Base vs Mid, MBP

[dwd3885]

I'm going to go to the Apple Store soon to buy a 15" MBP and I'd like to know if I should get the base model or the mid-level model.

I do some video editing in iMovie and use Photoshop quite a bit as well as Lightroom and iPhoto. Not a professional though. I'm a high school teacher that teaches desktop publishing along with digital media (audio, photo, video).

Is the mid-level worth the $250 extra it'll cost me? Concerned about the 9400m vs 9600m GT. The hard drive difference is there, as is the 2.66 vs 2.53.

Quick responses needed, because I'm going very soon!

THanks!

 

[joehahn]

get the mid level one if you could afford it. It'll make everything you're doing a little bit faster.

 

[Davidkoh]

I'm going to go to the Apple Store soon to buy a 15" MBP and I'd like to know if I should get the base model or the mid-level model.

I do some video editing in iMovie and use Photoshop quite a bit as well as Lightroom and iPhoto. Not a professional though. I'm a high school teacher that teaches desktop publishing along with digital media (audio, photo, video).

Is the mid-level worth the $250 extra it'll cost me? Concerned about the 9400m vs 9600m GT. The hard drive difference is there, as is the 2.66 vs 2.53.

Quick responses needed, because I'm going very soon!

THanks!

If you are gonna play any games or something like that you'll want the 9600m GT, otherwise I see no reason to have the more expensive one.

 

[miles01110]

The base model will be fine for you.

 

[Hero33]

If you can afford the extra 250 dollars, it would not hurt to future proof your laptop a bit more. Better to have a bit more than you need when it comes to technology.

 

[Freyqq]

The improvement of the mid version is honestly not worth the cost at all. Processor improvements will get you maybe a 5% improvement in rendering at best. The extra 256 vram will not help anything except heavy heavy 3d modeling or gaming. And even there, it is more likely that the card will be the bottleneck rather than running out of vram.

 

[ucfgrad93]

If you can afford it, I think it is worth the extra money. Good luck and enjoy your new computer.

 

[dwd3885]

I went to the Apple Store today and messed around with both computers. I found that I was able to do everything I want to do on the base model. That is the one I purchased! Got the free iPod Touch as I work for a school and will sell that on eBay. So I basically get $200 off the edu. discounted price for the lowend model. Not too shabby.

Brought the laptop home and so far I'm thrilled. The 4GB ram is awesome. The ability to upgrade to 8 should make it a keeper. Already used the sd-card slot twice to import photos from my Canon Rebel xsi. The battery life is phenomenal. I watched USOpen.com coverage of Roddick-Isner and watched that entire match on full screen, while importing photos in Lightroom, all on battery life and when it was over I still had a good amount of life left in the battery.

Great job, Apple!