[fishy]

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!

[Buschmaster]

Don't worry, I do plenty of photo editing on the MacBook and it's just fine.

If you have the money, sure, go for the pro, but otherwise, MB will suit you just fine.

[Gooshin]

if all you want is to use lightroom and work on webdesign, without a dire need to walk around with a book sized status symbol, get yourself a PC laptop. Save money and get more performance.

[fishy]

Don't worry, I do plenty of photo editing on the MacBook and it's just fine.

If you have the money, sure, go for the pro, but otherwise, MB will suit you just fine.

Thanks for the quick reply! Another thing came to mind, and maybe you can help me with this one; I recently discovered the cool integration between lightroom and photoshop. Both open at the same time does not slow things down to a crawl?

if all you want is to use lightroom and work on webdesign, without a dire need to walk around with a book sized status symbol, get yourself a PC laptop. Save money and get more performance.

Thanks, but no thanks. Had a stack of PC laptops. It's a personal thing, but until Mac OSX runs on a PC, no way! I don't exactly care for status, but I do like image, I am a photographer too

[Gooshin]

Thanks for the quick reply! Another thing came to mind, and maybe you can help me with this one; I recently discovered the cool integration between lightroom and photoshop. Both open at the same time does not slow things down to a crawl?

Thanks, but no thanks. Had a stack of PC laptops. It's a personal thing, but until Mac OSX runs on a PC, no way! I don't exactly care for status, but I do like image, I am a photographer too

you just said you want to run windows along with osx ....

that means osx is not fulfilling your needs, but hey, its a personal choice.

[Tom M]

Do NOT buy the Mac ram upgrades - Buy 4GB's of Mushkin DDR-667 PC5300 200-pin for $104 shipped less $20 mail-in for a whopping total of $84..

I run Aperture with a 25,000 plus image DB, iTunes, iMail, Safari, and iWeb at the same time - With 1GB I had previously, it was a dog, with the 4GB I have now it's very fast.

[blinxdk]

I have a MacBook Pro and one thing that would worry me about the MacBook is the keyboard. I must admid I have not tried it, but looks very different.

This might not be as much a concern for others, but I'm seriously picky about my keyboards. I use IBM Model M clones (buckling springs and ear deafening click-clicks and all) both at home and work and I already dislike the MacBook Pro keyboard, so if the non-pro model is worse, I'd be concerned.

Other than the keyboard (imho) the MacBook Pro is a great machine, I have a non-glossy model and the screen is great for a laptop.

[Buschmaster]

you just said you want to run windows along with osx ....

that means osx is not fulfilling your needs, but hey, its a personal choice.

And apparently neither does Windows, right?

So why run only Windows on a PC laptop when you can run OS X and Windows on a Mac laptop?

[tybeck]

I'd argue that for the money a Macintosh is one of the best Windows compatible laptops that you can buy. As for other costs, the comment on Apple RAM is correct, very good but over priced. You can get the same stuff elsewhere for a much lower price and the install is easy.

As for Macbook vs. Pro. I think they are worth the money for what they are. But, for what most people need the Macbooks are fine. You are stuck with the glossy screen since the matte is still a custom option on the Pros. The graphics engine is much, much better on the Pros as well. But, for most normal applications (except perhaps gaming) this will not be an issue. 2D work like photo editing won't benefit all that much.

If you have the extra money to spend I'd stick with the MacBook put it into extra RAM, a bigger internal hard drive, some nice software, and some external storage for backup. For what you're doing you'll get more value out of that than a better graphics card and a pretty brushed aluminum casing.

Unless you "have" to have the portability of the laptop, stick with Mac, but go for the jumbo 20 or 24 inch iMac. Seriously great machine, and for the $ you save versus the laptop, you can pump up the specs. I've had mine for about two months now, and I love it. Great for photography though I wish I could figure out if/when iPhoto had batch re-size feature haha.

Rob

[Buschmaster]

By the way, the MacBook Pro is expected to be updated very soon.

[ricardobeat]

I don't own either, but here is my take on an useful answer: go Pro. You'll get tired of the 13" screen in the MBook quickly, it is easily scratchable and very weighty for it's size. I think the Pro is better suited for long work hours. Better screen resolution, more balanced, antiglare, 2GB RAM and superdrive as standard, and a very powerful GeForce 8600GT instead of on-board crappyness (tell me you don't run any games!).

but my laptop is a Fujitsu

[PDL]

I do not own a Mac - but the advice I give to people when they ask me what kind of PC they should get is:

"Get the biggest (disk, RAM, Monitor - add on's DVD burner, speakers etc.) fastest fire breathing monster - you can afford. Expect to pay twice the cost of the machine in software in the first year (used to work that way -- maybe not now) and throw away all the cataloges/magazines - next week there will be a better version out - just deal with it."

The advice still works as a starting point. If you can afford the pro - get the pro. If you can take the difference between the two and get a bigger hard drive or more memory to make the non-pro model more attractive - then do that. Just expect that in six months you will be using an obsolete machine. PC's change faster that DSLR's - always have - always will. Do not wait for the "next" model, a week later you will be told - wait 3 months the <insertnamehere>super will blow that POS away.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL

[fishy]

Thanks all for the replies. I am relieved to see this thread did not develop in a "Mac vs. PC" battle, they are boring.

Judging on what was said, I think I'll give in to my first urge and get a Pro (with a TimeCapsule!!) The dealer told me a newer model was due any day now, but couldn't give me any specifics. I guess I'll be shopping this weekend

[jmdeegan]

As others have stated, hold off a bit. Rumors are rampant that MacBook pros get updated at the end of February, so I would wait--assuming you opt for a pro.

I have a regular MacBook, and my only disappointments are the screen-only because I miss my LCD monitor, but i dnt have one because I travel too much-and the keyboard--only because i think the backlit keys would be sweet, sincE I end up typing in the dark a lot

I got the RAM uprade through a 3rd party for cheap-mine was a summer edition, so 3 gb was the max (technically 3.2gb, but tests showed the extra money go you nothing more than 3gb did). The drive can fill up fast, so I have a 120gb passport and a 500gb powered external drive. Definetly recommend those as opposed to upgrading the HDD.

I am happy with my MacBook. But as somene else mentioned, unless you absolutely need the mobility, get more bang for the buck with a desktop setup