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As a student, why wouldn't you get the 2.53?

G

Germwise

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 2, 2009
148
15
So I guess this comes down to the old 2.0 vs 2.4

I realize 2.26 vs 2.53 won't make too much of a speed difference but hear me out.

as a student the 2.26 is 1150, the 2.53 is 1399. =250 dollar diff.

However if you plan on upgrading the ram thats another 78 dollars plus hassle.

so for 170 dollars more you get 4 gig installed ram, double the HD size and the faster processor.

Isn't that worth it?
 
Germwise said:
So I guess this comes down to the old 2.0 vs 2.4

I realize 2.26 vs 2.53 won't make too much of a speed difference but hear me out.

as a student the 2.26 is 1150, the 2.53 is 1399. =250 dollar diff.

However if you plan on upgrading the ram thats another 78 dollars plus hassle.

so for 170 dollars more you get 4 gig installed ram, double the HD size and the faster processor.

Isn't that worth it?
Click to expand...

Or you put in an even larger hard drive in the 2.26, and still have enough for a textbook or a few nights out.

Sometimes more is just more.
 
your price comparison is incorrect. for students, it is 1099 vs 1399 ($300 difference). so 300 gets you an additional 2GB memory, slighter more hd space, and about 200mhz. i don't think it's worth it because you will never notice the 200mhz difference in real time. the other components (memory + hdd) can easily be upgraded later. 3rd party is almost always cheaper and better
 
didn't realize the student discount on the lower model had gone up too!

This starts to change things!


I might go for the 2.26....
 
the main difference between the 2.0 vs 2.4 argument and this is the backlit keyboard. that was the deciding factor for a lot of people, but now that all unibody models have the back lit, the 2.2 model is fantastic for the price. i consider it the best bang for the buck
 
Or spend $949 on the regular Macbook. Then drop in a 320GB 7200RPM HD for $70 and 4GB of RAM for $45.

For $1064 you have a pretty well maxed out Macbook. Further it has a removable battery so if you are spending a lot of time on campus with your laptop running you have spares. Many colleges are not loaded with electrical outlets for students to plug their laptops into.
 
Germwise said:
as a student the 2.26 is 1150, the 2.53 is 1399. =250 dollar diff.
Click to expand...

The 2.26 is $1099 as a student.

I looked yesterday, you could upgrade to 4GB of ram for about $70 and up to a 250gb 7200rpm (which will make your machine perform noticeably faster than a 0.27ghz increase would) for $75.

So that's a 300 dollar difference to start, and a 150 dollar difference just for the 0.27 ghz. But in reality, A 2.26ghz machine with a 7200rpm hard drive will perform better than a 2.53ghz machine with the 5400rpm hard drive.
both machines have 250gigs and 4gig ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146878

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136279

P.S.: Installing RAM and a Hard Drive is a piece of Cake!
 
^ Good example but better get a WD5000BEVT. It will perform the same as 250GB/7200rpm while consuming less power and making less noise.
 
Philflow said:
^ Good example but better get a WD5000BEVT. It will perform the same as 250GB/7200rpm while consuming less power and making less noise.
Click to expand...

How will it perform better if it's only 5400rpm? It has greater storage capacity but slower data read/write speeds. 7200rpm is what makes the other one perform better

Also, the 250gb 7200rpm drive has a 16mb buffer
the 500gb 5400rpm drive has an 8mb buffer
 
Donz0r said:
How will it perform better if it's only 5400rpm? It has greater storage capacity but slower data read/write speeds. 7200rpm is what makes the other one perform better

Also, the 250gb 7200rpm drive has a 16mb buffer
the 500gb 5400rpm drive has an 8mb buffer
Click to expand...

The higher platter density of the 500gb vs 250gb help compensate the different platter speeds.
 
Prices are in Canadian $$

For a quality 250GB 7200RPM HD it’s ~$115
2x2GB RAM is ~$75

So it’s ~$200 to upgrade. But if you wait 6 months, you should be able to get a bigger HB for the same price (320?) and the RAM should drop in price, maybe. Plus you can sell the 160GB HD and RAM

It’s a tough decision for me. It basically comes down to whether or not the extra 270mhz is worth ~$100
To be honest, I don’t think so considering if I buy now and upgrade later, I could potentially get a 500gb 7200 RPM HD and 4GB of RAM for under $200
 
I'm deciding between these two configurations as well, and OWC has 4 GB ram for $67.99 and a Hitachi 320 GB 7200 RPM HD for $82.99, so that combined with the entry level macbook pro would be around $150 less than the 2.53 GHZ macbook pro, so that's looking like a better option to me...
 
Quick question..... Why in the UK when you to 6th Form (further education) you cannot recieve any student discounts?? Rubbish!!
 
Germwise said:
So I guess this comes down to the old 2.0 vs 2.4

I realize 2.26 vs 2.53 won't make too much of a speed difference but hear me out.

as a student the 2.26 is 1150, the 2.53 is 1399. =250 dollar diff.

However if you plan on upgrading the ram thats another 78 dollars plus hassle.

so for 170 dollars more you get 4 gig installed ram, double the HD size and the faster processor.

Isn't that worth it?
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't I? Mainly because of price.
 
Germwise said:
So I guess this comes down to the old 2.0 vs 2.4

I realize 2.26 vs 2.53 won't make too much of a speed difference but hear me out.

as a student the 2.26 is 1150, the 2.53 is 1399. =250 dollar diff.

However if you plan on upgrading the ram thats another 78 dollars plus hassle.

so for 170 dollars more you get 4 gig installed ram, double the HD size and the faster processor.

Isn't that worth it?
Click to expand...

both are gonna be obsolete after a while but the 2.53 might be a worthwhile investment to keep you in good shape for a few years. you can always upgrade HD and RAM with stuff that goes on sale but the processor is permanent so i'd spend my green on the best processor I can afford and spring for upgrade deals down the line. 250 isn't cheap but it isn't horridly a large sum of cash money that i can't save up for by cutting corners somewhere else in my life.
 
CPU clock rate is overrated. That said, buy the cheapest macbook and throw in 4Gb of Crucial RAM with a bigger HD (if needed), and spend that money having fun in college.
 
Dwalls90 said:
CPU clock rate is overrated. That said, buy the cheapest macbook and throw in 4Gb of Crucial RAM with a bigger HD (if needed), and spend that money having fun in college.
Click to expand...

pshh...didn't anybody tell you that you're supposed to work hard during college and not slack off? man, the standards these days have def. fallen...:D
 
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