I pretty much have 1 of everything, like some here. An iMac for the house, MBA for light duty playing around on the go, MBP for work, and so on. I recently picked up a 2008 MB Unibody Aluminum for $200 (I still don't know why these are closing at $400 on ebay) and popped 4gb of ram and an SSD in it. I know they geek bench the same as the MBP the year they were made so it's obvious why apple killed them after less than a year. In fact, I recall the uproar of the blurred lines when they first came out.
It got me thinking that since this MB has no purpose for me, what if I were to use it as a do-all? How would it fare in the real world with the SSD and ram upgrade if I took it to best buy and put it against the base 13" MBP of 2015/16? ......Just using it non-purposefully (no big photoshop, final cut projects). I decided to ignore the bench tests and just USE the MB in best buy side by side with the MBP base model. As you'd expect on lightweight stuff the SSD was quick and the 4gb ram was plenty. Non multi-thread light apps that we all normally use were indistinguishable between the two in speed and the unibody was pretty much a dead wringer side by side in looks. I have to say that it surprised me in Photoshop CS6 running the trial on the MBP and the full version on my MB when doing simple stuff. It was right there with it every click. The SSD is a real sturdy improvement that helped it hold it's own.
This got me thinking, why bother with spending $1,000 on a base MBP when a $200 unibody with an SSD is all many need? Now, leave out the professionals. This is about Joe Q Public. I know we all want the best we can get, but $800 in the pocket is nothing to scarf at when you're only dropping $200 on the MB on craigslist. I wondered if those of us that own MBP's could have done better and just bought what we needed instead.
MacRumors doesn't always help, because every time I read about a new release I want to go buy it RIGHT NOW (lol). Realistically however I bet a large percentage of MBP owners don't use half it's power and ability. Should we always over buy when we buy our Macs? Should we always spend 4 times what we should instead of buying the book we need and nothing more?
Since I have 1 of everything I can't tell you that I could live with just this 2008 Unibody on steroids. My needs are covered already. It was very thought provoking however (and surprising) to see this MB beside the base MBP running just as fast (occasionally faster) on things people use under daily operation and seeing the 5x higher price tag. I wondered..... do we always buy what we really need?
It got me thinking that since this MB has no purpose for me, what if I were to use it as a do-all? How would it fare in the real world with the SSD and ram upgrade if I took it to best buy and put it against the base 13" MBP of 2015/16? ......Just using it non-purposefully (no big photoshop, final cut projects). I decided to ignore the bench tests and just USE the MB in best buy side by side with the MBP base model. As you'd expect on lightweight stuff the SSD was quick and the 4gb ram was plenty. Non multi-thread light apps that we all normally use were indistinguishable between the two in speed and the unibody was pretty much a dead wringer side by side in looks. I have to say that it surprised me in Photoshop CS6 running the trial on the MBP and the full version on my MB when doing simple stuff. It was right there with it every click. The SSD is a real sturdy improvement that helped it hold it's own.
This got me thinking, why bother with spending $1,000 on a base MBP when a $200 unibody with an SSD is all many need? Now, leave out the professionals. This is about Joe Q Public. I know we all want the best we can get, but $800 in the pocket is nothing to scarf at when you're only dropping $200 on the MB on craigslist. I wondered if those of us that own MBP's could have done better and just bought what we needed instead.
MacRumors doesn't always help, because every time I read about a new release I want to go buy it RIGHT NOW (lol). Realistically however I bet a large percentage of MBP owners don't use half it's power and ability. Should we always over buy when we buy our Macs? Should we always spend 4 times what we should instead of buying the book we need and nothing more?
Since I have 1 of everything I can't tell you that I could live with just this 2008 Unibody on steroids. My needs are covered already. It was very thought provoking however (and surprising) to see this MB beside the base MBP running just as fast (occasionally faster) on things people use under daily operation and seeing the 5x higher price tag. I wondered..... do we always buy what we really need?
