Hi everyone,

this is a kind of complex question for me, cause i have lots of thoughts which i will write down, so you guys can help me decide..

ok, so i am deciding between a macbook and macbook pro.

macbook rant:

its cheap, i have 1gb of RAM ready for it, but it comes with two 512's. this will cause it to be slower wont it? the white one shows up grubby hands (or sweaty ones), and the black one is even worse, which was the one i was looking at.

macbook pro rant -

its expensive, but it looks like a good system. is it worth paying the extra money? however the battery life is 5 hrs, while macbook is 6. i need some people who have these computers, so I can figure out a good one to purchase (its for uni btw)

any help would be greatly appreciated!!

--Aaron.

I specifically wanted the better graphics chipset + the ability to plug in Firewire 800 drives + I wanted to use a SATA Expresscard, so that did it for me. I bought the better model though with 2Gb RAM etc.

If you can afford it, always go the MBP. It's better specced and the higher res screen is brilliant. If cost is a factor, then go the white MacBook (SuperDrive Model) and feed it as much RAM as you can. The black MacBook isn't worth the extra dosh.

At any rate, I'd be waiting until Leopard before I made any purchases. It's not far off.

What are you using it for? Graphics/Design? WEb surfing/internet/general use? Games(I mean predominantly)

The grubby hand thing has been fixed - apple changed the plastics. IT was never really a problem except for the computer geeks with hyperhidrosis.

The black is worse? Where did you get that from? I have a black macbook, and it's one of the first batch, and I don't have a problem.

Re: "cause it to be slower" - well maybe (max) 5-10% but to be honest I don't notice any change compared to my mum's black macbook - maybe you'll notice it if you use a lot of photoshop. If you're comparing between a macbook and a pro then you should use some of the spare change to buy the extra ram and max it to 2GB - just don't buy the apple ram (ridiculously expensive) - go to somewhere like epowermac.com.au.

Expense - you can get a refurb or a apple sale item for a significant saving:

http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebOb...nclm=certified

either the certified or the "sale" tab would be useful.

THe quoted battery life is all bull anyway - apple lie about the batt life just like every other computer company does. Expect a "real world" use of about 3 hours for both - 5 hours only if you just word process.

Overall buy a macbook pro if:
$ is not a big deal
you need an expresscard slot (eg wireless broadband via telstra/3/vodafone)
YOu must play graphics intensive games and this is your primary system
you heavily use photoshop or other heavy graphics intensive programs


My macbook has been great - of course I'd like a graphics card in it but I haven't had any major problems with slowdowns and run just about everything, including desktop publishing. Just no games like Battlefield 2142 etc etc. I also run Parallels desktop with windows XP and (very occasionally) bootcamp with WinXP. It is now maxxed out with 2GB of ram - and believe me it's worth the extra $200 for the extra 1GB.

Macbook is a glorified ibook why bother !!! you want balls get a macbook Pro allround winner pay the extra cause u upgrade mac pro then u seriously kickin arse

I prefer whichever is the more compact, which at the moment is the MacBook. Plus black or white is cooler than silver. But that's just me.

Get the Pro. If you are worried about the cost buy it from David Jones, they have 5 years interest free at the moment so you'll only be forking out about $30 per week (that's a very rough guesstimate) which you'll hardly miss.

But also consider that Leopard isn't far away so it could be worth holding out that little bit longer.

got money = go pro

depends on your needs, but seriously the macbook base model ($1749) which is the lowest spec mac laptop is very very fast!

my brother has one and it goes like lighting, and if you bulk up the ram it more than makes up for the lack of a graphics card.

your better off saving the $1400 difference!

there have been reports that the macbooks have a high failure rate, however, the core duo 2 models don't seem to have the bugs of the first model (core duo), macreader reports so far 10% of people needed a repair, which is decent.

but of course you can wait for a little while for rev B to come out. this may be a good idea if your not in desperate need of a laptop since rev A are usually buggy (the macbook and macbook pro are still rev A models).

ALSO, i would just get the standard $2099 macbook. the black macbook is an extra $300 and you only get a HD increase to 120gigs. which is a major rip off! its a general rule that you don't upgrade options via apple.

think about it, your paying $300+ for an extra 40gigs of space... not really fair consider a whole 120gig drive cost around $150 (http://www.shopbot.com.au/p-18015-445209.html).

its very very easy to upgrade the HD yourself (http://youtube.com/watch?v=8c6ckjy-gdY), and don't worry about warranty being void because they will never know, if you have a issue just swap back the original drive

in terms of phyical appearance the macbook is very compact and nicely made, its plastic not metal so it will scratch more easily (i really couldn't care less), but it is made quite well (as good as a macbook pro).

my reasons for getting a macbook pro over a macbook are;

- colours? just one, aluminium, and that is that
- screen size... 15" is beautiful, 17" is just divine!
- illuminated keyboard (only if you can't touch type for crap, granted it can be handy at times)

I dont know... I prefer the pro over the regular bog standard macbook (not saying its bad, its just, well.. 13" too small for me)

The way I see it? if you are going to do specialised stuff on it, both are suffice, depending on what that specialised stuff really is...

Both machines are Rev B (Core 2 Duos).

C2D machines have not had many issues compared to the CD machines.

I went for the MacBook Pro for games - my favorite game is Civ 4

Not supported on MacBook, runs like a dream on lowest spec MacBook Pro - considerably better than on my 2.1 ghz G5 iMac

If not for wanting to play graphically demanding games, I would have gone for a MacBook because they are a sweet machine - powerful and compact - just a shame about the integrated graphics

Go the pro. For mine, you get the added versatility of the dual screen for presentations, plus the added connectivity of FW 800 and Expresscard slot. IMO it's worth the extra for a superior machine that will also have a longer useful life.

"Go the pro. For mine, you get the added versatility of the dual screen for presentations, plus the added connectivity of FW 800 and Expresscard slot."

The mac book will still allow you to do dual screen for presentations.

I have the pro because I need the 15" screen.

As stated above list the features you need and then the decision becomes obvious.

hmm all these sound interesting..

i am actually using it for uni, either doing engineering, or computer science - what one would be the best? i would like an 'all round' machine..