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MB vs. MBP, not like all others, read on...

parpart33

parpart33

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 22, 2007
24
0
Hey all,

This is my first post after searching the archives for a few months I haven't found anyone to answer this question that is truly plaguing me. I'm looking into the last line of Core 2 Duo models for the laptops, money not being somewhat of an issue, but I can afford either machine. Portability is also a point, I carry my laptop to all my classes in my bag and a nice portable laptop is important. I also watch a lot of .avi files on my computer without using an S-Video to sync up with my TV. I'm looking at these two computers:

MacBook Black
Core 2 Duo 2Ghz Ram
160GB Hard Drive
2GB Ram

MacBook Pro 15.4"
Core 2 Duo 2.16Ghz Ram
160GB Hard Drive
2GB Ram

I have a Xbox 360 so gaming on my computer is not something I take part in, basically it boils down to is an additional $400 worth the 2 inches more of screen space to utilize Mac Os to it's full potential? I also do a lot of ripping and encoding of DVD's to .avi format so I don't have to carry around discs and waste less battery spinning a disc in my drive. Other than that, basic utilities necessary to survive at college. Thanks for looking I appreciate the replies. Sorry if anyone thinks this has been done over too many times, but I thought it was a unique question.
 
MacBook Pro has some other gadgets onboard too - such as light sensing and motion sensing (stop the hard drive incase you drop the laptop to prevent damage).

But worth the money? Dunno. If you aren't going to be doing anything graphic demanding, the MacBook is fine and suits your needs. It is a slick machine, and portability is the key.

MacBook Pro's offer dedicated GPU's. Handy if you are going to be doing high res video/photo editting or wanting to play Hi-Definition media you might have downloaded (H.264 format anyway).
 
I thought motion-sensing was also built into the MacBooks?

I could be wrong of course :rolleyes: , but I remember reading that somewhere.
 
I would go with the macbook. For one, it has better battery life. But, you also said you like to rip alot of video. The macbook has a user replaceable HD which would probably come in handy for future upgrades.
 
Wait until either the MBP or MB get updated to the Santa Rosa chipset, with any new hardward upgrades that come with the updates. (screen res, Blu-ray DVD, GPU, LED backlight screens, etc). Your next quarter/semester doesn't start until Aug/Sept correct? Then you've got plenty of time to consider which model after they get updated sometime in the near future, we hope.
 
Thanks for the replies,

This is my first Mac ever, so I want to make sure I have all the upgrades to make for the best impression. I love the look of the BlackBook. I also use a few external hard drives to keep all my video on while I'm not using it. HBO shows and such, but in reality I'm looking to run three separate partitions right when I get my computer, 30GB for Mac, 30GB for Windows (I need a few programs for school), and the rest I want to partition for my data, movies documents, etc. Has anyone had success with this? It seems like the MacBook seems like the best decision, saves me the most money and meets all my needs for a computer.
 
Butthead,

I work from home and a computer is mandatory for this. I'm starting the 7th of May and have to go online to get jobs, so a computer will have to be in my possession by then. As much as I'd like to wait, I can't.
 
If I was in your position I would get a macbook (Blackbook) and not bother about waiting. Since you are needing for laptop failry soon I would go order one asap. :D

MBP Probably won't make any difference for you (Apart from being slightly less portable). The advantages of the current blackbook makes me think thats what you should get. Don't wait for SR because it won't be out by the time you need the computer.

Also three partitions, one for OSX one for windows and one for movies will work well. But for the movie/document partition I would recomend formatting it in FAT32 so both your mac and windows operating systems can access, read and write to it ;)
 
Thanks Snow Man,

This has really helped to convince me to save some money and go for the MacBook. Also, regarding the partitioning, I want to go 30 for Mac, 30 for Windows, and what ever I have left of 160GB for data. I plan to format as FAT 32 to be able to move between both Os's, but my question is when I format that, would I need to format 60GB for Mac Os X and the rest for Data, then run boot camp on the 60GB partition and divide it in half for the Windows?
 
parpart33 said:
Thanks Snow Man,

This has really helped to convince me to save some money and go for the MacBook. Also, regarding the partitioning, I want to go 30 for Mac, 30 for Windows, and what ever I have left of 160GB for data. I plan to format as FAT 32 to be able to move between both Os's, but my question is when I format that, would I need to format 60GB for Mac Os X and the rest for Data, then run boot camp on the 60GB partition and divide it in half for the Windows?
Click to expand...

No, you can format it how you like, you could make 160 partitions of 1GB if you really wanted. However it isn't recommended ;) oh and OS X can't run with a 1GB partition anyway...but you get the point.

You don't need to make partitions the same size, you can make the OS X partition 30GB then the windows 35 or 25 or anything you want. It's fully flexible to how YOU want to set it up. It's also rather easy to do.

However one word of warning about partitioning your drive up like this...When you transfer information from one partition to the other on the same drive the transfer speed can be rather slow. Because it physically has to move the information along the same I/O controller to get the info from the Departure partition to the destination partition. This is ok for small files (under 200MB) however if you are transferring large files (Raw DV for example) the slow speed that the file will move can become frustrating and will also tie up you I/O controller (not to mention hard drive) for longer.

It is recommended that you keep partitions to a minimum for this reason. Three partitions is more than within the boundary of this explanation; however in your case you could get away with having just two. A 30 or 40GB partition for OS X and the rest for windows (FAT32), this way both operation systems will still be able to access the information on the windows drive and it will make moving (and streaming in some instances) from your data partition (in this case you windows partition) much faster. :D
 
congrats man, i know you ll love your macbook..... i do,, weird i start on may 7th too an dthats why i got miine...
 
just a note, if you keep all your data on the windows partition and then something happens to windows and you need to wipe and reinstall, you will lose everything.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
just a note, if you keep all your data on the windows partition and then something happens to windows and you need to wipe and reinstall, you will lose everything.
Click to expand...

