Which MBP is most suitable for my needs? 3DS Max, Maya, Adobe CS3

Hello,
I am getting a MacBook Pro 15" and basically want to keep my budget as low as possible, but willing to perhaps stretch for performance since I'm getting it on the student discount.

I know I want the max RAM, so I'll be going for 4GB & the 250GB hard drive.
However, for the functions I want and the programs I'll be running (3D Studio Max [for a little bit on Bootcamp], Maya, CS3 Creative Suite) will the 2.4GHz one be sufficient, or should I go for 2.5?
Also, would the slightly larger graphics card (512MB) make a difference as opposed to the 256MB one?

I currently have an Alienware, and have only used a Mac desktop a few times, so my knowledge of how well they'd run the programs I want is limited.

Thanks for any help and opinions!

 

Get the lowest tier MBP, do not get ANY upgrades through Apple. Buy a 2x2GB ram kit from newegg.com for ~$60 which can be self installed in a minute. Get AppleCare through Ebay with the live.com discount (I got mine for $170). If you need more hard drive space, get an external USB powered 2.5" HDD. This can double as a Time Machine backup disk.

With that being said, expect to do most rendering on a desktop.

 

Get a Windows based notebook with a proper workstation (CAD) card like the Lenovo W700/W500 or HP 8730w/8530w.

 

^very helpful advice!

what Chris said is totally true-also,you can get mbp from eaby also(may save up to 500$)

 

Quadro workstation graphics cards FTW.

 

I also agree with Chris.
15" all the way. Only suggestion is that if you can wait a month it might be worth it with the new mbp's possibly just around the corner.

 

Walt Mossberg of that one big newspaper there also recommends saving the money you'd spend on a faster processor and putting it toward more RAM.

I did this on my 20" iMac and it sped things up nicely.

If you're going to be running Maya and 3D stuff, I think you'd be better off with a Mac Pro (the desktop) but I've got a MacBook Pro 17" for my CS3 apps and it runs all of them very nicely. Keep in mind that 3D stuff may cause the computer to heat up a bit more if you have a less powerful system - and laptops tend to run hotter anyway - so I'd recommend getting one that will do as much as possible to avoid any problems associated with this.

 

Thanks for all of your replies everyone!
It's certainly given me a few options and things to consider.
At the moment, since I'm just starting university, I'd really like a portable laptop, and that's really good advice about the RAM, thanks for that!

I think I'll also get the Mac Pro when I'm maybe further into the whole thing (and maybe when a new one is out in a few years) - as I'm planning to do the BA honors, and then the MA perhaps.

 

also,if buying from apple,dont forget to use your student discount

 

Oh yeah definitely!
Way overpriced otherwise =)