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LightMast

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2007
126
0
Based off of my needs (DIT and Camera Department in Film and TV) the i7 is the only choice.

Again, it's all relative.
 

HLdan

macrumors 603
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
0
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't 500gb SSD's in the $1300 range? To me, that is prohibitively expensive.

You are very correct, however I didn't mention anything about 500GB drives. Many people settle for SSD's with much less storage than traditional hard drives in order to get faster performance and more reliable hardware.
 

LightMast

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2007
126
0
You are very correct, however I didn't mention anything about 500GB drives. Many people settle for SSD's with much less storage than traditional hard drives in order to get faster performance and more reliable hardware.

With all the crap I have to have on my machine, my current 160gb MBP is always full....I can't imagine going down to a 128.

I'll stick a 500gb SSD in when they get down in the $500 range.
 

spacedesign911

macrumors regular
Jul 22, 2010
186
17
Dublin, Ireland
I bought mine when they were released and I've had no problems whatsoever. It's my main work machine at the moment (waiting for Mac Pro update) running CS3 for ten hours a day.

Just go for it ;)

To the original poster, relax and order, you can return it if your not happy, mine is fine.

To AdeFowler above, I know this is off topic but have you managed to upgrade CS3 with Snow Leopard? I cant, it just hangs at the end?
 

ceshimm

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 10, 2010
74
0
Thank you for all responds. I understand i may not need the 10% more power from CPU, but i want to get better VRAM for the coming Diablo 3. i do not think i will still eligible to get an education discount after next update. Therefore i just want a machine that will rest me a little bit. If there is a choice combine 2.4G i5 with 512 VRAM, i will definitely go for it.

i realized that people coming here mostly post their issues and problems, if they are all good, then they might not show up here. Anyway, glad to see more positive zero issue reports here. ;)
 

vbman213

macrumors 6502
Apr 13, 2010
353
0
See my sig for specs. No issues here. Been using mine constantly for a week. No freezes, no issues.
 

Pentad

macrumors 6502a
Nov 26, 2003
986
99
Indiana
btw, do not go for i7... price difference is significant, where performance is almost equal.

I don't know why people post this kind of information...its simply not true.

I posted this information on another thread but I'll do a simply recap:

If you are a power-user and I mean a true power-user where you are using VMWare, CS4/CS5, HandBrake, MathCad, Mathematica, et al, then the i7 is a cheap upgrade.

For example, one of the tasks I do in research requires CS 5, HUGE TIFF images, and PhotoShop scripts. The i7 is repeatedly 10% to 15% faster per script. When you start adding up the time savings its amazing over a long period of time (say a year).

If you plan on doing a lot of high end work and plan to keep the MBP for say 3 years, the i7 is a great upgrade. Its also not user-replaceable like RAM or the HDD. If you get the i7 now, you can always add more RAM or a large/faster HDD later when funds are more prevalent.

I'm not saying its for everyone but when you boil it down, the i7 is simply faster. For me, a $200 upgrade for a 15% boost is worth (read CHEAP!) the upgrade.
 

LightMast

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2007
126
0
I don't know why people post this kind of information...its simply not true.

I posted this information on another thread but I'll do a simply recap:

If you are a power-user and I mean a true power-user where you are using VMWare, CS4/CS5, HandBrake, MathCad, Mathematica, et al, then the i7 is a cheap upgrade.

For example, one of the tasks I do in research requires CS 5, HUGE TIFF images, and PhotoShop scripts. The i7 is repeatedly 10% to 15% faster per script. When you start adding up the time savings its amazing over a long period of time (say a year).

If you plan on doing a lot of high end work and plan to keep the MBP for say 3 years, the i7 is a great upgrade. Its also not user-replaceable like RAM or the HDD. If you get the i7 now, you can always add more RAM or a large/faster HDD later when funds are more prevalent.

I'm not saying its for everyone but when you boil it down, the i7 is simply faster. For me, a $200 upgrade for a 15% boost is worth (read CHEAP!) the upgrade.

+1
 

demonsavatar

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2010
199
0
You guys are right, for the 17", the i7 is a more reasonable upgrade. Usually the situation involves a 15" and the asker says, "I don't really know much about it but hey 2.4Ghz < 2.66Ghz". These people might be expecting 10-15% improvement or more across the board, when it is really only during CPU-bound tasks for an 18% increase in price (for the 15" with educational discount). If they are limited in their budget they should probably spring for an SSD and see greater speedups across the board. If they can afford it and don't mind the decrease in Price/Performance ratio, then sure, get the i7 AND the SSD.

We tend to speak in terms of price/performance sweetspot, and the 15" 2.4Ghz i5 is where that sweetspot is. If you must throw another $200-300 at it, then the sweetspot is 15" 2.4Ghz with an SSD, still not the i7.
 

