Macbook Vs Macbook Pro?

chgolatin2 · « **on:** 25 Jan 2010, 08:03 am »

I'm a PC guy but lately I've been looking into a Macbook laptops, dont know anything about them besides their price points. The Macbook Pro looks like one awesome laptop but for $1,200 ouch! It's a little bigger than a netbook which some PC netbooks are cheaper than $500. So with that said, should I do the switch if so what can you Apple guys recommend for me?

Thanks!

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Jan 2010, 09:16 am »

I'm not a mac guy, but a macbook pro gives you quite a bit of power especially when compared to a netbook. I'd say that in terms of specs, it's only about $250-300 more than a comparably equipped PC laptop, and you do get some perks in no particular order:

1) aluminum unibody, if you care about flex etc.
2) insanely high resale value
3) option of running macos AND windows 7 with essentially no compatibility problems
4) nice multitouch glass track pad with multitouch that actually works, and works very well
5) a certain amount of prestige
6) excellent battery life because of the non-removable integrated battery, comparable to most extended battery life netbooks, but you get the power of a modest desktop replacement laptop.

I find points 4 and 6 most attractive to me but am holding out because of the new on the fly graphics switching that will be hitting the market soon plus core i5/i7 on the fly clock speed adjustments. These two improvements will make PC laptops much more competitive, although I expect Apple to catch up in a year or two.

chgolatin2 · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Jan 2010, 09:30 am »

I'm not a computer nerd but whats the big deal about "fly graphics" and i5/i7 core?

JohnR · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Jan 2010, 09:41 am »

Only performance. I'm not sure what the "on the fly graphics switching" means, but the i5 and i7 quad-core processors are currently available only in the more expensive 27" iMacs.

Do you absolutely have to have a laptop? If not, I personally would suggest looking at the "low end" 21.5" iMac - I think that one is a really nice machine for the money.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Jan 2010, 09:53 am »

The way I look at it, yes it's performance related, but more importantly for a laptop, it's battery life related. On the fly graphics switching refers to being able to switch from the more power hungry video card to the power saving onboard low end graphics card without interrupting what you are doing. On most laptops, you had choose whether you wanted discrete graphics for faster performance at the expense of battery life or longer battery life with onboard video at the expense of performance. Same with the processor, the new i5/i7 processors will be able to run slow and sip power when you're doing simple tasks and then ramp up the speed and power consumption on the fly only when you need it. This should give you longer battery life unless you're doing heavy processing like encoding or decoding video, compiling, playing games, etc. In the past, you had to choose a "slow" laptop with long battery life or a "fast/powerful" laptop with short battery life. This "on the fly" switching should provide the best of both worlds.

Macs side step this issue by having a large non-removable battery. When they eventually add on the fly switching, they should be able to take it to the next level yet again. I'm just not sure they will do it any time soon.

JohnR · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Jan 2010, 10:05 am »

Quote from: ooheadsoo on 25 Jan 2010, 09:53 am

The way I look at it, yes it's performance related, but more importantly for a laptop, it's battery life related. On the fly graphics switching refers to being able to switch from the more power hungry video card to the power saving onboard low end graphics card without interrupting what you are doing.

Ah! Thanks for the clarification, that makes sense.

chgolatin2 · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Jan 2010, 05:37 am »

Macbook Pro it is!

bye bye PC!

baldrick · « **Reply #7 on:** 26 Jan 2010, 05:15 pm »

Good choice. The Macbook Pro is a much nicer laptop than the Macbook.
I am running one with no problems and even have an install of Parallels Desktop 5 for those occasional times that I just NEED to run a windows application. Parallels is truly ingenious - you can run windows and Mac OS X concurrently with better stability than almost any PC.

chgolatin2 · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Feb 2010, 07:53 pm »

Just received my Macbook Pro 13 inch this past weekend, what a nice laptop! However, I may need some classes to fully grasp this whole Apple/Mac thing

mshan · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Feb 2010, 07:59 pm »

Everything is, at least for me, much more intuitive with Mac OS X.

Try doing what your instinct tells you and that is probably right (with Windows, I always have to stop and think to perform a task).

Flip4Mac (free version) is a nice plug-in that let's you view or listen to some content originally designed for Windows on http://www.telestream.net/flip4mac-wmv/overview.htm

After you install it and initially open program, you might have to reboot computer to get it working properly.

