kockgunner
macrumors 68000
If you are talking about this guy http://work.frankchimero.com/ then you have an awesome teacher. Great work.
2011 15inch base NOT worth it?
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If you are talking about this guy http://work.frankchimero.com/ then you have an awesome teacher. Great work.
Dell XPS 17
What do you think of Dell XPS 17 then? With the same CPU/memory as in low end 15" MBP, Nvidia 555 with 3GB ram and price of £900 instead of £1500, it seems a better alternative than most. It doesn't seem ugly like the Asus one either.
I completely agree with the machines being in different size categories, the 17" Dell screen having same resolution with 15" MBP, relatively shorter battery life on Dell XPS 17 and lacking the finesse of a Macbook Pro, etc... But for almost half the price, it certainly doesn't look like a bad option.
I was really looking forward getting my first MBP with this refresh but I cannot afford the high end 15" and I want a laptop I can use to play SC2 with all the eye candies (desktop + 13" MBP is unfortunately not an option for me).
What do you think of Dell XPS 17 then? With the same CPU/memory as in low end 15" MBP, Nvidia 555 with 3GB ram and price of £900 instead of £1500, it seems a better alternative than most. It doesn't seem ugly like the Asus one either.
I completely agree with the machines being in different size categories, the 17" Dell screen having same resolution with 15" MBP, relatively shorter battery life on Dell XPS 17 and lacking the finesse of a Macbook Pro, etc... But for almost half the price, it certainly doesn't look like a bad option.
I was really looking forward getting my first MBP with this refresh but I cannot afford the high end 15" and I want a laptop I can use to play SC2 with all the eye candies (desktop + 13" MBP is unfortunately not an option for me).
Utter bollix. I suppose you slept with Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie too?
benpatient
macrumors 68000
Listen, the "base" 15 is faster than the completely loaded 2010 17 was.
It's faster in every day tasks. It's faster with games when you consider the resolution disadvantage the GPU in the 17 faces.
People are blowing a lot of smoke about the GPU in the low-end 15, but the truth is, on a sliding scale, that if the GPU of the 13" is ~25, the low-end 15 is ~45, and the high-end 15 is ~70.
If you are a gamer, don't buy a mac in the first place. There are literally hundreds of better laptop choices.
If you need a mac, and want to do the occasional bit of gaming, then the low-end 15 will be more than enough for you.
I still have a 2600xt in my 2008 8-core Mac Pro, and while i doubt it will play Crysis or whatever, it runs all the games I like well enough that I don't feel any real need to upgrade it. SC2 uses the GPU mainly for visual flair and effects, and not so much for actual gameplay. The CPU does all the calculation, and the CPU tends to get bogged down in big firefights more than the GPU on most systems. This means the i7 quad core in the base 15" mbp is a bigger deal for SC2 than the graphics card.
It runs fine.
For processing tasks, it runs amazingly well.
The truth is that the gpu in the high-end 15 and in the 17 is barely a mid-range mobile card anyway. There are dozens of laptops with faster GPUs out there for half the money. If you want to win a GPU battle, you don't want to bring a mac to the starting line. You will always lose.
Save your money and get the 2.0 base model.
You'd be better off spending the money on the high-res screen upgrade and some more RAM, honestly. Or getting an SSD.
much better off.
It's faster in every day tasks. It's faster with games when you consider the resolution disadvantage the GPU in the 17 faces.
People are blowing a lot of smoke about the GPU in the low-end 15, but the truth is, on a sliding scale, that if the GPU of the 13" is ~25, the low-end 15 is ~45, and the high-end 15 is ~70.
If you are a gamer, don't buy a mac in the first place. There are literally hundreds of better laptop choices.
If you need a mac, and want to do the occasional bit of gaming, then the low-end 15 will be more than enough for you.
I still have a 2600xt in my 2008 8-core Mac Pro, and while i doubt it will play Crysis or whatever, it runs all the games I like well enough that I don't feel any real need to upgrade it. SC2 uses the GPU mainly for visual flair and effects, and not so much for actual gameplay. The CPU does all the calculation, and the CPU tends to get bogged down in big firefights more than the GPU on most systems. This means the i7 quad core in the base 15" mbp is a bigger deal for SC2 than the graphics card.
It runs fine.
For processing tasks, it runs amazingly well.
The truth is that the gpu in the high-end 15 and in the 17 is barely a mid-range mobile card anyway. There are dozens of laptops with faster GPUs out there for half the money. If you want to win a GPU battle, you don't want to bring a mac to the starting line. You will always lose.
Save your money and get the 2.0 base model.
