15" MacBook Penryn Comparison?

I'm interested in buying a 15" MacBook Pro, and have been doing some research on the 2.4/256 vs. the 2.5/512 and have pretty much come to the conclusion that the only major difference between the two is the price. Is that the conclusion everyone here has drawn? I will probably buy VMWare Fusion to run business/work Windows programs in OS X, and use BootCamp to boot XP for gaming. My old laptop (P4 3.0GHz/1GB/Radeon 9600 64 MB) died a couple of months ago, and not having a laptop anymore has cut into my productivity at work.

My current gaming desktop is an Athlon64 3200+ with 1GB of PC2700, and a Radeon X800 Pro wtih 256MB of GDDR3. Nothing terribly fancy, but I don't have a ton of cash to build a new gaming rig every six months. I play/would like to play C&C 3, Half-Life 2 (and other Source mods), Doom 3 and other games as they strike my fancy on the MBP.

Is the 2.4/256 sufficient for these tasks, or does the extra "pow" offered by the 2.5/512 justify the additional expense? I will probably be buying refurbished, or trade in my iMac G5 1.8 and a PowerMac G4 to PowerMax to credit towards the purchase.

 

The only difference of any impact between the two is the doubled L2 cache in the 2.5 GHz processor in the higher-end model. This won't lead to startling performance differences, but it could have an impact, if you were doing processor-intensive tasks. Gaming is not one of those tasks, it is still bottlenecked by the GPU well before modern processors are taxed.

Because the 8600M GT has a 128-bit memory bus, it struggles to make use of 256 MB of VRAM effectively. There was only about a 5-10% performance increase between the 128 and 256 MB versions of the card on older models; the difference between 256 and 512 is even smaller. It's pretty much just a gimmick to put 512 MB of VRAM on that card (I've seen 128-bit membus cards with 1 GB of VRAM, it makes me chuckle).

So, for your needs, I would definitely recommend sticking with the 2.4/256 version, unless price really is no object or you think you'll need that stronger processor for other tasks. If all you do is word processing, internet browsing, iTunes, some gaming, etc., then yes, stay with the lower end.

 

One of the "work" programs I will be running is VectorWorks Spotlight, although I don't use the 3D rendering capability, just 2D drafting. I will also use LightWright, and will need VMWare to run Windows-only programs (such as the off-line software for ETC Consoles) alongside them. I also occasionally do work with PhotoShop and Final Cut or Premiere, but not enough to spend extra money so that performance in these programs will be faster.

I will also be running distributed computing, although only occasionally when the laptop is plugged in. Same thing goes with this; performance in this area will be secondary. While mobility is the primary concern, I would still like to be able to take it with me to my buddy's place and play games and whatnot. I'll probably continue to use my desktop for gaming while I'm at home.

Has anyone used VMWare before? I was wondering how well it works; are there any networking or compatibility issues with things like USB dongles for software? Also, any tips on keeping the laptop sync'd with my work desktop? I used to use SyncBack with my Windows-based laptop, but they don't have a Mac version. My work desktop is currently Windows, but I think I will be making the transition to my G4 Mac Mini.

 

get the refurb 2.2 ghz. It's nearly as good for a lot less

 

VMWare works fine, no problems with USB devices whatsoever. If you have the correct drivers installed in your virtual machine, you can connect any device to VMWare and have it run as it would on a native machine.

For normal file syncing, ChronoSync is a nice application ( http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html).

 

quite happy with my 2.4 penryn here. I think @ the time, i wouldve never considered the 2.5 15". My next step wouldve been to the 17", and that wouldve only been for more resolution.

get the base-15, or even a refurb, they are significantly less, and will do the exact same super job! about 1450$, 500$ less!

none in the apple refurb store as of now, but they do have 2.4s for 1669! not bad.

 

I can't comment on the Penryn MBP, but my 2.2GHz MBP has been flawless so far. If you can get it for "cheap", I say go for it!!

 

I picked up a shiny new 15" MBP 2.4 Penryn last week, and am loving it thus far, although I am a little skittish about having spend that much money on a laptop. Hopefully, it will last a long time.

My next question is, has anyone used one of those protective skins? I think it would be good to have to keep the scratches to a minimum, but because the whole laptop exterior basically acts as a heatsync, I'm worried that the heat will either keep the skin from sticking properly, or the skin will inhibit the natural cooling ability of the aluminum. Any thoughts?

 

i want to know about those skins too.