Mac Book vs Mac Book PRO

Van Isle

Hi All,
sorry for my first real post to be a question (nothing to contribute yet!). Assuming the newest 13" MB and 15" MBP are spec'd the same (120GB HD, 2GB RAM) how big/important is the difference in video cards (shared 64MB vs dedicated 128MB) with respect to photo editing? The $700 or ~30% cost difference and the size/weight difference (this is going to be a ROAD machine, think RTW f650GS) are making me wonder if I should, could, would...

I'll probably be running Photoshop Elements 4.0 for mac and processing RAW as much as possible, but minor stuff only. Until I get back, but that's another story.

Thanks much.

VI
'03 F650GS
Nikon D70s with 18-70, nikkor 18-200 on order
unemployed in 119 days...

DavidTO

The MBP is better, no doubt. Is it worth the extra money? Maybe, depending on your needs. Since your needs seem to be about size/weight, then I'd say go for the MB. It'll be fine. The smaller screen makes it more portable, and also less desirable for editing photos on. Toss up. Your call.

Van Isle

"My call?" Whaddya mean, "my call?" I'm supposed to think for myself? geesh...:D

I was hoping that it would be more cut and dried, although I knew it wouldn't be. Thanks for the advice. As long as the MB can DO IT, I'll be good. My VAIO PIII 1.2 w/256 MB RAM has me scared of underpowered machines for RAW. yeesh.

VI

DavidTO

The two are closer in specs than I would have thought, and closer than the iBook and PowerBook ever were. That said, the MBP is still a better machine. Just not THAT much better, IMO. (It is what I have, however.)

colourbox

It might help to know that Photoshop is not affected by which hardware video card you have. The high-powered video cards are all for gamers and 3D artists. All Photoshop needs is good 2D performance. The bottlenecks are elsewhere. I do not know whether that stays true when comparing shared video RAM to dedicated video RAM on a board, though.

It is true that many features that used to be high-end were migrated down to the MacBook, making it a far better value than the iBook ever was. For example, it is not a problem to extend your desktop to an external monitor with a MacBook, and a second monitor is really helpful with Photoshop. The main constraint on the MacBook to me is the 2GB RAM limit, but going to the MacBook Pro only gets you to 3GB. The MacBook is a great value.

DavidTO

colourbox wrote:

It might help to know that Photoshop is not affected by which hardware video card you have. The high-powered video cards are all for gamers and 3D artists. All Photoshop needs is good 2D performance. The bottlenecks are elsewhere. I do not know whether that stays true when comparing shared video RAM to dedicated video RAM on a board, though.

It is true that many features that used to be high-end were migrated down to the MacBook, making it a far better value than the iBook ever was. For example, it is not a problem to extend your desktop to an external monitor with a MacBook, and a second monitor is really helpful with Photoshop. The main constraint on the MacBook to me is the 2GB RAM limit, but going to the MacBook Pro only gets you to 3GB. The MacBook is a great value.

And 3GB is very expensive, since you need that 2GB stick.

lcavalie

unless you use the pro apps go for a Mac book
One point that i took into consideration for my personal purchase was the use of Aperture.
It works really only on the Mac Book Pro and not very well on the Mac Book because it requires a lot of power from the video card.
To me, that was enough to motivate my choice for the MBP, I also use Motion and DVD Studio Pro and those cannot really run on a Mac Book but if you don;t have those requirements go for a Mac Book there is really nothing else that force you to choose a Mac Book Pro.

L

DavidTO

lcavalie wrote:

One point that i took into consideration for my personal purchase was the use of Aperture.
It works really only on the Mac Book Pro and not very well on the Mac Book because it requires a lot of power from the video card.
To me, that was enough to motivate my choice for the MBP, I also use Motion and DVD Studio Pro and those cannot really run on a Mac Book but if you don;t have those requirements go for a Mac Book there is really nothing else that force you to choose a Mac Book Pro.

L

Good points.

I'm not interested in Aperture, so it wasn't part of my advice, but if you are interested in Aperture, your decision is made for you. MBP all the way.

jay

if u have your heart set on a notebook go with the pro and get the biggest screen available itll be alot easier especially working with photoshop i hate this 15.4 im on a few hours in ps ull see what i mean

wxwax

jay wrote:

if u have your heart set on a notebook go with the pro and get the biggest screen available itll be alot easier especially working with photoshop i hate this 15.4 im on a few hours in ps ull see what i mean

He's packing it on a motorcycle, so size matters.

Van Isle

Size, weight, cost matters. If MB can do it, I'm in. If not, I sacrifice and go for MB Pro. When I get back from "the trip" all bets are off and I'll be rigging up a big system to do the final processing on the majority of the photos. But until then, can the MB get the basics done to load some quick pics to advrider.com. Know what I'm sayin? Thanks for all the advice. And if the MB won't do the basics, with 2 GB RAM, then let me know. I don't need to know if it will be uncomfortable; the fact that I'll edit inside a tent or in a 3rd world country, lets me know that it's going to be uncomfortable, 17" or 13". I'm sure there's the basic jam to get the basics done, at a good cost and high survivability. non?

VI

DavidTO

Van Isle wrote:

Size, weight, cost matters. If MB can do it, I'm in. If not, I sacrifice and go for MB Pro. When I get back from "the trip" all bets are off and I'll be rigging up a big system to do the final processing on the majority of the photos. But until then, can the MB get the basics done to load some quick pics to advrider.com. Know what I'm sayin? Thanks for all the advice. And if the MB won't do the basics, with 2 GB RAM, then let me know. I don't need to know if it will be uncomfortable; the fact that I'll edit inside a tent or in a 3rd world country, lets me know that it's going to be uncomfortable, 17" or 13". I'm sure there's the basic jam to get the basics done, at a good cost and high survivability. non?

