Differences between the two MBP 13'' models??

[longhornlawyer]

After this morning's MBA release, I've decided to get an MBP. However, I'm not sure which one. I know I'll definitely upgrade the stock setup to a 128 GB SSD, but other than that I'm unsure about which one to pick up. I have a few questions that will likely determine which one I buy:

1) Is there a major performance difference between the 2.3 i5 and the 2.7 i7?

2)Does the 2.7 i7 drain the battery faster? If so, how much faster?

3)If I upgrade to 8gb of ram from the stock 4gb, will I see a performance difference in day to day usage?

4) Finally, will more ram drain the battery faster?

Thanks!

 

[Orlandoech]

After this morning's MBA release, I've decided to get an MBP. However, I'm not sure which one. I know I'll definitely upgrade the stock setup to a 128 GB SSD, but other than that I'm unsure about which one to pick up. I have a few questions that will likely determine which one I buy:

1) Is there a major performance difference between the 2.3 i5 and the 2.7 i7?

2)Does the 2.7 i7 drain the battery faster? If so, how much faster?

3)If I upgrade to 8gb of ram from the stock 4gb, will I see a performance difference in day to day usage?

4) Finally, will more ram drain the battery faster?

Thanks!

1. Not much, I think like less than 10% diff.
2. No
3. Prob not, but for $80 or less I recommend you do it yourself regardless.
4. No.

5. Why not upgrade to a 3rd party SSD that is faster?

 

[longhornlawyer]

1. Not much, I think like less than 10% diff.
2. No
3. Prob not, but for $80 or less I recommend you do it yourself regardless.
4. No.

5. Why not upgrade to a 3rd party SSD that is faster?

I didn't realize you could install a 3rd party SSD on a unibody mac. Is it difficult to do? Which models are compatible?

 

[Orlandoech]

I didn't realize you could install a 3rd party SSD on a unibody mac. Is it difficult to do? Which models are compatible?

You can do a lot.

I have a Vertex 3 Max IOPS in replacement of the stock 750GB 5400RPM Hard drive, then I removed the SuperDrive aka DVD-rom and added a 750GB 7200RPM Hard drive for internal storage. I also added 8GB 1600mhz kingston hyperX memory.

Unscrew all 10 screws on the bottom, remove 2 screws securing HDD to a bracket, unplug SATA, put in new HDD, add HDD bracket (2 screws) and put the back cover on (10 screws or so) and done.

You will have to reinstall OS X unless you made a clone of the HDD prior to removing/replacing the stock HDD.