Former PC User Switching To MacBook Pro... Some Questions

Hey all.
Sorry for the newbie question, but I could use some advice. I am a long-time PC user and have finally decided to switch to a MacBook Pro. I am scheduled for a tutorial/purchasing session at the Apple Store on Sunday.
Here are my main questions.
The current PC laptop I have does not suit my needs. It has an 80 GB hard drive. I use it primarily for a lot of photos, music and documents.
I was thinking about getting a 2.8 GHz 15" MacBook Pro and then upping the RAM from 4.0 GB to 8.0 GB.
The problem with all of my laptops of the past is that they couldn't hold all the data and photos that I have. I prefer not using external hard drives and keeping everything on one.
I am also indecisive about going with a 13" or a 15". Can a 13" have the same processor and RAM capabilities?
Thanks for your help.

Hi Murtz,
If you are an average user like me I don't think you are likely to see too much difference in speed between the machines you are looking at.
I have a 2.4Ghz MacBook (white 2008), a 2.66Ghz MacBook Pro (mid 2009) and a 2.8Ghz iMac (2008). They all have 4 Gb of RAM and there is a mix of the old intel logic board hardware (MacBook & iMac) and the newer Nvidia hardware(MacBook Pro). Graphics cards are Intel(MacBook), ATI(iMac) and Nvidia(MacBook Pro), and there is a mix of DDR 2(MacBook & iMac) and DDR 3(MacBook Pro) RAM running at different speeds.
I would really struggle to notice any difference in speed on day to day tasks. The MacBook is slow to render some graphics due to its Intel integrated graphics, but apart from that about the only time I would notice any difference is if I start them all up at the same time, then there is a difference of maybe 5-10 seconds between fastest and slowest.
It sounds like Hard Disk space might be more important for you. You may also see slight speed increases in terms of file reading and writing from a faster Hard Drive, but again I have 5400 rpm drives, and 7200 rpm drives and see no real appreciable difference day to day.
I think the bottom line these days is that unless you are engaged in very intensive work, the speed differences between machines are almost imperceptible to most of us.
I would recommend the 15" to you, but based mostly on the screen size. It is not that much bigger or heavier than the 13" but I think the extra space really makes a difference.
If you can spring for a model with the dual graphics cards too I would advise it. The 9400M is great for most day to day tasks but it is an integrated solution at the end of the day, and who knows when you might need the extra graphics power!
Paul
Message was edited by: scalawag

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Message was edited by: bmushrush

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I bought my first Mac in March of this year but i am still learning all the time about it.
I have some questions about Mac OSX at the moment i am designing a website for my sister she has bought her own domain with Fasthosts and i have been designing her website mainly in Windows XP via bootcamp because i do not know how to save in html on my Mac. Do i need to buy software so that i can design websites on my Mac so that i can save in html? I want to hand encode and then save in html? Is there a application in Mac that will allow me to do this? In Windows i can encode by hand in notepad and just save in html very simply. Also, Is there a way to edit what i have already done in Windows on my Mac. I tried using Text-edit and that does not bring up a plain text version of the code when i open up what i have already done.
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I bought my first Mac in March of this year but i am
still learning all the time about it.
Welcome to Macs!!! I hope you're enjoying them!
I have some questions about Mac OSX at the moment i
am designing a website for my sister she has bought
her own domain with Fasthosts and i have been
designing her website mainly in Windows XP via
bootcamp because i do not know how to save in html on
my Mac. Do i need to buy software so that i can
design websites on my Mac so that i can save in html?
Two sided question - yes and no. I have never purchased any but there are some for purchase... I forget their names and I'm sure another user will chime in with them.
You can use both iWeb or Nvu. iWeb is more drag and drop, but you can publish your site to a folder, and then send that to your ftp server using a program called Cyberduck. Nvu is a free HTML editor... very similar to Microsoft Frontpage. It's decent, i've had it a while ago, but it's a bit slow and has a few bugs still. But what do you expect for free?!?!
I want to hand encode and then save in html? Is there
a application in Mac that will allow me to do this?
As a new web designer, I don't know what you mean by hand encode... But I think NVU will help you out with that.
In Windows i can encode by hand in notepad and just
save in html very simply.
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Also, Is there a way to
edit what i have already done in Windows on my Mac.
I tried using Text-edit and that does not bring up a
plain text version of the code when i open up what i
have already done.
Again, you can open the html in NVU and do it there.
Also, how do i resize a picture using my Mac. I often
use Paint to do this because i have not figured how
to do this on a Mac yet?
Paint?!?!?!?! Oh boy! In many programs there is the "inspector" button (like iWeb) and you can do it easily.
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I have been wondering about this for a while also but
how do i refresh a page using Mac OS. In windows you
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I am finding that the Mac does not cater as well for
people who do not want to buy extra software to use
it for example to have a Paint programme that is
decent you need to buy extra software wheras on
Windows XP Paint comes free of charge.
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Hey guys and girls,
So I have been using PCs now for almost 20 years and of course Windows since the 3.1 releases. I have been using a Sony Vaio laptop for the last 3 and a half years and the poor thing is just getting slower and slower and formatting the computer does not make much difference at all. Also I am getting a little bit tired of problems associated with Windows and PCs and although I know how to solve them I just want an easier life so I am thinking about upgrading to the MacBook Pro.
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Former PC User Switching To MacBook Pro... Some Questions

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