Confused on my needs..

[cuhwris]

...

First pick a size based on your screen real estate needs.

Then decide if your usage is CPU bound, disk access bound or RAM bound.

Invest accordingly.

- Was reading this off another thread and didn't want to hijack.

First off, I'm waiting for sure. I rather suffer here in my school's computer labs instead of buying 'old' MPBs for outrageous prices.

I know I want to get a 13' because of the portability and cost. I know the 15' doesn't weigh THAT much more, but I don't really need the 'improved graphics' or the increased size for the hefty price.

My question is, do I need to upgrade anything? Or will a low-end 13' MPB suffice for 'general' needs (assuming they only upgrade processers)? General as in no heavy gaming (maybe a little), no heavy photoshop/movie editing (again, just a dabble), no 293427 pictures being stored, etc. Just music, internet, word, and so on. Ya know, general usage. How do I 'invest accordingly'? Do I need to get more RAM or go for the higher Ghz, GB, or any of that? This will be my primary laptop and I'm hoping it'll last for yeaaars.

 

[SA22C]

I was in a similar situation and opted for the high-end 13 inch MBP. The processor bump isn't huge, but the additional RAM makes a big difference and I think that when the time comes to upgrade, the higher-end model will fetch a better price on the resell market.

 

[MacDawg]

You won't be able to upgrade the processor, so what you buy is what you get

Third party RAM and HDDs are cheaper if you are inclined to upgrade yourself

RAM is the cheapest way to improve performance, and while 2 GB may be sufficient for most things, upgrading to 4 GB would be my first choice

When it comes to HDDs, it is mainly personal preference on size, speed and manufacturers

Bottom line, in my opinion, if you are only going to upgrade one thing... make it the RAM

 

[BubbaJones]

Why a MacBook Pro? Why not the MacBook? It doesn't sound like you need a Pro.

I opted for the MacBook vs the Pro because a card reader wasn't really important to me. I also liked the look and feel of the MB better, but that may just be me.

 

[cuhwris]

Why a MacBook Pro? Why not the MacBook? It doesn't sound like you need a Pro.

I opted for the MacBook vs the Pro because a card reader wasn't really important to me. I also liked the look and feel of the MB better, but that may just be me.

I thought of this too, but the look and feel of a Pro is just awesome. Lol. A friend of mine got a Macbook over to Pro because of price and she regrets it and wishes it was a pro. I don't know, it looks cheap, for the price I'm paying IMO. I rather pay $200 more and get a nice looking laptop.

So just upgrade to 4GB of RAM? One thing I really don't want are those swirly circles of doom.

I used to work with Macs a ton in my yearbook class with uploading photos/edit/design and one problem I encountered A LOT were those swirly wheels of doom. I have NO idea what model/Gen/age they were, but they were already there when I went into the class and seemed to be well established. This was my frosh year in HS, '04. Since then I haven't used a Mac much at all and this buy will switch me over. I WANT TO AVOID THESE SWIRLY WHEELS OF DOOM. I'm assuming that those were just oooold macs and these new ones will handle everything I plan to do without much problems/slow speed over the years? But will upgrading from Low -> Highend 13' really do anything/make the laptop last longer?

 

[BeachChair]

I thought of this too, but the look and feel of a Pro is just awesome. Lol. A friend of mine got a Macbook over to Pro because of price and she regrets it and wishes it was a pro. I don't know, it looks cheap, for the price I'm paying IMO. I rather pay $200 more and get a nice looking laptop.

So just upgrade to 4GB of RAM? One thing I really don't want are those swirly circles of doom.

I used to work with Macs a ton in my yearbook class with uploading photos/edit/design and one problem I encountered A LOT were those swirly wheels of doom. I have NO idea what model/Gen/age they were, but they were already there when I went into the class and seemed to be well established. This was my frosh year in HS, '04. Since then I haven't used a Mac much at all and this buy will switch me over. I WANT TO AVOID THESE SWIRLY WHEELS OF DOOM. I'm assuming that those were just oooold macs and these new ones will handle everything I plan to do without much problems/slow speed over the years? But will upgrading from Low -> Highend 13' really do anything/make the laptop last longer?

You're not gonna get beach balls of death with your use.
I had a 13 MBP for over a year before I felt like I had to upgrade from 2 GB to 4 GB ram. That was when I started to depend on Virtual Machine alot for school work.
But in any case the memory upgrade is nice and its kinda cheap.

 

[mikeo007]

I thought of this too, but the look and feel of a Pro is just awesome. Lol. A friend of mine got a Macbook over to Pro because of price and she regrets it and wishes it was a pro. I don't know, it looks cheap, for the price I'm paying IMO. I rather pay $200 more and get a nice looking laptop.

So just upgrade to 4GB of RAM? One thing I really don't want are those swirly circles of doom.

I used to work with Macs a ton in my yearbook class with uploading photos/edit/design and one problem I encountered A LOT were those swirly wheels of doom. I have NO idea what model/Gen/age they were, but they were already there when I went into the class and seemed to be well established. This was my frosh year in HS, '04. Since then I haven't used a Mac much at all and this buy will switch me over. I WANT TO AVOID THESE SWIRLY WHEELS OF DOOM. I'm assuming that those were just oooold macs and these new ones will handle everything I plan to do without much problems/slow speed over the years? But will upgrading from Low -> Highend 13' really do anything/make the laptop last longer?

Personally I prefer the look of the vanilla macbook, all white with no bezel and black keyboard. But that being said, I would still probably go with the pro. SD card slot isn't worth much, but the backlit keyboard, stronger build and higher resale value are pretty big pluses.

Also, since you're waiting for the new notebooks, the 13" non-pro MB may not even see the refreshed processors since it just had a going over back in November(?).