It's trivial to install Windows with the Documents & Settings/Users (XP/Vista) tree on a different partition.

The thing that amazes me is that MS hasn't made this standard already. I mean, it's not like Windows needing a reinstall is an uncommon scenario...
 
I know that the computer I'm on now (PC rented through university, part of a laptop program), has a data drive setup for Windows where the Data is kept separate. The unique thing that I've been able to see is that anything saved to the desktop is recognized as the data drive. Will this be the case in Mac Os X, or is this some special command made to make the default file source for the desktop the D drive? Thanks for the posts, it's awesome to finally be a part of the community.
 
parpart33 said:
I know that the computer I'm on now (PC rented through university, part of a laptop program), has a data drive setup for Windows where the Data is kept separate. The unique thing that I've been able to see is that anything saved to the desktop is recognized as the data drive. Will this be the case in Mac Os X, or is this some special command made to make the default file source for the desktop the D drive? Thanks for the posts, it's awesome to finally be a part of the community.
Click to expand...

That's thats the way Windows is designed; stuff "on the desktop" is just located a folder called "Desktop" in the users homedir. The OS knows where the homedirs are.

OS X essentially does it in the same way, with a Desktop folder in your home dir.

However, you'd likely not want your OS X homedir on a FAT32 filesystem.

Are you planning to use bootcamp and dual-boot or go with Parallels?
 
parpart33 said:
Thanks for the replies,

This is my first Mac ever, so I want to make sure I have all the upgrades to make for the best impression. I love the look of the BlackBook. I also use a few external hard drives to keep all my video on while I'm not using it. HBO shows and such, but in reality I'm looking to run three separate partitions right when I get my computer, 30GB for Mac, 30GB for Windows (I need a few programs for school), and the rest I want to partition for my data, movies documents, etc. Has anyone had success with this? It seems like the MacBook seems like the best decision, saves me the most money and meets all my needs for a computer.
Click to expand...

pp33, I grappled with the MB vs. MBP dilemma for a while...the MBP won out. However, when I was leaning the other way, it didn't make any sense to me to really consider the blacbook. The $200 extra you'd be paying for that model over the middle MB is really only for 40GB more of HD space (you can get a 3 gazillion GB external firewire drive for that...well, not exactly, but you get the point) and the blackness, which is admittedly very cool, but $200 worth of cool? :confused: An additional external drive (or two) would be nice to have for back-ups, etc.
jdo
 
I was also debating a MB vs. MBP. I decided on the middle MB, but stores in my city didn't have any, so I splurged on the black MacBook. It is a really nice comp, but the integrated graphics are not very good. My 32MB iBook graphics performs better. I noticed this sometimes in gradients - they sometimes seem less defined on the MacBook, than on the iBook. Other than that, I'm loving my MacBook. It's fast, and has a better (IMO) case design than the MBP - nicer appearance, magentic latch, more durable, more portable, better wifi.
 
Butthead said:
Wait until either the MBP or MB get updated to the Santa Rosa chipset, with any new hardward upgrades that come with the updates. (screen res, Blu-ray DVD, GPU, LED backlight screens, etc).
Click to expand...

Considering that the cost of a 5 /14" sized full height drive alone costs $600-$800, just for the drive, I have serious doubts you're going to see a Blu ray drive crammed into a MB or MBP profile this year, or even next year for that matter. If we do, you can expect it to cost upwards of $2,900 before you've upgraded anything.
 
I'd go with the MBP. It's still portable, but powerful enough to rip DVD's quickly and it also comes with a DVI to VGA adapter.

What I'd do is get a DVI to HDMI cable (if you have an HDMI slot on your TV) to display what you need on your TV.

Not only that, but you have the versitility to grow and take on more tasks if they do arise. IMO you should spend the extra money and get the MBP.

-Mike
 
Thanks for the responses,

Have any of you bought your computer in store with the RAM upgrade? If so, do they take your computer out right when you bought it and scratch it taking out the battery to install the two 1GB RAM chips, or do they have some in the back pre-equipped with 2GB RAM, and they simply go back, grab one of these machines that come with 2GB, and you're good to go? I'm just wondering because I'm considering going in store and sacrificing 40GB to get my laptop earlier, but if they are in the back doing God knows what to my laptop, I think I'd rather have one shipped right out of the factory.
 
parpart33 said:
Thanks for the responses,

Have any of you bought your computer in store with the RAM upgrade? If so, do they take your computer out right when you bought it and scratch it taking out the battery to install the two 1GB RAM chips, or do they have some in the back pre-equipped with 2GB RAM, and they simply go back, grab one of these machines that come with 2GB, and you're good to go? I'm just wondering because I'm considering going in store and sacrificing 40GB to get my laptop earlier, but if they are in the back doing God knows what to my laptop, I think I'd rather have one shipped right out of the factory.
Click to expand...

If you buy it in store, they open it up to upgrade it. If you buy it online, I believe they do the upgrade before packaging it. Either ways if it is scratched, ask for a new one :)
 
Thanks for all the help,

I'm ordering my Black MacBook 160GB hard drive 2GB RAM this afternoon, it's shipping to my house so I won't get it until school is over, but I can't say I'm not excited. Thanks for the feedback, and to all those MBP lovers, give me two years with this as my "initiation machine," then I'll move into the real power Apple has to offer.
 
I'm headed back to school in the fall and am leaning towards the MB for my first Mac :)

The portability was big issue for me--I'm going to be lugging it to class everyday and need something as small as possible. Although I'm somewhat disappointed to see that the difference in weight between the MB and MBP is only half a pound.
 
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