Another which MBP thread (sorry)

[flyersgl]

I am trying to decide between three 13” MBPs. Pretty sure all will meet my needs just fine--surfing, light photo/video editing, basic business productivity. It won’t be my main Mac. Right now I am happy with the performance of my 2006 macbook, but it is physically wearing down and no longer that pleasant to work on. I am looking at:

Current base 2.4GHz MBP, $1099 educational discount.

Refurb prior gen (or at least before last bump) 2.53GHz MBP, $1,189.

Refurb current 2.66GHz MBP, $1,289.

Like I said, I think any would suit my needs, but I am unclear about the changes from the prior gen MBPs to the current ones. The prior gen one seems a good compromise between the two current ones, but I don’t know if the current ones have advantages. I am also not sure if I’d see a big performance upgrade by going from the 2.4GHz to the 2.66GHz. I have yet to come close to filling up a hard drive on any computer I have ever owned.

Money IS important, but these are only separated by $200 so I don’t want it to be a driving factor. The free iPod is also immaterial. I don’t need it, and would just end up giving it to my kid rather than trying to get money for it.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

 

[Frosties]

• Choose base 13" current generation 2.4, the old 2.53 is a slower system and more expensive. The cpu is just one part of the computer.
• the better graphics card 320m and better battery life in the new one kills the old one.
• older software on the refurb 2.53 also. Not 100% it has os x 10.6 even!
• bad motherboard on the old 13" 9400m (see thread about why the heck will my harddrive not work!) MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 Problems Don't purchase the old 13".

 

[wordoflife]

Base 13 for sure.
I wouldn't recommend a previous generation because the newer one has better graphics, battery, etc. I couldn't recommend a 2.66ghz upgrade either as the performance gains would just be a few seconds here and there when doing hard core processing. Otherwise it's unnoticeable difference.

Tell me how you like your Mac. I'm planning to buy the baseline MBP too!

 

[willieva]

You'll be hard pressed to notice a speed difference between the different processors. The current base mbp will be just fine, and has the best battery life. Save the money and give your kid the ipod. He/she will be psyched.

 

[flyersgl]

Wow, consensus! I appreciate the input. My kid is already happy to be getting the old Macbook, she'll freak out when the touch arrives.