OT: Questions for the Mac users

[dannieboiz]

I've decided that I want to play with a Mac. The MacBook vs MacBook Pro.

The beside max Ram and larger screen of the MacBook Pro, what makes it sometime double the price tag of the Macbook?

Seeing the weight of the 15.4 vs the 13.3 screen is only 3oz what's the portability of the 15" screen MacBook Pro?

I can't decide between the two.

Keep in mind, this is going to be my first Mac ever.

What's nice about these mac is that u can dual boot with a Win OS. As soon as I saw that I was sold! :smokin:

 

[jedininja]

I just went mac a few months ago. Started with a Macbook. If you are gaming or doing any graphics stuff, I would go with the pro. But the macbook is very nice, fairly lightweight, fast, and runs very smoothly. Unfortunatly, I do game and do photo editing, so I traded my macbook for a mac mini with a 32 inch lcd.

Being a PC guy for so long, I was always very anti-Mac. But I have to say that I am so happy that I switched. For anything that I need my PC for, I just run Parallel.

 

[dannieboiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10329133#post10329133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jedininja
I just went mac a few months ago. Started with a Macbook. If you are gaming or doing any graphics stuff, I would go with the pro. But the macbook is very nice, fairly lightweight, fast, and runs very smoothly. Unfortunatly, I do game and do photo editing, so I traded my macbook for a mac mini with a 32 inch lcd.

Being a PC guy for so long, I was always very anti-Mac. But I have to say that I am so happy that I switched. For anything that I need my PC for, I just run Parallel.

I'm buying a mac based on a "want" and not a "need" as u did. LOL. I don't play games, nor do any photo editing. I'm doing this to add value to my tech skills to expand my opportunnities list when/if decide to go back to doing IT full time.

BTW: I do my computing on a 47" LCD, 32" would be too small for my eyes.

 

[TikiDan]

I just bought the Black Mac Book, 2.16 ghz with 1 gig of ram, And This thing is awsome! I really don't see the point in spending the money on a Pro. I am a graphic designer and photoshop nerd, and this thing soes everything I need without slowing down!

 

[jedininja]

Tikidan, I assume you dont use Aperature then. It cant run on the macbook because the resolution is too small on it. I had the black macbook too.

 

[dannieboiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10330174#post10330174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jedininja
Tikidan, I assume you dont use Aperature then. It cant run on the macbook because the resolution is too small on it. I had the black macbook too.

couldn't you use the VGA/DVI out and hook it up to a larger screen?

Is the black in a Piano finish?

 

[jedininja]

Yea, I could have. But that means I would have to purchase a larger screen. I didn't need a laptop, so decided to trade for a desktop and a TV instead.

 

[TikiDan]

No need for aperture. I can do anything I need with photoshop. In CS2 it has all of the raw plugins and the file browser is just fine to.

 

[GrumpySpot]

You should probably try typing on a macbook before buying one. The MacBook Pros have a typical notebook keyboard. But the white/black MacBooks currently have a keyboard that is a little different. It kind of looks like fat calculator keys. You might try one out first, just to be sure you like it.

 

[TikiDan]

agreed, the keyboard does take some getting used to

 

[Reefer_Addickt]

I see you say you are learning MAC to increase skills for IT. Do you already have linux mastered?

 

[Ryan009]

As far as MacBook vs. MacBook Pro - I'd go pro but that's just me, I couldn't give you any definite reasons why one vs. the other.

But, I noticed you were talking about booting in Windows. Unless you're going to be a hard core gamer and need the video driver support, I would definitely use Parallels software vs. Apple's Boot Camp. Which the exception of Parallels inferior video support, they both allow you to do the same thing except Parallels is way more convenient because you don't need to restart your machine to go back and forth.

 

[dannieboiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10332788#post10332788 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefer_Addickt
I see you say you are learning MAC to increase skills for IT. Do you already have linux mastered?

I wouldn't want to say Master it, but I know it. Shoot, I haven't even mastered windows. :lol:

I don't want to be a master of anything, I would rather be the one to know a little bit of everything and good at just a few things. Diversity is the key in my book.

 

[gw11ucb]

I just bought a macbook pro about a month ago. It's my first Mac too. A couple of things:

1. Macbook pro is having problem with their wireless (airport) card right now. They have not fix it yet. I have dsl at home and when I hook up to my wireless network it keeps on dropping the signals and then it crashes. I returned 2 macbook pro before someone figure out how to fix it (I had to config my dsl router to send out only b signal). Apple still need to fix the bug. I believe they will fix the bug with their new OS (the Leopard). If you can wait to get your macbook I would wait until October or November when the Leopard comes out. You can read all about it on this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=986785&tstart=15

I don't want to discourage you from getting one. I am using my mac book pro right now. I love it but it was a tough one month before it finally works. I run parallel
3.0 to install window xp professional. It works like a charm.

 

[Markarian421]

The mac is a great platform for learning IT skills, it's about the most user friendly Unix box you can find, and it's up to you whether you want to approach it as something way more user friendly than Windows or do everything from the terminal. I'm in research and used to be in an environment dominated by Linux and Unix, and about 3 years ago saw everyone dropping their Linux and Windows laptops for macs. Around the same time I ended up on a nearly month long business trip where I ended up setting up and maintaining a small Linux cluster from my iBook. I'd say the one downside coming form Linux is that there is no good open source package management system for OS X -- Fink and MacPorts both severely suck in their own unique ways.

As others have said, the main things you gain in the Pro are a larger screen and better graphics card. If you don't need those, a smaller laptop can be nicer in terms of portability. I really like my (now ancient) 12" iBook because it's so small. (But my wife's MacBook Pro is a lot faster!)

 

[dannieboiz]

Just bought a black macbook with 2.16ghz , 1gb (already have a stick 2gb of ram sitting here waiting for it ) super drive, 160gb HDD

 

[TikiDan]

just like mine!

 

[dannieboiz]

Guess what's the first thing I did with my MacBook? I popped it's cherry with ReefCentral. :lol: Still gotta get used to it. The keyboard is fine, the screen is so so. However, when holding the 15" MacBook pro against this there is hardly any weight difference. Only thing is the size. I'm still debating on if I should go with pro. Might be a little big for the economy seats in flights.