Switching to Mac: Macbook or Pro?

[Titan]

I am talking to you Juventus3 and llama64! as well as any others that have an opinion. I am not particularly interested in Macs suck posts, unless they are pretty funny.

I am not a power user but have some familiarity with computers.

I have used Windows for years and am getting sick and tired of working on my computer not working on doing stuff on my computer. Firewalls, virus (viri?), trying to get cameras and video camers to work etc.

I am just tired of it. So I am thinking of making the jump to a Mac laptop.

What I want to do primarily is create videos from my camcorder. I have a sony hi-def and I think both versions will work with it. I only want to do very basic stuff, edit out bad parts, add captions, maybe some music.

I would also surf, p2p, and very minimal word processing/spreadsheet stuff like house budgets and football pools. I would not be gaming as that is what a console is for, in my opinion.

I would like some feedback on whether the macbook could handle my needs or if I should go pro. I see the video as taking the most power but if the difference is measured in minutes vs. hours then I can probably live with it. I would likely max out the RAM with aftermarket when I did get it. Would this help with the editing?

Thanks for everybody's input.

[PsYcNeT]

Macs are always a great option when tired of Windows, but don't assume they will be cure all for all spyware/virii.

The only thing that can cure those is proper surfing habits and internet common sense.

(PS Leopard rules)

[metallicat]

Nm

[MarchHare]

It's really a question of your budget -- if you can afford the MacBook Pro, go for it!

Video editing is pretty hardware-intensive, so you won't go wrong with a faster processor and more RAM, not to mention the additional harddrive space (which gets used up fast if you plan to shoot in HD).

The non-Pro MacBook is still a solid machine, though, so if that's all you can afford, I'm sure you'll be happy with it. You might also want to consider using Bootcamp to create a Windows partition (XP SP2 or Vista are supported); it's great to have the best of both worlds!

And yeah, when it comes to avoiding malware, there's no substitute for safe computing habits. Despite having two Windows boxes and one Mac at home, I've never had a computer virus infection. Just make sure you have anti-virus software installed, keep the definitions up to date, install the latest security patches for your OS, and periodically check your PC for spyware.

[Titan]

I bought a plain Macbook because it did everything I needed it to, mainly surfing the Internet. I don't have a large need for the applications that the Mac comes with, but it does seem to have a surplus of them. I would think, and without knowing how to use these programs, that a Macbook would be sufficient. There are things like iMovie HD and Visual Hub that would probably serve the purpose. But like I said, I don't use those programs, so I'm not sure.

For what I personally use this computer for, it is more than adequate. And I will definitely buy another Mac in the future.

This really creates quite a dilemma for me. An Oilers fan saying I should buy a Mac. By all the laws of the universe I must do the opposite. What to do, what to do? :w00t:

Just kidding, thanks for the input. The fact imovie is bundled is another reason I am considering a mac.

[Titan]

Thanks MarchHare. I plan to use an external HD as well so the hard drive is less of a consideration. It is more a matter of if the MB can do it reasonably well I can think of better uses for $900 bucks. But if the MB will be really slow and boggy then I will bite the bullet and get the pro.

[peter12]

The Macbook can handle make movies from a digital camcorder quite easily. Just the other day, I loaded like 20 GB of video onto my laptop and started editing writing away. Imovie can also do some pretty cool stuff.

But, as other posters have said, if you can afford the Pro, go ahead and get it. The screen is soooo much nicer and you get substantially more power.

[photon]

I love the aluminum case of the Pro, my next notebook will probably be a Pro. Check on eBay, there's some guys there selling brand new ones with full warranty for quite a bit under retail. Warranty applies to Canada and US as well, so no worries that way.

[arsenal]

You could probably get away with doing digital movie processing with the macbook, but if you want it done faster, go pro. While I do like the look of the macbook better than the pro, I always want more power.. guess its the guy in me..