VI

MacBook it is.

colourbox

Van Isle wrote:

And if the MB won't do the basics, with 2 GB RAM, then let me know.

Ohhh yeah. It'll do the basics. I'm still using an aging PowerBook for the basics, and the MacBook is more advanced in almost every way.

The MacBook is probably a better road notebook anyway. The polycarbonate case should be able to take a bit more travel punishment than the easily dentable aluminum.

Van Isle

colourbox wrote:

Ohhh yeah. It'll do the basics. I'm still using an aging PowerBook for the basics, and the MacBook is more advanced in almost every way.

The MacBook is probably a better road notebook anyway. The polycarbonate case should be able to take a bit more travel punishment than the easily dentable aluminum.

That's what I was thinking. I WANT to go Mac, and I'm having a really hard time trying to find a PC at that price point with the same specs, build quality, size, etc. And let's not even talk about OS X vs windoze...

Thanks all, great forum!

VI

kres

I've got the 1st Gen MB and love it.

The Lightroom Beta works pretty well on it - I can ingest a 500 - 1000 shot day in about 3 minutes with a filter applied + custom metadata.

Photoshop CS2 works as fast on my AMD64 Desktop box. The Integrated Video card works just fine. Apature is a Beast however and can bring the box to it's knees. IMHO I like Lightroom better. I let my 30 day trial of Apature die. The Adobe way of things suites me better. I imagine Lightroom will get a little faster when it goes Gold.

I run my MacBook with 2G of memory - and that upgrade was worth EVERY penny. Also, the MB runs Windoze XP in Parallels Desktop CONSIDERABLY faster then my desktop. It's freaky, XP Pro starts up in about 5 seconds.

I would suggest that you put $200 bucks aside to upgrade the Harddrive to a 120-160G. (The Hitachi Travelstar 5K160 160G drive + a disk enclosure for your old 60G is a nice combo...) Apple puts the screws to you for larger drive, and you might be able to get a 120G 7200RPM SATA drive that works with you MB if you watch the sales closely.

I've run all the major OS's and some really obscure ones as well. OSX is by far my favorite. Top notch hardware, great UI and BSD (Unix-sih) stability that just works when you turn it on. I really thought Apple was dead till they released OSX - and now that the IntelMac's are here I'm one happy camper.

DoctorIt

Can a MacBook do it? In the words of Gob from Arrested Development: Come on!!!

I'm doing what you need and more with a 12" Powerbook that isn't even maxed out on RAM! I run CS2 no trouble at all - Elements would be a breeze. The MBP would be overkill for your trip - why haul the extra size and $$$ on your bike?

Based on the fact that you plan to buy a serious desktop for the big processing when your done w/travel, I'd actually advise you to go one step further and save even more money (and space in your luggage - it's a good couple inches smaller than the MB) and find yourself a used 12" Powerbook like I have. It's by far the smallest Mac portable ever made, and like I said above, until CS3 comes out and can actually utilize the Intel chip (not run in an emulated mode), it'll hold its own against the newer machines.

wxwax

I'm freaking dying to buy a 17" MBP. I don't need it, I should be buying a new desktop, but those MBP's are so cool I can barely restrain myself from snagging a refurb. I'm a terrible example of our consumerism. :cry

CatOne

wxwax wrote:

I'm freaking dying to buy a 17" MBP. I don't need it, I should be buying a new desktop, but those MBP's are so cool I can barely restrain myself from snagging a refurb. I'm a terrible example of our consumerism. :cry

DO IT!

DavidTO

wxwax wrote:

I'm freaking dying to buy a 17" MBP. I don't need it, I should be buying a new desktop, but those MBP's are so cool I can barely restrain myself from snagging a refurb. I'm a terrible example of our consumerism. :cry

Koolaid's kicking in.

wxwax

CatOne wrote:

DO IT!

Van Isle

DoctorIt wrote:

Can a MacBook do it? In the words of Gob from Arrested Development: Come on!!!

Okay okay! I just didn't know. Like I said, I'm still afraid of what happens on my VAIO (1.2 ghz, 256 mg shared RAM) when I "try" to open a shot in RAW, let alone process it.

DoctorIt wrote:

"find yourself a used 12" Powerbook like I have. It's by far the smallest Mac portable ever made, and like I said above, until CS3 comes out and can actually utilize the Intel chip (not run in an emulated mode), it'll hold its own against the newer machines.

although true, I like the size of the 13", 12"s are too small, and I like the 3 year apple warranty for the new books. The other tricks that the newere books have are really slick, too, like the built in camera, front row, etc. Unless I can convince myself otherwise, I'll have one in my sweaty hands by early Feb. Sweet student dicsounts!Okay okay! I just didn't know. Like I said, I'm still afraid of what happens on my VAIO (1.2 ghz, 256 mg shared RAM) when I "try" to open a shot in RAW, let alone process it.

DoctorIt

Van Isle wrote:

Okay okay!

A MB at student pricing (even better, I know) will be an awesome travel partner. Don't look back, and make sure you post it all here when you return - I'm holding you to an awesome journey report!

Mike Lane

wxwax wrote:

I'm freaking dying to buy a 17" MBP. I don't need it, I should be buying a new desktop, but those MBP's are so cool I can barely restrain myself from snagging a refurb. I'm a terrible example of our consumerism. :cry

You mean like this one that I just bought?

wxwax

Mike Lane wrote:

You mean like this one that I just bought?

I saw that, you rat fink.

You're not helping, you know.