so, I can't decide if I should wait for this merom chip or...just kidding
seriously, I feel bad asking this because I guess people are getting sick of "which mac should I buy questions", especially since I just asked one a couple days ago (12" powerbook refurb vs. new macbook). But honestly, not having owned a mac before a lot of this is confusing, and everyone here has been extremely helpful.
So - I just learned a friend of mine is an "apple affiliate" - he's got some record deal with itunes, and can get me a discount. what's strange about the way they do these discounts is that it's 10% for the macbook line (essentially the same as the education discount) - but a whopping 20% or more for the macbookpro.
Which translates to $1500 for the baseline MBP (or $2000 for the next level up). At those prices they are so close to the MB (especially if I add ram, a hard drive and applecare as I was planning to) it would seem to make sense to get the MBP.
I'm a writer, I travel, but my laptop won't be my main computer (although I anticipate I'll use it a lot). I need it for MS Word, Final Draft, and Photoshop, and wouldn't mind being able to do some video editing or playing civilization iv (which unfortunately is 3d).
But what it basically comes down to for me is portability/ease of use. If the MBP is light and portable - I can take it on trips, use it at Starbucks etc - I figure I might as well go for it. If it's considerably more bulky than the MB, than the savings isn't worth it.
So, after this long preamble, my main question is, is there a huge difference between the MB and MBP in terms of size and weight? I know the most obvious answer is "go to the store and check it out", but every time I go into an apple store it's a madhouse and it's not that easy to tell from picking it up. And surprisingly enough, they don't let you borrow one and take it on a plane (I'm curious whether the size makes the difference between being able to use the laptop on a plane or not).
Other questions - is one monitor better than the other? Keyboard easier to use? Will Word work significantly better on the MBP or require me to up the ram on the MB?
I'm hoping some of you that may have hands on experience with both models might be able to shed light.
Sorry for the length of this, thanks in advance.
seriously, I feel bad asking this because I guess people are getting sick of "which mac should I buy questions", especially since I just asked one a couple days ago (12" powerbook refurb vs. new macbook). But honestly, not having owned a mac before a lot of this is confusing, and everyone here has been extremely helpful.
So - I just learned a friend of mine is an "apple affiliate" - he's got some record deal with itunes, and can get me a discount. what's strange about the way they do these discounts is that it's 10% for the macbook line (essentially the same as the education discount) - but a whopping 20% or more for the macbookpro.
Which translates to $1500 for the baseline MBP (or $2000 for the next level up). At those prices they are so close to the MB (especially if I add ram, a hard drive and applecare as I was planning to) it would seem to make sense to get the MBP.
I'm a writer, I travel, but my laptop won't be my main computer (although I anticipate I'll use it a lot). I need it for MS Word, Final Draft, and Photoshop, and wouldn't mind being able to do some video editing or playing civilization iv (which unfortunately is 3d).
But what it basically comes down to for me is portability/ease of use. If the MBP is light and portable - I can take it on trips, use it at Starbucks etc - I figure I might as well go for it. If it's considerably more bulky than the MB, than the savings isn't worth it.
So, after this long preamble, my main question is, is there a huge difference between the MB and MBP in terms of size and weight? I know the most obvious answer is "go to the store and check it out", but every time I go into an apple store it's a madhouse and it's not that easy to tell from picking it up. And surprisingly enough, they don't let you borrow one and take it on a plane (I'm curious whether the size makes the difference between being able to use the laptop on a plane or not).
Other questions - is one monitor better than the other? Keyboard easier to use? Will Word work significantly better on the MBP or require me to up the ram on the MB?
I'm hoping some of you that may have hands on experience with both models might be able to shed light.
Sorry for the length of this, thanks in advance.
