have 13" MBP, trying to decide refurb 17" or new 17"

[farmermac]

I have a 13" MBP and have been yearning for more screen real estate.

The old model 17" are $1700 in the refurb store. I heard those are mostly new, unsold models that Apple never sold before the refresh. The hardware is fast enough on my 13 (2.26 ghz), i just want to upgrade to a bigger screen. Seems like a good way to save a lot of money and get a 1920x1200 with similar hardware then i have now. I dont know how much use the discrete graphics would see, probably not much at all (not a gamer), so I dont mind switching manually. Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra $550-$600 to get the new model?

 

[dsprimal]

I have a 13" MBP and have been yearning for more screen real estate.

The old model 17" are $1700 in the refurb store. I heard those are mostly new, unsold models that Apple never sold before the refresh. The hardware is fast enough on my 13 (2.26 ghz), i just want to upgrade to a bigger screen. Seems like a good way to save a lot of money and get a 1920x1200 with similar hardware then i have now. I dont know how much use the discrete graphics would see, probably not much at all (not a gamer), so I dont mind switching manually. Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra $550-$600 to get the new model?

- Core i7 2.66-3.33ghz
- Get to rant that you own the newest technology
- Longer hardware lifetime?

 

[johnnymg]

I have a 13" MBP and have been yearning for more screen real estate.

The old model 17" are $1700 in the refurb store. I heard those are mostly new, unsold models that Apple never sold before the refresh. The hardware is fast enough on my 13 (2.26 ghz), i just want to upgrade to a bigger screen. Seems like a good way to save a lot of money and get a 1920x1200 with similar hardware then i have now. I dont know how much use the discrete graphics would see, probably not much at all (not a gamer), so I dont mind switching manually. Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra $550-$600 to get the new model?

The refurbs are new. There's also been a bit of chatter from folks not liking the auto GPU function on the new releases. JMO, but I'd go with the refurb and put the saved $'s into an SSD.

 

[farmermac]

I already have an ssd in my 13 I'll be carrying over.
I kinda feel like a chump buying an older CPU laptop for $1800+ after taxes, when the news ones are $2175 no tax (amazon).

What are the odds apple will update sl to allow turning off auto graphx switching? Are there a lot of complaints? What are the thresholds to turn the discrete graphx on?

 

[shadygrove]

I already have an ssd in my 13 I'll be carrying over.
I kinda feel like a chump buying an older CPU laptop for $1800+ after taxes, when the news ones are $2175 no tax.

What are the odds apple will Update sl to allow turning off auto graphx switching? Are there a lot of complaints? What are the thresholds to turn the discrete graphx on?

Right now it's the software that triggers the GPU. If the software is newer and written correctly it won't turn on the GPU unless it's needed. Older software may trigger than GPU for no real reason. You just have to be mindful as to what applications are open while you run on battery power.

But the reasons you speak of are exactly why I bought a brand new machine for a $300-$400 more than buying a refurb. When it comes to $2000, I want to spent in on something that has never been used before. If there was $600-$700 to save, I would get a refurb.

 

[chopper dave]

Since they dropped the price on the base 17" by $300, it should be a no-brainer to get the new one. That extra $400 gets you a whole year newer computer that is at least 30% faster. If you worried about he graphics switching, you can manually control it with this nifty program:

http://codykrieger.com/gfxCardStatus/

Buy the new 17", then save your money for the SSD and then in 8 months pretend you just got another new machine when you install it.