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buying a macbook pro opinion...

E

Evolesque

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 9, 2008
67
18
Ok,

I know there are a lot of posts already about this one but this is slightly
different. So I can buy a new penryn macbook pro (previous gen) for 1300 dollars out the door for the 2.5ghz model directly from school. Or I can buy a 2.4ghz unibody macbook pro for about 2000 dollars.

I dont really want pros and cons since lets face, they pretty much are the same laptop internally. The one thing I will do if I get the older version is immediately just have school replace the logic-board with a hopefully non defective nvidia. This will be free.

So my question is..what would some of you guys do. just want some opinions
. I could get either or, but I always like some opinions about purchases like this to get a different perspective.
 
I would definitely go for the older model. Also the school won't replace the logic board if it isn't broken.
 
I use the previous generation MBP (early '08) and although the GPU always runs about 10 degrees C hotter than the rest of the computer, I haven't had any performance issues.
 
what would you guys recommand betweenmacbook pro vs 2.4 version of mac ook unibody

They are both priced at 1600
 
firestarter said:
Do you need portability, or a bigger screen?
Do you want matte or glossy?
Do you need a firewire port for a DV camera?

Personally, I'd go for the older MBP
Click to expand...

well my biggest concern is the screen...

even thou i heard its like looking in to a mirror... i didnt find it to be that distracting even with lighting condition at the bestbuy i was at... however what got to me was people saying hw inferior the screens are between the unibody MB n MBP... and when i saw it with my own eyes

the blacks are not as nearly good on the MB as they are on the MBP

however, the queston i cant seem to be able to answer is... DOES IT REALLY MATTER?

speaking in terms of tvs and other techs, things dont look nearly as bad/different unless you have them SIDE BY SIDE...

so as long as you dont have a constant comparision between the two screens things should u alrite? dont you think?

but at the same time im wondering how/what is the screen difference between Unibody - MB vs MBP (older gen)

portability is of an issue but i rarely travel with my laptop...
firewire doesnt matter to me all that much... n i've heard people say its the best thing to use when using an external hard-drive... but i havent used it as of now so i really dont know how FAST it is compared to usb 2.0 (please feel free to leave a comment on the difference between the two)

thx
 
get the older macbook pro. And it has matte which is simply awesome. I know glossy makes things look so much more vibrant, and reflections aren't as bad as the interwebz make it out to be, but trust me, in the long run, your eyes will thank you for matte.
 
zer0tails said:
get the older macbook pro. And it has matte which is simply awesome. I know glossy makes things look so much more vibrant, and reflections aren't as bad as the interwebz make it out to be, but trust me, in the long run, your eyes will thank you for matte.
Click to expand...

well i've been using a laptop (dell inspiron 6000 for over 3 years now and it has matte finish screen... but i just seem to like the glossy screen more... my brother has it on his dell and its simply gorgeous...

bye ye its personal opinion...

how is the screen difference between the current macbook (unibody) vs the older macbook pro...
 
Ok,

after seeing some opinions and thinking about this, I think I am going to pick up the old one. My reasons now that I have really thought about it is that the new one.... not really worth it. After really contemplating why I wanted the newer one it came down to basically it looking better to me. Yeah once I was really honest about it I really couldn't justify paying an extra 800 bucks for looks.( you can't blame me for wanting nice things haha) I can probably save that money or buy a ridiculously big monitor for my laptop from newegg.

The technical specs of the top model from last gen is pretty much on par with the new top end model.

Really the only difference to me is the 9000 series geforce card and the cpu bus speed. everything else from my user experience stand point will be the same. I like matte screens better anyway.

one notably thing about the unibody macbook pro is the trackpad. It really does feel like it has optimum slide. but yeah not worth 800 dollars.

thanks for the comments!

p.s. I also realized if my school is having a sale on macbooks now...I'm sure once before I get out of grad school in a year they will have another sale once the revision b's etc come out and I can buy both for the price of one now pretty much.....I hate waiting.
 
Good luck with it; additionally, I'd recommend that you can put some of what have saved by buying refurb towards the purchase of Applecare (a good selling point later, should you sell your MBP, and also insurance/protection for three years should anything go wrong with the MBP itself). It's not something you'd have to do immediately, or even soon, as Apple's warranty lasts for a year.

Cheers and good luck
 
Yeah, AppleCare is something I'll be looking into in the future for sure.
Also the laptop I bought is actually new, Its just last gen, that was a strong reason why I chose it also along with the discounted price of course.

Either way, thanks again guys for the comments! They definitely helped!
 
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