2.4 GHZ, 2.5, 2.66, 2.9 what did you choose?

I chose 2.4 (15" MBP), mainly on cost. Didn't consider the extra for 2.53 (such a small increment) to be worth it.

I went with the base 2.4 MBP. Didn't even upgrade the RAM. Seems pretty speedy and stable to me, and my usage is the same as yours plus a smattering of Adobe CS play.

Of course, I was coming from a 1.33GHz PowerBook, so the upgrade was substantial.

I really wanted the unibody design, but money is tight right now.

I bought the 2.4 GHz base 15. I immediately put in 4GB of crucial memory and after about a month I bought the Hitachi 320GB 7200 rpm disk. It was like 80 bucks.

I mainly use the MBP for work/home, mail, creating proposals & presentations, surfing, my pictures, my music, so pretty light duty. The only thing I ever do that is processor intensive is encode mp3s or DVD movies. A movie rip takes about an hour, is a 2.6 or 2.9 going to reduce that time by half? does it matter???? I cannot complain about the performance, it is quite good.

If I had the funds, I assure you I would have the 17 w/8GB. I would probably stay with the 2.66.

I'll be getting the 2.4, as I can't afford the 2.53.

I'm using a handful of CS3 apps: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Bridge.

2.93GHz!

ajohnson253 said:

Which one fit your lifestyle and what made you go with that decision?

Click to expand...

I was waiting for a machine that could carry 8GB of RAM. The multi-touch had me hooked too, along with the backlit keyboard.

Truthfully, my nieces 2.4GHz MacBook was plenty fast for me. I'm wondering if that machine with a big Samsung SSD and 6GB fof memory might have been a wiser choice for me. I think I could get by with less display area.

I have been doing a lot of video editing and I've been getting backlogged. I needed something I could do rough cuts on when traveling. I picked the 17" for the screen real estate--I use a 24" on my desktop.

I also like the fact that the 17" MBP is not all that big or heavy compared to many other laptops. I'm big physically, so a larger computer suits me. My plan is to keep it for a very long time--like 10 years. My feeling is it is better to max out a computer than always be wishing it was bigger or faster.

I chose the 2.93GHz machine because I won't be able to upgrade the CPU later, and I chose the SSD for more speed and quicker boot, but held off on the extra RAM for a few months because it is so much cheaper at OWC. (My old RAM will go in my niece's MB, and she will also eventually get the 256GB SSD when Samsung comes out with 500GB SSD) I get a kick out of making computers as fast as possible. So it is like a "double thrill" for me, to be able to upgrade one machine and use the spares to upgrade another. I'd like to see her friends jaws drop when I put her MB on steroids.

I got the 2.4 GHz because I couldn't afford the 2.53 GHz. I basically got the base $1999 configuration, with plans to upgrade (6 GB RAM, Snow Leopard "speed boost," larger HD) in a few years' time.

2.93 for 3 reasons

1) Cant upgrade the CPU later and want it to be good for Snow Leopard coming in August

2) With the 17" Unibody MBP if you dont have the 2.93 then you may as well have a 15" MBP

3) I use mine for very intensive coding (well actually its the debugging that seems to be the most intensive thing) and i've burned out several Intel processors before in my time so better be on the safe side

Bought the 2.5 originally, but it was replaced with a 2.53 by Apple.

Originally bought the middle of the line and upgraded the RAM on my own to have a bit better bumped specs to hedge my desire to get a new one in a few years.

From a 3 year old 17" MBP to a new Unibody 17".... for Free

As you can tell, this is my first post as I am relatively new to the MAC world, I have been a Windows guy since I was 15 (a few years now) and my wife, and her family has been a long time Mac house... something had to give. Now In my defense, I have always liked Apple hardware, its just been the OS that I could never wrap my head around, but being on this MBP for the past 2 months, I am getting more familiar with it. There are still times when I know how to do something stupid simple within Windows, that I have to fumble my way within Leopard..... but I am getting more used to it.... now onto my story...

So back in December, I got a 2006 17" MBP from a company that owned me money, so I accepted this 17" MBP as payment (thought, what the heck, my wife will be happy) it still has 4 months of Apple Care on it. On Saturday of last week, one of my kids were playing on it and all of a sudden the screen went black and 2 puffs of smoke came billowing out of the back..... I thought dang it, there goes my MBP, but I remembered that it was still covered under Apple care, so I made an appointment at the Apple store for Sunday. I go in and tell them what happened (the tech can still smell the burnt electronics while looking for the serial number) he says "I am going to take this into the back and run some diagnostics, I will be right back" I said ok and proceeded to look around the store, he comes back no more than 3 minutes later and says, "because of the numerous issues in the past with this MBP, and since I dont have any 17" glossy screens in stock, we are going to replace this with one of the new 17" MBP for your troubles" I was a little stunned, but thought, thats Awesome! He said, the SLC store will be getting their first shipment of new 17" MBP tomorrow that he had already reserved one for me and would call me tomorrow when the data transfer had been completed.

