2011 refurb 17" vs 2012 15" MBP

[roybfr]

I am trying to decide between a 2011 refurb 17" vs a 2012 MBP 15". The refurb is the 2.4GHz i7, looking at the base 15" with the upgraded Hi-Res screen. Regardless of what I buy I will be upgrading to 16BG of ram and swapping out the HD for a 750GB Momentus XT (already own RAM and HD)

The laptop will primarily be used for remote work access, setting up POC environments in Fusion, normal web/productivity and maybe some light gaming in boot camp (minecraft, magicka, Civ). It is replacing a Asus G74 that is just a little to heavy to lug around, I have an X220 for when I need something small, due to the remote work and POC items lots of screen real estate and HD space is important. Not considering the MBPR because I personally don't like how it looks above 1440x900 and getting the HD space I need would cost me $3k, but that is just my opinion.

Really it comes down to less weight, 1 gen newer proc, better graphics vs higher res and more gfx memory.

 

[proximo]

It really depends on how much the larger screen matters to you.

I was in the market for a new 17" but after the 2012 announcements ordered a refurbed late 2011 17" with 2.5Ghz processor, 8GB memory 1920x1200 matte screen and upgraded 6770m graphics processor for $2199. With AppleCare and $100 tax the total shipped to me came to about $2650.

I do pretty much the same work as you and the 17" screen matters a lot to me. The Ivy Bridge processor in the 2012 is not that big a bump over the Sandy Bridge in the 2011 (clock for clock, IB is about 3-5% faster). Any extra heat generated by SB is not really noticeable for the work I do as everything stays really cool. USB 3.0 would be nice but I bought a 2 port USB 3.0 Express34 card from OWC for $39 to take care of that when I need it (which I don't think will be that often). Since I received the machine last Friday, I've had occasion to use the optical drive several times to load software I already owned.

I carried a mid 2007 17" for the last 4 1/2 years in a backpack from home to the office and I have to say weight really shouldn't come in to consideration as the difference is only 1lb. If you need a large screen, there's only one place to get it now and that's either used or through the refurb store.