guys, need help with few questions.
i've decided to get myself a Macbook Pro next month (after Snow Leopard's release) but cannot decide between 13 and 15.

few concerns of mine:
- a lot of ppl told me to get a 13, and a large LCD screen. but i worry that the color will not be as nice (unless i strike lottery and buy the LED cinema). i've not used any DVI b4. my current LCD is running on vga only. =_= also, will projecting onto a larger screen heats up the internal graphic card?

- 15 inch is nice (of coz larger is always better) but it's quite expensive. was planning to go for the 1 with discrete graphic card since i feel it is a better deal than the baseline 15". But then, I realized the AppleCare for 15" is actually RM 1.2k compared to RM 800 of 13". VERY expensive for me.

- do you guys (Macbook Pro users) get the AppleCare? do u think is worth it? or do u think i can postpone it until maybe a year later?

I primarily use the laptop for some development work and digital painting (beginner level). Any advice?

Sorry if I post it at the wrong place, don't know where should I post without starting a new thread. Admin, feel free to move it somewhere if you feel it's not appropriate.

Thanks guys.

thanks shoguniphicus. i'm actually just a hobbyist when it comes to design n graphic stuff. so i think getting 13" is quite sufficient for now. i won't be doing HD video editing or any video editing for that matter. maybe simple animation in the future, but not much also la. mostly comics and digital painting for now (Photoshop or Painter). so i don think i need discrete graphic card yet. can save up on the extra 2k for a good LCD.

the 13 inch + applecare + iwork = easily cost 6.5 - 7k already. :T

anyway, thanks again for your tips.

This post has been edited by daydreaming: Aug 13 2009, 09:16 AM

Thanks aizad. the reason I'm going for macbook is because i don have a laptop (after changing company. LOL). Imac is good but it's due for a refresh soon. These 2 reasons made me opt for mbp

i actually haven't try 9400 before but my current desktop pc (4 yrs old), i'm using it only for GIMP. but of coz, when starcraft II comes out, would love to play it on the mac. :| that's about it. no video editing for me jst yet.

for the ext display resolution, apple says 9400 can go up to 2560 by 1600 which is way sufficient for me.

so conclusion, i plan to use it for
----> software development (no database/server intensive stuff), simple animation (flash. i'm a flex fella), digital painting and comics, business stuff (iwork / ms office) and starcraft II (this one, i've been waiting for many years even though i'm not a pc gamer anymore).

that's all

the apple care for 13 inch is RM 800+ and 15 inch is RM 1100+. Only Imac is RM 400-500+.
protection accessories? u mean like sleeve, keyboard protector etc?

i plan to get lcd, wireless keyboard and mouse and the DVI port.

actually my main concern is the apple care price. 800 vs 1200. thats quite a big difference u know. the 400 extra can actually be used for a new lcd

yeap yeap. but its for fun only. i did it once in a proof-of-concept to demo to client. thats it. not many companies dare to use it, not in corporate world. it's fun.

and i understand big screen = good. for drawing purpose, it's even better with big screen



actually i more or less have decided on mbp 13 5.5k version due to few reasons:
- cheaper apple care (rm400 cheaper)
- i don need discrete card (yet)
- i plan to use an external lcd (even though i got very limited desk space in my room). so even 15 inch, i might still got ext. might as well save it.


so i can save up the money to get wireless keyboard, might mouse (from lelong maybe) and a good lcd monitor.

but hor, which LCD is good for MBP? any discussion topic? i din buy pc for 4-5 yrs already, kinda outdated about all those dvi thingy.

and with the external lcd, i think i shouldn't worry bout the glossy screen. 1 more reason for 13 inch. when traveling, i'll b glad enuf that i have a light and less bulky laptop to carry

now...i shall wait for 1 more month for snow leopard..... hopefully it'll be released in the beginning of sept

that's for mbp 13 15 inch n above ---> 1.2k

mmm surely there's a reason for them to do so? it's lk limiting the potential of their own machines. :T and it's quite a bad thing to do when win 7 is jz around the corner

maybe they wan to limit so they can reuse the same hardware (or similar hardware) in future release? or maybe they wanna minimize the rate the hardware breaks?

guys, 1 question here. the macbook pro, can we actually close it and project it using lcd as shown in the pic below?



my desk is very small actually....something like from the edge of the monitor (left side) to the mouse pad or first IPod shuffle. i intend to put my mbp on the bed or somewhere, since i got another drawing tablet.

haha, this is actually a big headache for me. what to do, my room is so small, i cant fit a bigger table anymore. :| unless i remove my bed n sleep on the floor.

from what i read, the mbp will auto resize the resolution to the LCD's native resolution once u plug in. the heat? i plan to have a ventilation thingy below the mbp lo, jz in case. limited space, hv to think bout it =_=

vertically? can that be done? won't have any negative impact? and ...is there a laptop holder for vertical arrangement? will b nice if there's 1.

whoa, ikea got sell the stuff? cool. thanks man. really appreciate it, this will save me a lot of space hopefully no performance impact or ventilation problem.

This post has been edited by daydreaming: Aug 18 2009, 11:36 AM

so i shld get those protective skins? those 1 piece rm100++ and another keyboard protector? actually what are the protection stuff i need to get for mbp 13? my first mac, i wanna reli jaga it

what about the surface/casing and also the keyboard? trackpad i think yeah.

mmm, now i understand why one of the LYN forumers told me to prepare a lot for the protection thingy. LOL. keyboard + trackpad + case + screen

i think ur protection reli cost u kaw kaw also. shld b around 1k?

wah, all those moshi moshi thing not cheap ler.

i think in the end, i might just get trackpad, keyboard (with ventilation), screen protector and mayb a case (RM100+). thats all. :| not sure sufficient or not. hahah. don wan to spend too much. i think keyboard maybe can buy later. important is the case and the lcd.

the higher end macbook pro 15" has the discrete GPU which is GT something something. tat 1 is around 7.3k-7.5k.
also, switching btw the 2 gpu is not very nicely done. u need to quit everything, log off before the new gpu can start working.

not sure how much i can answer this... but most MS Office products r backward compatible. as long as u don save it in the latest format which, if not wrong, should be those docx format (for word). otherwise, it shld b the same.

and it terms of format, u shld check out the review of MS Office 2008. Apple's online store has some reviews...and people only give it 3 or 3.5 out of 5. IWork09 has 4 out of 5. u can also check out amazon reviews.

depends on ur lcd. there's a max allowed by Apple, u can refer to the product details page in their web site. i think quite large la, definitely more than 1900 range. and most lcd only hv up to 1900 anyway