MBP Price (a switcher concern)

Alright, so I've decided to purchase the MBP 2.4GHz 15" version. I'm going to be a freshman in college, and I'll need this notebook to last as long as possible. I would like to do some light gaming, but I think most of the games I play and am going to play are out for mac. But, if need be, I can dual boot a copy of XP I have. Now, with student discounts and all, im paying about $2500 for the MBP, and a 4 year protection plan is included. But I feel as though there are other notebooks such as the Dell 1520 and the Sager NP2090 out there for a much cheaper price (about $1000+ or so). I've been using Windows for a very long time and I would really like to use this mac OS. I just want to know if all this money will be worth it in the future and if all that money is really worth it. Thanks for the input.

 

Yes, the Dell Inspiron 1520 is much cheaper but its design, weight, build quality, features are lacking compared to the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is worth its price; and it is expensive. The MacBook Pro will last you a long time; especially OS-wise, even 5-year-old Macs can run the latest Mac OS, OS X Tiger. Not the same story with Vista .

Do you really need the power of the 2.4 GHz version of the MacBook Pro? College tasks and light gaming don't really need the extra .2 GHz and the 256 MB of the GeForce 8600GT. I'd say the 2.2 GHz version is already powerful enough for you, and you can save yourself some money .

 

Yeah I actually think so too. I may want to play a few games like Far Cry and Crysis and all, but even at low settings that would be fine. I probably won't even game that much because I won't have time to due to course workload

 

Oh, I mean hehe

 

well, if you get a mac, you pay extra just because apple choses what evr price they want, since there the only ones who sell macs

 

I don't get your point...so you're saying the MacBook Pro isn't worth it because Apple is a "monopoly" on Macs? Then you might as well blame Microsoft for charging so much for Windows since they're the ones that sell Windows.

It sure looks like the MacBook Pro costs more, but think about it; first, there's no other laptop in the market that (in many people's opinions) has the same great design as the MacBook Pro. There's little "extras" like the Magsafe power cord (magnetic power cord, patented pending (corrected by hldan, thank you)), a built-in iSight camera (without the bulge found in some PCs), backlit keyboard, LED-backlit screen and more. You get iLife bundled with the MacBook Pro. You get an Apple Remote to operate Front Row (Apple's form of Media Center). Apple's customer support is excellent. You're getting what you paid for.

 

Yeah, you cannot just say Apple charges a premium just because they are the only ones who make Macs. You can say that with Sony's Vaio machines because they still use plastic casings, pop out optical drives and nearly all of their PC's are 1.66-2GHz and they charge a kings ransom for a "Windows Machine".

Like Sam mentioned, the magsafe power connector on the Mac (patent pending) is worth $500.00 in itself. I can't count how many times I have tripped on my notebook power cord. One nasty fall and your facing at least a $500 repair. You can't get magsafe on anything else but an Apple Macintosh.
Also the price of a machine designed to dual boot is priceless.

I'm sure you wouldn't be thrilled if someone said that your Gateway wasn't worth the money you spent on it without knowing the facts of the machine.
Please be fair and make fair statements, the mentality of the Windows users on this forum are against Macs without reason.

 

If money is an issue and you wont be gaming all that much the 2.2 model should be just fine for your needs and easier on the wallet. You need to decide how much you are going to need that better GPU.

 

Would it be able to handle future games (2 - 3 years from now) at at least low settings? I mean the 128MB card.

 

I think youre right, the 128mb should be fine. Thanks for the advice guys! all of you have been quite helpful =)

 

Dropping the warranty (which i know cost a ton) will save you some cash. I'm going to be a college freshman this year too, and I know the college I'm going to has tech service for macs. You might want to see if your college has it too. And seeing how mac enthusiast promote the build quality, this should be a low risk choice.

 

i am going to be a freshman in college as well. i ruled out dell and sony because macbook pro has such a good build quality and their products do last a long time. apple's support is far better than any other support i have seen on computers. and i like the fact that macs will probably not get viruses on them like many of my friends who are at college and attract them through the network. also, listen to sam he is one of the reasons why i decided to go ahead and purchase my macbook pro (which is currently on its way!)

 

Whats the difference between the LED display in the 15" and the normal display in the 17"?

 

The 15-inch MacBook Pro has an LED-backlit display. This allows it to be brighter than a normal LCD display, doesn't need to "warm up" to its full brightness like an LCD display needs to, and saves energy as LED-backlighting consumes less power than a LCD display.

 

To add to what Sam said the LED backlight display will also maintain its brightness longer over time. Traditional displays use a technology (CCFL) that dims over time. After a couple of years the display can be noticeably dimmer than when it was new. LEDs do not suffer from this issue. Also LEDs are more durable and last longer than CCFL tubes.