Why buy a MacBook Pro 15" instead of a MacBook Air?

[Simon]

Nice to see lots of points being made in this thread. I really wish I could justify getting the Air, but it just doesn't seem to be enough of what I want to have right now. If I traveled more I might go with the Air and a second home machine, but mostly I use the convenience of a notebook to work in half a dozen places around the house without ever need to sync things between two machines.

So it looks like the 15" MacBook Pro is the way to go, since as cd34 mentioned, it will wind up being my primary machine. I've wanted to try that new trackpad and the gestures, but the nearest Apple Store is 120 miles away.

Now I need to figure out which of my useful applications will need an upgrade to run on the Intel hardware. And then I'll know how much the notebook upgrade will really cost.

Let's see... Photoshop 7.0 from 2002 probably won't work. Used to be easy to just buy Photoshop but now it seems like it's being packaged with a variety of other Adobe apps I've never used. I use Photoshop and ImageReady (a lot). I understand ImageReady is gone now, so what's the closest combo to those two without a lot of the other fluff?

Oh, and how about the new backup system, Time Machine? Would it be smart to get a new hard drive dedicated to use only by Time Machine? From what I read it seems the larger a hard drive it has to backup onto, the further back in time it can go. So, is there some multiple of the size of the notebook's hard drive that's needed to really make Time Machine useful?

I'm sure I'll think of another question or two later, but feel free to jump in early if you want.

[Cleo]

Originally Posted by Simon

Let's see... Photoshop 7.0 from 2002 probably won't work. Used to be easy to just buy Photoshop but now it seems like it's being packaged with a variety of other Adobe apps I've never used. I use Photoshop and ImageReady (a lot). I understand ImageReady is gone now, so what's the closest combo to those two without a lot of the other fluff?

Oh, and how about the new backup system, Time Machine? Would it be smart to get a new hard drive dedicated to use only by Time Machine? From what I read it seems the larger a hard drive it has to backup onto, the further back in time it can go. So, is there some multiple of the size of the notebook's hard drive that's needed to really make Time Machine useful?

I'm using Photoshop CS3. Yeas ImageReady is gone, I miss it, but Photoshop CS3 does everything I need except open and edit animated GIFS. (it does allow you to make animated GIFS, just doesn't allow you to open existing ones and see all the frames.) Photoshop CS4 is the current version but I haven't used it. I believe upgrades from Version 7 are still $180.

I'm running Time Machine on a few USB hard drives (270 gig & 500 gig) connected to an Airport Extreme. I'm using it to backup 5 Mac laptops (2 are old PowerPC laptops) and one Mac mini. I've learned a few tricks like starting the initial backup through the network, stopping it right away, and then connecting the drive directly to the Mac through the drive's FireWire port and finishing the initial backup in under an hour rather then having the initial backup take over a day through the network. Then putting the drive back on the network and forgetting about it as it does it thing through the air. This setup allows us to go back a few months. I also one in awhile copy the disk images off of the Time Machine drives to a 1TB drive that I keep at a friend's house.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Cleo

Photoshop CS3 does everything I need except open and edit animated GIFS. (it does allow you to make animated GIFS, just doesn't allow you to open existing ones and see all the frames.)

Damn, that's too bad about not being able to edit the frames of existing gif files with Photoshop CS3. I wonder if that's changed in CS4 or if some other program is needed to do that now.

Originally Posted by Cleo

I've learned a few tricks like starting the initial backup through the network, stopping it right away, and then connecting the drive directly to the Mac through the drive's FireWire port and finishing the initial backup in under an hour rather then having the initial backup take over a day through the network. Then putting the drive back on the network and forgetting about it as it does it thing through the air.

That's a great trick and I'll use it. I really like the idea of wireless backups that run automatically and making the initial backup the way you mentioned sounds like a great idea.

Okay... New Question time... I was looking at how to configure the MacBook Pro at the Apple Store online and it seems there are three processor speed choices.

The base model, which seems just fine, runs at 2.4GHz. Then there is a 2.53GHz model which adds $500 to the price but comes with about a 25% larger hard drive that I don't need, and twice the RAM, which is something I'd add to the base model when I order anyway. The 2.8GHz version is only offered as an upgrade on the 2.53GHz model and adds another $300 to it's price.

SO, my question is: what are those small speed increments worth on a notebook computer? I can order the base model with the extra RAM for $150 extra. But I'm wondering if there's any reason to opt for paying more to get what seem to be tiny speed increases that I'm not sure I'd even notice.

Anyone have feedback on those processor speed choices?

Which one would you get?

[Cleo]

Originally Posted by Simon

Damn, that's too bad about not being able to edit the frames of existing gif files with Photoshop CS3. I wonder if that's changed in CS4 or if some other program is needed to do that now.

I keep my old version of ImageReady around for this but Adobe wants you to buy Fireworks. Not sure what the Adobe version of Fireworks is like but I hated the Macromedia version.

On the subject of processor speed.. I can't image noticing that sight increase in speed but more RAM sounds nice. Are Apple's RAM prices still insane? Might want to get your RAM from someplace besides Apple.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Cleo

I'm running Time Machine on a few USB hard drives (270 gig & 500 gig) connected to an Airport Extreme. I'm using it to backup 5 Mac laptops (2 are old PowerPC laptops) and one Mac mini.

This raised a new question or two for me. (surprise!)

I currently have an old flying saucer style Airport Base Station and an Airport Express. I just realized that while the Express does have a USB port, it's only for connecting a printer but not for a hard drive. So I can't use either of those for an easy wireless backup.

I'm looking at two alternatives:

1. Buying the Airport Extreme ($179) that you mentioned, and buying a new 500GB or 1TB external drive that connects via USB to use with it (or possibly two 500GB drives).

2. Buying the Time Capsule, which combines the wireless Airport Extreme base station with either a 500GB ($299) or 1TB ($499) internal hard drive.

Now, while the idea of having a 500GB internal drive in the wireless base station for just $120 more than the base station alone costs sounds nice, I'm not sure I like the idea of possibly having to send in the whole Time Capsule unit because one part of it malfunctions one day.

So... I'm looking for feedback on which way you'd go or feedback from anyone who actually owns a Time Capsule.

In addition, I'd like to hear from those who are happy and unhappy with their current 500GB or 1TB drives, or any suggestions on the current 'best drives' to get.

Thanks to all for all the help.