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2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo 17" or 2.5Ghz Core i5 17"

Y

Yimbie

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 3, 2010
77
0
Hello everyone! I am looking to purchase my first Macbook Pro. I am having a difficult time deciding between a $1749 17" from Amazon that is the older 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo and the $2298 17" (w/ student discount and tax... have to include tax) from Apple that is the newest model. The price difference is $549.

Some things I'm curious about:

1. Intel HD card? Does it really cause that much lag? How is it compared to the nVidia 9400m? I don't mean benchmarks, I mean real life performance.

2. Battery life? Is the battery life in the newest model much better than previous gen?

3. Heat? Is there a difference in heat production between them?

I don't care about gaming, so the 512 300m vs. 512 9600m is no concern.

Does the newest 17" justify the $549 price difference? Are there any other things that I should know between the two?
 
Yimbie said:
Hello everyone! I am looking to purchase my first Macbook Pro. I am having a difficult time deciding between a $1749 17" from Amazon that is the older 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo and the $2298 17" (w/ student discount and tax... have to include tax) from Apple that is the newest model. The price difference is $549.

Some things I'm curious about:

1. Intel HD card? Does it really cause that much lag? How is it compared to the nVidia 9400m? I don't mean benchmarks, I mean real life performance.

2. Battery life? Is the battery life in the newest model much better than previous gen?

3. Heat? Is there a difference in heat production between them?

I don't care about gaming, so the 512 300m vs. 512 9600m is no concern.

Does the newest 17" justify the $549 price difference? Are there any other things that I should know between the two?
Click to expand...

What are you going to use it for?
 
Microcenter has that 17" 2.8 new for $1599.

At that price it's hard to justify the newer model unless you have applications that require intensive CPU utilization.

Cheers,
 
Yimbie said:
Hello everyone! I am looking to purchase my first Macbook Pro. I am having a difficult time deciding between a $1749 17" from Amazon that is the older 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo and the $2298 17" (w/ student discount and tax... have to include tax) from Apple that is the newest model. The price difference is $549.

Some things I'm curious about:

1. Intel HD card? Does it really cause that much lag? How is it compared to the nVidia 9400m? I don't mean benchmarks, I mean real life performance.

2. Battery life? Is the battery life in the newest model much better than previous gen?

3. Heat? Is there a difference in heat production between them?

I don't care about gaming, so the 512 300m vs. 512 9600m is no concern.

Does the newest 17" justify the $549 price difference? Are there any other things that I should know between the two?
Click to expand...

1) no about the same
2)previous model had better battery life
3) heat same

i would look at i7 or saving money on previous model
 
KirkL said:
What are you going to use it for?
Click to expand...

Photo and video editing, web surfing, word documents, music, and so forth. I'm a typical student. I don't do any gaming. That age has passed me. I was first debating between the 15" and 17" but decided to go with 17" for that extra screen real estate and portability is almost the same to me. I have a great 17" computer backpack.
 
Capt Underpants said:
I cannot answer this question.

This might be of interest to you, though:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0314209
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for that link! I'd prefer to buy from Amazon though because there's no tax through Amazon. Micro Center charges it and as a result, it will actually be more expensive than the one from Amazon. Also, I live in SoCal and it's sold out there and don't know when they will get them in again. It's the thought that counts! :)
 
The Microcenter near me also had the anti glare 2.8 17" in stock, at that price I had to pick one up. Works great and the large anti glare screen is easy to read. Will just use it as a desktop replacement for my last old powerbook.
 
Decision

I decided to get the 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo. I keep seeing that people are having issues with the Intel HD card. I am off A/C a lot and would annoy me a lot to have things lag when it doesn't need to. Quick question though, how long should I expect the battery life to be (as in a range) with regular web browsing, word document work, and such? I know that the estimated battery life will not be attainable under these conditions.
 
Yimbie said:
Photo and video editing, web surfing, word documents, music, and so forth. I'm a typical student. I don't do any gaming. That age has passed me. I was first debating between the 15" and 17" but decided to go with 17" for that extra screen real estate and portability is almost the same to me. I have a great 17" computer backpack.
Click to expand...

If you'll be doing video editing a lot, the i5 might serve you well. Consider it if cost isn't a concern.

Edit: Never mind, I see you choose the 2.8 GHz. Good Luck :)
 
KirkL said:
If you'll be doing video editing a lot, the i5 might serve you well. Consider it if cost isn't a concern.

Edit: Never mind, I see you choose the 2.8 GHz. Good Luck :)
Click to expand...

Thank you! It's not heavy video editing. It'll basically just be editing what I've recorded from my Sony camera in Europe. Nothing heavy.
 
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