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
You guys are right, for the 17", the i7 is a more reasonable upgrade. Usually the situation involves a 15" and the asker says, "I don't really know much about it but hey 2.4Ghz < 2.66Ghz". These people might be expecting 10-15% improvement or more across the board, when it is really only during CPU-bound tasks for an 18% increase in price (for the 15" with educational discount). If they are limited in their budget they should probably spring for an SSD and see greater speedups across the board. If they can afford it and don't mind the decrease in Price/Performance ratio, then sure, get the i7 AND the SSD.

We tend to speak in terms of price/performance sweetspot, and the 15" 2.4Ghz i5 is where that sweetspot is. If you must throw another $200-300 at it, then the sweetspot is 15" 2.4Ghz with an SSD, still not the i7.

If you really want to talk about the "sweet spot", I'd say its at microcenter for $999 for the 2.4GHz 13" macbook pro that can do most of the things that the 15" 2.4GHz i5 can do for most people while being $750 cheaper. :D
 

demonsavatar

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2010
199
0
If you really want to talk about the "sweet spot", I'd say its at microcenter for $999 for the 2.4GHz 13" macbook pro that can do most of the things that the 15" 2.4GHz i5 can do for most people while being $750 cheaper. :D

Lol so true. A lot of people have already chosen 15" though for one reason or another. If they were asking between 13" and 15" then there would be a much different discussion.
 

Kempalino

macrumors newbie
Jul 23, 2010
12
0
-

i think im gonna wait till they release the new mbp i7 2.8 ghz. i always like having the newest thing:p
 

vbman213

macrumors 6502
Apr 13, 2010
353
0
hi guys,

Will i7 generate a lot of heat at the wrist resting area?

Mine will peak out at about 80 to 95 deg. This is during 100% CPU utilization on both cores and all four thread. Either by using Handbrake or running a stress test /dev/null.

Otherwise, mine idles at around 40.

The heat on the wrist resting area is very very minimal. The majority (95%) of the heat dissipation occurs in the upper 1/3 region of the machine (near the screen hinge, down to about the "home row" on the keyboard. There really isn't much in the wrist resting area that produces alot of heat. The Logic Board is near the top of the machine (hence why this area gets so hot.)

Just make sure that if you are doing very CPU intensive work that you have the machine in a well vented position. And if you want kids in the future, DO NOT run Handbrake (or any other CPU intensive task) while your MBP is on your lap.
 

mkelly2115

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2010
60
0
State College, PA
I am facing the same situation, last chance to get a student discount, and didn't understand the differences between the i5 v i7, but think the i5 will be plenty fast enough. Although its not my post, all the info/perspectives helped! Thanks everyone for all the input. :apple:
 

Meever

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2009
641
30
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't 500gb SSD's in the $1300 range? To me, that is prohibitively expensive.

Nothing is stopping you from getting a nose bleedingly quick SSD with 80-120gb of storage for about 200 for all your apps and buying a external 2.5 500gb hard drive for another 90 for the media.

Or if you are feeling brave gut your cd drive and put another drive in it.
 

ceshimm

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 10, 2010
74
0
My MacBook Pro i7 won't go to sleep automatically. I think it's an OS X issue though.

Here's a link to an Apple thread that explains the issue, which I believe is common to MBPs. It's just hard to notice if you're not looking for it.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11455942�

oops, another issue? dam, so this is an universal issue or uncommon one?
Also, due to my budget, i am thinking of either MBP 15 i7 or MBP 17 i5, considering i might play some games on it, the MBP 15 option might be a better choice, isn't it?
 

MBHockey

macrumors 601
Oct 4, 2003
4,050
297
Connecticut
oops, another issue? dam, so this is an universal issue or uncommon one?
Also, due to my budget, i am thinking of either MBP 15 i7 or MBP 17 i5, considering i might play some games on it, the MBP 15 option might be a better choice, isn't it?

I get this sleep issue on my i7 15" but I've had this sleep problem on every Mac notebook I have ever owned. This automatic sleep feature has simply been broken in MacOS X for a very long time.
 

DMC-12

macrumors 6502
May 16, 2007
346
2
Nashville, TN
I get this sleep issue on my i7 15" but I've had this sleep problem on every Mac notebook I have ever owned. This automatic sleep feature has simply been broken in MacOS X for a very long time.

I've done a ton of research on this issue, and I believe that it does affect all MacBook Pros. Apple just replaced my early 2008 MBP after three unsuccessful repairs of the same issue, and my new MBP i7 has the issue as well. I think my 2.2 GHz MacBook was able to sleep properly though.

On one hand, this is a good thing. Because Apple doesn't realize that this is a problem, or at least because they haven't been able to fix it yet, you can keep sending it in for repairs and they'll give you a new one after the third failed attempt.
 

LightMast

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2007
126
0
To the OP........

Buy the i7, buy it now. It hauls ass- I am very impressed, especially coming from a 2007 C2D SR.
 
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