Thinking of returning rMBP for cheaper rMBP/iMac

[frocco]

I spent 4k for this rmbr 2.7/16/768
And am thinking of getting a 2.6/8/512 and a 27" iMac.

Not sure if I will miss the 16gb

[Delorean2006]

Originally Posted by frocco

I spent 4k for this rmbr 2.7/16/768
And am thinking of getting a 2.6/8/512 and a 27" iMac.

Not sure if I will miss the 16gb

buyers remorse maybe?

[vpro]

Refurbs buy refurbs people, save money and future hassles for sure.

15" rMB 2.7Ghz|16GB|760GB is now in refurbs for ONLY 3100 CAN dollars.

[Geoffre]

Originally Posted by frocco

I spent 4k for this rmbr 2.7/16/768
And am thinking of getting a 2.6/8/512 and a 27" iMac.

Not sure if I will miss the 16gb

Obviously will vary based on your intended usage, but I've had my 2.6/8/512 for about a week and I think the 8 GB feels slightly more constrained than I expected (generally running about 1.5-2.5 gigs free under pretty light usage; definitely plenty for now, but I wonder what that will feel like under 10.9/10.10?) and I can't even conceive how I'll get close to filling up the 512 GB. Not saying I feel like I should have opted for the 16/256 and I'm very happy with the machine overall, but my impression at this point is slightly different from what I expected going in.

[frocco]

I can always order online and get the 16gb, and buy the iMac in the store.

[utekineir]

I bought a base rmbp, relatives academic discount, 5% back on cc for electronics at the time along with its extra year warranty.

Net: $1900

The way i look at it the most important thing to have spent extra cash on was the ram, the ssd can be upgraded (owc sells it) and will be dropping in price as time goes on.

For myself the extra few hundred seemed like a better use to put toward the next machine down the road rather than the current one. Is a swap file all that slow on the internal ssd? I'd assume it should be a pretty good improvement over a computer running a slow platter drive lacking ram.

A 120gb aperture library is kept on the flash drive, all other media is kept on the home network.

Imo its better to spend 2k on a great laptop now, and 2k on a great one again in a few years than 4k on a marginally better one now. Any 15" rmbp is still a rolls royce in terms of laptops, wether the base model or loaded to the gills.

[JoeyCloverfield]

I would get 2.6/16/256 on the rMBP. The 16GB future proofs it. Since you'll be getting an iMac, you can keep all the junk there and only keep important stuff on your rMBP. If you ever need more storage you can always get a decent portable USB3/Thunderbolt drive for way less than $500 or $1000.

[Geoffre]

I think utekineir and JoeyCloverfield both have really solid advice.

[frocco]

That is why I posted, feel like 4k is way too much for a laptop, and could get an iMac for the difference + cash

[utekineir]

The first question should probably be what do you do with your computer?

Are there demanding professional needs?

I got a base model because for my needs any spec upgrade would have had little to no real world benefit and i'm comfortable enough in my small hooked penis not to need the laptop specs for a signature on a forum.


A mini with the extra $ makes a hell of a nice home server btw.

[ob81]

Originally Posted by frocco

That is why I posted, feel like 4k is way too much for a laptop, and could get an iMac for the difference + cash

Do you make a living with your laptop? If not, yes, $4k is a lot. Some people have money to spend though.

[throAU]

Originally Posted by frocco

That is why I posted, feel like 4k is way too much for a laptop, and could get an iMac for the difference + cash

You could go even further and get an MBA + iMac, or an MBA + Mac Mini, too.

It all depends on what you need.


If you don't NEED a particular spec, buying high end now to try and future proof for say 3-5 years will lose vs. buying what you need for the next 1-2 years and buying again when you need it. You'll have to upgrade slightly more often yes, but bang for buck will be better.


edit:
that said, just stepped up to 16gb in my MBP and the difference between 16 and 8, while nowhere near as big as the difference between 4 and 8, is noticable - even when doing light usage.

[bill-p]

Originally Posted by Geoffre

Obviously will vary based on your intended usage, but I've had my 2.6/8/512 for about a week and I think the 8 GB feels slightly more constrained than I expected (generally running about 1.5-2.5 gigs free under pretty light usage;

Safari has some nasty memory leaks that eat up memory over time. If you use Webkit nightly, you'll likely see 4GB+ free memory with light usage.

And then 8GB becomes plentiful.

It looks very likely that 10.8.3 will address that issue, and then you'll have plenty of RAM in your rMBP again.

