Looking for a macbook pro. Not being able to process gopro HD vids has pushed me over the edge, and now I look forward to something that "just works". I've really begun to hate the amount of tweaking it takes to get a PC to do anything. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get motivated to shoot more (or at all) if I have a computer at home that isn't tedious to process on.

15" or 17" ?
i5 or i7 ?
SATA or solid state?
apple refurb, ebay or craigslist?
is the high-res anti-glare screen worth it?

are you traveling with this a lot, or now? If yes, 15, if no, 17.
I'd go i7 and SSD for performance, but SSD suggests you'll need externals with you if you're doing video on location.
I bought refurbed and had zero issues.
w/o knowing anything about it, I'd say go with the best screen possible, and I'd pay a LOT for anti glare (sitting at a 24" reflection right now).

Also, about the travel, are you going to take it with you? If not, the iMacs are freaking AWESOME, but I doubt you'd ask about a lappy if you weren't planning on moving it around a bit.

i7 chips can be rather expensive but at least if you get one now, you wont be looking to upgrade for a little while. They are a beastly chip.

Also like been said, are you looking for something that's powerful with a hint of portability or are you looking for something that has power but is still portable. I personally would say get a 15" screen with the anti glare finish but make sure it's a 15" with a crazy high resolution. that way when you are working in photoshop or video editing you can have more controls on your screen at any given time.

Also make sure it has an eSATA port on the side so you can put a second disk to use as the scratch disk or as a write too disk. This will speed things up. You might even be able to find some models with 2 eSATA ports so that you can have 2 drives connected eternally. Even if they are ****ty drives, they will still speed up your video work.

remember lots of ram!

It will be going with me to the track a lot so portability is key. Thanks for the replies so far!

15" i5 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxMzM0MzU

15" i7 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxMzM0Mjk

17" high res i5 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxNTExODE

15" high res i7 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxNDI5NDM

I agree with all that is said above. I travel for my job so I'm going to get the 15", but I'd love the 17".

Oh, and welcome!! You'll never, ever go back!! Ever...

My sister has a 13", I have a 15", my mother has a 17". The order I'd rank them is... 15" > 13" > 17". I don't like the 17. The keyboard area is way too damn big and the larger screen really isn't that big of a deal.

Go 15", you'll love it. I take mine everywhere and it does great/is light.

Hrm, I was dead set on a 13", but now you guys might be swaying me towards a 15".....

Originally Posted by Markitos

Hrm, I was dead set on a 13", but now you guys might be swaying me towards a 15".....

trust me, 13" is retarded small. I have a 14.1" that was bought for me to go back to school with by the VA and it's just lacking in good size. One of the other factors that one should be looking at is that if it has a WIDE viewing angle. This will reduce the you have to look at it at a certain angle to get it to look right. Mine is one of those and it's annoying as hell.. Plus the higher the resolution screen the better, more controls will fit on the screen and so on.

15" is really the sweat spot for a screen, if you can find something closer to 16" like a 15.4" or something like that all the better. But like Stimie said, look at the keyboards that come on them. the bigger screens like the 17" tend to have massive keys on their boards to suck up the extra space. I find it retarded. My friends 17" screen gateway is like that and it's just plain stupid. The keys are much bigger than even a normal keyboard.. Whoever designed that aspect is a moron...

Also look at battery life as well. I would suggest getting the extended battery from the start. Yes it's more of an expense but when you don't have to be plugged in for an extra couple hours.. that just makes the difference.

I'm sure you could find an i5 chipset with a 15" screen that would more than get the job done on a regular basis while out and about.

Originally Posted by Bone

t But like Stimie said, look at the keyboards that come on them. the bigger screens like the 17" tend to have massive keys on their boards to suck up the extra space. I find it retarded. My friends 17" screen gateway is like that and it's just plain stupid. The keys are much bigger than even a normal keyboard.. Whoever designed that aspect is a moron...

That's actually not it at all. I don't have the two to compare in front of me, but if I recall correctly the 17" MBP has the exact same keyboard as the 15", just a ton more space around it that makes it feel awkward/cramped.

Originally Posted by Stime187

That's actually not it at all. I don't have the two to compare in front of me, but if I recall correctly the 17" MBP has the exact same keyboard as the 15", just a ton more space around it that makes it feel awkward/cramped.

like i said, it's all in the brand. My boys 17" gateway has massive keys on the damn thing. it's utterly retarded. I swear they are damn near 1.5Xs the size of normal desktop keys. It's beyond me why they would make such a keyboard. He doesn't know any better but I can't stand using his computer.

The one bonus that his has over most others though is the type of screen he has. It's an OLED display. So it only sips on power.

Originally Posted by Bone

like i said, it's all in the brand.

well it's a good thing this thread is all about apples then isn't it.

Isn't the keyboard on the MBPs the same size as the BT keyboard? I love that damn thing, so if that's the case it's a great keyboard (we use it on the iMac). The ONLY negative to it is the lack of a 10-key if you use numbers a lot, but even I got used to it...

$1699 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxMzM0MzU

vs

$1999 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxNDI5NDM

i5 and standard screen vs i7 with high res, all other specs essentially the same

is the i7 chip and high-res screen worth the $300 extra?

I'd say ye$.

Originally Posted by Bone

like i said, it's all in the brand. My boys 17" gateway has massive keys on the damn thing. it's utterly retarded.

Why in the world would you bring in a non-Apple brand laptop to a discussion CLEARLY asking about a Mac? How are the keys on a Gateway going to affect Ted's decision about a Macbook Pro?

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

well it's a good thing this thread is all about apples then isn't it.

Isn't the keyboard on the MBPs the same size as the BT keyboard? I love that damn thing, so if that's the case it's a great keyboard (we use it on the iMac). The ONLY negative to it is the lack of a 10-key if you use numbers a lot, but even I got used to it...

What's a BT?

Originally Posted by Stime187

What's a BT?

BlueTooth.

Originally Posted by Stime187

What's a BT?

Originally Posted by Markitos

BlueTooth.

yeah, sorry, this guy:

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

I'd say ye$.

Originally Posted by freq

I just bought a new macbook pro a couple weeks ago. upgraded from my mid 07 macbook pro. i've been carrying around a silver mac of some sort every day for about 10 years.

I was originally going to go with the i5 with the hi-rez screen / no glare option, but ended up springing for the i7. The price difference is about 20% more $ for 10% more performance from what I read. I will probably throw an SSD in it in a year or so when they get a little cheaper.

If budget is the biggest factor, I'd consider a last-generation 15" macbook over the new 13" their chip architecture is essentially the same. the battery life on the new i5 / i7 processors is fantastic.

so, this?

$1999 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC...co=MTgxNDI5NDM


edit: link is wacky, here's the specs


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core i7

15.4-inch LED-backlit antiglare Hi-Res widescreen display (1680 x 1050 pixel)
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory

Sweet! I figure it's about $350 cheaper than it would cost brand new and I ain't skurred of refurbs.

Ordered it earlier today

Originally Posted by QJ

Sweet!

Make sure to take it off some sweet jumps....Oh wait...

nice dude, you bringing it up to NSOPgiving?

Can't afford a plane ticket now

I have the same model you ordered, except mine wasn't a refurb. It's a solid machine and it's been a great transition so far.