Help me decide oh wise ones: retina or not

[Edswr]

Ok here's the low down: I thought I wanted the base retina but after seeing some threads I'm unsure whether to go for the higher spec non retina. I'm currently in uni, I game quite a lot and when I leave uni I will probs be doing a job that will involve photoshop (I do advertising). The 13inch is out of the question so don't suggest that.

The key points for me pro retina are:

Thinner/lighter - make it generally more pleasant to haul around. I currently have a 17in Dell which was a big portability mistake. I rarely move it off my desk and it's a major operation to take it into uni (some exaggeration).

More pages on the screen - major for me, I'm a page addict and I dislike switching from tab to tab. I would rather luxuriate and have all the info I need on the screen, especially useful for writing assignments which requires many windows side by side. This is probably the best reason I've got for the extra pixels. I know stuff will look smaller but is that a big deal?

More video ram - kind of speaks for itself, although a concern of mine is that the retina occupies that just for having more resolution.

Not as reflective - again, I've used other peoples macs and it's annoying seeing myself with full brightness in modestly lit situations.

SSD - faster and more reliable, I've had a hard drive failure before and its not good. I know, back ups stop this but I'm lazy and don't do it as often as I should. The capacity is a non issue as I keep my media on external drives, leaving the internal for my programs and music (is sufficient)

Neutral points: base ram better, I know you can improve the older design's so it's not a real problem. Hdmi port means I don't have to buy an adapter. Fans are less loud but I'm not that bothered. Are they more effective though?

Edit: non-upgradeability I don't think is a concern of mine. The specs of the retina are more than good enough for now and will last me into the future. (longevity is a plus point)
Insights, views, opinions?

 

[EIGHTYTHREE]

Search field nah...honestly based on what you said, deep down inside you want the retina. You don't need us to tell you. Just go get your mac and enjoy it . This is a forum so of course you gonna see more complaints. People who are enjoying their macs are off enjoying it. Just go get what you want, its your money don't let any of us decide to do with your 2 grand.

 

[djmoody]

Honestly, going to the retina might be worth it to you just to avoid buyers remorse. 6 months down the line, when you see a bunch of pages and apps are becoming retina ready, are you going to regret not going with the retina? Probably.

 

[Stetrain]

Sounds like you've already got it all figured out

Just wanted to point out a bit how the Retina display works. By default things on screen aren't any smaller than a standard 15" MBP. You have the same effective "real estate" as a 1440x900 display, but sharper and more detailed (just like on retina iPhones and iPads).

There are other scaling choices though that give you more or less real estate. The two higher real estate options give you the equivalent real estate of a 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 display respectively, making things a bit smaller so you can fit more on screen.

Here's a video review that covers the scaling a bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e30yCrIN-gk#t=2m30s

As far as games go, pretty much any 16:10 resolution should work pretty well. If running games at 1440x900 looks ok to you it should give you pretty nice framerates (should perform same as the high end non-retina).

 

[skywalkerr69]

Honestly, going to the retina might be worth it to you just to avoid buyers remorse. 6 months down the line, when you see a bunch of pages and apps are becoming retina ready, are you going to regret not going with the retina? Probably.

More like a year down the line. I'd wait when prices subside.

 

[Stetrain]

More like a year down the line. I'd wait when prices subside.

Don't expect them to drop much. The base Macbook Pro (and the PowerMac before it) has been about $1999 (give or take a bit) for a long long time. The base 15" RMBP might drop down to $1999, but probably not much further over the next couple of years. More likely the base specs will increase and the price will stay about the same.

 

[Edswr]

What about the base 15 non retina with higher res matte screen, then I upgrade the ram/hdd in my own time? Will this res offer a good compromise? The downsides there is less vid ram (how much diff would this make?) and the weight/size. This would be cheaper after all.