You'd be better off spending the money on the high-res screen upgrade and some more RAM, honestly. Or getting an SSD.
much better off.
benpatient
macrumors 68000
actually, he's right. unless you crank up FSAA, the new 13 runs WoW full blast with an SSD and 8 GB of RAM.
I think that's mainly a function of the low resolution of the screen, but hey, that's the resolution!
Hi All, I originally ordered the base 15 but changed my mind and went with the 2.2 1GB graphics card. I've been a gamer since the mid 80's and although I don't play anywhere near as much these days it's still an important consideration. I don't get much time to console game and need a device which will perform well from a business standpoint and also allow me to play some games in the evening / on the train. I won't be playing evey new game that comes out but the extra money was worth it to me as I will want to play Dragon Age 2 etc
And yes, I'm almost sure you could buy a better spec of laptop for less but there's no way I'd want to walk into a meeting with something looking like the Asus machine - it looks like a cheap toy. Appreciate this might not matter though if you're a student.
I'm upgrading from a Sony Vaio which had a similar spec to the old Mac Book Pro 13 - however the build quality was poor. The battery moved, the trim was cheap looking and the metal around the keys had quite a flex. Not to mention the crashing caused by Sony's many pre-installed apps - appreciate they could be removed.
For me, the Mac experience is more than just specs - it's the OS, the customer services, the build quality, the little touches such as the magnetic power connection etc.
In answer to the original question, there is quite a difference between the two cards but let's be honest, if you're not looking to play a shed load of really intensive FPS style games and budget is an issue then the standard spec should be OK.
And yes, I'm almost sure you could buy a better spec of laptop for less but there's no way I'd want to walk into a meeting with something looking like the Asus machine - it looks like a cheap toy. Appreciate this might not matter though if you're a student.
I'm upgrading from a Sony Vaio which had a similar spec to the old Mac Book Pro 13 - however the build quality was poor. The battery moved, the trim was cheap looking and the metal around the keys had quite a flex. Not to mention the crashing caused by Sony's many pre-installed apps - appreciate they could be removed.
For me, the Mac experience is more than just specs - it's the OS, the customer services, the build quality, the little touches such as the magnetic power connection etc.
In answer to the original question, there is quite a difference between the two cards but let's be honest, if you're not looking to play a shed load of really intensive FPS style games and budget is an issue then the standard spec should be OK.
kitzuki
macrumors regular
qft
sometimes you can't put a price on great customer service (maybe apple can though XD)
but yeah i have had overall a better experience with apple
vipergts2207
Suspended
I wouldn't really compare the 2011 base 15" to the 2010 17" and claim the former is faster in gaming, especially without benchmarks showing it. Besides people are usually looking for one size or the other. The fact remains that the high-end 15" and 17" are better than last years counterparts in every way while the base model has a lower end GPU. I think you're understating the differences between the 6490M and 6750M. The latter has 3 times the number of shaders. The 6750M isn't barely a midrange chip. If anything it's the high-end midrange GPU.
Low-end: 6300/6400
Midrange: 6500/6600/6700
High-end: 6800/6900
This isn't to say that the 6490M isn't suitable for anybody, because it is, even for some gamers if they're only going to play games like WoW or SC2. If someone is planning on running Skyrim or the like, then I think the 6490M will be somewhat disappointing.
wingsabr
macrumors 6502
15in high or low end
So I'm going to buy my first ever 15in MBP this Friday with my yearly bonus. I have gone back and forth between the two GPU's and the $300 price difference (I'm a university student with 100 disc on the low end and 200 disc on the high end) and I can't decide which option is better. I'm not very familiar with macs so I need some assistance from those in this forum who know more than I do.
My biggest needs are data modeling, working with large sets of numbers, MATLAB, Photoshop CS4, and Lightroom 3. The games I play the most are SW Empire at War (FOC expansion), Super Street Fighter IV, Oblivion, and Starcraft 2. I have a PS3 and a 360 to play FPS and racing games on the console/55in LED.
My current rig is the ASUS G50VT-X5 15in, C2D, Nvidia 512mb GDDR3 GPU
Options:
1. Keep the ASUS for games, buy the 15in low end add an SSD and 8gb memory
2. Sell the ASUS and buy the 15in high end
3. reserved for an option I may not have considered
Budget:
2200.00
So I'm going to buy my first ever 15in MBP this Friday with my yearly bonus. I have gone back and forth between the two GPU's and the $300 price difference (I'm a university student with 100 disc on the low end and 200 disc on the high end) and I can't decide which option is better. I'm not very familiar with macs so I need some assistance from those in this forum who know more than I do.
