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Advice is greatly appreciated :)

Finlandboy

Finlandboy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 14, 2007
291
0
Indianapolis, IN
Ok so i am getting a new macbook pro for college, i plan to go into something in computer science or graphic design and i've been dying for an intel mac for a few years now (my PB g4 just isn't cutting it anymore) so i figure i'll get a good comp that will last a few years and still be able to keep up (for the most part) with the new technology and what not in the future.

my grandma will hopefully be able to order it on monday (she works in accounting for apple and can get me a 25% discount, lucky me!!) so i need to make a decision before then. i want a 15' macbook pro with the discrete graphics card but right now im torn between these two comps...

the new one= http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB986LL/A?mco=NjcxMTU0Mw

and the refurb= http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0G02LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5Mw

they are both great computers, but i just can't decide which one.

the only differences that i can think of between them are.
--new one--
-can have 8gbs of RAM
-has 1 hour more of bat. life
-firewire
-sd card slot

--refurb--
-express slot (i think??)

so other than that and the hard drives in them, are they basically the same computer?? i could get the refub a lot cheaper and save around $500 but would i be missing out on a better product?? any advice or suggestions as to what i should do would be great!

thanx :)


ps- either way im EXCITED!!!
 
Since you get a 25% discount I would go for the new one that will carry 8 gb ram. I would also like to say that the graphics card is dedicated and not discrete.
 
i know that it has a dedicated graphics card (9600M GT) but i thought it was called the discrete card because it is not always in use.....guess not???
 
It depends on your priorities. I'd get a refurb and put a nice OCZ Vertex in it, but then I'm a computer science student with a MacBook Air as a primary computer, so not exactly an average user. If you prefer more RAM and better battery life, and don't care for an SSD at some point in the future, get a new one.

As to the differences, older one has Firewire as well (it's 13" that didn't have it before). New ones, for whatever reason, don't use SATA II (or rather, don't have it enabled), so unless there's a firmware update at some point, it would bottleneck really fast SSDs.
 
Another vote for the refurb. You're simply not getting anything worth $500 in my opinion.

Processor-Same
Graphic card- Same
Screen size/resolution - Same, some difference in quality but it seems to be minor if anything.
Ram- Same, the refurb also has the option of 8GB.
HD- Smaller, cheap to upgrade
Battery life- 1h less
FW- Both have FW800

So is 1h of battery life, 180GB, and a SD card reader worth $500? Note that: It would cost less than $250 for a 500GB HD, which you can put in yourself without voiding warranty, and a expresscard 20-in-1 reader.
 
go for the refurb. apples refurbs are great quality , you can't even tell its refurbished , i know first hand. go for the refurb. :apple:
 
amoda said:
Another vote for the refurb. You're simply not getting anything worth $500 in my opinion.

Processor-Same
Graphic card- Same
Screen size/resolution - Same, some difference in quality but it seems to be minor if anything.
Ram- Same, the refurb also has the option of 8GB.
HD- Smaller, cheap to upgrade
Battery life- 1h less
FW- Both have FW800

So is 1h of battery life, 180GB, and a SD card reader worth $500? Note that: It would cost less than $250 for a 500GB HD, which you can put in yourself without voiding warranty, and a expresscard 20-in-1 reader.
Click to expand...


where is the 8gb option.. i dont see it?
 
amoda said:
Another vote for the refurb. You're simply not getting anything worth $500 in my opinion.

Processor-Same
Graphic card- Same
Screen size/resolution - Same, some difference in quality but it seems to be minor if anything.
Ram- Same, the refurb also has the option of 8GB.
HD- Smaller, cheap to upgrade
Battery life- 1h less
FW- Both have FW800

So is 1h of battery life, 180GB, and a SD card reader worth $500? Note that: It would cost less than $250 for a 500GB HD, which you can put in yourself without voiding warranty, and a expresscard 20-in-1 reader.
Click to expand...


it does have the option of up to 8gbs???

and are you sure it has a FW800 port???
 
aleksandra. said:
As to the differences, older one has Firewire as well (it's 13" that didn't have it before). New ones, for whatever reason, don't use SATA II (or rather, don't have it enabled), so unless there's a firmware update at some point, it would bottleneck really fast SSDs.
Click to expand...

uhh, sry i must have skipped over this post, :D, forget my second question from above^^^, the FW port is a must :)
 
Hey,

FW800 is a certainty, I have a 2.4 Unibody.

About the ram, I'm 99% sure. It was confirmed during the whole "How much ram can these machines take?". Only the 2.4 could not take 8GB of ram if I'm remembering correctly.

1sec while I google.

Edit:

In the Apple store when you try to buy ram for your laptop you're presented with a nice list of machines. You have to select the specific one you have. Here are the lists for the new and old unibodys:

Old Unibodys
New Unibodys

As you can see they don't list the 15" 2.53, 2.66 or 2.8 in the "old section". They only refer to the 2.4MBP, which maxes at 4GB.

Click on the 2.53, 2.66 or 2.8 models and they only sell 8GB.

News article for MacNN: Link

Final edit: Just to make sure I'd just ask Apple. Don't want to be responsible for you buying something you didn't want.
 
thanx amonda. thats really interesting, i wonder if anyone on the forums has tried to put 8gbs into their old 2.8 unibody.

i mean i don't need 8gigs this second, or really at all....but i didn't know if it would really make a difference when Snow Leopard comes out?? either way i'd still like to have the option of upgrading to 8gbs of RAM.
 
Finlandboy said:
thanx amonda. thats really interesting, i wonder if anyone on the forums has tried to put 8gbs into their old 2.8 unibody.

i mean i don't need 8gigs this second, or really at all....but i didn't know if it would really make a difference when Snow Leopard comes out?? either way i'd still like to have the option of upgrading to 8gbs of RAM.
Click to expand...

i would order this at the moment if anyone has done this...
 
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