Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Are you happy with your MBP 15" 2.53 GHz (mid2009) ?

N

Nickm4N

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 29, 2009
34
0
This is a topic for all the people that bought a MBP 15" 2.53 GHz mid 2009.


I'm looking on buying one and I want to know if it satisfies your needs?

Does it run every program smoothly? What programs do you run with it (you can be general)?
 
Noooo! I spent 30 mins typing out a 3 page reply and got logged out and you know the rest. GRRRRRRR...!!!! Anyways, I don't feel like typing it again, so I'll summarize it.

I'm 110% satisfied. All apps open smoothly. Can handle the following all at once (although RAM can get a bit low (20MB)):
1. Safari with 10+ tabs
2. iTunes
3. iPhoto
4. Skype
5. Pages
6. Parallels with XP and 1 GB memory dual core mode
Those are also the apps I most commonly use.

Only concern:HD. 250 GB stock can be a bit small if this is your main computer. Reason? Pictures. I've got 5 year's worth on this machine. Good thing I have Time Machine to backup. Might want to get an SSD or a Scorpio for increase capacity/performance.

I'm more than satisfied and this is an AWESOME computer. Hope this helps.
 
I've had my 2.4 unibody pro for the past year and i love everything about it. I don't do much at all but some photo editing and browse safari and downoad music. It's almost overkill but not really at all, I'll alwYs be good with this until there is a dramatic chance in something and it reay catches me. But this has everything I could possibly need so I could not see that happening. The glass multi-touch tracklad is my favorite feature.
 
Yes, perfectly happy. June 2009 2.53GHz 15" MacBook Pro (stock). I do intend to upgrade the hard drive at some point; I agree with the previous post stating that 250GB can be constrictive. For me, the issue is a 100GB music library that I prefer to keep on the internal drive rather than on an external.

The lack of discrete graphics was not a concern for me because my type of usage simply doesn't require the discrete option. In addition, I had had several of the first generation of unibody Pros (all of which had the discrete card), most of which had flickering screens. There was some speculation online at the time that the dual-card setup might have had something to do with it. Maybe, maybe not, but I preferred not to take the chance since I didn't need the faster graphics anyway.

Typically running at the same time on my machine: Firefox, Adium, Skype, Evernote, SugarSync. Quicksilver, SnapNDrag and TextExpander in the background. Still excellent performance when I launch the more occasional apps: XCode, TextMate, iTerm, MacJournal, Mail, iCal, VMWare Fusion.

So, again, very satisfied. When prices come down I'll upgrade to 8GB RAM just because, and I will probably throw a 500GB hdd in there as soon as Snow Leopard is released and do a clean install.
 
xpovos said:
Yes, perfectly happy. June 2009 2.53GHz 15" MacBook Pro (stock). I do intend to upgrade the hard drive at some point; I agree with the previous post stating that 250GB can be constrictive. For me, the issue is a 100GB music library that I prefer to keep on the internal drive rather than on an external.

The lack of discrete graphics was not a concern for me because my type of usage simply doesn't require the discrete option. In addition, I had had several of the first generation of unibody Pros (all of which had the discrete card), most of which had flickering screens. There was some speculation online at the time that the dual-card setup might have had something to do with it. Maybe, maybe not, but I preferred not to take the chance since I didn't need the faster graphics anyway.

Typically running at the same time on my machine: Firefox, Adium, Skype, Evernote, SugarSync. Quicksilver, SnapNDrag and TextExpander in the background. Still excellent performance when I launch the more occasional apps: XCode, TextMate, iTerm, MacJournal, Mail, iCal, VMWare Fusion.

So, again, very satisfied. When prices come down I'll upgrade to 8GB RAM just because, and I will probably throw a 500GB hdd in there as soon as Snow Leopard is released and do a clean install.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, very helpful.

Quick question: does the 9400M handles Windows well in VMware? Or do you notice a bit of a lack in power when doing things in Windows?
 
Nickm4N said:
Thanks mate, very helpful.

Quick question: does the 9400M handles Windows well in VMware? Or do you notice a bit of a lack in power when doing things in Windows?
Click to expand...

XP runs just fine; I don't notice any lack of power. Again, though, I'm not doing anything graphically intensive, just your average office/productivity and coding stuff. Vista is another story. If you want to run Vista on a Mac, my experience leads me to strongly recommend Boot Camp over Parallels or VMWare. (I've done Vista in Boot Camp and it runs just fine.)
 
xpovos said:
XP runs just fine; I don't notice any lack of power. Again, though, I'm not doing anything graphically intensive, just your average office/productivity and coding stuff. Vista is another story. If you want to run Vista on a Mac, my experience leads me to strongly recommend Boot Camp over Parallels or VMWare. (I've done Vista in Boot Camp and it runs just fine.)
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Anyone else?
 
