Advice? 15"MBP, Black MB or Wait for Update?

[Skalor]

Hey. I'm no tech geek so i'm looking for a little advice. Ill explain my situation.

Willing to spend: Upto £1800 + I'm a Uni Student (Equivilent of Top end MBP so you can work out the apple exchange rate to £ lol)

Use: Graphic Design, Photo Editing, Web Design. Little amount of Animation, Video Editing and non-serious Gaming.

How long it needs to be DECENT for: 2011 and hopefully longer.

How often will it be used: Everyday for over 4 Hours ATLEAST

Current State of My Decktop PC 1.26GH AMDAthlon, 512 Ram, Crap Graphics card and it's in a dying state!


Ok and now the advice I need is whether:

-Buy the better 15" MBP (And give it 4GB Ram Myself)
Reason: Im not desperate about 17" so I can save money, for a lighter notebook that fits in my bag with same specs.

-Buy the best MB (Black) (And give it 4GB Ram Myself)
Reason: Better looking design, better keyboard??? [advice needed], cheaper and same specs as 15" MBP apart from Graphics card??? [advice needed]

-Wait until June-Sept for new MBPs (give Ram Upgrade also)
Reason: Possible redesign and better processors??? [advice needed]

Because I'm no Tech Geek I don't know how important that graphic card difference is to me and my work, and how much Different the Macbook 13" is from the Top end MBP 15". I also don't understand how much better the NEW UPDATED MBPs will be in June and whether its worth waiting for at all.

We could have a chat on MSN if it would be more helpful.

All advice is greatly appreciated, Thanks a lot!

- Matthew

 

[Skalor]

bump

 

[scienide09]

Two things you might consider. I'll give them now, as they might change your list of options.

1) Refurb products. The prices have been reduced, so it's a great time to buy machines in the refurb store. I don't know about in the UK, but here in Canada (and the US) the refurbs are cheaper than when the Educ discount is taken off the price of a new model.

2)How portable do you need to be, especially when doing your heavy lifting? One option you might consider is the low- or mid-range MacBook for when you're on the go, plus an iMac for video intensive work. You can get the base MB plus the 2.4Ghz 24" Mac for not much more more than the MBP you say you want, and you'll have two computers instead of one.

Maybe 3)Combine #2 with #1, and you'll may save even more.

 

[Skalor]

Two things you might consider. I'll give them now, as they might change your list of options.

1) Refurb products. The prices have been reduced, so it's a great time to buy machines in the refurb store. I don't know about in the UK, but here in Canada (and the US) the refurbs are cheaper than when the Educ discount is taken off the price of a new model.

2)How portable do you need to be, especially when doing your heavy lifting? One option you might consider is the low- or mid-range MacBook for when you're on the go, plus an iMac for video intensive work. You can get the base MB plus the 2.4Ghz 24" Mac for not much more more than the MBP you say you want, and you'll have two computers instead of one.

Maybe 3)Combine #2 with #1, and you'll may save even more.

Thanks.

Where can I find the refurd products? Also I'm not sure if I want refurb soley for the reason that I want the most up-to-date I can afford, so it will last me the longest amount of time.

Also I want to spend all this budget on the Notebook. Maybe I might buy an IMac in the future, but for this occasion its the Notebook I want. I cant predict how much video editing ill be doing, but I expect it will be a minimal amount or maybe none at all. For this occasions atleast I have the university Macs to depend on.