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Is a MBP good enough to use a primary computer?

Matto1020

Matto1020

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 21, 2007
80
0
I currently have a three year old custom built PC.

AMD Anthlon 2800+
Radeon 9600 128mb Vid Card
1GB Ram

I am going to switch to Mac and was just wondering...is it a good enough computer to use a primary? I will hook it up to my monitor while at home for the better screen size but also love the portability of it. Just wondering :apple:
 
I ditched my desktop computer last year for a MacBook Pro and an external 23" Apple Cinema Display.

It has worked out quite well but I really want an Mac Pro soonish because it is much more powerful when I edit programs (video-editing).

It saves on the electricity bills too :)
 
Laptops will one day replace desktops.

The MBP's have the power of most desktops now-a-days anyway if not far from it. Most high-end laptops do.

You'd want a really powerful desktop if you are going to do serious video editting and so on though.
 
Matto1020 said:
I currently have a three year old custom built PC.

AMD Anthlon 2800+
Radeon 9600 128mb Vid Card
1GB Ram

I am going to switch to Mac and was just wondering...is it a good enough computer to use a primary? I will hook it up to my monitor while at home for the better screen size but also love the portability of it. Just wondering :apple:
Click to expand...
Given your current spec, yes, absolutely, you should be fine using a MBP as your primary computer. You may want to find some nice external storage, preferably with Firewire 800, and that monitor as you mentioned. As with all computers, but especially a notebook that you're likely to take out-and-about, make sure you back up your data thoroughly!

Enjoy!
 
Matto1020 said:
I currently have a three year old custom built PC.

AMD Anthlon 2800+
Radeon 9600 128mb Vid Card
1GB Ram

I am going to switch to Mac and was just wondering...is it a good enough computer to use a primary? I will hook it up to my monitor while at home for the better screen size but also love the portability of it. Just wondering :apple:
Click to expand...

A MBP would smoke your current setup. I.e. Yes.
 
Well here is another question then...

I am debating gutting my current PC and basically using my two internal HDs (turning them into External HDs) and maybe selling off or giving away the rest of the parts.

Is that a good idea or should I keep it around just in case? Thanks!
 
If you get a MBP you really won't need your pc, if you find you want Windows then you have options available to install Windows onto your MBP. Using your HDDs as external disks is a good idea.

I use my MBP as my primary computer for programming, graphic and animation art. I have an external display when I'm doing my art.

If you get a MBP you definitely won't regret it.
 
Matto1020 said:
Well here is another question then...

I am debating gutting my current PC and basically using my two internal HDs (turning them into External HDs) and maybe selling off or giving away the rest of the parts.

Is that a good idea or should I keep it around just in case? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Well, its always wise to have a secondary computer on hand, in case anything were to happen to the primary one. I'd take one HD out (whatever most info is on, if not in RAID) and leave the other as a small boot drive if you ever have to use it.

Giving the parts away can be a good idea as well if you know any younger computer fans getting into the art of PC building. Helping them along the way can mean wonders, especially on a youngster's budget.
 
i use my old pc as a file server and backup pc, great for playing videos for the kids or torrenting or lots of different things when i want the mbp for me me me :)

it seems a waste to stop using the mobo/memory/video card etc.. from your pc (by removing both hard drives) - use it all, plus you can plug an external hdd into the pc and avoid ntfs/fat formatting issues (as it doesn't matter accessing an external hdd via pc across the network)

the mbp is easily powerful enough to act as a main computer, i'm not sure the external ACD is necessary with a MBP 17" Hi Res either, count those pixels up before buying another screen too :cool:
 
I have your same exact setup with a radeon 9800. I've been running linux on it for about a year and its still fine for me.

I have a 1.3ghz powerbook which is worse in all specs (except the same ram). I prefer to use the powerbook. These things are really a joy.
 
