Thinking of buying a macbook

[anti-banausic]

I think the MBP's are worth the extra money for a few reasons:

- The lighted keyboard really comes in handy on a dark stage or DJ booth.

- The aluminum chassis/case means it runs cooler.

- Express card slot, which opens up expansion options in the future.

Man, I hate to disagree with you on one thing. I think that the Macbooks deal with heat better because they don't have to deal with the extra heat caused by the video card. I have actually heard that the MBpros run a little bit hotter than the Macbooks.

I will have to say that there are times that I wish I had gone with the pro, but that is mostly when I am surfing the web and a java or flash app makes the CPU go pretty high, obviously because the video is using the CPU as there is no dedicated GPU.

The express card, and firewire 800 is pretty much the only reason that I would have upgraded, and not for $700 extra.

And for the size. Seeing as I travel quite a bit, and use the Macbook for school, I will take the smaller form factor with the smaller screen, and connect to a 20" monitor for producing.

Best,
AB

[jackrabbit]

Thanks to all for your replies. Would love the pro(especially as i online game - macbooks grafics card isnt up to it) but cash wise its too much. But great to know macbooks fine with Live.

Anyone bought a cheap new mac from an unofficial trader on E bay?

[DJ VAKIS]

Also the build quality on macbook pro is beter than the macbook.

THAT'S what worries me.My powerbook looks as good as the day i got it 4 years ago.

I worry about the plastic-ness (real word??) of the macbook.They just don't feel the price.But the MBP price is steep.

I've gotta make this decision soon.So it looks like i talked myself into a MBP...

Maybe you can find a cheap refurbished macbook pro

Try this then from apple store,refurbished macbook pro

[Akshara]

The Refurbished Mac section at the Apple Store has the previous generation 2.16Ghz Macbook Pro on sale for $1599, and the ATI x1600 is a very good card for the casual gamer.

You might appreciate the articles in the Macbook section over at CreativeDigitalMusic.com, particularly the third article down from May 16th entitled, "MacBook Speed Bump: Still a Fantastic Mobile Musician Bargain."

Edit: Btw, if one manually replaces the internal hard drive it voids the Apple warranty. So if that matters, an external drive is the better solution.

[SubFunk]

I think the MBP's are worth the extra money for a few reasons:

- The lighted keyboard really comes in handy on a dark stage or DJ booth.

- The aluminum chassis/case means it runs cooler.

- Express card slot, which opens up expansion options in the future.

+1

my experience is that they are rugged, i dropped my MBP cca 2 weeks ago from approx 1.20m sort of flat onto a stone floor! the side where the CD sits is slightly bent upwards and the baby is working totally without a hitch. great maschine.

i think no matter if MB or MBP the only thing to regret is not to buy one.

[philipc]

You can easily and cheaply upgrade the macbook in terms of RAM and hard drive. a seagate 7200 180gb hard drive is pretty cheap and RAM is fiarly cheap too. max out a macbook and youve got a pretty decent engine for audio. wont handle video work well but if you dont need that so much then dont worry. the MBP is undoubtedly a superior machine but only you can decide if the cost weighs up well to the benefit.

[Pasha]

I love my macbook core 2 duo!

100% regret free purchase.

+1

[noisetonepause]

If the MacBooks are anything like the iBooks, built quality is nothing to worry about. I've ridden mine down stairs (accidentally!) while it was in sleep mode. It immediately woke up with a slight yawn and said, 'hey, did I miss something?'...

Of course, the earlier ones (iBooks) did have the problem with the hinge that would after a while sever the monitor cable causing a short circuit, frying the logic board... but except for that, you could use them as baseball bats, coffee tables, snowboards... and computers!

[bytheriver]

I thought about it, long and hard. I'm doing teacher training so i'd get educational discount on a macbook to.

Ended up with a Dell XPS1710, solid as rocks and a 17" 1900X1200 screen makes a macbook look like a PDA :>

[thelike5]

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned the screen size - for me this was the decider

my girlfriend has one and I was close to getting one but I just found after a while trying to get any real work done became quite annoying

in the end I got a 14" HP laptop and even the 1" makes alot of difference

if you can stretch to the pro then that is the big advantage 15" instead of 13

as for the 7200RPM isue - you can got thos in laptops (in fact I'm about to list a 60GB laptop one on ebay - taken out of a PC so I dont know if it would work on mac)

Hmm...

The macbook has a 13.9 widescreen display so your computer is not an inch larger.

I think the bigger difference lies between a mac and an hp notebook...

[thelike5]

The big difference between the macbook and the macbook pros build-wise lies in the keyboard.

The macbook keyboard flat out feels kinda cheap. Don't get me wrong, I love my machine but compared to my friends mac book pro it's simply not as nice. I do like the spacing on the mac book keyboard, just saying the keys don't feel as nice.

Also, the edge on the actual notebook is kinda rough. If you are the kind of person who types with their wrists on the edge of your notebook you will notice this. It actually is boarderline sharp.

My suggestion would be to go to your local Apple Store (heck, it's an expensive purchase, if their isn't one close to where you live, drive to one, it's justified.)

I love my macbook and I stand by it as a 100% regret free purchase. But the macbook pro simply is a better constructed machine and not by accident.