Since it’s Tuesday I feel the need to continue with my new column: “Tech Q of the week”. Every week I answer reader questions on tech related questions bothering them.

This week reader Andy was asking whether he should get a Macbook or a Macbook pro.

The solution to this problem is actually quite simple: look at the names of the laptops and you can really work it out. There’s the vanilla Macbook and the Macbook Pro. The question a potential owner needs to ask is whether they are a pro user or not? If your primary occupation is a graphics designer or you’re in video editing then you can consider yourself a pro user.

The difficulty comes for people who can consider themselves in between the two differentiations. People like myself who occasionally use some of the Adobe software could use a Pro but it seems useless to justify an extra five grand to support software you only use occasionally. For people who find themselves in-between you need to consider a couple of important factors.

The first factor is screen size. The Macbook has a 13-inch screen with a maximum resolution of 1280X800. The Pro on the other hand has a 15-inch screen with a max resolution of 1440X900. I’ll be honest the screen on the Pro is a lot better but if like myself you need a portable machine then the Macbook is a better option.

The only other differentiator is the amount of RAM in the machines and the internal graphics card. The processor in the Pro is .04Ghz faster so we’ll ignore that for comparisons. The RAM is no issue as it can easily upgraded at less than a thousand rand. The internal graphics card does not affect the user and can cope perfectly with HD video and some older games.

In summary, do you want a portable machine that is incredibly capable and powerful or do you want an uber powerful desktop replacement. In Andy’s case, I recommend he saves the 5 grand and get a Macbook, you wont be sorry as it’s the best machine I’ve ever used.

The idea for the column is a comparison of tech products. Many people out there consider me to be quite the gadget geek as I know a lot about these random tech topics. If you have a tech related “which is a better option” type question then send me a mail on saul@saulk.co.za and I’ll try get an answer out to you on the following Tuesday. Here’s our first question asked to me in the other day by a friend:

Question: I’m looking to buy a new cellphone; I have the option between the iPhone, the Nokia N95 8 GIG and the HTC Touch. All three are similarly priced in South Africa and I need to buy a new phone asap as mine went to heaven via the toilet.

Answer: The answer to this question can be summed up in one sentence: “What do you use your cellphone for?” All three phones have quite similar functions yet are completely different. If I had to eliminate one contender it would have to be the HTC Touch. It’s very similar to the iPhone in form but Apple’s halo product is much better in function. There is one issue to consider though: if you need Windows Mobile for Exchange server support then this is the only choice and you can stop reading the rest of this post.

So much like a detective eliminating their suspects we’re down to the iPhone or the Nokia multimedia super phone. Again it’s a question of what’s more important to you. The Nokia has a normal cellphone keypad, not exactly ideal for typing long messages but some might prefer this to the Apple’s lack of any keyboard feedback. The Nokia also has a much better camera weighing in at 5 mega pixels, a full three megapixels over the iPhone’s 2 MP. Both phones have 8 gigs of onboard storage. The iPhone has a bigger screen if you’re watching movies but the N95’s screen is hardly small either. Both phones have WiFi support but the N95 has the extra of a GPS. The one thing in the N95’s favour is its application support. Thousands of developers create third party programs on a daily basis for the phone. The N95 also has a vastly faster Internet connection as it sports HSDPA support over the iPhone’s EDGE connection.

I think the answer is simple: Can you live with the shortcomings of the iPhone and take the option of style over substance? If you want to be on the cutting edge of phone technology the go for the Nokia. If however you want a pretty phone that does the basics competently and don’t really care for high technology then get yourself an iPhone. In my opinion I feel the Nokia is a better device but then again, I am an iPhone owner because it’s pretty.