I did, and I haven't looked back yet. I take the MBP to work with me everyday, and when I get home I hook it up to my 23" ACD and use it like this:

IMG_1280.jpg
 
Wow Tejota, that's beautiful...

I currently use a Samsung PC Notebook w/
Windows XP Home SP2
Intel Pent. M w/ 795Mhz
512MB of RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon X600

So far I think using a laptop for a home computer is perfectly fine except you'll need to get a external mouse since the touch pad will cramp up your hands.

But I'm also wondering the same thing... To buy a desktop iMac or buy a powerful MBP laptop. w/ my current specs I figured I need to make a decision by mid-July (since my Dells got destroyed).
 
Yes - but w/caveats.

I run my MBP 2.33ghz c2d w/a 20" ACD and it is definitely good enough for a desktop replacement. However - it is NOT as stable as my Win XP custom built Athlon 3200. It's better now that I've upgraded to Adobe CS3 from CS but if you run lots of powerpc apps you might find that Rosetta leaves you wanting.

I've had 5-6 crashes w/unsaved work since ownership (Sept 06) that have set me back timewise. That's 3-4 more in the space of 9 months than the entire lifespan of my pc (4yrs).

Having said this - I still prefer OS-X.
 
Matto1020 said:
I currently have a three year old custom built PC.

AMD Anthlon 2800+
Radeon 9600 128mb Vid Card
1GB Ram

I am going to switch to Mac and was just wondering...is it a good enough computer to use a primary? I will hook it up to my monitor while at home for the better screen size but also love the portability of it. Just wondering :apple:
Click to expand...

Yes, I've used my iBook as my primary computer for almost 3 years. Keep your other machine around just in case as things can and do break on computers as I'm sure you know and it's great to have a backup. It doesn't matter how great the machine is, even high-end servers need backup units. That said, you'll probably never want to use the Windows machine again :D

One note - you mentioned that you custom built your PC desktop (I built my PCs for many years). There isn't as much tinkering to do with Macs. You might get bored :) I however love that fact as I work with computer systems all day and get sick of fixing things by the time I get home.
 
2 cents from a longtime user of a laptop

I'm a graphic designer and long time user of a laptop for serious work. I'm getting ready to upgrade to a MBP 17 with all the trimmings, but if my current laptop is any indication of how much you can do on a Mac laptop, then so be it.

For the past 5 years I've used a PowerBook G4 667 for all of my work. Paired with a Radius 21" monitor (I know, getting pushed out the window soon for a 23" LCD) and used in an "over/under" display mode, this setup has carried me through years of 9-14 hour days, InDesign, PhotoShop, FileMaker Pro, Web work, and even 3D. Uh, yeah. Can't wait to get my hands on dual processors and 2.4 Ghz. 2 gigs of RAM is a minimum these days, and opting for a 7200 rpm, high cache HD will make a world of difference.

Also, if you work with numbers (InDesign, FileMaker, PhotoShop) spring for a USB keypad. One of the things you loose when moving to a laptop. And yet you gain one of the most important things: locale freedom. Work ANYWHERE.

I think that's about $1.37, but short-winded I am not.
 
I have both a 2.4 GHz SR MacBook pro and a new Mac Pro. The MBP does everything fast enough, with the exception of processing HD Video. Other than that, I'd be happy with the MBP as my primary computer.
 
Maui said:
I have both a 2.4 GHz SR MacBook pro and a new Mac Pro. The MBP does everything fast enough, with the exception of processing HD Video. Other than that, I'd be happy with the MBP as my primary computer.
Click to expand...

Funny how you said the mac pro was new, not the MBP. Did you really get a mac pro after a new SR MBP?
 
aaronw1986 said:
Did you really get a mac pro after a new SR MBP?
Click to expand...

Nope, the Mac Pro came before the SR MacBook Pro. I got the Mac Pro about 5 weeks ago, the MacBook Pro came 3 weeks later. Replaced 3 Windows machines.
 
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