Can I make the new 13" MBP “feel” like an upgrade from a 2007 iMac?

[bouncingsoul]

What's the cheapest configuration for the 13" MBP that won't feel like a downgrade from a 2007 iMac*? (Funny concern to have after 2.5 years of technological progress.)

The things I'm wondering about are if I have to upgrade to the 7200 RPM drive and if the 2.4 GHz will be fine since it's the same number or if I should get the 2.66 GHz.

(15" is not an option for me because it is too heavy and bulky to carry around. I want a laptop for portability, so I'll sacrifice resolution for it since I plan to use an external monitor anyway for real work.)

*late-2007 20" iMac, 2.4 GHz C2D, 4 GB RAM, 256 MB Radeon HD2600, 300 GB HD

 

[breathesrain]

What did you do on the iMac? A lot of this decision depends on your usage.

 

[MrCheeto]

Any current MacBook Pro will match that iMac in performance at least as far as the user is concerned. The only difference may be the speed of the hard drive, which can be easily upgraded.

Consider if the 7200rpm drive is worth it and you should be good.

Also, don't fall for the "megahertz-myth", in reality it only measures the operating frequency of the CPU, you need to also take into account the bus speeds, memory speeds, memory amount, hard drive read/write times etc. as well as the architecture of the CPU.

Sadly, the megahertz-myth may make the MacBook Pro i-series' inferior in appearance, as there are far too many blind noobs and fanboys that just assume their laptop is more powerful than the i7 MacBook Pros just because they say 2.66ghz and his says 3.33ghz, yet the MacBook pro is a Core i7 and his is last-year's AMD.

Sad facts...

 

[bouncingsoul]

What I do: Graphic design for money. Audio work for fun. I occasionally feel like I'm pushing the iMac with what I do, but not usually.

I thought I would do gaming, but I could never get newer games to run well, and it's not worth hundreds of extra dollars to me to have a nice gaming machine, so I'm willing to just write that off as a requirement.

 

[MrCheeto]

In that case, the MacBook Pro is the tool for you, I honestly can't say I've ever been limited in my capabilities with my Aluminum MacBook or my current 13" MacBook Pro.

As well, I've played COD4, Quake 4, Doom 3 and a few other games without a single hangup when playing natively. I don't know about boot camp, the temperatures in boot camp worry me, but I suppose it's worth a try?

 

[breathesrain]

Not to steal the thread or anything, but I'm curious...why does AMD have such inflated processor frequencies?

Anyway, with my admittedly limited experience I agree with MrCheeto- the base model should be fine.

 

[MrCheeto]

AMD, like Microsoft, feeds on noobs. They understand that people look at clock-rate first and just assume higher clock-rate=MOAR FASTR!!

The same way Microsoft takes Apple's last-year innovations and overhypes them like a DEVO come-back. I swear, Microsoft could fool those morons by "introducing" the mouse! A new innovation from Microsoft, the mouse, can be used to control a pointing device on the screen of your computer, allowing you to select and drag items!
"Wow, did you hear that? Sounds exciting, but I thought our computer already had a mouse...must not."

 

[bouncingsoul]

Also, don't fall for the "megahertz-myth", in reality it only measures the operating frequency of the CPU, you need to also take into account the bus speeds, memory speeds, memory amount, hard drive read/write times etc. as well as the architecture of the CPU.

Very true. I personally don't know how all those numbers interact though, so I was hoping someone here did and could assure me the low-end MBP won't feel slower to me next time I export a giant layered Photoshop document.

 

[bouncingsoul]

Wow, actually it looks like a 7200 rpm hard drive isn't even an option for the 13". I'm more worried slow drive access is something I'd actually notice...

 

[MrCheeto]

Uhoh 0.o

If that's going to be a major problem, just know you can install your own drive in a matter of minutes, and the cost of a good drive may actually be less than Apple's cost.