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

Bought a 2011 MBP 15 inch and..

K

kushed

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2011
111
0
Soo let me just start by saying i recently configued a BTO on the apple online site. I ordered the higher-end 15 inch with a 128 SSD and 8 Gig of Ram and Hi Red Glossy.

After reading on the forums im beginning to wonder if i wasted my money.. i really only use computers for pure recreation (email sarfari some iPhoto Photobooth and random apps). Will i even be able to distinguish the higher resolution display using the computer the way i do? was this a good investment? or should i return it for a MBA. i will not go near the 13 MPB due to the core 2 Duo... just because as NOT tech savvy as i am.. even i think these speeds arent enough for regular every day use.. at least they wont be in a few months..

can i have some honest opinions?!?! will the hi Res work well for me when it comes to watching movies on my mac? i watch a movie almost every night on it so i want it to look good!

any thoughts and opinions.. good or "critic" would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!


EDIT: im not worried about the amount of storage as i currently use about 40 Gigs of space on my unibody macbook.
 
kushed said:
Soo let me just start by saying i recently configued a BTO on the apple online site. I ordered the higher-end 15 inch with a 128 SSD and 8 Gig of Ram and Hi Red Glossy.

After reading on the forums im beginning to wonder if i wasted my money.. i really only use computers for pure recreation (email sarfari some iPhoto Photobooth and random apps). Will i even be able to distinguish the higher resolution display using the computer the way i do? was this a good investment? or should i return it for a MBA. i will not go near the 13 MPB due to the core 2 Duo... just because as NOT tech savvy as i am.. even i think these speeds arent enough for regular every day use.. at least they wont be in a few months..
Click to expand...

What? You would buy the MBA (which does use a C2D) but wouldn't buy a 13" MBP? The 2011 13" doesn't use a C2D...

And yes, you probably wasted some money.
 
brentsg said:
What? You would buy the MBA (which does use a C2D) but wouldn't buy a 13" MBP? The 2011 13" doesn't use a C2D...

And yes, you probably wasted some money.
Click to expand...

see told you im an idiot about this stuff :D
but i would get the air because the ssd makes it seem so much faster.. i also dont game.. so will i ever be able to notic the higher resolution in the things i do or was that a waste of money as well? but at least my machine will be set to last right? at least 3 years?
 
Well, I just bought a similar config tonight and I regret it...but that's always the initial feeling for me when I spend a large sum of money on something that's not a necessity. I say wait till you have it in your hands and enjoy it for a week, then make a decision. My bet is you'll love it!

Regarding the 13" MBP...it's two cores....but you can get a i5 or i7 Sandybridge proc...which brings much more to the table than C2D. In fact, I remember reading that the 13" i7 MBP had benchmarks on par or exceeding 2010's 15 & 17 high-end MBP.

Good luck! :)

kushed said:
Soo let me just start by saying i recently configued a BTO on the apple online site. I ordered the higher-end 15 inch with a 128 SSD and 8 Gig of Ram and Hi Red Glossy.

After reading on the forums im beginning to wonder if i wasted my money.. i really only use computers for pure recreation (email sarfari some iPhoto Photobooth and random apps). Will i even be able to distinguish the higher resolution display using the computer the way i do? was this a good investment? or should i return it for a MBA. i will not go near the 13 MPB due to the core 2 Duo... just because as NOT tech savvy as i am.. even i think these speeds arent enough for regular every day use.. at least they wont be in a few months..

can i have some honest opinions?!?! will the hi Res work well for me when it comes to watching movies on my mac? i watch a movie almost every night on it so i want it to look good!

any thoughts and opinions.. good or "critic" would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!


EDIT: im not worried about the amount of storage as i currently use about 40 Gigs of space on my unibody macbook.
Click to expand...
 
with your usage I would have gotten the base 15 configuration. sounds like you have no need for the processor bump, the bigger graphics card, or a high-res screen.

you can get that base config on amazon for around $1715 - no tax
 
Last edited:
cazzy84 said:
Well, I just bought a similar config tonight and I regret it...but that's always the initial feeling for me when I spend a large sum of money on something that's not a necessity. I say wait till you have it in your hands and enjoy it for a week, then make a decision. My bet is you'll love it!

Regarding the 13" MBP...it's two cores....but you can get a i5 or i7 Sandybridge proc...which brings much more to the table than C2D. In fact, I remember reading that the 13" i7 MBP had benchmarks on par or exceeding 2010's 15 & 17 high-end MBP.

Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

crazy did you get the higher res screen? was it a big difference?! i went to the apple store and it looked fantastic but i think my current mac looks good.. if the dam things werent wired down i would have had them side by side! but then again if they werent wired down i would have ran out of the store with one :D
 
Sounds to me like you should've gotten an MBA, if you don't use intensive design software, or any gaming, I don't see the need for a pro. Yea of course you want your computer to be fast, but word processing and surfing the net would be fine on a 3 yr old macbook, which is what I currently have.

I bought the high end 15" w/ antiglare hi res, because I do need the power for CS5 and 3d modeling and rendering. Hi res is needed if you want more real estate for your work (music, video, graphic, etc.), but it's also nice for entertainment reasons.

I'd return your MBP and get an MBA, it's a beautiful and powerful little machine.
 
