cMBP Hires AG - 15" Mid 2012 vs 17" Late 2011

[sofianito]

15" Mid 2012 specs:
2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display, 1680x1050 resolution
4GB 1600MHz memory
750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
Intel HD Graphics 4000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory
price: $1,999.00
Pros: Newer technology, better GPUs, slightly Faster CPU, ?
Cons: 512MB Nvidia VRAM, ?

17" Late 2011 specs:
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.3GHz quad-core Intel i7
17-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Hi-Res antiglare widescreen display, 1920-by-1200 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M
price: $2,019.00
Pros: Screen real estate and resolution, 1GB Radeon VRAM, ?
Cons: ?

Any thoughts on these specs?

Is it worth to get the refurbished model?

 

[sofianito]

Any taker?

Am I under embargo for not being politically correct?

 

[SuperJudge]

Are you planning on carrying the 17" MBP around with you on a regular basis? If not, you'll probably want to go with the refurb 17". The 17" is a beast performance-wise, but it is also a beast to have to lug around. I carried a 17" PowerBook G4 for about a year. I don't think I'd do it again if given the chance.

 

[mcpix]

I've been wrestling with a similar question, so I'll share my thoughts.

I've been looking at 2 different 15" MBPs. The new 2012 similar to yours, but 500GB Hard drive for $1899. Or, the refurbished 2011 15" with a 1GB AMD Radeon 6750, and 750GB hard drive for $1,679.

The refurbished is close enough in price to make me think about the 2012 MBP. However, I do occasionally use Premiere Pro CS 6, which has been written to take advantage of the 1GB AMD Radeon 6750, but not the Nvidia GT650. Plus even if it recognizes the Nvidia chip, Premiere Pro usually requires a video card with 1GB. There's also the fact that the refurbished computer comes with a slightly bigger hard drive. So, in my case, I think the refurbished computer is the better deal.

In your case, you get the 1GB video card and a larger screen for the same amount of money. If the bigger video card and larger screen outweigh USB 3.0 and a newer video card (with less memory), than I'd go with the refurbished 17". I personally prefer the size of the 15" and would probably go with the 2012 MBP.

 

[Tea-Aholic]

Any thoughts on these specs?

Yes. The 2012 model has quite a bit better GPUs. That's both the HD 4000 and 650M.

 

[SuperJudge]

Yes. The 2012 model has quite a bit better GPUs. That's both the HD 4000 and 650M.

I hadn't fully considered that. The Intel HD4000 is the least sucky integrated GPU I've ever seen and the new NVIDIA GPUs are pretty good as well. Go for the 2012 15".

 

[sofianito]

Are you planning on carrying the 17" MBP around with you on a regular basis? If not, you'll probably want to go with the refurb 17". The 17" is a beast performance-wise, but it is also a beast to have to lug around. I carried a 17" PowerBook G4 for about a year. I don't think I'd do it again if given the chance.

If I carry the 17" MBP, it would be between my parked car and customers location (5-10 minutes at most). Hence, the weight is not really a problem. Also, USB3 and TB are not critical for my daily use.

I am mostly worried about the overall performance and display quality of the 17" model compared to the mid 2012 one. Do you think the 17" is worth the bucks?