Macbook And Macbook Pro

[mr ailsbury]

Right I'm going to be getting myself a mac book very soon and I'm thinking of getting the black mac book (the top spec one) with 2gb of memory and 250gb hard drive and Apple care added onto it, what I'm wondering is whether I should pay the extra and go for the bottom spec mac book pro.

So what I need to know is what people think of each one, have you used both? If so, what were your first impressions etc?

I'm doing Graphic design, photography and Video editing at college if that helps?

just to add, I'll get discount because I'm going to order it through the apple student site.

cheers,

Tom

EDIT:

I've used mac books at college and they're realll nice, if I get chance I'll be going to manchester to the apple shop to have ago on some mac book pro's

Edited February 12, 2008 by mr ailsbury

[Tomm]

If you're a student then Applecare is a bargainous £60 for 3 years - amazing value. The black macbook is pretty expensive and you don't get very much for your money. I'd definitely try and stretch to the MBP if you can. Remember that changing memory is something you can easily do yourself, and it'll work out a lot cheaper. Also if you do get the plain Macbook, upgrading the hard drive is dead easy too (and, more importantly, doesn't invalidate warranty) - so there's no point in paying through the nose for the extras through the Apple website.

In fact I think I might have to buy another laptop on the cheap before I leave uni

[JonMack]

Yeah I'd say if you can stretch to it get the bottom of the line MBP, the better graphics card and everything would be a lot more useful when it comes to video editing.

I'd also say that fitting a hard drive in both the Macbook and the MBP is very easy, infact the MacBook is probably harder, but that's just what i found.

Errrm.... I'm shit at reasoning at the moment so I'd say MacBook Pro if you can afford it, and don't buy Apple RAM. Also, wait a month or so, new MacBook Pros are expected soon.

[The Hitcher]

I brought a macbook just after crimbo, for my graphic degree, using it for the whole Adobe Creative suite, runs better than the brand new imac's which we have at college.

They are lush machines, easy to use quick. I got the 2gb of ram with the faster processor and it runs a dream. Deffs recommend getting one, but if you could afford it the macbook pro would be even better i guess. I got applecare for an extra 40quid, instead of the 100 odd it usually is, which is sweet plus i got a free 60quid printer. Id wait a lil while see if any more deals come along. Id ring up apple though and get student discount, think i got around 15-20% off which saved me about 100 quid, so kinda payed for the extra ram, but you can pick up ram uber cheap these days so you'd be better off fitting it yourself, which is a piece of piss.

[Hendrix]

This can be a bit dodgy to do, but a couple of my mates have done it so far.

Get a second hand top spec one, only about a year old, off ebay or a website like that. Get all details exchanged over to your name, including Apple Care. Keep Apple Care updated.

At the end of the day - £1700 instead of £3k +

I haven't done it, but this is how they've said they've done it.

For me, my 24" iMac does it ha ha.

[future orange 660]

mbp

you soon get used to whatever screen size you have anyway.

i have a 17'' and use cs3 for PS everyday and its fine.

altho i know people that run the same on macbooks too and have no issues.

i do think the macbooks are rathe pretty though

[Jake]

MBP all the way! There's nothing better than LED backlit 15.4" screens. And best of all they're alluminium.

Don't get a MBP yet though, or a MB, both are in line for an update (the MBP will get a whole new design to match the current style of Apple, eg. keyboards and thickness, and the MB is in line for a processor upgrade). So yeah, I have a MBP, and wouldn't get a plastic MB now I have this. My friend has a MB and the plastic cracked off where his palm was, not to mention how dirty it gets.

So yeah, whatever you get, wait 3 weeks or so as they'll be updated.

[JonMack]

This can be a bit dodgy to do, but a couple of my mates have done it so far.

Get a second hand top spec one, only about a year old, off ebay or a website like that. Get all details exchanged over to your name, including Apple Care. Keep Apple Care updated.

At the end of the day - £1700 instead of £3k +

I haven't done it, but this is how they've said they've done it.

For me, my 24" iMac does it ha ha.

Dunno where you're getting this 3k+ figure from, my MacBook Pro was £1700 brand new about 18 months ago.

Here's the current prices for you from the edu store

Also, my MBP is 18 months old and I've had the logic board changed, the battery changed (and now needs to be replaced again), I had the hard drive changed, my screen buzzes when its between full and lowest brightness, I've had the power adaptor changed, the keyboard section replaced twice, once due to the anodizing coming off, my CD/DVD drive doesnt work anymore, and I've changed the hard drive myself. All I do with mine is take it to uni once a week, take it to work (which is a 5 minute walk), and move around the house a bit, hardly treat it badly, and look how it's holding up.

I wouldn't trust any second hand computer that's been used in a professional environment, chances are within a few months you'll be looking to upgrade it, or if you don't have Apple Care, it's an extra what... £300ish, so you're looking at about £800-1000 for a year old MBP, which you don't know the history of, and then another £300ish for 3 years of Apple Care, personally I'd rather buy a brand new one, so I know the history, know if anything f**ks up I could get it replaced (who knows, you could turn around and ring up Apple to buy Apple Care and they could tell you it's the serial of a stolen computer, then what do you do...?).

So yeah, personally I'd ignore anything Hendrix says because I think he's a f**king moron who talks a lot of shit, much like Jarrod, but that's just me.

MBP all the way! There's nothing better than LED backlit 15.4" screens. And best of all they're alluminium.

Don't get a MBP yet though, or a MB, both are in line for an update (the MBP will get a whole new design to match the current style of Apple, eg. keyboards and thickness, and the MB is in line for a processor upgrade). So yeah, I have a MBP, and wouldn't get a plastic MB now I have this. My friend has a MB and the plastic cracked off where his palm was, not to mention how dirty it gets.

So yeah, whatever you get, wait 3 weeks or so as they'll be updated.

Pretty sure the MBP wont be getting a new look, but they are overdue a processor change to the Penryn models.

Oh and tell your friend he can clean his MB with toothpaste

As Jake and I have both said, wait and buy an MBP when they re-vamp them in the next few weeks...

For anyone else ever buying a Mac, it's worth looking at this first, http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ you'll then know when it's safe to buy a new model, there's nothing more annoying than buying a new computer then having Apple release a new model a few weeks later.

Edited February 13, 2008 by JonMack