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

[maflynn]

There's a thread where people are reporting success upgrading to 6 GiB (I think not to 8).

I've seen various threads on the net about problems going to 8gig with the prior uMBP models. Not sure if its related to specific ram, but many people have reported instability issues. Not everyone mind you but enough to give you pause about upgrading to 8gb

 

[cube]

Yes, with the caveat that Apple was selling 8 GiB for new 2.66 and 2.93 since March (2.66 speed bump in March).

 

[rbmclaughlin]

8GB works fine in my first gen 2.66 15" umbp. I've been rocking it for the last month and have had no problems, and OSX is able to make full use of all 8GB.

However, I believe the 2.53 and 2.8 first gen umbp only support 6GB.

 

[cu2010]

Yes, with the caveat that Apple was selling 8 GiB for new 2.66 and 2.93 since March (2.66 speed bump in March).

Actually, when I bought my 2.93 a month ago, I think I was able to select 8gb..

 

[NHuskers]

What kind of battery life are you getting with the march 2009 version? I am thinking about pulling the trigger on it if the battery is going to last me a few years.

 

[rbmclaughlin]

I'm getting about 4-6 hours with an SSD, "using better battery life," and a low brightness level.

 

[cu2010]

What kind of battery life are you getting with the march 2009 version? I am thinking about pulling the trigger on it if the battery is going to last me a few years.

My battery indicator is always acting weird..
I was also using better battery life and my screen brightness was 50% in order to see how long it would last. I believe also measured battery life with display brightness set to 50% and a better battery life setting.

Anyway, in a very short space of time (half an hour to be exact,) my battery had initially fluctuated like this;
(5:47)-(6:38)-(6:47)-(7:64)-(7:15)-(4:43)-(5:12)-(4:51)-(4:22)-(3:57)-(4:12)-(4:55)-(5:08)-(5:37)-(5:53)-(6:20)-(4:41)-(3:59)-(5:02)-(7:49)-(6:26)-(4:19)-(5:38)-(4:47)-(4:25)-(5:31)-(4:03)-(4:24)-(5:36) With occasional 6+ hours when my screen saver kicked in. I was browsing websites and editing text in Word.

Conclusion: My battery had eventually lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes, almost 5 hours as advertised.

 

[NHuskers]

My battery indicator is always acting weird..
I was also using better battery life and my screen brightness was 50% in order to see how long it would last. I believe also measured battery life with display brightness set to 50% and a better battery life setting.

Anyway, in a very short space of time (half an hour to be exact,) my battery had initially fluctuated like this;
(5:47)-(6:38)-(6:47)-(7:64)-(7:15)-(4:43)-(5:12)-(4:51)-(4:22)-(3:57)-(4:12)-(4:55)-(5:08)-(5:37)-(5:53)-(6:20)-(4:41)-(3:59)-(5:02)-(7:49)-(6:26)-(4:19)-(5:38)-(4:47)-(4:25)-(5:31)-(4:03)-(4:24)-(5:36) With occasional 6+ hours when my screen saver kicked in. I was browsing websites and editing text in Word.

Conclusion: My battery had eventually lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes, almost 5 hours as advertised.

Thanks for the input! This will be my first mac and I want it to last. I know that the older one has better specs, but idk how much the extra cache and gpu will get me. I have been searching for benchmarks to compare the two, but everything I found seems to say that they are very similar in speed. Will the extras be beneficial for running programs like pro logic 8 and adobe suite? Thanks for all the input.

 

[cu2010]

Thanks for the input! This will be my first mac and I want it to last. I know that the older one has better specs, but idk how much the extra cache and gpu will get me. I have been searching for benchmarks to compare the two, but everything I found seems to say that they are very similar in speed. Will the extras be beneficial for running programs like pro logic 8 and adobe suite? Thanks for all the input.

I've no doubt that those umbp's will equally last long under AppleCare. You're not comparing it with Dell here
I'd say installing an SSD is more beneficial to you, and this can be fully attained with SATA 3.0 which the new 15" currently lacks.
Well, I hope somebody can answer your question.