My biggest needs are data modeling, working with large sets of numbers, MATLAB, Photoshop CS4, and Lightroom 3. The games I play the most are SW Empire at War (FOC expansion), Super Street Fighter IV, Oblivion, and Starcraft 2. I have a PS3 and a 360 to play FPS and racing games on the console/55in LED.
My current rig is the ASUS G50VT-X5 15in, C2D, Nvidia 512mb GDDR3 GPU
Options:
1. Keep the ASUS for games, buy the 15in low end add an SSD and 8gb memory
2. Sell the ASUS and buy the 15in high end
3. reserved for an option I may not have considered
Budget:
2200.00
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As it's been said earlier, if you're not a gamer=get the cheapest 15, if you're content to run games like SC2/WoW with medium or worse detail settings get the cheaper one. IF you plan on playing games with decent eye-candy over the next year and want to run SC2/WoW on ultra settings then get the 2.2 MBP 15. The 2010 MBP 15 GT330M is much faster than the 2011 6490 in real life games.
BTW if you're getting the hi-end 15, skip the 8gb for now and get the $90 SSD instead. One of the few cost-effective Apple upgrade prices.
aznguyen316
macrumors 68010
I personally would sell Asus and get high end.
gox81
macrumors member
Wouldn't ever want to trade my base 2011 15" MBP ever to another Windows laptop. Don't flame cause I've always used Windows based systems up until last week. You maybe get 'much more' specs and crapware, but that's about IT. Everything else is Apples advantage.
..oh yeah, and gaming.
but seeing as I forgot to mention, I hardly care.
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Get the higher end model unless you're the type who turns all their settings to Low with the lowest resolution for maximum fps.
No denying that there is quite a gap between the GPU's and its too large a gap. The best price I have seen is $2059, no tax no shipping.
http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/
I can get it for $2023 through my work employee discount but still pay tax.
As to SSD once you have gone SSD its pretty hard to go back to spinning metal disks. I would get the 128GB for another $100 and optibay the optical with a larger regular hard disk.
http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/
I can get it for $2023 through my work employee discount but still pay tax.
As to SSD once you have gone SSD its pretty hard to go back to spinning metal disks. I would get the 128GB for another $100 and optibay the optical with a larger regular hard disk.
Thats not what he asked.
Obviously you don't hate bringing it up.
Go troll somewhere else. You have embarrassed yourself enough with your uninformed commentary.
Obviously you don't hate bringing it up.
Go troll somewhere else. You have embarrassed yourself enough with your uninformed commentary.
slackpacker
macrumors 6502a
Sorry while the PC can run windows 7 no problem. Mac OS is. Oh I know you could shoe horn OS X onto a PC but that requires quite a bit of tinkering for every OS update.
Betooo
macrumors newbie
Honestly IMO.
Just buy it and try it out.
You have a 14 day return period. Use it tonight advantage
+1 I wasnt sure which to buy, went ahead and got the base 15'' from Bestbuy. I have 45 days to return if I'm not satisfied since I'm a premier silver member, look into that if you are on their rewards program!
It's worth it to me. I just completed my order on a 2011 15" MBP. I will not be pushing the machine to it's graphic limits or anything though as I am not a gamer, or photoshop guy. I bought the machine strictly for DAW use. Right now I'm using a 2008 14" pc with a core 2 duo, and integrated graphics. As far as graphics, and power, it has never let me down, although it is getting a little long in the tooth. I am really sort of sick of Windows XP.
I guess it all depends where your coming from. Now I will have a Quad Core, discrete graphics, 1620 res, 15" screen, and a SSD drive. For me, this is being spoiled rotten!
I'm on the Mac wagon now, and plan on getting a new MBP every year now.
I'm ampered up for my new
emprise!
I guess it all depends where your coming from. Now I will have a Quad Core, discrete graphics, 1620 res, 15" screen, and a SSD drive. For me, this is being spoiled rotten!
I'm on the Mac wagon now, and plan on getting a new MBP every year now.
I'm ampered up for my new
emprise!
aznguyen316
macrumors 68010
It's worth it to me. I just completed my order on a 2011 15" MBP. I will not be pushing the machine to it's graphic limits or anything though as I am not a gamer, or photoshop guy. I bought the machine strictly for DAW use. Right now I'm using a 2008 14" pc with a core 2 duo, and integrated graphics. As far as graphics, and power, it has never let me down, although it is getting a little long in the tooth. I am really sort of sick of Windows XP.
I guess it all depends where your coming from. Now I will have a Quad Core, discrete graphics, 1620 res, 15" screen, and a SSD drive. For me, this is being spoiled rotten!
I'm on the Mac wagon now, and plan on getting a new MBP every year now.
I'm ampered up for my new
lol hit me up when you're ready to sell, you got a beast!