[MarchHare]

Thanks MarchHare. I plan to use an external HD as well so the hard drive is less of a consideration. It is more a matter of if the MB can do it reasonably well I can think of better uses for $900 bucks. But if the MB will be really slow and boggy then I will bite the bullet and get the pro.

I'm sure the MacBook will be fine for your needs; I still edit video with iMovie on an 800MHz iBook G4 with 768MB or RAM.

That being said, photon is absolutely right that the MacBook Pros are a much nicer machine -- it's just so much more polished. The aluminum finish is sharp, the backlit keyboard is nifty, etc. If I was in the market for a new laptop right now, that's the one I would buy without a doubt.

[Titan]

Even with HiDef do you think?

[peter12]

I'm sure the MacBook will be fine for your needs; I still edit video with iMovie on an 800MHz iBook G4 with 768MB or RAM.

That being said, photon is absolutely right that the MacBook Pros are a much nicer machine -- it's just so much more polished. The aluminum finish is sharp, the backlit keyboard is nifty, etc. If I was in the market for a new laptop right now, that's the one I would buy without a doubt.

Agreed. I run stuff right now with the black Macbook, it's probably got more stuff than I'll ever need. But that Macbook Pro is pretty awesome, maybe my next laptop. You can also run decent games on it without a hitch.

[llama64]

Buy the MacBook. Just don't get Apple to upgrade the ram, it's a blatent rip off.

Plus, if you plan on using a 3rd party mouse (and as a windows user, I recommend it) look up a utility called USB Overdrive. It's 20$ but it will replace the crappy mouse accelleration problem.

It comes with a built in Firewire port and USB, so I'm sure it will handle your camera. I have a friend who produced movies on his old iBook (3 years old), but he ended up buying the full version of the movie software. Might be worth it for you to do some looking into that.
I've been impressed with my MacBook. Figured out how to use Skype last night, clicked a button by accident and suddenly had video chat. No configuration required, it found and used my built in mic and camera without an issue. The processor and memory are powerful enough to easily handle Leopard and just about anything you throw at it short of preformance 3d rendering. The video card is pretty lame, but it's good enough to run World of Warcraft at a respectable clip. If games are to be considered, spend the extra money on a MacBook Pro.

I've noticed a huge leap in quality for opensource and free programs built for the MacOS. Because the platform is so constrained, developers MUST adhere to standards in order to deploy in OS X. This ends up with higher consistency and quality. Adium (MSN, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger replacement) is a great example of this.

Wireless is fully compatable with all standards out there and is actually quite solid in Leopard (post update). I havn't had any issue getting it to talk to my WPA protected network whereas my wife's HP Vista machine (6 months old) has all sorts of issues.

It also comes with a bluetooth chip, which would be handy if you had a need for it.

The black version is over priced for no real reason, so the best price/feature is the middle tier (~1400). If having a black laptop is important, spend the money but all you're getting for the extra 250$ is 40 more gB's of hard disk space and a new colour. You can upgrade the hard disk on the middle tier to 160gB for only 77$ or buy a 250gB drive at memory express for 150$.

The equivalent Dell is the Inspirion XPS 1330. Configured the same the Dell is pretty much the same price. So really, it's just a choice of whether or not you want to use OS X. Personally, the ability to try out OS X and if you don't like it, switch back to Windows (a mac can run all operating systems) was worth the risk. It works for me :)

Oh... I should mention. Go beat up a student and steal their University ID. It's worth 150$ at Apple.ca ;)

[Juventus3]

It's pretty much all been said. If you can afford it the macbook pro is nice, however if you're on a budget the macbook will do everything you need it to do.

Also keep in mind when you buy. I've read it is expected a new macbook will come out at macworld (apple's yearly developer conference). Probably would mean opportunity for cheap macbooks in the weeks leading up to it. This year's conference in Jan 15- 18. Last year Apple also had an online boxing day sale with some pretty damn tempting offers.

[arsenal]

Yes, don't upgrade the ram. Just find a 3rd party that will sell ram that works with apple, and do it yourself. Way cheaper, and from what I hear, it isn't that hard to do either.