[takeshi74]

Originally Posted by frocco

Not sure if I will miss the 16gb

What has your memory usage been like? That would help to give you some idea.

Originally Posted by frocco

That is why I posted, feel like 4k is way too much for a laptop, and could get an iMac for the difference + cash

You have to make the call based on your needs/wants/preferences/budget. My MBP wasn't too much and I have no use for an iMac. YMMV.

[frocco]

I'll have to check in memory usage.
I do not make money using my laptop, but do some web work once and awhile.
I feel like the 512 ssd would be plenty or even the 256 if I did not load windows. I could put windows on the iMac. Since I enjoy web programming, the iPad is out of the question.

[M5RahuL]

I think the 2.6 / 16 / 256 is the best config. for the price!

Then, invest in a good NAS and save everything on it... [ Dual Bay is generally better... you can have a backup of the backup ]

[utekineir]

Originally Posted by frocco

I do not make money using my laptop, but do some web work once and awhile.
I feel like the 512 ssd would be plenty or even the 256 if I did not load windows. I could put windows on the iMac.

It all boils down to how much the money means to you, considering that you made this thread it probably has some value regardless of how much of it you have.

I don't make money off any sort of professional computer work either but can depreciate one off every so many years for my business (2.8 octo pro was the last one, its still a fantastic machine only just now caught up to on the consumer end.). I'm also an honorary jew in terms of cheapness. Which is why in my mind going over $2k for a machine that would do all the same things as the base model made no sense. Could have bought whatever model, but why? Do you feel the need to wave the perception of your success in the faces of strangers on the internet?

Since your username is not that of the car you drive, and you don't have every bit of apple tech you own going back to when apple became cool again listed in your signature i'm going to guess the answer is no.


For ***** and giggles i just opened things till i got a page out. Parellels running xp, mail, safari, itunes playing an hd movie, app store, pages, keynote, numbers, aperture, netgear router app, activity monitor, chrome, 2 instances of screensharing. Page out now says about 550mb.

Thats fine for me on a supposedly low end, not adequate base model. Not once was there any hiccup or stutter. I'm not a professional video/photo/adminstrator/whatever.

Just keep in mind the higher end the technology the faster it depreciates. Saving even 500 now will be 25% of a new model that will be better in every way in a couple years.

[Schranke]

I went for the 2.7GHz 16GB ram and 256gb SSD combo
I do a lot of editing and gaming, but have all my files on externals so that i can work on different mac.
I had an 128GB SSD in my olc MBP and that was plenty, but should i need more later i will upgrade myself with the SSD blade from OWC.

Go for the 2.6GHz 16GB ram and 256GB SSD model, lots of power for a "small" price.
And do you need to have a movie with you get an external usb 3.0 HHD.

[mslide]

Originally Posted by frocco

I do not make money using my laptop, but do some web work once and awhile.
I feel like the 512 ssd would be plenty or even the 256 if I did not load windows. I could put windows on the iMac. Since I enjoy web programming, the iPad is out of the question.

Given that's all you do with it, I'd say you spent about $2000 - $2500 too much on a laptop but it's your money.

[shoppy]

Return it and get the imac as well then you have portability and power and power in the iMac.

[Yujenisis]

Originally Posted by shoppy

Return it and get the imac as well then you have portability and power and power in the iMac.

Agreed. Unless you are expecting to have some really demanding portable needs it sounds like this combo is a "best of both worlds" option.

[frocco]

Do you think I should get the 512 over 256 ssd?

[snaky69]

Originally Posted by frocco

Do you think I should get the 512 over 256 ssd?

Why are we supposed to know the answer, you're the one using the machine, you should know how much space you're likely to need.

[Geoffre]

Again, it will depend on your expected use, but I had forgotten exactly how roomy the 256 GB is. If you're not planning on running bootcamp/multiple VMs, and don't have an unreasonable amount of media, 256 GB is more than workable. I have Office, iWork, the rest of my apps, a few games, 10 gigs of photos and about 50 gigs of music, and that put me just barely over 100 gigs. Note that I am obviously not a serious photographer and I have virtually no video. But for a similar use case, 256 GB is a fair amount of space, to say nothing of using iTunes match or something similar to further alleviate the burden of limited storage.

[shoppy]

512 SSD no doubt a bout it, I had a2.3 for a month and sold it. Yes there are externals but travel a lot and wanted everything on my machine.