Now I am sure its the base model configuration (did not want to get into specs with the guy yesterday) but, I am really excited about it and you wont hear me complaining! I just got one for nothing, I was very impressed with the support and that pretty much cements me to buying Apple from now on. I will post pics tonight with my iPhone.

My sig will tell you what I got. I'm a heavy video editor and I didn't even upgrade my CPU. I love Apple, but honestly, they're probably laughing their heads off right now at all the suckers who paid $300 for an extra 0.27GHz.

2.93GHz because I needed processing power for photo processing.

2.4GHz simply because the prices in the UK for the higher specs were simply outrageously high and a complete rip off compared to buying else where..

I get the same discount as schools because of who I work for. So I went with the 15" 2.53 Unibody, upgraded the HDD to 7200rpm 320gb. I play games in XP 32bit, email, surf the web, use MS Office, iPhoto, iTunes. IMO the 2.53 runs cooler and the battery last a lil longer. Please don't reply saying otherwise as I have discussed it lots of times and it's just my opinion. Not fact.
But I am more then happy with it and it is my only computer. Brilliant bit of kit.
Plan to get a nice ultra fast 500gb SSD in a few years time and will probably get Snow Leopard at some point.

2.8 15" MBP in da haus . Why ? not because I didnt want to spend more money on the 17" 2.93 , but because a 17" laptop , is not that "laptop-friendly" , it will mostly stay at home cause it is so bulky .

So WTF , unless you need the bigger screen for nice photo editing or 3D CAD programs , why not get a 2.8 15" MBP and take it with you easily .

Your money , your choice , but do it wisely ... a 17" is bigger , more resolution , longer battery , but it is BIG . Even if its lighter than the other 17" notebooks , it is BIG !

If I had the 17" mbp I'd get the 2.93ghz just because its so close to 3.0ghz.

Inadvertently a 2.6 Classic MBP and i use it for pretty much what you do

simplemind said:

As you can tell, this is my first post as I am relatively new to the MAC world, I have been a Windows guy since I was 15 (a few years now) and my wife, and her family has been a long time Mac house... something had to give. Now In my defense, I have always liked Apple hardware, its just been the OS that I could never wrap my head around, but being on this MBP for the past 2 months, I am getting more familiar with it. There are still times when I know how to do something stupid simple within Windows, that I have to fumble my way within Leopard..... but I am getting more used to it.... now onto my story...

So back in December, I got a 2006 17" MBP from a company that owned me money, so I accepted this 17" MBP as payment (thought, what the heck, my wife will be happy) it still has 4 months of Apple Care on it. On Saturday of last week, one of my kids were playing on it and all of a sudden the screen went black and 2 puffs of smoke came billowing out of the back..... I thought dang it, there goes my MBP, but I remembered that it was still covered under Apple care, so I made an appointment at the Apple store for Sunday. I go in and tell them what happened (the tech can still smell the burnt electronics while looking for the serial number) he says "I am going to take this into the back and run some diagnostics, I will be right back" I said ok and proceeded to look around the store, he comes back no more than 3 minutes later and says, "because of the numerous issues in the past with this MBP, and since I dont have any 17" glossy screens in stock, we are going to replace this with one of the new 17" MBP for your troubles" I was a little stunned, but thought, thats Awesome! He said, the SLC store will be getting their first shipment of new 17" MBP tomorrow that he had already reserved one for me and would call me tomorrow when the data transfer had been completed.

Now I am sure its the base model configuration (did not want to get into specs with the guy yesterday) but, I am really excited about it and you wont hear me complaining! I just got one for nothing, I was very impressed with the support and that pretty much cements me to buying Apple from now on. I will post pics tonight with my iPhone.

Click to expand...

Congrats on the Apple Care example. You will love the new one.
It's nice to hear good things rather than complaints all the time.

Chose the 2.93 because I run music production software and I use a lot of effects. 17" screen so I could see what I'm actually doing when I play a show. I used to have a white macbook which was too small (for me) in my opinion. Also I am also starting my first year of Digital Imaging, so I'd imagine there will be many CPU intensive applications.

I bought the Classic MBP 2.5GHz b/c I liked the $1199 price and the Matte screen is awesome. Though I just returned my MBAir 1.8GHz, 64GB SSD ($2499 in August '08), the Apple Store offered me the Unibody MBP 2.53 128GB SSD as an upgrade for all the problems I had with the MBAir, but I just wanted the FULL refund for my MBAir and all the accessories that I bought, and they granted my wish...

2.4GHZ, only because of money. I can't afford to pay any more at the moment. I would have gotten a 2.53 if I could. And maybe if they had let out the 17 inch in October, I would have gotten a 2.93 one, had I the money.