MacBook or Pro?
To save us all a lot of time, I'm not going to buy a Sony, Dell, Toshiba or whatever. I know that some people love Vista (poor, sad misguided souls), and I *know* all the cool kids are running Ubuntu or similar. I am sure someone will swear by XP or Windows Me and some people may question whether you really need a commercial operaing system when you could just roll your own, but I'm going to be buying a Mac from Apple (yes I know sme hardy souls have run OS X on a Windows PC. No interest here.).
The question is which one? If the AIR had a replaceable battery and 4Gb of RAM it'd be on my short list as I travel a lot. I suppose I could use one of those external batteries which work with any laptop to handle the battery life, but the 2Gb is a show stopper. Also, I'm thinking the performance would start to drag after a while. I spend all day running as many applications as I'm capable of jumping between and anything that'll save me a few seconds per file operation or context switch is a good thing.
I travel a LOT and I like the smaller form factor of the MacBook, and I know the new MacBook is able to address 4GB RAM, but after a year of abuse my MacBook is starting to look the worse for wear whereas I've heard the MBP is much more physically robust. The Expresscard is nice (although you can get 3G over USB now so it isn't a biggie), I don't do heavy graphics work so the separate video processing isn't a huge issue, but I'm tempted to take on board the extra weight to get a faster CPU, more RAM and a more robust machine. Also, while I have large LCD screens at home and in the office in both the UK and the US, trying to code on the road, I think the 15" screen will make life easier than the rather cramped experience of coding on the MB when I'm traveling.
Right now I'm looking at the NEW ! 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB/200GB/8600MGT/SD (the 200Gb is a 7200 and I need speed more than space so it's better for me than the 250Gb @5400) which is $2644 after rebate from MacMall or the full $2799 at apple.com. I'd then go for some after market memory as $400 for 4Gb seems a little excessive . . .
Any thoughts? Also, any input on the glossy (which I'm tending towards) over regular screen or on whether there are likely to be new versions of the MBP coming out soon? Also, any opinions on whether it's worth the $250 for the 2.6GHz over the 2.5GHz processor?
Input appreciated!
My personal opinion is the MBP is a better choice for this kind of situation (almost exactly my situation as well). I bought a MBP 17" a year ago and it's held up superbly even though I was flying nearly every week to a job site somewhere. The aluminum case just feels to me to be more substantial than the plastic cases of the MBs (we have 3 of those in our household as well, so I get my hands on them regularly for comparison).
As for RAM, I just replaced the stock 2x1GB modules with 2x2GB modules (even though they said 3GB was max on my model) a few weeks ago for $50 per module. The difference was dramatic and JRun/Eclipse/VMWare/etc run much more smoothly now than before.
When I bought mine, the sales guy told me that unless I would normally be in a situation where the lighting was consistent, to get the matte screen. He said that the glossy one suffers from a glare problem. Since you never know what the lighting conditions will be in client offices, airports and all points in between, I opted for the matte screen and I've not been disappointed. I watch movies on it while in hotel rooms and waiting and airports and the matte screen still looks fine.
1. It travels well (read: it's not _that_ heavy)
2. It's durable. Mine still looks great. Almost pristine, really.
3. It has a backlit keyboard. I've become hooked on that feature.
4. I prefer the keyboard style in general (although this is a marginal argument).
The only real problem I've had is using the 17" on some flights because of the limited space to open and type on some aircraft. If what you mainly fly are those small regional jets, you pretty much have to be in a bulkhead seat to be able to get them open. On larger aircraft like a 757 or A320, I've been able to actually get work done. Even though it's a little cramped, you can at least have room to open the thing. As for airport lounges etc, I don't do alot in coffee shops but regularly work in the main waiting area while waiting for flights to board.
I decided that I'd make the sacrifice of not being able to work on some flights to be able to have the extra screen space for coding while onsite with clients.
@Dan, Interesting. What kind of battery life do you find yourself getting real world? I find about 2.5hrs for MB and I'm wondering if 17" might be a problem in terms of extra screen power consumption (or whether it just has bigger batteries than the MB and MBP 15).
