Did I get a decent deal?

I just picked up a last generation Macbook Pro 17". It was an open box and there was a small scratch on the lid but it's not that noticeable. The unit was complete except the system disks were missing. I was given the system disks from a current generation macbook. (Leopard)

I paid 2199. CAD and they threw in the retail box version of Parallels.

The notebook features:
2.4 Core 2 duo.
1680 x 1050 matte screen.
2 GB ram.
160GB HDD.
256MB video ram.

I can return the unit for refund for 14 days.

I am wondering if I should return it and get the current model instead.

Are the features in the new model worth the $700. extra I would have to pay?
2.5 Penryn, multitouch, 512 video ram, 250GB HDD. Am I missing anything?

Should I go for the high res screen? I like the idea of the LED backlight which I think only comes with the high res display but I hate the small text on most high res screens I've seen.

This is my first mac so any advice is appreciated!!!

 

I would say you should be happy with your purchase. It is essentially the same machine as the latest for much cheaper. For a $700 diff, that could buy an entire new, separate laptop. A pretty damn nice one too.

 

get the newer model. santa rosa processors are hot a macbook pro. get the penryn processors much cooler

 

not to be a pain, but the santa rosa is the intel centrino platform, not the processor. the penryn is the newer core 2 duo's you are correct, and the older processors we are referring to are the Merom line. i didnt know that stuff a few weeks ago either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino

 

Second generation Merom-line, anyway.

 

The older processors are memrom, and the newer ones are penryn. Santa Rosa refers to the newer chipset that supports 64bit. Correct me if i'm wrong.

 

Santa Rosa introduced the second generation Merom processor with an 800MHz FSB, so yes you're right.

 

I already know enough about the Intel product roadmap to not worry too much about it. Both the old and new MBP's are Santa Rosa. The difference between the one I have and the current gen is the is the Merom vs. Penryn processor. The next step will be the Montevina platform which uses the new Cantiga chipset with the Penryn processor. It really doesn't mean a whole lot. Very slightly better battery life and performance. I already have a 17" Eurocom (Clevo) gaming notebook with a T9300 Penryn and M8800GTX so I know the Penryn's run pretty cool. In playing with the MBP for a couple of days I don't find that the Merom MBP gets uncomfortably hot and the battery life is at least 3 hours which is not too bad.

I was more concerned about the display and the and the new touchpad.

Does anyone know if the LED backlight is only available with the high res display? I do see the LED backlight as a worthwhile upgrade, but the display on the one I have is quite nice. I do like the appearance of the high resolution display but I find the text is too small. Not being familiar with macs, can I change the default minimum text size that will be used across all applications?

I did read something that really concerned me about the new model and that was a video corruption bug that has yet to be solved. I saw it myself on the demo unit in the store. The display was so messed up that it looked like a snowy TV screen and required a reboot.

Thanks for the opinions so far.

 

nice to see someone with reasonable questions!

I have been using a 17" MBP for a little less than a year now, a 2.4ghz, 160gb 7200rpm, 1920x1200 display model, the systems released right before the Penryn update. I have not had any major issues with it at all, as far as heat goes, my MacBook Pro has rendered frames out of Maya (which utilizes just about 100% of both cores) for more than 72 hours with no shutdowns, missing, or corrupted frames, and even while it was rendering, I was still able to perform basic tasks on the machine without major problems. that is really quite a feat.

I definitely agree that the LED backlight would be a nice upgrade, the brightness level at full brightness is not massively different, but the fact that you never have to wait for the screen to get back to full brightness would definitely be a plus for my workflow, but I have been very happy with my high res display, as far as universaly adjusing text size accross all applications, I don't believe that is possible, and although most applications can be scaled easily, there may be a few that cannot, so I always recommend using the machine with the higher res screen before purchasing.

 

Thanks for your reply, that's a very important piece of information to me. I'll stick with the lower resolution display.