advice on MBP purchase

[NNM]

Hi,
i'm finally ready (economically) to get my new 17" MBP, so i was trying to set the best option using online apple store.
i was thinking on getting :
* 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
* 200GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
* MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution LED Widescreen Display
is this the best option i can get? or is this just the most expensive? (no economical problems i'm runing a 5000 usd budget for this)

I will be using it for final cut, Photoshop ( huge images 145-300MB) xpress and indesign.

reading the forum i have seen that there is not a big diference between the 200gb 7200 and the 300gb 4200 HD, and i see that there isn't that big difference between the 2.6ghz and the 2,5ghz.
i have been waiting for really longtime now ( i'm still runing my meravillous powerbook g4 titanium) so maybe i should wait until june for a posible design restyling?

some advice will be really apreciated.
imagine you have 5000 usd to get the best MBP,
thanks
NNM.

 

[anirban]

Hi,
i'm finally ready (economically) to get my new 17" MBP, so i was trying to set the best option using online apple store.
i was thinking on getting :
* 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
* 200GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
* MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution LED Widescreen Display
is this the best option i can get? or is this just the most expensive? (no economical problems i'm runing a 5000 usd budget for this)

I will be using it for final cut, Photoshop ( huge images 145-300MB) xpress and indesign.

reading the forum i have seen that there is not a big diference between the 200gb 7200 and the 300gb 4200 HD, and i see that there isn't that big difference between the 2.6ghz and the 2,5ghz.
i have been waiting for really longtime now ( i'm still runing my meravillous powerbook g4 titanium) so maybe i should wait until june for a posible design restyling?

some advice will be really apreciated.
imagine you have 5000 usd to get the best MBP,
thanks
NNM.

A 5000USD budget seems way too high for a MBP, you sound like a candidate for MP.

Also, a bit of advice- don't upgrade the RAM from Apple if you want to save a couple of hundred bucks. Get it from a 3rd party store.

If you can, wait until June, although there doesnt seem to be a lot of rumors hanging to hint at an impending update in June.

 

[squeeks]

i wouldnt get the 4200RPM drive, its a joke, if you have that much cash to spend buy a 320gb 5400 RPM and have the apple store install it for you

 

[NNM]

A 5000USD budget seems way too high for a MBP, you sound like a candidate for MP.

Also, a bit of advice- don't upgrade the RAM from Apple if you want to save a couple of hundred bucks. Get it from a 3rd party store.

If you can, wait until June, although there doesnt seem to be a lot of rumors hanging to hint at an impending update in June.

yes, i know 5000 is a way too high for a MBP but i really need a portable Mac, (busy working in different places) so a MAC PRO is not what i'm looking for.
regarding the configuration ??

 

[akm3]

That is the most powerful portable Mac you can buy, however it's value is dubious.

The hard drive is a good performance booster, so thats worth it. If you just care about convenience, the RAM is definitely worth it - but it is a much better value to install yourself after purchasing from a third party.

The 2.6 processor is a small upgrade, so unless you absolutely NEED to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the machine, it is probably not worth the expense - regardless of your budget.

What you are actually doing with it would dictate whether you SHOULD spend all $5000 just because you can.

However, I own Apple stock so please spend all $5000

 

[NNM]

thanks for the advices!!

 

[johnsy]

I would wait. Apple is less likely to drop prices, but you can expect to get more with the redesign. That might be savings of at least of $1000! After all you could get old model as well from other online retailers for less.

note- since you still run titanium, you might reconsider your needs- for e-mail and web browsing you might need just macbook, not pro. And for everything else you might fit in a budget mac pro.

 

[joey4127]

Nobody really knows if there even will be a redesign in June....

 

[Michael CM1]

I use the stuff you're talking about (Photoshop, Quark XPress, Illustrator) and run them all on a 2.16GHz MBP that's a year old. If you get the Universal Binary versions of all of that, you'll be fine with even the $2000 model.

But if you want to go 17", go for it. I personally use an external monitor when not porting it. I must ask how in the heck you have 150-300MB images. Do you use some other format that .TIF? Are you using a 300,000MP camera??

Can't see you being disappointed with much. In fact, I saw a benchmark that said a MacBook ran Photoshop faster than a MacBook Pro. It was minimal, but not by much (and not using the file size you mentioned).

 

[ibd]

Also, a bit of advice- don't upgrade the RAM from Apple if you want to save a couple of hundred bucks. Get it from a 3rd party store.

+1

 

[waywardsage]

I can only speak from my experience. But I am typing this from that same configured Macbook Pro. I waited FOREVER to get this laptop because I was fooled into thinking Apple would be putting Blu ray into the MBP soon.

It was 8 months later and no Blu ray in sight. I needed a laptop to start editing. So I was forced to buy then.

Having said that. It's a wonderful laptop. The best one i've ever owned. I have a co worker at work who has a Dell XPS. This thing eats it for lunch in performance and looks any day.

 

[matperk]

The 2.6 processor is a small upgrade, so unless you absolutely NEED to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the machine, it is probably not worth the expense - regardless of your budget.

Agreed--it's really not going to make a difference. Even a slight boost is NOT worth the $300, regardless of your budget.

Also, a bit of advice- don't upgrade the RAM from Apple if you want to save a couple of hundred bucks. Get it from a 3rd party store.

+2

 

[Vertigo50]

I agree with the others here.

- Don't bump the processor speed. It's not worth it.

- Buy 4gb of Ram on newegg.com or Amazon for $100 and switch it out yourself in 5 minutes rather than pay Apple $500 for privilege.

- Consider a refurb from the Apple website. Or, if you have an Apple store, ask if they have any returned units. These aren't even refurbs (they go back to Apple). They're brand new units that someone returned in the 14 day period because they didn't like the color or something.

- Lastly, look on craiglist.org for your city and see if anyone is selling one cheap. Sometimes people are selling new-in-box units that they bought and then didn't need for some stupid reason. With all the money you saved, you could buy extras.

 

[asmallchild]

Having said that. It's a wonderful laptop. The best one i've ever owned. I have a co worker at work who has a Dell XPS. This thing eats it for lunch in performance and looks any day.

Is this the M1530? It's a laptop I hear frequently compared with the MBP. I was thinking the MBP (albeit pricier) had a slight edge in terms of looks and build quality.

(Perhaps performance too if equally specced thanks to Vista)

 

[NNM]

thanks for all this great advices,,
definetely im going to get the extra ram from a third party,
i'm still not sure if getting the 2.6 ghz or the 2.5,, i would love to hear something about a 3.0ghz update but this is not something i will wait for anyway., i would just really hate to get this moel now and have a design update by june...