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Help me choose between 2 MBP models

B

BATTLE BORN

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 6, 2009
18
0
looking to buy my first Mac and just wanted a little input from you mac veterans.

These are prices for two 15" macbook pros. (as far as I know)they're identical except for one has a slightly bigger processor and one is a refurb.
I'm buying this mainly for audio recording. is the .13 Ghz processor bump worth the extra $500? or should I possibly wait to see if they make any improvements/price drops this spring? also, the maximum ram for these computers is 4Gigs, right?
thanks for the help guys. sorry if I'm rehashing old topics, I'm fairly new to the Mac world.

(I'm pretty much set on the refurb, but just weighing my options)

2.93Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo NEW $2,774
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB (up to 8 available)
250GB Serial ATA @ 7200

2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo REFURBISHED $2,269
4GB memory (up to 6 available, or so I understand)
250GB hard drive; 7200 rpm

(added this configuration per your suggestions)
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo NEW $2,474
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB (up to 8 available)
250GB Serial ATA @ 7200
 
I would just go for the 2.8, save the extra money for when you want to upgrade to Nehalem.
 
thanks, that's what I was thinking.
I take it that Nehalem is a new processor? I'll have to do a little research
 
Nehalem is the new architecture. When it comes out, it will be significantly faster than anything out there at the moment.
 
The 2.8. 8 GB of RAM is really expensive and if/when the prices come down why would you need 8 GB? I believe teh 2.8 is capable of 6 GB or maybe even 8 itself as all it takes is a firmware update I believe.
 
What type of audio recording are you going to be doing? Does it even need the power of the base level MBP?
 
nippyjun said:
What type of audio recording are you going to be doing? Does it even need the power of the base level MBP?
Click to expand...

thanks for all the info and fast replies everybody!

I'll be doing multitrack recording, (probably) using the presonus FireStudio 2626.
I'll probably do one set up for recording live band practices & demos. (all tracks at once)
and I'll do some stuff where I track everything out as professionals do. (piece by piece.)

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I think the FireStudio should be well handled by the Mac. (BRB fellas, gotta go be the lunch gopher for a bit)
 
The 2.8GHz model from those two, but why not save even more and go for a 2.53GHz model? Unless your application needs the extra bump in speed, which I doubt, save a bit more.
 
BATTLE BORN said:
... buying snip ...
Click to expand...

If that 2.8GHz machine is an unibody MacBook Pro, I'd say go with that one. Save yourself some cash and get some accessories or save that extra $$ for when the next generation Nehalem CPUs are out.

With regards to 8GB Ram... nobody needs that amount in a notebook right now. 4GB is more than enough for current computing needs at least for the next 3-4 years.
 
i recommend getting the 2.66. that way you get the lower price you want. it's new and while notebooks might not need 8GB of ram right now it's nice to have that option.

i have the 2.66 and it sounds like you do the same kind of audio editing and such. i have 6GB currently and have had no problem with page outs since i upgraded from 4GB. it wasnt that bad with 4 but it is definitly faster with 6GB. i will be getting 8GB soon and i can imagine that it will be even better. so like i said it's nice to have that option. i love refurb program they offer but with the new ones being able to support 8GB and the refurb's not i think it's worth buying the new one.
 
ViciousShadow21 said:
i recommend getting the 2.66. that way you get the lower price you want. it's new and while notebooks might not need 8GB of ram right now it's nice to have that option.

i have the 2.66 and it sounds like you do the same kind of audio editing and such. i have 6GB currently and have had no problem with page outs since i upgraded from 4GB. it wasnt that bad with 4 but it is definitly faster with 6GB. i will be getting 8GB soon and i can imagine that it will be even better. so like i said it's nice to have that option. i love refurb program they offer but with the new ones being able to support 8GB and the refurb's not i think it's worth buying the new one.
Click to expand...

I agree. Get the 2.66GHz/4GB ram. I do lots of audio/video editing on my 2.66 as well and it hasn't crashed or anything. Upgrading it to 6GB ram would be even better. The 2.66Ghz clock speed is plenty fast enough for whatever you need to do.

And ignore the "wait for Nehalem" comments. No ones knows when that's going to be coming out... and if you need it now, buy it now. Don't wait.
 
thank you guys for your suggestions. I've added a 2.66 configuration to my original post and it's pretty tempting. I'll either go with that or the refurb.
I'm sure either one will be fine. Last night my buddy told me his iMac
recording rig only has 1 gig of ram! I guess I'm just being extra careful after wasting money on my useless PC rig. I could never get past the latency issue


The spacing here didn't work correctly, but you can see the same results by clicking the link below
(some benchmarks I found. Not exactly what I'll be using it for, but interesting)
Photoshop CS3 Large-Scale Action Results (lower is better)
MPB 4gb 6GB 8GB
2.9 263.35 245.26 234.94
2.8 302.75 258.93 Not Compatible
2.6 301.00 284.12 274.53

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Framework.cfm?page=/Benchmarks/6gb_tests.html
 
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