[clawhammer]

Sorry to be a little late with this reply, but GO PRO!

I bought a macbook the day before leapord came out, and though I couldn't afford it at the time I really wish I'd gotten the macbook pro. I run Aperture, and there just isn't enough screen realestate for that program. Also, and I don't know if lightroom is the same way, Aperture uses the graphics card pretty heavily, and the macbook graphics card sucks. big time. And remember, there's always a big update just around the corner

[GEli]

There are two ways to set up a laptop, and which one is right for you is entirely dependent on how you want to use the laptop. The big question is: Do you always have a plug nearby?

If you do always have a power source nearby, my first question would be to ask you why you need a laptop. If you can't answer that question, get the best Mac Pro and monitor you can afford. If you do have a real reason to need a laptop that isn't "I need to transfer data back and forth from work," to which I would point you to either an external FireWire HD for larger files or even a USB key for smaller stuff (they go up to 16gb now), I'd direct you to: The Battery Hog. It will be big, heavy, and have pretty mediocre battery life, but it will essentially be a desktop replacement that's slightly easier to move than a Mac Pro. Get a top of the line MacBook Pro with the big, fast video card and enjoy working on a massive 17" screen and having no trouble working with massive libraries and multitasking as much as you like.

If you do not always have a plug nearby, I would direct you to a mid-level MacBook. The black Macbook is an extra $200 for a slightly larger HD and a terrible, terrible rip off. Get the mid-level, max it out with 3rd party RAM, and enjoy a machine that you will regularly get 5 hours of battery life out of with heavy use. It'll be a bit slow at times, especially doing really CPU intensive things like Photoshop filters, but very useable. I have both a Macbook and a decently powerful desktop PC running XP, and I find myself using my Macbook 99% of the time, with the PC being relegated to gaming only.

[benjikan]

Hi All,

Not sure if this is the 'proper' place to post, but I'll give it a shot;

For my work I need to get a new laptop. I am looking to upgrade my PowerBook to a MacBook. The thing is, I can't really see a reason to go for a "Pro", other than that I seriously dislike the glossy screens... But someone told me the screen of the pro is much better for photo-editing.

Really, all I want to do is run windows next to osx (webdesign stuff) and run Lightroom.

So, question is; what arguments can I use to justify the €500 I'd pay extra for the pro?

Thanks!

I just updated my iBook to the Macbook with 2.2 Ghz processor. I will be putting a 320 Go WD HD in to replace the stock 120 Go and pumping up the RAM to the Max 4 Go. Using Kingston Memory for that.

Very Fast machine.

Ben

[clawhammer]

Ben, would that be this hard drive? Hard drive space is another issue that has become a concern, as 120 gig just doesn't cut it when you take into account massive photo libraries, the odd movie, and a decent-sized iTunes library.