At the end of the day, it's just too large for my tastes. To some degree in weight, but mostly in dimension. It'll barely fit in the backpack I use to tote it around. Ideally, I'd love a 13" MBP, but 15" is a nice, comfy compromise that I'm happy to make. And no, I don't use an external monitor. Even when at home, I can live with the screen real estate in order to preserve the smaller form factor. Minimalism at its finest.
Now if the Air had more power behind it...hmmm...
And yes, the MAP cases are much more durable than the MB's. I have people tell me all the time that they thought mine was brand new even after all this time.
This fascinates me. I love the look of the glossy screen in ideal settings, but I'm terrified to buy one because of the potential for glare. My office gets a lot of natural light. What's your experience been with respect to glare?
My flights are cross country (RDU to Houston or Newark and from there to PHX) and I have not had my battery die on the flight yet (been awfully close a few times). I went to the Apple store before purchasing to compare screens and decide to go to the glossy which doesn't have the glare I thought it would and has wait appears to be richer colors.
I have recently added a second internal drive (the optical is now external usb/firewire) and converted the system to RAID 0 and the system is very responsive. Just for the heck of it I loaded up Moc OSX, XP in Parallels and Vista.
If resolution isn't a deal stopper I would vote for the 15" for more room on the plane as the 17" is large when seats get leaned back.
I'd recommend MBP with a matte screen. I have an iMac with a glossy screen and it is pretty glary! I have a 20" Apple display attached to it and it never has problems with the lighting conditions in my office.
As far as battery life is concerned I think the new MBPs are better than the old, in part due to the LED screens used. They are brighter but more power efficient. The 7200rpm drive is also well advised, a friend of mine got a MBP with one and it's noticeably snappier. I'd also agree about just getting the base ram and buying it elsewhere like Crucial, Newegg etc.
(That being said, I do understand how laptops can wear down-- it always seems that the trackpad buttons, keyboard/motherboard chassis connections, and screen hinges start to fatigue immediately after I get a new Dell laptop.)
Its probably worth phoning them up. Here in the UK I got a "business discout" of about 15% (if I remember correctly on MB-Black. As for the new machine, its the age old issue of screen real-estate over portability. Unless you are flying first class regularly you may find the 17" a tad big :-).
I do quite like my MacBook, but have found the screen res an issue for development. May be by an eeepc for travel and have 2 24" iMacs. One for for when your are in Ed and the other for when you are in the US :-)
I did pony up for the 2.60 chip, not sure how much faster it is but hell why not.
In your case I would go for the 5200 rpm drive since there isnt much speed difference and it will use less battery power and also produce less heat, which is more ideal for traveling.
I got the 2gb of standard ram and bought 4gb from crucial for $140 fedex overnight.
The glossy screen IMO is a PITA and the new standard LED screen is REALLY nice, besides instant powering up it also uses a lot less power so again your battery life is extended.
http://www.macworld.com/article/132600/2008/03/mbp...
@All, I'm thinking 15", 2.5Ghz - $250 for 0.1Ghz doesn't seem a great deal. I'm going to go for the 7200 as it may not be best for battery, but I think the speed is worth the extra power consumption.
Any suggestions on how/where to buy to get the best deal?
I've had my MBP for nearly 18 months now and I use it in different client's offices and while travelling by plane, train or car (no, not while I'm driving! B->) and I've always been able to see what I'm doing, in all kinds of light conditions, whereas another developer I know with the glossy screen never stops bitching about 'I can't sit at this desk, as I won't be able to see anything' - wimp!
</cliff>
I have the glossy 17" and love it. I take my MBP outside all the time with no issue. I was concerned when I bought but am glad I did.
I LOVE my glossy screen too. I will NEVER own another matte screen.
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/compariso...
Cheers.
I am currently facing the same situation as you. A new notebook is due, and, as a new Mac convert, I'll obviously go for a Mac notebook. ;-)
My wife has a Macbook that I borrow from time to time... but, 13" is just too small to work. So it'll be a MBP.
With the new models, the difference in processor speed is marginal. Take a look at the Mac World test... with the same amount of RAM the 2.6 scores just 6.5% faster than the 2.5. And that's a test suite. In normal daily work you won't feel the difference.
The difference that makes me choose the 2.5 over the 2.4 is the 512 MB graphics memory, as I'll be working with lightroom sometimes.
Best,
Chris