect the laptop using a DVI connector. That way I can watch TV programs on the LCD TV. I have an Apple Airport Express to use for streaming my music to my home stereo. It seems like with the new logic boards, and software updates, the heat and mooing issues have been resolved. Which laptop would be best for my needs and what would be a good time to purchase the laptop. Will there be new models announced in the near future. Thanks in advance for the help and I can not wait to get back to the Apple side.

 

well as long as you arent gaming or doing video editing, i would say mac book all the way.

for one thing, you have the price point, and for another, you get more portability, i believe the mac book will totally suit your needs with less bulk.

consider the core 2 duo is going to be pin compatible with mac notebooks, but apple solders the processors to the motherboard, so you cant upgrade.

i say wait (just about 2-3 weeks i think) for that upgrade

Edit:

i agree with xbandaidx on the core 2 duo. it doesnt look like it will change performance in any noticeable way, but it shouldnt really generate more heat or draw more power, either

and the only reason i would reccomend waiting for it is that you might thank yourself in a year or so when you realize your core duo is soldered to your motherboard and you cant run your *64 bit only* application, and it shouldnt cost you any more $$$ over the core duo when it is released in a few weeks.

 

First off I can tell you from just your LCD TV screen size your planning on getting, you must be absolutely sure that if you were to get the Macbook, that the Macbook can support its resolution (Max 1920x1200 I believe, and the MBP being higher).

Really it appears to me that a large factor is image quality is a large determining factor for you, both screens are excellent, however be aware that going to a MB from that notebook you have now is a huge drop in resolution, a MBP would be less. Since you don't play games and don't exactly do video editing, it wouldn't make sense to pay so much more for features you aren't gonna use, unless you really want lighted keyboard and those extra ports and a 10% increase in CPU speed.

The Macbook can easily fit your bill from personal experiences because I actually do all those exact same things you do with the exception of File maker pro. I also do occasional video editing, and the MB works great on it anyhow.

As for updates, many are waiting for the new Merom CPU to come out, uncanningly the new Merom has a TDP thats higher than the current Yonah cores in the MB/MBP, which isn't exactly a good thing generally means more heat. However merom is 64bit.

There are tons of discussions here on if 64bit is needed now or not, the big census was that another couple years it will be mainstream, and the opposing side it was just resale value point of view.

Even with the release of Merom looming near, many Apple forum users here have still gone ahead and purchased an MB or MBP anyways.

 

Thanks for the replies to my post. Yes I will be going down in resolution from the Sony to the Mac. That is the part that worries me the most. I am confused about resolution. My Sony has 1920x1200 on a 17" screen. The Mac Book has 1280x800 on a 13.3" screen, the Mac Book Pro has 1440x900 on a 15.4" screen.
The 17" screen is 1.28 times larger than the 13.3" screen. Is it correct to multiply the 1280 and the 800 resolutions by 1.28 to get the equivalent resolution. If so that would mean that the Mac Book would jump to 1638x1024 if enlarged to 17". This would not be that far off from the Sony's 1920x1200 resolution. Would I notice a difference? The Sony is 1.10 larger than the Mac Book Pro, so the equivalent resolution would be 1584x990 which is less than the Mac Book. I always thought the higher resolution gives higher pixel density so that you can get more information on the screen at one time. The higher pixel density could make photos look sharper up to a point and depending on what size you blow it up. When I went to the Apple store and downloaded some high resolution photos, the images were very sharp to me. They seemed more like the Sony images on the Apple glossy screens. The LCD TV's that I mentioned have 1366x768 resolution so the Mac Book will have more than enough resolution even with the integrated graphics.
The Mac Book seems like a very good value. The $700 that I will save over the Mac Book Pro can go towards the LCD TV or other add ons such as a TV tuner. Are there any people on this forum that have gone from a 17" laptop to a 13.3" screen, any problems. Also anyone switched from a Sony laptop to a Mac Book. What are your comments. Thanks again.

 

I went ahead and got the MBP instead of waiting for a 64 bit. From everything I can see from experience as well as everything I've heard, the better performance of the software and hardware working together makes a big enough difference that the core duo is plenty of bang for the buck. I don't play 3D rendering games, so I haven't run into any graphics issues, but I've been able to do video editing and lots of photo editing and multi tasking, lots of programs open, and had NO PROBLEMS.

I'm thinking you'll want at LEAST the 15" MBP. I know mine is WAY lighter and smaller than the 15" eMachines I just turned in. I was already used to a 15" screen as well, so I thought it would be hard to go back.

I got the matte screen as well. I don't like adjusting for screen glare, even for the trade off of vibrant, saturated colors.

 

I don't think you'll notice a large difference in resolution as long as the aspect ratio remains close (same proportions). What you'll notice MORE is going from a 17" to a 13" screen. I would be nervous about going lower than that.

I am finding the 15" 1440X900 works REALLY well for me.

 

i would like to say that your math is wrong in screen size / resolution

i refuse to do any math at the moment, but ill point you in the right direction. you are using that diagonal measurement to decide how much bigger one screen is than another. but really the screen size difference is the length and width for your purpose.
an easy way to get to the root of your problem is to look at dot pitch, or pixels per inch. that will make you happy.

 

The weight difference between the MacBook and MacBook Pro turns out to be a not so hefty 140 gram.

For what you are using your notebook for, I would strongly recommend the MacBook Pro with a matte screen. The increased real-estate over the MacBook is great (currently using MacBook, as my MacBook Pro is in for repair).

I know it doesn't seem like much but with photo-editing, every little bit counts.

If you however don't use it as a portable you might want to get the MacBook and grab an Apple Cinema Display 23" (1920x1200 resolution) with it.

Or better yet, if portability is not needed at all: Mac Mini with ACD 23" . . . that ought to save you some money.