[llama64]

You could probably get away with doing digital movie processing with the macbook, but if you want it done faster, go pro. While I do like the look of the macbook better than the pro, I always want more power.. guess its the guy in me..

The two major things when considering doing video processing is memory and hard disk space.

Both can be upgraded for cheap on the MacBook. The newest spec can even accomodate 4gB of memory. I'd suggest getting 2 gB for video editing though.

[Juventus3]

Just found a link for the new macbook. Supposed to be slimmer, cheaper.

http://www.9to5mac.com/apple-to-release-new-aluminum-macbooks-7456543Black aluminum and silver aluminum (like MacBook Pros) have been seen
They are considerably slimmer than current MacBook and even a bit more than MacBook Pros
The screen reaches much closer to the edges than current MacBooks but is the same size as current MacBooks - indicating a somewhat smaller footprint
The keyboards resemble Apple's new Bluetooth Keyboard
There is something strange about the touchpad (more on this to come)
They are set to be priced extremely aggressively
While they are dense, overall they are lighter than the current MacBooks

[peter12]

So what does "priced extremely aggressively" mean? Like way cheaper?

[llama64]

Just found a link for the new macbook. Supposed to be slimmer, cheaper.

http://www.9to5mac.com/apple-to-release-new-aluminum-macbooks-7456543

Probably won't be seeing those till Q2 next year. Still, kinda nice to see Apple bringing the aluminum case to all their models.

One gripe I have with the white case I got... it gets dirty if I don't wipe it off every now and then. Nothing major... but I certainly wash my hands more often now. eeew.

[Juventus3]

Probably won't be seeing those till Q2 next year. Still, kinda nice to see Apple bringing the aluminum case to all their models.

One gripe I have with the white case I got... it gets dirty if I don't wipe it off every now and then. Nothing major... but I certainly wash my hands more often now. eeew.

What makes you think Q2? Apple needs something to make headlines at MacWorld. At this point no one has any idea (nor are they even speculating) as to what that something will be. On my part it's nothing more than wishful thinking, but in some ways I think it makes sense.

[sclitheroe]

What makes you think Q2? Apple needs something to make headlines at MacWorld. At this point no one has any idea (nor are they even speculating) as to what that something will be. On my part it's nothing more than wishful thinking, but in some ways I think it makes sense.

Maybe announced at MacWorld, but in term of getting something new in your hands, probably more likely Q2.

Regardless, this years MacWorld is supposed to be more heavily Mac oriented (as opposed to iPhone), so I would expect there to be at least one new product.

[Barnes]

Either the MB or MBP would suit your needs. With 2 or more gigs of RAM the MB would make for an excellent video editing machine.

The biggest thing in this case to consider is screen size. 13.3 for the MB and 15.4/17 for the MBP. I have a Macbook and am surprised that the small size doesn't bother me one bit but it may bother you. FWIW I waited years for the Macbook because I couldn't use an iBook because of the max screen resolution.

The MB is a perfect size too.

For those of you that have an Apple laptop, the DVI to s-video adapter is a must. Plug it in to your TV with a minijack to rca for sound, fire up Front Row and you have yourself an AppleTV.

Everything Llama said I agree with as well and I will second the statement about app development. The quality is phenomenal. Check out delicious library as an example.

It's an application that allows you to catalog your books and movie collections if your the type of person that lends stuff out or has a huge library.

To enter a DVD or book into your library, hold the barcode up to the iSight camera and it will read it, find it online and enter it into your library. Very cool.

[Juventus3]

[QUOTE=Barnes;


To enter a DVD or book into your library, hold the barcode up to the iSight camera and it will read it, find it online and enter it into your library. Very cool.[/QUOTE]

WHAT!?!

[llama64]

WHAT!?!

Ditto...

:eek: frakin sweet.

[peter12]

Ditto...

:eek: frakin sweet.

What?! Does this work on any Macbook? How do I do it?

