Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

15” MBP, which one to buy - i5 or i7 or '09 C2D 2.8ghz/512vram?

entatlrg

entatlrg

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 2, 2009
3,385
6
Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
About to order a 15" MBP with 4gb ram and 256ssd that much is decided.

But I still don't know whether to order the '09 2.8ghz machine or the new i5 or i7?

I have experience with the '09 2.8 ghz models, we have a few of them in use in our office.

I don't have much experience with the new i5 / i7 machines, except I've bought one so far for my production manager but he left on a business trip the day after he received it.

The only comments I heard from him so far is that "it gets pretty toasty on his lap compared to his last year or two old 15" MBP.

So we're having a hard time deciding what to order, we're looking to order two more 15's so I'd like to make the right decision and not have to go through the hassle of returns.

Price is not a concern.

Good battery life, low heat and fan noise is a concern.

Will be heavily used daily for:
- technical design drawing, no CAD
- video and photo editing
- email
- web surfing
- writing
- movie downloads, Slingbox, hulu, netflix etc

Will be used 'everywhere' desk, lap, coffee shop, travel ... this is why battery life and the coolest running machine of the three is important.
 
I have a std i5 15", and so far it's just great. 6 to 7 hours battery life (with the nVidia GPU running), great power, not really that hot, super quiet fan, and very mobile.

If power and battery life are important in your decision, just go for the new ones.

If you're not to work with intensive graphics, then just go for i5, the only real difference with i7 is more vram (256 vs 512), that you don't really need.
 
I recently got the i7 15". I was deciding between the mid-level 15" and the i7. I'll be doing most of what you're doing and wanted a a machine that had a good processing power. Too much power, in my opinion, is better than not enough or just right. Especially, if price is not a concern you should go for the i7.

I'm still playing around with the battery life. I just calibrated it. But so far, I'm getting around 5-6 hrs on a single charge. I was hoping to get the Apple stated 8-9hrs, but I doubt that's possible if you'll be using graphic intensive apps that requires a lot of the GPU and the processor. As far as it running cool, I don't have any temperature problems with it at all. It does tend to get warm (not hot), when you do a lot of stuff, but it's not all extremely. It's comfortably warm.

Hope that helps.

- Christian
 
I had the 2.8 and now have the i7.

Battery life is about the same and it runs just a BIT cooler. Speed increase is only noticed when doing some very intensive things and even then its not THAT different.
 
ozreth said:
I had the 2.8 and now have the i7.

Battery life is about the same and it runs just a BIT cooler. Speed increase is only noticed when doing some very intensive things and even then its not THAT different.
Click to expand...


Thank you, that helps.

Are you glad you did the upgrade from the 2.8 to the i7?

What was your main reason for upgrading?
 
i went from a 2.8 c2d to i7. i dont see much of a performance difference. considered the i5. price didnt matter but battery life and head did. from everything i read the diff in battery and heat were min.

i see your 13 inch mbp is your favorite mac, why?
 
My 13" is small/light easy to grab and go and use anywhere ... the little extra weight and bulk of the 15" makes it a little less convenient.

What made you switch from the 2.8 to the i7, glad you did?
 
entatlrg said:
My 13" is small/light easy to grab and go and use anywhere ... the little extra weight and bulk of the 15" makes it a little less convenient.

What made you switch from the 2.8 to the i7, glad you did?
Click to expand...

I moved from a C2D 2.66 to the i7 15" and I'm very glad I did. For me, the machine is noticeably quicker and the HR AG screen is amazing. I was initially looking at the base i5 with upgraded screen, but the 256mb vram was a turnoff.

If cost isn't an issue, the i7 (in my opinion) is your best option.
 
Thunder82 said:
I moved from a C2D 2.66 to the i7 15" and I'm very glad I did. For me, the machine is noticeably quicker and the HR AG screen is amazing. I was initially looking at the base i5 with upgraded screen, but the 256mb vram was a turnoff.

If cost isn't an issue, the i7 (in my opinion) is your best option.
Click to expand...

Do you find it runs warmer or louder with the graphics card running in discrete mode most of the time.

That's what I'm interesting in doing .. a max'd out 15" i7, w/8gb ram and 256ssd -but- I don't want to be disappointed with my purchase because of heat or noise or problems with battery life compared to my '09 2.8 C2D 15" MBP ...

My wife would like to take my '09 MBP now, I'd maybe rather wait until the next revision.
 
my i7 is even cooler than my last 2,8 C2D....but the fans are louder (the C2D has only one, the i7 has 2 fans)!
 
patrickf666 said:
my i7 is even cooler than my last 2,8 C2D....but the fans are louder (the C2D has only one, the i7 has 2 fans)!
Click to expand...

C2D has two fans. I'm guessing your new MBP is louder because its running in discrete mode more often driving up the temps and kicking in the fans.

Overall are you pleased you upgraded from the 2.8 to the i7?

I've heard the screens are a little better/brighter, the new trackpad is nice other than that it's about the same machine aside from the spec bump.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back