Originally posted by: ChainsawAsh
I'm graduating from high school in a month. For fall semester, I've been accepted to Columbia College Chicago with a major in Film & Video, concentration on Film Editing.

With my graduation money, I'm going to buy a computer for school. A Mac is my only choice, to run Avid Xpress Pro with the possibility of also running Final Cut Studio, among other uses. So here's my question: A Mac Pro desktop, or a MacBook Pro laptop?

Here's the hardware configurations I've narrowed it down to:

MacBook Pro
17-inch widescreen display (1680 x 1050)
2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
3GB RAM
200GB hard drive
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256MB)
8x "SuperDrive" dual-layer DVD burner
Three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port, one FireWire 800 port, one ExpressCard/34 slot
Total: $3,255 (with student discount)

Mac Pro
23-inch widescreen HD display (1920 x 1200)
Two 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" dual-core processors
4GB RAM
750GB hard drive
ATI Radeon X1900 XT (512MB)
Two 16x "SuperDrive" dual-layer DVD burners
Five USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports on keyboard, two FireWire 800 ports, two FireWire 400 ports
Total: $5,148 (with discount)

I am on the fence as to which I should chose. I'm looking for any and all suggestions, advice, etc. ... anybody have any ideas?

I am not a Mac guy, I wouldn't mind trying to be someday, but if you want to do any video editing, I'd roll with the desktop Mac Pro, seeing as how it has a bigger HDD, a far better video card, and a much faster processor. That set-up you have should suit you for the course of your college career. The only way I'd run with the MacBook Pro is if you don't mind sacrificing a lot of space and speed in order to have the portability. Good luck on your choice and in college!