[sureLoss]

What?! Does this work on any Macbook? How do I do it?

http://www.delicious-monster.com/

[peter12]

http://www.delicious-monster.com/

Wow!

[Tyler]

Awesome program. Had it for years. Lots of fun to start a new collection. Makes you feel like a check-out person :D

[peter12]

So if you scan a DVD, does it put the whole DVD onto your computer? Same with books?

Wouldn't this be an amazing way in which to analyze and compile research?

[llama64]

I'll stick this question in here:

On my MacBook using Leopard, how do I do a "Page Up/Down"? Some times I just don't want to use the mouse/trackpad and would love a simple keyboard shortcut for this function.

Thanks!

[MarchHare]

I'll stick this question in here:

On my MacBook using Leopard, how do I do a "Page Up/Down"? Some times I just don't want to use the mouse/trackpad and would love a simple keyboard shortcut for this function.

Thanks!

I'm not sure if this will answer your question or not, but on my iBook, Page Up/Down is done by hitting Function+Cursor Up/Down.

[Barnes]

I'm not sure if this will answer your question or not, but on my iBook, Page Up/Down is done by hitting Function+Cursor Up/Down.

Yeah that's right.

control > double finger scroll is a handy one too.

[llama64]

I'm not sure if this will answer your question or not, but on my iBook, Page Up/Down is done by hitting Function+Cursor Up/Down.

AWESOME! Thanks!

[Lucky boy]

My PC is just about to die and I am looking at getting a macbook pro. A couple of questions that I have ...

Is the 256MB graphics card ( 2.4 GHz model) worth the extra cash?
I do a bit of gaming, nothing super intense, but will the 256MB make it that much better?
Should I get the apple care warranty package thing?

Thanks

[Flaming Choy]

My PC is just about to die and I am looking at getting a macbook pro. A couple of questions that I have ...

Is the 256MB graphics card ( 2.4 GHz model) worth the extra cash?
I do a bit of gaming, nothing super intense, but will the 256MB make it that much better?
Should I get the apple care warranty package thing?

Thanks

can't help you with the vid card question, but i think the apple care thing is worth it. There was a posting at redflagdeals where you can get the apple cares package for 33% off. I'll post the link when i'm at work tomorrow (don't have it here). Another note to consider, it's rumored that hte new mac book pros are coming soon (possibly end of the month). If it follows the mba trend it'll have led backlit display, multi-touch trackpad...ect.

[Tyler]

AWESOME! Thanks!

Apple button + Up /Down on your laptop keyboard will also help

[Lucky boy]

Another note to consider, it's rumored that hte new mac book pros are coming soon (possibly end of the month). If it follows the mba trend it'll have led backlit display, multi-touch trackpad...ect.

Thanks for that, I will definitely hold off a bit longer, just hope my PC can last that long

[llama64]

Apple button + Up /Down on your laptop keyboard will also help

Would this be the "Command Button"? There is no apple button on my Macbook.

Command + Up/Down goes to the top or bottom of a page in Firefox.

[llama64]

My PC is just about to die and I am looking at getting a macbook pro. A couple of questions that I have ...

Is the 256MB graphics card ( 2.4 GHz model) worth the extra cash?
I do a bit of gaming, nothing super intense, but will the 256MB make it that much better?
Should I get the apple care warranty package thing?

Thanks

No... that increase in price is not justified by the extra 40Gb of HDD or the doubling of Video ram. Each step up component wise at the Apple store seems to be worth about 200$ regardless of what it actually would cost Apple. The Pro's suffer the worst from this.

If all you need is a decent home PC replacement to do some gaming on, the base Macbook Pro will suit you. You likely won't notice the difference in processor speed and increasing the diskspace is cheaper outside of Apple. You will only notice the difference in video card memory if you spend a lot of time playing intensive 3d games. Since you're looking at a Mac, it's safe to assume that games arn't your main focus :)

[Flaming Choy]

well, gaming is starting to creep into the mac market with Cider and just running windows. But yes, gaming isn't usual a primary focus for macs.

http://www.sigelectronics.com/Apple-i/Mac-Software

Here is that site to get cheap apple care. Good reviews from people too, not sure how they can sell so low below apple's prices.