When watching HD movies on your computer High Resolution definitely makes a difference. I couldn't imagine not having a high resolution screen.
 
kushed said:
crazy did you get the higher res screen? was it a big difference?! i went to the apple store and it looked fantastic but i think my current mac looks good.. if the dam things werent wired down i would have had them side by side! but then again if they werent wired down i would have ran out of the store with one :D
Click to expand...

Sad, the point of Apple store having it there is to demo it for everyone. If someone takes it, the people after you would no longer be able to see it and try it out. That is very selfish of you.
 
kushed said:
crazy did you get the higher res screen? was it a big difference?! i went to the apple store and it looked fantastic but i think my current mac looks good.. if the dam things werent wired down i would have had them side by side! but then again if they werent wired down i would have ran out of the store with one :D
Click to expand...

Yes...I got the AG!

When I compared them, they were about 8 feet apart so I opened the same image and walked back and forth. Sure, the glossy looked nice....but I preferred not fighting with all the reflections the glossy comes with.

I never considered getting a low res screen.
 
One thing that will keep me off the Airs (at least this gen's) is the omission of a backlit keyboard. Must have feature for me. The 13" MBP's resolution is just laughable at this point so no sale there...that and i'm very uncomfortable with the absence of dedicated graphics in general because i need to drive hi-res external displays. This leaves me with the 15" models as the only suitable candidates.

If you feel you can live with the Air then by all means go for it. They have the best screens in the notebook line and are the fastest/lightest out the gate and you'll enjoy the,. Although, i feel paying a premium for a C2D based notebook at this point in time is a bit sacrilegious.
 
daneoni said:
One thing that will keep me off the Airs (at least this gen's) is the omission of a backlit keyboard.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention this earlier. My friend just recently bought a MBA and i was blown away that the keys werent backlit.. i have them on my macbook right now and they are like crack. ill never buy another laptop without this option. i absolutely love it!!!!
 
I work hard my on high res mbp but also watch movies. Loving it.

If you can afford it, go for it.
 
yes, you wasted your money.

the display is a personal thing. higher resolution is always useful (provided you can still read text), but if you don't do much, it's not as beneficial. everything else, the quad-core, RAM, etc, is useless to you.

get a 13" MB or MBP, or an MBA.
 
kushed said:
Soo let me just start by saying i recently configued a BTO on the apple online site. I ordered the higher-end 15 inch with a 128 SSD and 8 Gig of Ram and Hi Red Glossy.
Click to expand...

You likely won't need even the standard 4GB of RAM for the apps you mentioned, 8 is definitely overkill. You also won't need the extra speed of the 2.2 or 2.3, you won't need the 6750 over the 6490 either. An SSD will give you a huge speed boost all around so you aren't missing out on anything just because you aren't a power user, whether the cost is justified is up to you. You don't need the high res screen for any of the apps you mentioned but extra pixels gives you more "virtual" room to work with.

Neither screen comes in the resolution that video is normally shown at so the upscaling would mean either screen is equally unsuitable. Not that they are bad, its just that the 1650x1080 display has no advantage over a 1440x900 in this area, or a 1280x720 for that matter.
 
well im kind of sad i "wasted" my money, but my mom really wanted to purchase a laptop and i saw the chance to sell her mine and get an upgrade! and since the money i used for the laptop was won in poker =D i decided why not? so now that i have all of this power if i were to start doing some.. photoshop or Final Cut, would this pc be able to fly through it? also if i were to start playing call of duty would it be able to handle 60 FPS ? my friend at work said if he cant get 60 fps then he doesnt bother... i wouldnt know because i have never gamed on a pc.. althugh im thinking about starting! although i do love my ps3
 
Well, to be very honest, a user like yourself probably isn't in need of 8GB of RAM. Picking the SSD wasn't much of a waste, seeing that you don't use to much space. It's basically a space/speed trade-off, you're golden there. The MacBook Air uses C2D chips, and the new 13" uses i5 and i7 chips. I would've gone for the 13" with an SSD if I were you, but this new MacBook of yours, should last you for 6 years if you keep doing what you're doing now, unless you're like me, and have an insatiable need for new tech :D. The high-resolution screen will only be of use if you're watching high-resolution movies.

-AT
 
On a notebook, I'd be happy with >=30 fps, I will reduce the detail, textures, AA etc until I can hit 30. If you expect to hit 60 in a game, notebooks are really not for you. 30 is considered "good enough" and 60 is "I don't need any more than this".

It's interesting that you want to take up PS, Final Cut and gaming only after getting the computer because that's the reverse of how it normally works but to answer your question, you've probably got the one of the best notebooks to handle all those things.
 
kushed said:
well im kind of sad i "wasted" my money, but my mom really wanted to purchase a laptop and i saw the chance to sell her mine and get an upgrade! and since the money i used for the laptop was won in poker =D i decided why not? so now that i have all of this power if i were to start doing some.. photoshop or Final Cut, would this pc be able to fly through it? also if i were to start playing call of duty would it be able to handle 60 FPS ? my friend at work said if he cant get 60 fps then he doesnt bother... i wouldnt know because i have never gamed on a pc.. althugh im thinking about starting! although i do love my ps3
Click to expand...

Since it is not an issue with money, I say keep your purchase & congrats. :)
 
so is it safe to say ill have a decent resell value in a year or so when i get another twitch to upgrade:D:D
 
It makes no sense to overpay for ram by $130.

You can get crucial 2x4GB off newegg for only $70....
 
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