[Chicago] OT: MacBook vs. MacBook Pro?

[Cosmin Stejerean]

About a year ago I was debating between the MacBook Pro and the MacBook. A
friend let me borrow his MacBook for a bit and after playing with it here is
what made me decide to buy a 15' MacBook Pro.
1. The keyboard on the 13'' Mac is (or at least seems) smaller which makes
it uncomfortable for me to type on.
2. I was used to 15'' laptop screen so the 13'' seemed too small
3. The MacBook used to get very hot (hotter than the MBP where the aluminum
case seems to help). Recent firmware upgrades have made this less of a
problem (and tools like FanControl)
4. I wanted a dedicated graphics card to be able to play some games if
necessary (then I found out there aren't that many games for OSX, I wasn't
willing to install XP and in the mean time I bought a PS3)

Here are some things that I've discovered since making the decision

1. The FireWire 800 port came in handy. I could not get my Western Digital
My Book Pro to connect using FireWire 400. Research seems to indicate it
might be some conflict with the iSight camera. Works flawlessly using
FireWire 800.

2. Coming from a 15.4 Dell with 1680x1050 I was disappointed with the
1440x900 resolution.
3. Buying a MBP is much better on Amazon. The price is lower, there are
usually rebates and you don't pay sales tax (which on a $2000 purchase makes
a significant difference).
4. Most of the time I'm at home and I have my laptop connected to an
external monitor, keyboard and mouse so the original concerns about size did
not seem very relevant in the long run.

In conclusion: If you don't intend to do graphics rendering or run a couple
of VM's at the same time the 13'' should suffice, but if you plan on using
the laptop itself (without an external keyboard/monitor) the size can make a
difference.

On Dec 27, 2007 1:00 PM, <skip at pobox.com> wrote:

>
> I've got a 15" Powerbook G4 that should be retired.  I'm thinking of
> replacing it with a MacBook, but I'm wondering if I'll be disapppointed
> with
> the smaller 13" screen.  The other major difference seems to be in the
> graphics configuration (NVidia GeForce vs Intel GMA - where the Intel
> processor eats up a chunk of main memory instead of having its own
> memory).
> Anybody out there with a decent amount of experience with the two (more
> than
> just fooling around at the Apple Store) with both systems have any
> opinions?
> Bottom line, is the Pro worth the extra $1,000?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Skip Montanaro
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chicago mailing list
> Chicago at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>



-- 
Cosmin Stejerean
http://blog.offbytwo.com
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