Very happy with mine. It is my sole on-my-desk worker bee all day every day, and on my lap for at least two hours every night.

At times, if I am pressing the issue and stressing its innards, the fans will kick on, and the warm (hot) exhaust will make things uncomfortable, if you know what I mean. Doesn't last long, though. And right now, the temp reads at 113F, so that's nothing. Normally not hot at all.

I bootcamp when I must. All day, I have a Remote Desktop connection open to my main Windows server at the office, so I rarely need to BC.

Never had reason to complain about speed. Always have at least two Spaces in use, and my Expose at times looks like a posterboard.
 
I LOVE MY 15 IN MACBOOK PRO, i have it already for 10 days, not 1 single complaint, i got mines with ssd and its up and running safari when i click the power button in 15 secounds . and Dont forget about how great the macbook pro look in person
 
i totally love this laptop. my gf got it for my birthday and i bring it everywhere with me.

my usual programs used at the same time are firefox (8 tabs), ichat, occasionally running VM fusion with windows 7, itunes, photoshop, and various programs running in the background that uses the menubar (weatherbug, magical, istat).

the laptop did slow down on me before but it was a quick hiccup and usually respond well after. i notice it running hot when im copying files around on my external to internal hdd otherwise my temp stays around 116-123F. highest ive seen it go is 156F.

my 250gb hdd is pretty much filled and i just ordered the scorpio blue 500gb to replace.

overall, its quite snappy for what it is. i use it everywhere i go.
 
Love mine

Absolutely love mine. I run VMware, Photoshop, FCP, Office 2008. No issues running any of them. This is my first MacBook and I could not be happier!:):D
 
I have the Late 2008 model (with the 512mb 9400/9600GT combo) but I leave it in 9400 mode most of the time.

I can say that I'm beyond satisfied and PSYCHED to load Snow Leopard on Friday (going by the Apple store after class... yes, i'm a 29yo going back to school!).

I have been an AVID Windows user since... well... since I built my first computer. Last summer I built a new gaming right (Intel E8500 @ 3.53ghz, 4gb memory, ATI 512MB 4850, few TB of storage, etc) and sometime in November my laptop crapped out so I decided I needed a new one. Bought a MBP because I was interested in going back to school for Video production so I figured with OSX + Bootcamp I'd get the best of both worlds and could use a lot of the same applications at home as well as school.

So I went and bought a Late 2008 MBP (2.53ghz, 4gb memory, 512mb 9400/9600 combo, 320gb hdd, 15") just before XMas and lets say this... that PC I made just a few months earlier is my wifes "budgeting" computer now. The only time I use it is for a random game, and it also serves as my Media rig (streams to my XB360). That's it.

Otherwise I'm pretty much always in OSX. The 9400 runs great and I've used it in both Bootcamp and VMWare without any noticable issues w/ standard applications. I even do some minor gaming on the 9400GT as well (wow, etc in the past).

I love it.
 
I am very happy with mine as well. Perfect size between having a nice amount of screen real estate and still being fairly portable. The hard drive is pretty small, but I think I can get by on it and maybe a 500gb external for a year or so, and then I will upgrade to an SSD or a 1tb internal depending on price/storage ratios in the future.

As far as performance, I typically have firefox, mail, ical, iTunes, Audium, evernote, and pages open at the same time and never really have any problems. I use photoshop and it runs smoothly, handbrake, hulu desktop, and plex all seem to work without any trouble, although I haven't really messed around with them too much, only when I was out of town and wanted to watch some stuff, but typically I just stick to my tv.

4gb of ram is really nice to have, and does make things snappy, and in the next year or 2, the price of ram will come down even more and you will probably be able to upgrade to 8gb of ram (maybe 12 if the new MBP's could handle it) for relatively cheap.
 
i'm extremely happy with my purchase. i wanted the power of a macbook with the size of a 15" pro, so it's perfect for me.
i usually have 6 tabs open in firefox, itunes, iphoto, adium, mail, and everything runs smoothly.
 
hey man, great thread, i am too in the market for a Macbook Pro and this really helped me close my decision. I was toying with the idea of leaving my HDD at 250 before i read this post, but now i will most definitly be upgrading to the 500. Cheers!!! :D
 
I love my base 15" macbook pro. Bought it the day they dropped the prices this summer. Like others have said, the only upgrade i made was to the hard drive.
 
Well, I've got the mid 09 2.66 model, but I thought I'd share.

I don't use the 9600M GT much at all, only when using handbrake. Even when using VMware, the 9400M is plenty. you shouldn't have a problem if you get the 2.53 GHz model
 
Well .. I bought it! And I love it! :)

Now I understand why everybody is so fond of his Mac, it's just a beautiful machine and it works great and smooth! Still exploring all its features & enjoying it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back