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molbiosci

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2008
4
0
I am considering the purchase of a new MacBook Pro and am trying to decide whether the additional expense of the high-end model is justified. This is to upgrade from my 1.25 GHz PowerBook G4 which has served me very well for the last few years. The use that seems to challenge my current notebook the most is editing large Word files containing graphics, and starting and editing in Photoshop. In addition it gets quite hot sometimes. It seems to me that the only significant hardware difference in the new MBPs that might make a difference are: 3 MB vs 6 MB L2 cache, 2 MB vs 4 MB SDRAM, and 256 MB vs 512 MB GDDR3. Any advice will be much appreciated.
 
You'd be well-served either way

I am considering the purchase of a new MacBook Pro and am trying to decide whether the additional expense of the high-end model is justified. This is to upgrade from my 1.25 GHz PowerBook G4 which has served me very well for the last few years. The use that seems to challenge my current notebook the most is editing large Word files containing graphics, and starting and editing in Photoshop. In addition it gets quite hot sometimes. It seems to me that the only significant hardware difference in the new MBPs that might make a difference are: 3 MB vs 6 MB L2 cache, 2 MB vs 4 MB SDRAM, and 256 MB vs 512 MB GDDR3. Any advice will be much appreciated.

You're in the same situation I was in a few weeks ago. But either way you decided to go, you'd be set for what you say you use your current mac for. I have the higher end one, but I didn't opt for it because anything that I do right now would challenge it in the slightest; I did it because I wanted to make sure I'd be set for the future.

At the moment you probably won't notice any significant performance differences between the two, but if you're looking for sheer longevity, my advice would be to spend the extra 500 bucks and go for the higher end model. It'll still heat up, let me tell you, but you'll be so happy you did. But, again, you'd be very happy either way. They're both very, very nice notebooks.
 
You're in the same situation I was in a few weeks ago. But either way you decided to go, you'd be set for what you say you use your current mac for. I have the higher end one, but I didn't opt for it because anything that I do right now would challenge it in the slightest; I did it because I wanted to make sure I'd be set for the future.

At the moment you probably won't notice any significant performance differences between the two, but if you're looking for sheer longevity, my advice would be to spend the extra 500 bucks and go for the higher end model. It'll still heat up, let me tell you, but you'll be so happy you did. But, again, you'd be very happy either way. They're both very, very nice notebooks.

I agree. Both are excellent machines - I have a MBP myself and am very happy with it - and you'll be happy with either. If money is no object, go for the best you can afford, otherwise, opt for the cheaper model.

Cheers and good luck
 
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