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

Buying a MBP today - help me decide

V

VeraStrange

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 13, 2013
5
0
Looking to replace my 2008 MBP. It's barely holding on and I plan to buy today before it goes *poof* on me. I'm not a huge technical person; specs and such are meaningless to me. I tend to hold onto computers for 4 years.

My usage:
  • I typically work remotely from home where my computer is almost always at my desk & plugged into a monitor.
  • Standard business usage with occasional bursts of graphics (Usually Fireworks. RIP. Damn you Adobe.)
  • I watch a lot of video. I occasionally edit video, but not enough to make it a significant part of the decision process. The power to do so easily would be nice, though.
  • Some gaming. If I cared more about this I'd get a gaming rig and not a mac.
  • I'm one of those annoying people that never closes anything. It is not unusual to see several day old windows running, including a couple different browser windows each with a bunch of tabs. (though I'm slowly getting better about the browser thing)
I've mostly decided on an rMBP because I want a 15 inch screen. Plus the retina screen is sexy & I work in a field where impressions can mean more than intelligence & talent. I'm a bit worried because I tend to use an external monitor in a dual monitor setup and this seems to have caused problems for some - is it really an issue or more of an occasional thing/fluke? Should I be safe and go with a cMBP? I haven't even looked at the inside of my MBP in the 5 years I've had it, so the upgradability of it is not a selling point for me. But if it works better with an external monitor, that is the way I'll go: the daily work on a dual screen setup is far more important to me than the occasional impressionable client visit.

Budget: I'd like to stick around $2000 or, of course, less.

Here's what I'm looking at (all 15in rMBP):

B&H:
2.4GHz
8GB
256GB Flash Storage
$1999 no tax = $1999

Refurb:
2.3GHz - Originally released June 2012
8GB
256GB Flash Storage
$1599 + tax = $1711

2.6GHz - Originally released June 2012
16GB
256GB Flash Storage
$1949 + tax = $2086


So, it comes down to this...

New vs Refurb: I'm not afraid of refurbs (especially from Apple) but was the upgrade in February significant? Did this stop some of the lag/screen issues? If so, then I'll get the new 2.4.

8GB vs 16GB RAM: 8 seems more than enough right now (heck, I'm used to 2GB). But the 16GB comes on a 2.6GHz machine. I can't imagine that I'd regularly notice that difference now, but in 4 years?

If newer is not better and 16GB/2.6 isn't worth it, even in the long run, than I can save almost $300 and get the 2.3. Thoughts?
 
Save the $300 and go for this one :-

VeraStrange said:
Refurb:
2.3GHz - Originally released June 2012
8GB
256GB Flash Storage
$1599 + tax = $1711
Click to expand...

Compared to your existing MBP it'll fly. The flash storage is such a performance increase on it's own over the old spinney hard drive, let alone the other performance bumps in the CPU and the extra memory (I'm assuming your current MBP has 2/4GB), so it should last you another 5 years.
 
Thanks!

Any thoughts on the screen issues & lag? Am I just making myself paranoid by reading all the threads around here?
 
VeraStrange said:
Thanks!

Any thoughts on the screen issues & lag? Am I just making myself paranoid by reading all the threads around here?
Click to expand...

I don't think there is any doubt there are issues with the screen lagging and tearing, but if you're looking to buy a rMBP today you're going to run the risk of getting one with the issue. Hopefully if you're going for a refurb it's been throughly checked by an Apple engineer as part of the process, so if anything getting a refurb should reduce the risk. If it's a thermal-paste issue (lack of) on the GPU as some have found then it'll need a repair by Apple which your 90 day support cover should include.
 
Good point. For as helpful as research is, there comes a time when you've just gotta let go.
 
VeraStrange said:
Thanks!

Any thoughts on the screen issues & lag? Am I just making myself paranoid by reading all the threads around here?
Click to expand...

There's nothing about the 2013 models that would improve lag, all the improvements there have come from software updates that apply just as well to the 2012 models.

A 2013 model may be a bit less likely to see the image retention since I think they started using some slightly different panels at one point, but I think it's possible to see that on either model.

Apple knows about the image retention issue and has a test for it, so they will fix it if you if yours develops that problem.

A refurbished model may actually be less likely to have image retention since they've been more thoroughly inspected and quality tested than a new unit.
 
Good to come back and see this.

I went with the 2.3 refurb. It was just too good of a deal... I'll be second guessing the decision until Tuesday when it gets here and I fall in love. New Mac! Yay!

(is it Tuesday yet?)
 
VeraStrange said:
Good to come back and see this.

I went with the 2.3 refurb. It was just too good of a deal... I'll be second guessing the decision until Tuesday when it gets here and I fall in love. New Mac! Yay!

(is it Tuesday yet?)
Click to expand...

I also ordered one and my scheduled delivery date is Tuesday. Tuesday can't come soon enough!
 
VeraStrange said:
I went with the 2.3 refurb. It was just too good of a deal... I'll be second guessing the decision until Tuesday when it gets here and I fall in love. New Mac! Yay!

(is it Tuesday yet?)
Click to expand...

Let us know how you get on. Roll on Tuesday!
 
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