First MacBook Pro; Options??

[Hube01]

I am finally jumping ship (I should have done this years ago) and will be ordering my first MacBook Pro 15". As such, I have a few questions:

1) I would very much like to order the 2.3GHz Quad-core processor; however, is it worth the extra $250.00?

2) 4GB or 8GB? I know I can always update at a later date, but is the price worth it at the get go?

3) I am thinking the 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm over the 750GB at 5400 rpm..?

4) I believe I will go with the "Hi-Res Antiglare" Widescreen Display.

Are these worth the extra money?

As for usage, I will be doing a ton of research, school, emergency management, as well as running several programs. From time to time I do like to play some games, and have fun with Photoshop.

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Jay

Connecticut

 

[euphrus]

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1) the 2.3 ghz processor upgrade is definitely not worth it, for $250 it is a very unnoticeable upgrade I would stay with the 2.2 and keep the money for either a rAM upgrade or an ssd upgrade when they get cheaper
2) I would go with 4gb when u buy your computer and monitor your usage of ur memory and deceide if u really need to upgrade, if u need it it's super cheap from third parties like $80...that's the first upgrade I would do besides a 7200 rpm drive
3) defidently good choice, it's noticeably faster but nowhere near an ssd. It also depends on how much hdd space u need but for me 500 is plenty
4) high res is a no brainer but check it out in a local apple store to make sure u like the higher res/ smaller font. Glossy for me

 

[/user/me]

I am finally jumping ship (I should have done this years ago) and will be ordering my first MacBook Pro 15". As such, I have a few questions:

1) I would very much like to order the 2.3GHz Quad-core processor; however, is it worth the extra $250.00?

2) 4GB or 8GB? I know I can always update at a later date, but is the price worth it at the get go?

3) I am thinking the 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm over the 750GB at 5400 rpm..?

4) I believe I will go with the "Hi-Res Antiglare" Widescreen Display.

Are these worth the extra money?

As for usage, I will be doing a ton of research, school, emergency management, as well as running several programs. From time to time I do like to play some games, and have fun with Photoshop.

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Jay

Connecticut

1. if you're going to be playing games, then yes. If you have the disposable income, then yes.
2. 8gb, and no it's not worth it right away. You can get the ram somewhere else (not ) for considerably cheaper.
3.I would get the 500. It's both quieter and has a faster rpm, so it'll help compy go quicker.
4.yes.

 

[adnoh]

I am finally jumping ship (I should have done this years ago) and will be ordering my first MacBook Pro 15". As such, I have a few questions:

1) I would very much like to order the 2.3GHz Quad-core processor; however, is it worth the extra $250.00?

2) 4GB or 8GB? I know I can always update at a later date, but is the price worth it at the get go?

3) I am thinking the 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm over the 750GB at 5400 rpm..?

4) I believe I will go with the "Hi-Res Antiglare" Widescreen Display.

Are these worth the extra money?

As for usage, I will be doing a ton of research, school, emergency management, as well as running several programs. From time to time I do like to play some games, and have fun with Photoshop.

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Jay

Connecticut

1. Since you play games the 2.2 or 2.3 should suffice. I woudnt go with 2.3 ghz personally.

2. go with 4gb then upgrade later, still works out cheaper

3. go for 750 gb then upgrade to an aftermarket ssd

4. Hi-res is worth the money, anti glare is personal choice e.g. i like glossy.

 

[Chimera-se]

If you like to mess around in Photoshop, get the AG hi-res display. The color gamut is more accurate for photography and the like. I love mine. Cheers!

 

[greytmom]

1. if you're going to be playing games, then yes. If you have the disposable income, then yes.
2. 8gb, and no it's not worth it right away. You can get the ram somewhere else (not ) for considerably cheaper.
3.I would get the 500. It's both quieter and has a faster rpm, so it'll help compy go quicker.
4.yes.

This. Definitely.

 

[driveparty]

The CPU speed demands depend on your jobs kind: if there are plenty of intensive calculations, such as 3D rendering or intensive sound processing, video post processing and so on, you should consider as higher CPU performance as possible. In addition to the clock speed, 2.3GHz models come with 8Mb onboard cache versus 6Mb for the 2.2GHz.