If there are some legacy programs you use that are only Windows, you can install it via Bootcamp, then buy VMWare Fusion and be able to access those programs from with the Mac operating system. Parallels does the same thing and was apparently more Mac-like in it's interface, but VMWare Fusion for Mac was supposed to be more stable (I own old version, so I don't know how newest revisions of each stack up).

Mac 101: http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

Switch to Mac: http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

iLife Tutorials: http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#iphoto

If that's not enough, just search Amazon for David Pogue's book Snow Leopard the Missing Manual. He also writes a switching to Mac book, but first one is supposed to be more comprehensive.

Mike Nomad · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Feb 2010, 08:03 pm »

jqp · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Feb 2010, 11:02 pm »

I would love a MacBook Pro, but they are so expensive. Another factor is I deal with Enterprise Database technology so no Macs there.

My $1000 Dell has pretty much the same technology as the MacBook Pro 13": Backlit keyboard, the dual nVidea video cards (later version I think), LED backlit screen, Displayport adapter, etc. Does not have multitouch though. Does have Firewire also.

Do the 21" iMacs have the yellow screen band problems?

For a Macintosh, I really like the hardware of the Macbook Pros. One day I will probably spring for a MacBook Pro, at least to run Win7, or 8 or 9

2bigears · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Feb 2010, 11:51 pm »

really don't know a real lot bout' laptops,but the tech dude at work does.he is jumping the fence to Apple as he said he was ohhhh so tired of crashes.these things actually have a resale value ?? that tells you something right there....think i will get one for my teenage daughter

JohnR · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Feb 2010, 01:11 am »

Quote from: jqp on 2 Feb 2010, 11:02 pm

Do the 21" iMacs have the yellow screen band problems?

Mine doesn't ...

rollo · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Feb 2010, 02:08 pm »

Another benifit of the new Mac is the internal music server. A sleeper in that dept. Wait until you try it compared to your CDP or DAC. Very very good.

charles

thunderbrick · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Feb 2010, 02:17 pm »

As they used to say, Windows 2000 is Mac '84.

I've had Macs since '85. Too lazy to read the book, and while I can repair damned near anything, I am technically challenged on software.
Never had a problem going with what makes sense on a Mac.

My second (and still current) wife used to give me a lot of crap about being a Mac guy. Then I bought her one, and about an hour after she first hooked it up she staggered out of her office with a bewildered look on her face and said "Honey, I'm confused. Everything just WORKS!".

Now I have to bring my work laptop home each night because I can't tear my personal MacBook Pro out of her hands.

planet10 · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Feb 2010, 04:42 pm »

Quote from: jqp on 2 Feb 2010, 11:02 pm

Do the 21" iMacs have the yellow screen band problems?

Not that i know. And none of the 27s we've had thru the shop have the issue either (some 50+). Working on the 27 is a real joy. I lust after a quad core with a dual core as a 2nd monitor (and NAS, and another processor on the network i can access using Apple Remote Desktop -- a good place to run VMWare Fusion)

dave

jqp · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Feb 2010, 05:43 pm »

Quote from: planet10 on 3 Feb 2010, 04:42 pm

Not that i know. And none of the 27s we've had thru the shop have the issue either (some 50+). Working on the 27 is a real joy. I lust after a quad core with a dual core as a 2nd monitor (and NAS, and another processor on the network i can access using Apple Remote Desktop -- a good place to run VMWare Fusion)

dave

Don't want to beat a horse here in a laptop topic, but don't really want to start a new one for this...there are problems with the iMacs as with all PCs, fortunately not a great percentage. I do like the iMacs and if I had plenty of extra cash I would get one (already have several PCs).

http://gizmodo.com/5464288/apple-paying-out-15-on-broken-27+inch-imacs

mshan · « **Reply #18 on:** 4 Feb 2010, 06:16 pm »

If you don't need immediately, usually best to wait for second generation of any new Apple product.

They are usually very good about making things right with first generation product, but if you don't want to deal with growing pains of being an earlier adopter, second generation or beyond Apple products are usually your best bet.

srb · « **Reply #19 on:** 4 Feb 2010, 06:25 pm »

I have PCs, but like many, appreciate the Macs for their form and function.

However, when test driving a Macbook Pro, I had to wonder why my wrists had to rest on top of a rather uncomfortable sharp edge of aluminum.

While the sharp edge looks nice on an iMac, on the Macbook I guess I found one case where form was chosen over function. Apple, please put a radius on those edges!

Steve