Choosing between mbp 2,1 or 4,1

[enky]

So the other day I finally got fed up with the glossy screen on my 2.4ghz 15" Unibody MBP. I'm a Uni student that does a lot of reading, I don't want to turn up my screen brightness and burn my eyes just to reduce reflections.

So I basically decided to get a pre-unibody model. I've been looking around online in New Zealand and the difference between some of the 4,1's with the 8600m's and the 2,1's with the radeon x1600's are priced pretty competitively.

I'm having a very hard time deciding, I could get a 2.4ghz penryn and be at a much greater risk of gpu death. Or I could get a 2.16ghz 2,1 model and miss out on the 3,4 finger multitouch gestures and the revamped function keys (e.g f8 - itunes play/pause) which i've grown accustomed but have a computer that I have more peace of mind with.

I'm leaning towards the 2.16ghz, since i'll be keeping the unibody (my parents purchased it for me early last year and it'd be very ungrateful of me to just sell it) since it could handle all of my games.

I've looked around the forums but haven't found anything "conclusive" on the 8600m gt, it's such a shame that mid 2007 to 2008's are mentally off limits for me. But a second opinion would be nice. Would you go for the "safer" option or take a gamble and go for the penryns?

Thanks a bunch

 

[witness]

You can get anti-glare as a BTO option on the current line of MBPs.

 

[enky]

Yeah I could do that.
But it'd be quite troublesome selling it off and it would also leave me without a computer while waiting for my order + i'd probably be waiting for upcoming updates.
The money I pay out of pocket wouldn't be much different.
I also prefer many aspects of the old mbp such as the design, keyboard, a trackpad with a dedicated button (though I don't deny the unibody trackpad is nice)

 

[maflynn]

I've looked around the forums but haven't found anything "conclusive" on the 8600m gt

Well both nvidia and apple have conclusively stated that the GPU is defective, in that it will fail at some point, so much so that apple has extended the repairs of those models. Of course the repairing is just replacing the logic board meaning you'll be getting another 8600m.

Personally, I'd avoid the 8600m GPU like the plague at this point, because its a ticking time bomb.

Your other options as I see it,

• look into getting an ipad if you're doing a lot of reading on it
• Alter your desk setup to minimize the reflections
• Pick up a netbook for those times you need non-glossy
• sell your MBP and get a matte display

I really seeing spending money on an older MBP is not the best use of your funds

 

[witness]

I actually prefer the glossy screens as I find that I can run the machine at a lower brightness (whilst still being readable) than I can with the matte. This means I get better battery life.

So long as I have the machine pointed away from windows I don't have any real problem with glare.

 

[Hunter5117]

I just upgraded from a 2.4ghz non-unibody Penryn to a 2.66 1st gen Unibody (wanted the removable battery and got a good deal on old-stock unit) and I don't see a lot of issues with the glossy screen. Other than working with a window immediately behind me, it is pretty much a non-issue. If you are definitely going to go for the down-grade, I would get the last-gen Penryn. Apple has extended the warranty replacement on the GPU to 3 years, so other than the inconvenience of the downtime, you are guaranteed to get good service out of that choice. I had the original MBP before the Penryn, and the Penryn was cooler, faster, better battery life, lots better than the 1st gen.

 

[mikes70mustang]

Just b/c it has an 8600 doesnt mean its going to die.