8 Gb of RAM is the must for professional usage scenarios, like those i've already pointed before, or even for intensive browsing with very many Safari tabs opened, but it would be smarter choice to get them from some other supplier, because Apple's "options" are very expensive: 8Gb of DDR3 1333 - NOT THE +4Gb UPGRADE! - costs approximately $100-$130, whereas there is completely no chance for the incompatibility with the well known branded modules like Samsung, Kingston and so on.

The HDD choice is completely up to you: there is not so much performance difference between 5400 and 7200 drives. I'd buy 750Gb from Apple and replace it with the hybrid 4Gb SSD/7200 rpm 500Gb HDD from Seagate (Seagate Momentux XT for $150). So, 750Gb may be used with any kind of external box with USB / FW800 interface, or to be sold to return some money back.

Regarding display matrix - i'd choose matte HiRes one, but you should check them out in the store for "compatibility" with your own eyes

 

[jvmxtra]

Def do 2.2

I didnt have enough money to go for 2.2

2.3 wont make enough difference for the money you will be paying.

All other upgrades are better with after market like others have said.

If you are going for 15, high res is no brainer.
Anti vs glare, should def check them out in person.
I like working late at night so glossy gives me the greatest satisfaction..

Otherwise welcome to mbp world!!!!!

 

[alust2013]

1 more vote against 2.3GHz. It's just a fun little checkbox that apple makes a ton of money off of. Considering that the 2.2 is wicked fast to begin with, the 2.3 probably will make almost no noticeable difference.

 

[Apple 26.2]

That's a heck of a lot of money for your needs (the extra specs I mean)... I think the base models will suit you fine, but whatever you decide, give the machines a go at your local Apple store.

 

[Lucagfc]

buy upgrades directly from Apple is never recommended: The prices are not competitive with market prices.

It makes sense to acquire an upgrade from Apple when you can not do the upgrade later.

In your case stay with 4 Gb of RAM and order a set of 8 Gb From crucial with a small fee (100 $)

Also for the disk: Get thebase model then replace it later with the model you need (SSD = speed HDD = high capacity)

For the CPU my suggestion is to stay with the base CPU model the upgrade in not raccomanded: high price for small performance increase!

 

[Prodo123]

If you like to mess around in Photoshop, get the AG hi-res display. The color gamut is more accurate for photography and the like. I love mine. Cheers!

Hmm? Anti-glare makes everything white-r, resulting in less accurate colors. Glossy displays display colors the most accurately, and have better color gamut. Go to an Apple Store and pull up a color calibration image and compare the two; also, test the anti-aliasing of the displays, too. What you will find is that blacks are deeper, colors are vibrant, and the display itself is brighter with glossy.
IMHO only get anti-glare displays if you will use it under a tree at a farm or somewhere outdoors. Not worth it at all. If you want a matte screen that bad then get a matte screen protector, it's cheaper than getting the anti-glare display.

 

[Hube01]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond! All of your advice is well received and if I could repay all of you, I would! I think I will save some money and buy the 2.2 processor! As for the SDRAM, I believe I will get the 8GB. However, if I find it cheaper somewhere else, I will buy there. As for the screen, I think I will take a ride to Westfarms Mall (our local Apple store) and check both screens out.

I have to confess, I feel like a kid in a toy store! After I buy the MacBook, I am going to wait for the updated iMac and get that! Lastly, I think I will buy my daughter a MacBook Air down the road for school! She is 11 now and if not for her pushing me to look at Apple, I may never have seen the light!

So, now that I have fallen for Apple, how can I get local, state, and federal agencies to buy into using them? Any thoughts? One other thing I want to do with my MacBook is learn programing, or find someone who knows how to write programs (Apps)! While I know what I want the program to do; I am just not sure how or where to start. Do any of you know about emergency management? I want to write an app that first responders can use (via an ipad) and input data live.....

Again, thank you all!

