Advice

[Tadros]

I use Protools and intend on using Final Cut on a mac, I am thinking of mostly getting a laptop from the line for the fact that it's portable. Now which one should I get is the problem. I have enough for the Macbook Pro, and I am fine with waiting till June for the upgrade, but at the same time I am thinking do I need a Macbook Pro? or Do I just need a Macbook that's maxed out in Ram and such. If anyone has either a Macbook or a Macbook Pro and runs Protools and/or Final Cut . . . or even Logic I'd really like to know how your experiences with the laptops are and if it is really needed to get a full blown Macbook Pro.
Any help would be great, thanks guys and gals.

 

[XP Defector]

Firstly, MacBook Pros are more advanced and overall better computers than the MacBooks. This is justified to some extent in the price and in the extra features, such as build, style, backlit keyboard, extra ports and expandability and more screen 'real-estate'.

However, it really depends on what you need it for. In terms of speed, MacBooks and their more exspensive counter-parts benchmark similar results. This is of course, aside from the fact that you can insert upto 3Gb of RAM into the Pros, whereas MacBooks can only handle upto 2Gb. Moreover, the lack of a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) can make a difference if your intending to work with 3D intensive applications or indeed, play the latest (and not so latest) computer games.

I use Logic on this MacBook (mine is a 2Ghz @ CoreDuo with 512RAM and a Audiophile USB external soundcard), in addition to Live 5.0.2 and occasionally Reason. I'm quite sure the difference in running these progs on either a MacBook or Pro is negligible.

Overall, if you have the cash I'd go for the Pro, as I stated, they are simply just better notebooks and encompass more features. In either case, you really need to be shooting for 2Gb RAM and a 7200RPM hard-drive.

 

[bmcgrath]

Get the Macbook Pro, but I think you should just leave the stock ram you get with it and buy extra ram for it on whatever online shop. 2GB is great and if you can afford 3 your sorted!