Dilemma - Refurb 15" MBP or new 13" MBP

[TurnsToGrey]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a bit of advice. My plan for a while now has been to replace my iMac/white MacBook systems with one unibody laptop and the 24" cinema. I spend an equal amount of time at my desk and on the road, so this has made sense for a while now.

With the release of the new MacBook Pro line, I was ready to bite the bullet and buy the low-end (2.26ghz) 13" MacBook Pro with 4gb of RAM/320gb hard drive upgrade.

Last night, however, I spotted a refurb 15" MBP (2.53ghz/4gb/320gb) for the same dollar value as my custom 13".

What to do? Sure the extra screen real estate would be a plus, but aside from the SD card slot, digital audio in, and about .30ghz extra speed - what would I gain/lose choosing one over the other?

Obviously I'll need to act fast - we all know how the special deals page can be!

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

 

[kimcicle]

remember, new MBPs' ram is expandable up to 8GB, not that is crucial at this point but still something to think about for the future

 

[clyde2801]

The discrete 9600 video card with 512mb of vram in addition to the 9400.

Is your current system not working for you anymore? I've got a white c2d 20" imac in my office, and it's chugging along just fine for my modest needs. Are your current rigs core duos and godawful slow for your purposes, or are you just stricken with gadget lust?

If what you're using now meets your needs, you may consider doing that until it no longer does so; or wait for the quads in 6 months to one year before you bite the bullet. See if 10.6 can breathe some new life into your current rigs.

 

[k3v1nc]

I think the screen on the new MacBook Pro line is better quality (I have no proof to offer here).

Don't forget the significant battery life improvement in the new models... at the cost of no battery door... not that many people carry around extra batteries though.

Don't forget the prev-gen 15" also offers the ExpressCard slot, whereas the current 13" does not... that might be a big deal for some people.

I purchased the new 13" Macbook Pro over the weekend, but I have spent a significant amount of time using a previous-gen 15" Macbook Pro at work.

If you need the extra 3D power the 9600 chip has to offer (play alot of games? or do 3D modeling work?), or if you are worried about getting the most out of Snow Leopard's OpenCL... you might consider the 15" prev-gen clearance. Or if you need the ExpressCard Slot.

If you need long battery life and portability without sacrificing speed, or you do a lot of photography using SD cards, go for the new 13".