questions from a possible new macbook/macbook pro user

I'm looking for a laptop to take to university and look like to start "playing about" with music and video editting, and was wondering wether this would be possible with the Macbook?

Comparing the Macbook with the Pro, I prefer the design of the Macbook but prefer the Pro's graphics card and screen size.

Money is a slight problem, however, if I can afford the Pro, should I definately go for this?

Also, once Boot Camp has been set up and Windows installed, is it possible to change the size of the partitions?

Thanks

 

Yeah its possible with the Macbook, as long as you have a enough ram, your experience should be a good and smooth one. 1GB is the minimum thats recommended for both notebooks.

If you can afford the pro go for it, however its up to you, Many of us here recommend that you try these out in person first.

You'll most likely end up staying with OS X anyways and getting rid of windows on it, however we know there are some applications that some people can't leave behind, and bootcamp is a good alternative, however Crossover for mac is currently being built, and will allow you to run many popular windows application under OS X.

As for Partition size, I'm not sure, maybe someone else can answer that one for you, but I believe Bootcamp automatically sets it for you, don't quote me on that however.

If you really want to go for the MBP, I recommend waiting an month or two longer, and Merom will be out for it, and that will distinctly set MBP and macbook apart, I don't believe the Macbook is going to go anywhere in a while in terms of upgrades. They'll focus on MBP before Macbook.

If you need it now, by all means get it. It's an excellent computer and the fact that merom is 64bit dual core is pointless for most applications as 64bit only allows you a larger memory addressing (more registers), and unless you're going to be using applications such as AutoCAD than with most current day software 64bit is still overkill, however according to Intel, it will be a year or two before it's fully used by the entire software industry.

 

Well, if you don't want the MacBook Pro, then don't get one. Music and video editing are largely CPU based tasks with little or no reliance on the GPU. I would maybe get an extra stick of RAM for your MacBook and you should be set.

 

^Thanks to both of you.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards getting the 2GHz Macbook with 2GB RAM and 100GB. However, I'll head over to my local apple shop to check them both out very soon.

 

Actually, all major video-editing programs uses the GPU to apply real-time effects to the stream.

To the original poster: You will most likely find the screen real-estate of the MacBook lacking but as others have mentioned; go and see them both in person and try them.

If you really need an Windows based applications, I suggest you try out CrossOver Mac before wasting space on your partition for a Windows installation.

I have a MacBook and MacBook Pro side by side here, so feel free to ask some questions if need be

 

Remember to get your extra ram third party, don't pay Apples overpriced ram.

 

Also, if you have mp3s installed on OS X, can they be accessed in Win XP with Boot Camp?

 

You will need something like MacDrive from MediaFour if you store them on a Mac-formatted partition.

One thing you could probably do is just store your music library on the Windows partition (which the Mac can still read and write to).

Also, if you are doing video editing, i think you will find that you'll appreciate the extra screen real estate you get with the MBP.

 

You can only read/write if you format the Windows partition in FAT32. If it is NTFS you can only read not write.

 

True, good point.

-Zadillo