Jay

Connecticut

 

[Prodo123]

I have to confess, I feel like a kid in a toy store! After I buy the MacBook, I am going to wait for the updated iMac and get that! Lastly, I think I will buy my daughter a MacBook Air down the road for school! She is 11 now and if not for her pushing me to look at Apple, I may never have seen the light!

Wow...
OK, then for your daughter, the 64GB 11" MBA w/ mandatory 4GB RAM is best (2GB is unusable). But think about this: does she need a $1200 computer?

So, now that I have fallen for Apple, how can I get local, state, and federal agencies to buy into using them? Any thoughts? One other thing I want to do with my MacBook is learn programing, or find someone who knows how to write programs (Apps)! While I know what I want the program to do; I am just not sure how or where to start. Do any of you know about emergency management? I want to write an app that first responders can use (via an ipad) and input data live.....

You simply can't. PC's are cheap, and will always be cheap, and with the deficit, the government will never use Macs.

 

[Chimera-se]

Hmm? Anti-glare makes everything white-r, resulting in less accurate colors. Glossy displays display colors the most accurately, and have better color gamut. Go to an Apple Store and pull up a color calibration image and compare the two; also, test the anti-aliasing of the displays, too. What you will find is that blacks are deeper, colors are vibrant, and the display itself is brighter with glossy.
IMHO only get anti-glare displays if you will use it under a tree at a farm or somewhere outdoors. Not worth it at all. If you want a matte screen that bad then get a matte screen protector, it's cheaper than getting the anti-glare display.

Yes, that was the point I was making. If you're creating content it's not a good idea to start from a base line of pumped up colors. You may perceive "accuracy" as boring, but that's the way it is. Now for watching movies or whatever, the glossy screen might give you the most pleasing experience...

 

[Prodo123]

Yes, that was the point I was making. If you're creating content it's not a good idea to start from a base line of pumped up colors. You may perceive "accuracy" as boring, but that's the way it is. Now for watching movies or whatever, the glossy screen might give you the most pleasing experience...

So what you're saying is, accurate, vibrant colors of a glossy screen are worse than a whited-out anti-glare screen???

 

[Chimera-se]

So what you're saying is, accurate, vibrant colors of a glossy screen are worse than a whited-out anti-glare screen???

I'll just have to take your word about "whited-out". You are confusing accuracy for vibrancy. That's ok, I won't fault you for that. It's the same reason recording engineers don't use Monster Beats headphones to master music. Get it? Probably not...*sigh*

 

[Prodo123]

I'll just have to take your word about "whited-out". You are confusing accuracy for vibrancy. That's ok, I won't fault you for that. It's the same reason recording engineers don't use Monster Beats headphones to master music. Get it? Probably not...*sigh*

The colors aren't accurate because it's whited out. Go to Photoshop and turn the brightness setting of that photo to +20 and you get what an AG screen looks like. As a result, the screen is less vibrant, and whiter compared to a glossy screen.
Also, my experiences tell me AG screens tend to be tinted a slight yellow, and falls short on contrast.
Beats have mucky sound, too much bass, gross overpriced headphones. Only Dr. Dre uses them to master music (if he ever does).

 

[Hube01]

Wondering if I should hold up a bit before ordering my MacBook Pro 15 after all of the recent "issues" going on... Specifically, "More glitches for owners of Apple’s latest MacBook Pros."

http://www.9to5mac.com/57035/2011-m...ckering-lock-ups-under-heavy-load/#more-57035

Your thoughts? I would just kill me to finally buy in to Apple and finally get my hands on a MacBook Pro and start having "PC" issues....

Jay

 

[iBrody]

I would go 750gb and then install a WD Scorpion Black 750gb (7200rpm) at a later date.

You can then use the original 5400rpm drive as a clone/backup HDD.

 

[Tapiwa]

The debate about glossy vs. antiglare is pointless.
The macbook pro has been shown to have excellent color accuracy either way:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-10041-10146

After that, it's just personal preference and buying what works best for you. Obviously, if you're gonna be outside a lot or in environments where you can't always control the lighting, go antiglare..
Otherwise, glossy looks very good.