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Advice: 15" MBP 'old unibody' vs NEW 15" MBP

T

tungsten1979

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 18, 2009
2
0
I need some advice here. Two options

1) Old style 15" MBP (just discontinued): 2.66Ghz, 320/4gb, 9600 w 512MB RAM: $1640 new (from our education division at our uni)

2) New 15" MBP 2.66/320/4gb, video with only 256mb (standard): $1829

I'm a casual user - no gaming: web browsing, watching videos, no crazy film editing, etc.

I'm mainly worried about the battery life of the old one

the price difference is about $200.

Suggestions?
 
Uhh the first one...that's kinda obvious. The only thing you'd lose is a better battery, an SD slot, and a 40% better color gamut.
 
You are going to get WAY better life out of the new one, but at the expense of the ExpressCard/34 slot, SATA 3.0 and a removable battery.

Wether that is worth the 200 bones is up to you.
 
get the old one. I just got my refurb 2.53 15" MBP to replace my one MBP and it's a huge step up and I love everything about it. The screen is fantastic, especially compared to the old one I had. The better value is the older one in my opinion, unless you NEED 6+ hours of batt life and a sd card slot.
 
Well I've posted this a few times in here, but my story may help.

I started off by selling my old non unibody 15" 2.2 Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro, I then purchased a 13.3" Macbook Pro with the better battery and new screen.

The new screen was in fact nicer than the Macbook Pro I sold, however my old Macbook Pro was matte and the new one is glossy, so naturally it was more vibrant, but otherwise it wasn't a night and day difference by any stretch.

I then decided that the 13.3 was too small for me, I wanted my 15" screen back. So I returned the 13.3 new model with better battery, better screen etc etc for the previous 15" Unibody 2.4 which has the stand alone graphics card. I do like to game on occasion and edit videos so I wanted to have better video performance, that is not something to be ignored when buying a Macbook Pro. In fact I believe that the Macbook Pro is a Pro partially due to better video performance thanks to the discrete graphics card. The 9600m GT is no gaming powerhouse, but it is a very capable card and doesn't share system memory.

First of all, I notice NO difference between the two screens. I was worried about losing out on the 60% color gamut increase but I'm telling you, unless you are some photography nut and have the sickest eyes known to man, you will not notice the difference. Not to mention the 13.3 looked slightly washed out compared to the 15" I now have, it may be the color profiles on each, but I actually think the 15" looks better in richness than what I had on the 13.3.

Now on to battery life......the battery on the older unibody is very good. I had to charge my 13 and I have to charge my 15, battery time is dependent on what you are doing at any given moment and that is always going to change when you are on the machine, but quite frankly I feel no loss not having the newer battery. Battery times are always BS when stated by Apple or anyone else, I don't notice the difference. The battery time on the 15" I have now is way better than what I had on my older Macbook Pro, so I'll take that as an upgrade in itself.

I say get the old one, and I am speaking as someone who has had both. Please do not use the screen as something you may be losing out on, unless you are ALWAYS on the go and need every minute of battery power you can get, that really is a non issue as well.
 
I am also trying to decide between these machines. Does the old battery overcharge if you leave it plugged in? Also can you upgrade the ram to 8g? I read that it was possible for 6, but wasn't sure about 8. This will be my first mac and I wan't to make sure it will last me a good 5 years. I will be running photoshop, logic express 8, and would like to do some video editing. What do you guys think I should do? New MBP or older version?
 
The new 15" mbp unibody has better battery life than the old 15" unibody mbp, no matter what you're doing. 50 wh battery vs 73 wH battery, and that should be a difference that you can notice, probably by about an hour.
 
tungsten1979 said:
I need some advice here. Two options

1) Old style 15" MBP (just discontinued): 2.66Ghz, 320/4gb, 9600 w 512MB RAM: $1640 new (from our education division at our uni)

2) New 15" MBP 2.66/320/4gb, video with only 256mb (standard): $1829

I'm a casual user - no gaming: web browsing, watching videos, no crazy film editing, etc.

I'm mainly worried about the battery life of the old one

the price difference is about $200.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Good prices on both - might I also suggest the refurb 2.53Ghz 320/4gb @ $1449. The .13Ghz difference is going to be negligible.
 
I'd say get the old one. You get double the l2 cache, double the video ram, expresscard slot, sata 3.0, and removable battery. You can always use the $200 you save to get an extra battery if you are really that concerned about the battery life.
 
I bought the new 13" on June 8th online and sent it back the following week. Knew I wanted the bigger screen.

So to get to your question, I'd vote for the old. Probably due to the fact that I just picked up the older 15" at a local mac store, so as you see, my opinion is a little biased. Call me silly but the price for the old 15" was on par with the new model and still went for the old.
 
Wow. I can't believe there are so many votes for the older one. I had the early 2008 MBP 2.4GHz and now I have the new 15" 2.53GHz. It scored 400 points higher on GeekBench, has gotten me MORE than 7 hours of battery life (up from 4.5 on my old one), and when will you need a removable battery? Do you plan to carry 3+ batteries around with you? Get the new one.
 
NHuskers said:
I am also trying to decide between these machines. Does the old battery overcharge if you leave it plugged in? Also can you upgrade the ram to 8g? I read that it was possible for 6, but wasn't sure about 8. This will be my first mac and I wan't to make sure it will last me a good 5 years. I will be running photoshop, logic express 8, and would like to do some video editing. What do you guys think I should do? New MBP or older version?
Click to expand...

No, it does not overcharge.
As for upgrading the ram, I think it depends on which old 15" you've got. I'm not sure. My late-2008 is upgradable.
I'd choose whichever is cheaper, bearing in mind edu/corp discounts that may be available on purchase of a new MBP.
I prefer the old one with an ExpressCard slot, metal audio in/out, and SATA 3.0.
 
Another vote for the old one. I have the oct 08 model and I think that the removable batter and expresscard slot make it a better buy, never mind the extra vram.
 
Prev gen FTW. I rushed to get my last chance at smaller than 17" with ExpressCard and removable battery.

Apple better reinstate these things. I already spent 9 years without replacing my Cube because there is no substitute.
 
cu2010 said:
No, it does not overcharge.
As for upgrading the ram, I think it depends on which old 15" you've got. I'm not sure. My late-2008 is upgradable.
I'd choose whichever is cheaper, bearing in mind edu/corp discounts that may be available on purchase of a new MBP.
I prefer the old one with an ExpressCard slot, metal audio in/out, and SATA 3.0.
Click to expand...

They are both 1,799 after rebate with free shipping and no tax. I can't decide what to do. :confused: I am leaning toward the older version, but I want to make sure I can upgrade the ram to 8gb.
 
There's a thread where people are reporting success upgrading to 6 GiB (I think not to 8).

Leopard has enough with 1.5 GiB for common multitasking (OK, for 32-bit). By the time 6 feels cramped, the computer will be obsolete.
 
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