[Locke]

Hey guys, I figured I'm bump this baby as I too am considering switching to Mac and, as CP is a veritable reservoire of information I figured I'd ask my questions here.

I'm looking at a macbook, nothing too insane mind you, but I want it for fairly general purposes.

1. Music and movies: I gather my iPod will sync up just fine, but what methods would I have for downloading new stuff?

2. Anti-Virus software: Would I have to get something new, or does the macbook come with its own anti virus software? I currently use AVG, and my desktop runs Avast.

3. Office work: Does the macbook come with a "Microsoft Office" analog for word processors and spreadsheets or do I have to purchase additional software, and will anything I do on that be readable by my office PC?

4. I gather that it comes with it's own Web browser, is there anything I should be looking out for or any major differences that I should be aware of?

Thanks for any help/info you guys might have.:D

[HotHotHeat]

1. Torrents are your friend. I use Transmission. It uses very little resources and keeps the downloads nicely organized.
2. Two years on a mac, and not a cent spent on anti-virus. OS X is truly incredibly...PC fanboys will dig up an article on OSX virus', but the fact of the matter is that it doesn't happen to 95% of the people on macs.
3. Two options here. Either buy MS Office 2008 for Mac, Student copy runs you about $199...Or get iWorks '08 for $79. Does everything office does. It opens and saves documents in .doc format for compatibility with MS Office. Office 2008 for mac is awesome too, but there's a bunch of bugs in the software mainly because it's a brand new platform.
4. Safari 3.1 is due out soon, it's supposed to be very quick...That's Apple's IE. You can also get a selection of other developer browsers...I'd imagine FireFox is the most popular among them, but Safari is great for most people's needs. No major differences really.

Hope that helps.

I'm not sure what the Apple website has standard for RAM in their macbooks right now, but for heavens sake don't upgrade the RAM from Apple...It's the biggest rip off known to man.

Other world computing (google it) has excellent RAM and HD upgrades for a fraction of the cost. I recently upgraded to 2 gb of ram for $49...Works awesome.

[llama64]

Hey guys, I figured I'm bump this baby as I too am considering switching to Mac and, as CP is a veritable reservoire of information I figured I'd ask my questions here.

I'm looking at a macbook, nothing too insane mind you, but I want it for fairly general purposes.

1. Music and movies: I gather my iPod will sync up just fine, but what methods would I have for downloading new stuff?

2. Anti-Virus software: Would I have to get something new, or does the macbook come with its own anti virus software? I currently use AVG, and my desktop runs Avast.

3. Office work: Does the macbook come with a "Microsoft Office" analog for word processors and spreadsheets or do I have to purchase additional software, and will anything I do on that be readable by my office PC?

4. I gather that it comes with it's own Web browser, is there anything I should be looking out for or any major differences that I should be aware of?

Thanks for any help/info you guys might have.:D

1. I use Azureus on both the PC and Mac. Otherwise, iTunes and the iTunes music store will handle all your music needs. To play new formats (messed up xVid or DivX) you'll probably want VLC player.

2. No need for anti-virus software, yet. Same goes for anti-malware/spyware software. OSX doesn't have IE or MSN Messenger which are the two major doors for crap getting onto a Windows box. This doesn't mean it's impossible for you to get a virus... just highly improbable.

3. You'll want to buy MS Office if you want to do anything useful. iWork/NeoOffice is great if you are just handling basic documents for your self. If you are going to be handling stuff from work or wanted to transfer these documents around to other people, you'll need Office.

4. Safari is decent, but it lacks plug-ins. You'll probably want to use Firefox over it. I gave Safari a week of use before I ditched it. If you go for Firefox and you use it on a Windows box, you won't notice any difference between the two.

If you use a messenger program, look up Adium. Single best messenger program in existence!