Best configuration for the 17" MBP?

So I'll need a laptop for light gaming, school, video-editing etc.

It needs to be portable and durable (at least 3 years).

Does the MBP 17" fit this criteria?

So I got a $200.00 student discount and this is what it's standard configuration:

$2,149.00
Leaves Apple: Within 24hrs
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Specifications
2.53GHz Intel Core i5
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

So, should I get the 8 GB ram along with the upgrade to the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7...or neither and get a SSD?

2.66GHz Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

This costs $2,716.00.

What should I do?

 

IMO get the second one with the downgraded ram, if your dont get the i7 you will only regret it. You can always upgrade the ram to 8gb cheaper then having them do it. on the other side apple is weird about you opening their computers./ that being said id say get the last on you listed.

 

I'd get the i7 model with 4GB's of memory. Then upgrade it yourself later, and keep the old memory for warranty purposes.

 

So the MBP's RAM can be upgraded? What else can be upgraded that I shouldn't get from Apple but should do myself?

 

Yes, it is easily upgraded to 8gb but it's overkill for most users.

Get the stock HD and upgrade that yourself as well. Look at the Seagate Momentus (XT) and the Samsung Spinpoint 7200 rpm drives.

 

Should I get the i7 upgrade from apple? Or can I upgrade that myself as well? How about the sandy bridge processors...will they be usable as well?

 

Can't upgrade CPU or GPU on MBP's.

 

Okay. So should I get the best processor and leave everything else untouched?

 

Get the i7.
And as stated, stick with 4gb and get the 8gb kit if you feel you need it. The upgrade the HD and use a program like CCC or SuperDuper! to clone the HD onto the new one.

 

How big a difference is there between the 2.66 gHz i7 core and the 2.8 gHz 1.7 core? Worth the $180ish difference?

 

you should buy neither the SSD nor the upgraded ram from Apple.

their prices are inflated to the point of disrespect.

 

I bought the best processor, got $200 off from education pricing...applecare for 3 years...and it cost me 3.2k. My father is fuuuuuming.

 

thats like $2700 ... where is the rest of the 500 coming in (some is probably tax, but all of that?)... did you pay apple too much for a SSD or more ram? Their ram prices are usually so high you can buy the min ram, take it out and throw it away (or keep/sell it) and buy ram elsewhere and still save hundreds.

 

Could be in Canada, eh, where taxes are much higher.

 

Canada

$2149 for comp
$378 for processor upgrade
$299 for apple care
$19 for remote
$366 taxes

 

nice machine... but expensive. I've never brought myself to pay that much for any machine for my own use.

 

is it too late? has it already been purchased? I'd step the processor down. that's highway robbery.

 

I believe I still have time to cancel my purchase...what should I downgrade it to?

 

$378 for a processor upgrade that you won't really see a difference in unless your doing super processor intensive tasks enough that you should be doing it on a desktop...

 

Why get the i7 processor? It eats battery.

Anamalech, I'd like you to consider another thing: MBPs are nice machines, but for $3200 to last 3 years, you could buy a non-MBP machine now (for $1600), and ANOTHER machine in 1.5 years. And the 2nd machine is pretty much guarenteed to be faster than the current gen MBPs due to tech advancement. Their battery life would not be as great, but you could just buy another battery and swap it when not near a power outlet.

1920x1080 current not-so-expensive choices:
HP DV8t (check out the owners thread in the HP section, I also have it, and carry it to work every day)
ASUS - G73JW (i7-740, 8gb ram, 1TB HDD, GTX 460M)
ASUS - N73JF (this one costs around $1000, so you can buy a new machine every year!)

 

Tried to alter it...but to no avail...stupid apple is fast -_-. Oh well.

 

Just got here today...very nice machine.

 

I paid about $2,700 for my 17 inch MacBook Pro three years ago. It might have been $2,500 - I used an educational discount on the purchase. It has a 2.5 Ghz processor and I upgraded it to 4 GB from 2. I also added an ExpressCard SSD which has been the best upgrade I've ever made to a system. It cuts boot time to 20 seconds from about 50 seconds. Your notebook is far nicer than mine is with the unibody, glass, switchable graphics, etc. Mine is a daily workhorse and it's running just fine.

Not sure why your dad is upset - didn't he have to okay it? I bought a 15 inch MBP for my son this past summer to replace his three-year-old MBP (he had a few known issues with his). I still think that it's a fine machine and it's a spare now. Our daughter's MBP is even older and it works just fine.

Perhaps Apple should open an Apple Store on the border with Canada. If you live in Montreal, you could have taken a bus to Nashua, NH, bought a standard MBP and paid $0 in taxes. No clue if customs gives you a hard time coming back.

At any rate, you have a nice system for the next three years. My system looks like it could be fine for the next five years for me - it shows no signs of age or wear.

On 8 GB of RAM - the only reason that I'd get 8 GB of RAM on a notebook would be for running Virtual Machines. I do have 9 GB of RAM on a few of my desktops but the vast majority goes unused.