Macbook Pro VS Macbook Pro

Hi I want to buy the Macbook Pro 15 inc Unibody, there are 2 models

Model 1 Model 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ
2GB Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M+
9600M GT with 256MB
Price £1369

Model 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHZ
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive
GeForce 9400M +
9600M GT with 512MB
Price £1712

A difference of £343. My reason for Macbook Pro over any Windows laptop is simpy becuase OSX and that the laptop fits my needs, its not too big like the 17 inch and not too small like the 13 inch, also it has an express card slot 34 which I can then add a memory card reader. I will be editing/converting a lot of photos and videos and looking forward to buying Final Cut Studio 2.0.

I am opting towards Model 1 simply becuase its a alot cheaper than Model 2. In your opinion do you think that it s worth opting for Model 2 becuase it has higher spec,

would a 2.66GHZ make any real difference?

increasing ram to 4GB would it in normal or heavy usage increase the speed and performace of the machine compared to 2GB?

and lastly the graphics card, would 512MB power really make a visable difference compared to just 256MB?

All that extra power costs £350 from the base model, would it be worth the extra cash?

 

No. Only if you're doing CPU intensive tasks will the faster make any difference and even then it'll be fairly marginal. The P8600 runs at a lower wattage, which has the advantage of battery life. You can always upgrade the memory later if you feel the need.

 

i think u will feel the diffrence in gaming only
i have 2 hp laptops one with 9200gs and other with 9600m gt i feel the diffrence between them when gaming only , when doing photoshop or so i don't feel the diffrence

 

Yes going from a 9200gs to 9600m gt you'd definetly feel. But he is going from a 9600m gt 256 to 512meg. No difference in the card, and since the card is a 128-bit bus the difference in gaming would be unnoticeable in most cases.

 

Actually, for older games, both CPUs are overkill. For newer games, you will be limited by the GPU so the CPU shouldn't make much of a difference in either case. You are only going to notice the extra CPU speed if you do a lot of video encoding with a stopwatch. The 512mb vs 256mb of vram has been beaten to death and the consensus is that the extra memory very rarely makes any difference at all (due to the bottleneck of a 128 bit bus). Ram and hard drive can be easily upgraded at a later date (and for cheaper). I would go with the cheaper model unless you have a lot of cache to burn.

 

Also notice that increasing ram does not give any performance gain. In fact it should take a few more seconds for os x to load due to memory mapping. The advantage of increasing ram is the ability to multitask a far greater number of applications. I would advise you to buy the stock config and buy a 4gb kit and a 7200rpm hard drive separately as these are cheaper when bought from 3rd parties.

 

Buy the 2.66GHz model, its been now confirmed that it can use up to 8GB of RAM.

So in the future you can put in 2x4GB RAM when the 4GB sticks come down to price.

 

Why not buy either the 2.4/2.53/2.8 from apple in their refurbished area, it means they have checked all the parts and replaced any that didn't with brand new parts and they are much cheaper than the brand new ones.

2.4ghz refurb £1149
2gb ram
250gb 5400rpm hdd

2.53ghz
4GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Illuminated keyboard
£1399

2.8ghz
4GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Illuminated keyboard
£1629

even the 2.8ghz one is cheaper than a brand new unchecked 2.66!

 

Refurbs are sometimes scratched. I bet you would not want a scratched laptop as a new one, and that too if it's a mac.

 

yes of course that's the only down side and yes i would hate to receive a scratched macbook pro after shelling out over £1000. depends whether you would prefer it a bit cheaper or maybe with a couple of scratches. It just another option for the person who is asking

 

£169 in extra is nothing when the person is already spending £1200 on a mac.

 

Well it depends, if you only wanted to spend a set amount and not go over the budget of 1200 pounds, then I'd say don't upgrade and save for gas money. It all depends on the budget and financial capabilities of the OP. I know I couldn't afford the extra money for it...

 

Well my preferred budget is £1369, so I have decided to opt for the first model,also on ebay new models sell for £100/150 (£1150/1250)cheaper than Apple Store. I think I will buy it on Ebay and then buy the 4gb kit which is around £40 and also I have an Inspiron 1720 which has a memory card reader, but I have also put one in the express card slot so will use the express card slot meory card in the macbook pro.

For protection I have decided to buy the protetion cover from zagg.com they give a lifetime guarantee that it wont have a single scratch check it out

http://www.zagg.com/invisibleshield/apple-macbook-pro-15-inch-2nd-gen-cases-covers-skins-shields.php

Apple care would you recommend it?

 

Apple care is much recommended as you've paid so much for a laptop. Better insure it to get peace of mind. `but you could buy the apple care one year after purchase. That is, before the 1st year warranty ends.

I paid £54 for my 4gb kit on ebay. I would prefer buying it in an apple store but that's my personal opinion.

 

Exactly. I highly recommend AppleCare especially if you are on the go, or travel alot with your laptop. It's a great benefit, in the event that anything goes wrong with your laptop, you know that you're probably covered.