Macbook vs Macbook Pro
5 comments April 17th, 2007
What with Leopard being delayed until October and my trusty Powerbook turning 3-years-old this month, there doesn’t seem to be a good reason to delay my next Mac laptop purchase any more. So now I really need to decide between a Macbook, or a Macbook Pro. I’ve configured two roughly equivalent systems: The Macbook comes in at $1,643 and the Macbook Pro at $2,174. They share the following features:
- 120GB drive
- 2GB RAM
- 4MB L2 cache and 667MHz FSB
- USB, GigE, Wifi, Firewire, Bluetooth yada yada
So what does the extra $531 of the MBP give me?
- .16 extra GHz (2.16 vs 2.0)
- 2.1 inches of screen (15.4″ vs 13.3″)
- 272,000 extra pixels (1440×900 vs 1280×800 screen resolution)
- ATI Radeon X1600 3D Accel. (vs the MB’s integrated Intel gfx)
- Illuminated keyboard
- Firewire 800
- Expresscard/34 expansion
So, is that worth the $531? The biggies for me are the screen size and 3D accel. A 15″ Powerbook G4 is what I have currently so the MBP would be the same machine but with much more ass kicking. On the other hand, the 13″ MB is smaller and more portable. And even though the screen size is smaller, 1280 x 800 is the same screen resolution I’m used to with my current Powerbook.
So I’m torn. Spend the half-grand and get the uber-laptop, or try to go with something more portable and still a heck of a lot more machine than my G4? Help me decide! 