Macbook v. Macbook Pro

[Thirdseason]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum.

I have been a PC user for my whole life. I use to hate Macs with a passion, until I had the pleasure of having to work with one for a while for a school project. I was blown away, and I have decided to buy a Mac over a PC.

My budget is ~ 2,000$, and I get a nice education discount since my mom is a teacher. So...

I primarily want this computer for music production - I intend on getting Logic 7 Express preinstalled on it, and purchasing a midi controller and firewire recording interface.

I've gone through my options, and with tax, it seems I can either get:

Macbook 13"
2.0 Ghz
2 Gb ram
80 gig hd
64 mb video card
Logic 7e preinstalled

for ~1700$ (w/ tax and a few peripherals)

or...

Macbook Pro 15"
2.16 Ghz
1 Gb ram
120 gig hd
128 mb ATI Radeon video card
Logic 7e preinstalled

for ~2200$ (w/ tax and a few peripherals)

Now the only thing holding me back from getting the Macbook is its video card... but the fact that I can get 2gb of ram on it is appealing. I do want to play a few computer games on it, but nothing too graphic intensive, just C&C and Sim City when I'm bored. I'm thinking I could just buy a Nintendo Wii with the money I save from getting the Macbook, and that could hold my video game desire over instead.

Advice, suggestions?

 

[szsiddiq]

if you're primarily doing audio editing, the video card won't matter too much. in that case, they're almost the same, with the except of a few things here and there (lit keyboard on the MBP, small size of the MB, etc)

 

[HazChem]

Just a thought for you to ponder: You can upgrade the RAM on the MBP later on but you can't upgrade the video card on the MB ever.

 

[chaslam]

I would get the MBP. I have both and love my MBP over my MB so much.

Another thing is that RAM is upgradeable at a later date and you can do it yourself. Prosessors, HDDs (on MBP) and video cards cant. I would get the MBP and see how you get on, and then at a later date, if you need, you can upgrade your RAM in that to 2GB or even 3GB if you need it.

 

[Thirdseason]

The video card isn't that big of a deal to me... as I said, I'm only going to be doing minimal gaming on it.

I guess my question is this: will the MB be able to do music production just as well as the the MBP?

 

[dornoforpyros]

well the macbook pro is bigger, so I imagine it can beat up it's little brother the macbook.

Actually let's let google fight decide.

hmmm ok looks like the macbook won...by a long shot....oh well. I'd still say the macbook pro is a better choice.

 

[MSM Hobbes]

The video card isn't that big of a deal to me... as I said, I'm only going to be doing minimal gaming on it.

I guess my question is this: will the MB be able to do music production just as well as the the MBP?

To just that question - based on what I've seen, I would say that the C2D MB w/ 2GB RAM would more than suffice for music production, and allow you to save some extra $$$ for other goodies, such as speakers, etc.

 

[shane0mac]

To just that question - based on what I've seen, I would say that the C2D MB w/ 2GB RAM would more than suffice for music production, and allow you to save some extra $$$ for other goodies, such as speakers, etc.

I agree, the money you save will enable you to buy a decent midi controler and maybe a good external firewire soundcard. I do audio production on my macbook, and it smokes my 3ghz pc, and works flawlessly.

 

[Big Boss Man]

I'm also planning on purchasing a laptop to use with Logic Pro. I'm leaning towards the MBP. The FireWire 800 and ExpressCard/34 slot could be useful for adding a fast external HD which comes in handy for audio recording. The ExpressCard/34 could also be used to add a Magma PCI expansion for PCI based plug-ins. Add to that a better GPU, bigger screen, and dual link DVI and I'm sold on the MBP.

 

[jonutarr]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/250362/

i had a similar Q ^

im getting a macbook, just hope i can deal with the gloss

 

[failsafe1]

The real question might be should you go with what will do the job with minimum specs or get a machine that allows you to do more longer into the future? The Macbook would work great for what you need now. The Macbook Pro would allow you to do more for a longer time without becoming obsolete quicker. Even if you don't game the better video in the MBP would be a great draw along with the ability for 3 gigs of ram. My theory is always buy the most for your money. That would mean getting a stock machine with no extra ram or the larger 160 HD at the moment. But you would get 2 gig of ram and a 120 drive. Now you could put a larger HD in the MB easily so that is less of a consideration. The refurbed MBP are really nice and quite a bit cheaper than current machines if you don't want new. The same would apply for refurbed MB's. In short MBP, refurbed MBP if need be.