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Help on my MBP decision

F

flounder21

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2008
46
3
The South
I am looking to buy a MBP this week and would like some input on which one of these 2 to buy as a desktop replacement which would allow me to run bot XP and Leopard smoothly. The 2 I am looking at are through Amazon of course are:

Apple MacBook Pro MB133LL/A ( Possible to upgrade to 4GB memory with this model?)

or

Apple MacBook Pro 15.4" Laptop (2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive) ** Newest one which isnt available yet.

I have a baby on the way and want to be able to do some video editing however I cant live w/o my gaming!

TIA
 
I ordered mine few days ago and the specs were:

Custom configuration:

2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB <--- (I bought 4Gb from OWC, saved a lot of $)
200GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x DL

All that for design purposes as well as video and photo editing. :p
 
flounder21 said:
I read several places that the faster HD reduces battery life...fact or fiction?
Click to expand...

Fiction. In fact, the opposite is true. It uses less battery, creates less heat and runs faster than the 250GB 5400 Drive.

http://www.barefeats.com/hard96.html

"POWER USAGE and YOUR BATTERY LIFE
Many of you have asked if the 7K notebook drives will drain your battery faster or make your laptop run hotter. Here's a shocker: the 5K WD Scorpio averages 2.5 watts for read/write functions. The Hitachi 7K200 uses only 2.3 watts. When it comes to "active idle," the 5K WD drive requires twice as much power as the 7K Hitachi (2.0 vs 1.0 watts). In other words, the 7K Hitachi 200G notebook drive will have a lower impact on your MacBook Pro's battery life (and generate less heat) compared to the 5K WD 250G drive."
 
SchneiderMan said:
is the 7k only good for faster file transfer?
Click to expand...

Well it's the fastest! So in theory should be blazing fast for file transfers. (one probably wont notice any great speed bumps from transferring small files such as word documents, etc. But greater and bigger files (like video or movies) will definitely see an improvement.

Geeeee.... CANT WAIT FOR MY MAC TO ARRIVE! :eek:
 
i dont care for fast file transfers, i dont transfer any files lol, and i do have alot of video file but they stay in one place.
and how long is it going to take for your mac to come?
 
SchneiderMan said:
i dont care for fast file transfers, i dont transfer any files lol, and i do have alot of video file but they stay in one place.
and how long is it going to take for your mac to come?
Click to expand...

Is going to be here by tuesday orwednesday...... from shanghai!

One of the things that I hate the most about Online Shopping?....... THE WAITING. :apple:
 
Whatever you do buy your extra 2G RAM from a third party website and save yourself $200 dollars...takes 2 mins to install yourself...

MAcbook pro is a great machine - You'll love it whichever one you buy and for gaming the Nvidia graphics is a must.
 
ggjstudios said:
Fiction. In fact, the opposite is true. It uses less battery, creates less heat and runs faster than the 250GB 5400 Drive.

http://www.barefeats.com/hard96.html

"POWER USAGE and YOUR BATTERY LIFE
Many of you have asked if the 7K notebook drives will drain your battery faster or make your laptop run hotter. Here's a shocker: the 5K WD Scorpio averages 2.5 watts for read/write functions. The Hitachi 7K200 uses only 2.3 watts. When it comes to "active idle," the 5K WD drive requires twice as much power as the 7K Hitachi (2.0 vs 1.0 watts). In other words, the 7K Hitachi 200G notebook drive will have a lower impact on your MacBook Pro's battery life (and generate less heat) compared to the 5K WD 250G drive."
Click to expand...

I wonder if the power usage is brand specific or RPM specific? - this article is 1 year older - http://www.barefeats.com/mbcd7.html - but it may explain where the confusing information comes from...

(from the article)
d) If you are concerned about battery usage (and heat generation), the 5400rpm drives had a lower wattage rating than the 7200rpm or the 4200rpm drives. Based on capacity, speed, and power usage, it's easy to see why Apple's standard drive choice for the MacBook Pro is the 5400rpm model.
 
Amazon b/c its easy, no tax, rebate....because there is no apple store anywhere near me. So the info I have compiled has told me to go with the second one which costs me more...:rolleyes:
 
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