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Comparison between 15" Macbook Pros

T

thomj

macrumors member
Original poster
In my hunt, I have narrowed down the options to the three 15" MBPs. Can you guys help me differentiate the three, in technical and laymen terms.

Thanks! I'm awfully excited.

PS: If someone wants to suggest which one is right for me, I mostly do word documents, internet, music downloading, video streaming, and some music/photo/video editing.
 
Settle for base MBP and put the rest of the money towards external HD, RAM, screen.. etc

I would get the hi res version though
 
thomj said:
In my hunt, I have narrowed down the options to the three 15" MBPs. Can you guys help me differentiate the three, in technical and laymen terms.

Thanks! I'm awfully excited.

PS: If someone wants to suggest which one is right for me, I mostly do word documents, internet, music downloading, video streaming, and some music/photo/video editing.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of specs, can you be more specific as to your use case? By the looks of it, you clearly don't need to top-end model in the 15-inch size.
 
Hellhammer said:
Settle for base MBP and put the rest of the money towards external HD, RAM, screen.. etc

I would get the hi res version though
Click to expand...
I want the best "as-is" model. Although if enough people suggest making a particular upgrade, I'd be open to that as well.
 
thomj said:
I want the best "as-is" model. Although if enough people suggest making a particular upgrade, I'd be open to that as well.
Click to expand...

The hi res is available in some stores too. It's something that is up to you but for 100$, you can get 36% more screen estate which is IMO no brainer
 
thomj said:
I want the best "as-is" model. Although if enough people suggest making a particular upgrade, I'd be open to that as well.
Click to expand...

Get the base model and the high-res upgrade; from what your described, that's really all your need. If you want better things, you could buy a HDD from a third-party store (ie: NewEgg.com) and install the upgrade yourself for cheaper than what Apple offers.

If you can clarify what you mean by music/photo/video editing that would help…

Do you use Photoshop? Final Cut? Logic? Or iPhoto? iMovie? Because there are big differences (ie: Final Cut can benefit from as much processing power as you can afford, but iMovie is limited to 2 threads).

Hellhammer said:
The hi res is available in some stores too. It's something that is up to you but for 100$, you can get 36% more screen estate which is IMO no brainer
Click to expand...

But that upgrade is usually limited to the i7 2.66GHz channel configuration. Other configurations require ordering from Apple.com
 
I went for base 2.4 i5 with the 7200rpm hdd upgrade (500gig) and the hi res glossy upgrade. To me the diff between the base i5 and the i7 was not big enough for the cost of entry, and I really don't think I'll use the 512mb vid card. I have a PC for gaming anyway. The MBP is more of a code box for me, so I went for the nicer resolution and the faster hard disk speed.

Of course it's always "cool" to have an i7, 512mb vid card, 7200rpm, and hi res screen, but I couldn't justify the performance difference vs the price.

My base 2.4 i5 seems INCREDIBLY fast already to me, and I have a pretty great desktop rig as well as a decent work rig.
 
Hellhammer said:
The hi res is available in some stores too. It's something that is up to you but for 100$, you can get 36% more screen estate which is IMO no brainer
Click to expand...

what stores, hammer, no around me. can u verify or deny if bestbuy will carry high res. i dont like to special order things just give it to me now
 
Hellhammer said:
Settle for base MBP and put the rest of the money towards external HD, RAM, screen.. etc

I would get the hi res version though
Click to expand...

With all due respect I tend to recommend the opposite. Reason is that the more expensive core units contain upgrades that cannot be changed later. The CPU, GPU or GPU memory, possibly display resolution (if it fits the need). With items like memory, disk space, and external accessories you can upgrade those relatively easy if/when you ultimately need them.

So, my recommendation is to buy the Core i7 (with appropriate display choice) as is and go from there.
 
I went into the store wanting to buy base level 15" with the hi-res anti-glare. Guy in the store told me the only hi-res anti-glare they carried in the store was the i7, & it wasn't likely they'd ever carry it in the store on another model.

... I ended up with the i7 =)
 
Get the base + high resolution. I like the anti-glare, but you can make that choice based on your own preference.
 
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