Has anyone upgraded to MBP from Macbook..how much better is it?

Question

I currently have a Macbook..1st generation Core Duo, I am very happy with it, has been relatively problem free apart from the RSS (Apple Service fixed this so no complaints). When I bought this it was supposed to be an interim measure that would do until I returned home to the UK after working abroad for a few years afterwhich I intended to then buy either an iMac or Mac Pro. I am doing a lot of video editing (hours and hours of DV tapes to get through!) and was hoping to use Final Cut Express. I have now just found out that I may be posted abroad again so I am now rethinking and considering a Macbook Pro. I really want a good upgrade from the Macbook as although it is a great little laptop for most things I feel that I need a lot more speed, better graphics and screen for the video work. How does a MBP compare to say an iMac, and how much of an improvement can I expect after the Macbook? It would not be impossible to have a desktop shipped to my next post but I am not sure I want to trust the movers not to break it and feel better taking a portable with me, but I have so been looking forward to getting a better spec'd Mac.
What to do...? Will I be happy with a MBP as an alternative to an iMac?

Answer 1

I've just done the same thing you're thinking about doing. I have a first gen Core Duo BlackBook. I absolutely love it. I was in the market for something with the Santa Rosa chipset and beefier graphics capabilities. I was looking at PC notebooks... but I couldn't find anything in the price range of the MacBook Pro that was similarly spec'd and with a similar form factor. The days of Apple notebooks being overpriced are long gone with their move to Intel. Unfortunately... many people still equate Apple products with being over priced. Anyway... I almost "settled" for an HP notebook that was about $500 less than the MacBook Pro. It didn't have nearly the MacBook Pros beautiful svelte form factor... it had an Intel Core 2 Duo 7300 (which is in the high end of PC notebooks sporting the Santa Rosa chipset), it had an integrated GPU (albeit the newer one that is part of the Santa Rosa chipset... better than the GMA950... but not as good as a dedicated solution... especially the bleeding edge nVidia GPU in the MacBook Pro)... I think I almost ordered the thing about a half dozen times but kept talking myself out of it. I finally decided to go with the MacBook Pro. It just seemed silly to go with a PC. With either a MacBook or a MacBook Pro... you're basically getting two computers for the price of one... a Mac and a PC. Getting a PC notebook seemed like a waste of money. I ended up getting the base model MacBook Pro. It was a little more expensive than I was looking to spend at about $2,000... but dollar for dollar, it was the best value out there. Using the Migration Assistant to move my data over from my MacBook was a snap (I was actually surprised at how well it worked). It's faster and cooler. The one issue I always had with my MacBook is that the fans revved up to pretty loud levels when the system was under a moderate load. The MacBook Pro runs nice and quiet... only revving up the fans when the load/temp gets to a level that I would consider it normal to do so. The keyboard is a matter of preference. I like the MacBook keyboard... and I like the MacBook Pro keyboard... I can't say I prefer one over the other. The backlit keys are kinda cool on the Pro... though I don't typically find myself using my computer in an environment dark enough to have the backlighting come on. Another thing with the BlackBook was the finish... those things attract fingerprints like no ones business. The aluminum case on the Pro is great... scratch resistant and not prone to showing fingerprints at all. I also don't worry about my MacBook as much as I used to now that I have my MacBook Pro. I feel comfortable with being a little more rough with it... and I don't worry about washing my hands right before using it each and every time to avoid getting prints on it. I love my MacBook... but I love my MacBook Pro even more. It basically eliminated everything that I had an issue with on my MacBool.