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How would you spend 2k € ?

H

HomerThompson

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 26, 2013
15
0
Hi guys,

I have a budget of around 2000€ to buy tech stuff for work. I'm a Java developer. I also do data processing, databases and some research work.

I have two main options:
A) MBP retina 15'' entry level plus maxing out ram or getting 512gb ssd (btw, which one?)
B) classic MBP 13'' i7 + 1 tb samsung 840 + Asus 27'' 2560x1440

Those two option cost the same where I buy from.
In case of B) I have an extra budget (from my own wallet) for 16gb ram by Crucial and magic trackpad (I already have the external keyboard).

I'm more inclined to the second option, but maybe there is something I'm not considering. I don't want to do something terribly wrong, so I'm asking what is your advice?
 
HomerThompson said:
Hi guys,

I have a budget of around 2000€ to buy tech stuff for work. I'm a Java developer. I also do data processing, databases and some research work.

I have two main options:
A) MBP retina 15'' entry level plus maxing out ram or getting 512gb ssd (btw, which one?)
B) classic MBP 13'' i7 + 1 tb samsung 840 + Asus 27'' 2560x1440

Those two option cost the same where I buy from.
In case of B) I have an extra budget (from my own wallet) for 16gb ram by Crucial and magic trackpad (I already have the external keyboard).

I'm more inclined to the second option, but maybe there is something I'm not considering. I don't want to do something terribly wrong, so I'm asking what is your advice?
Click to expand...

Once you see the retina screen, you won't go back.

Note that the i7 in the cMBP 13" is dual core.

For the 15" rMBP, how about this. If you match the processor frequency, RAM and SSD capacity on both the Iris-only and the Iris+GT750M models, the prices are exactly identical, so the GT750M is a free add-on.

Which eurozone country are you from? I'm originally from Portugal, and now live in Switzerland.

RAM isn't upgradeable, it's soldered. The PCIe SSD is upgradeable once they start being widely available (like the Samsung XP941, which is basically the SM0256F, SM0512F and SM1024F SSDs PCIe SSDs used in Macs).
 
Thank you for the reply. I know i7 is dual core in the 13'', but looking at benchmark comparisons even with the 15''s I think it is a worthy upgrade. Anyway I don't really need horse power for my work, I added i7 just to get the two options to the same level of cost.

For the 15'' retina I can't do both the upgrades (8->16 ram and 256->512), I have to choose one (probably better maxing out ram), so no, I can't go to the high-end model with the discrete gpu for the same price.

I have been to the Apple store and I have seen retinas. Maybe cos I am a bit myopic but they didn't amaze me. I can see the difference of course but I can live without retina for many more years. Anyway the actual comparison is between retina 15'' and Asus pb278q, a 27'' monitor with 2560x1440 resolution. I can't see how retina is better, considering I stay in office for most of the day.
 
HomerThompson said:
Thank you for the reply. I know i7 is dual core in the 13'', but looking at benchmark comparisons even with the 15''s I think it is a worthy upgrade. Anyway I don't really need horse power for my work, I added i7 just to get the two options to the same level of cost.

For the 15'' retina I can't do both the upgrades (8->16 ram and 256->512), I have to choose one (probably better maxing out ram), so no, I can't go to the high-end model with the discrete gpu for the same price.

I have been to the Apple store and I have seen retinas. Maybe cos I am a bit myopic but they didn't amaze me. I can see the difference of course but I can live without retina for many more years. Anyway the actual comparison is between retina 15'' and Asus pb278q, a 27'' monitor with 2560x1440 resolution. I can't see how retina is better, considering I stay in office for most of the day.
Click to expand...

If you spend a day or two using a retina product, you definitely won't want to go back!

I have a retina MBP and I can't help but smile at the crispness!

How about an iMac? Or are you after the portability? I think I'd still go for the 15" rMBP. If you suffer from headaches, you might notice that the extra retina focus will reduce them, especially if you're viewing a large amount of text.

Let us know what you decide! Either way, you'll have an awesome product :).
 
if your going to be plugged into a monitor all the time than the retina mbp does not have the same allure.


to answer your question about which kind of SSD to buy, the Samsung 840 EVO looks to be a great choice right now, I dont think it comes in 512GB but it does come in 500GB
 
Hello, Prof. White! :)
Wise words as usual, with an ext monitor I will mitigate the lacking of a retina display I suppose.

My question wasn't about which SSD to buy, I didn't make myself clear, I was wondering whether it is better to upgrade ram or upgrade ssd in the retina 15'' base model (but now I'm sure if I'm going retina, I will maxout ram). By the way, I'm quite sure about the SSD I will buy if I go classic, and that is the Samsung 840 1 TB (which costs a little less than 0.50€/GB). In the future I will have the possibility to replace the dvd-drive with a twin ssd and maybe RAID/JBOD them.

----------
TroyParker said:
If you spend a day or two using a retina product, you definitely won't want to go back!
Click to expand...

There is also this irrational fear that suddenly I won't stand any monitor beside my own monitor and became a pain in the 4ss with my colleagues more than I am now. ;)
 
HomerThompson said:
but now I'm sure if I'm going retina, I will maxout ram. By the way, I'm quite sure about the SSD I will buy if I go classic, and that is the Samsung 840 1 TB
Click to expand...

But you still don't know which one to buy I guess ^^

I'd say it comes down to (as it has been said already), if you will use it primarily with an external monitor or not. As soon as you can answer this question you have the answer ;)
 
How important is mobility? Right now at work I have a 21'' iMac with 3.1 GHz quad core i7 and 16 GB RAM. Its a really nice and fast machine (even though it has a HDD), and I enjoy that
1) I don't have to sit in an awkward position with the laptop keyboard etc.
2) I can sit far away from the screen
3) the keyboard is not getting warm
4) essentially no fan noise

Note in particular that the experience is much better than using a MBP with external display in clamshell mode. That machine would still get pretty hot and noisy when doing intense tasks.

If you have to work away from your desk for longer periods, I would get the 15'' rMBP over the 13'' + external.
 
TroyParker said:
Let us know what you decide! Either way, you'll have an awesome product :).
Click to expand...


Yesterday it finally arrived! A fresh new MBPR 15'' 256GB 16GB! :D

It is almost unbelievable how good the screen is, staring at it at the mall/apple store doesn't impress as much as using it in a real office situation, I don't know why.

In the meantime I also bought a DELL U2412M, a wonderful and cheap ext monitor, very suited for developing. So i basically went all-in :)

My old MB alu 2008 is still working solidly, it will make a perfect spare and dirty-work machine, I'm not going to sell it.

Made a fresh Mavericks install and set up an encrypted file system, inserted my icloud and dropbox account, set up CrashPlan, java 1.8 and the latest Eclipse and I'm already good to go.
 
grats! I have almost the same model 2.3ghz/256/16gb :)

It's a great machine. good you're not lured into that 'the 750 is free if...'. It's not true, the same price does not equal free. and I want to spend my 300€ on something else.
 
Option B is more appealing to me.
It's basically the set up I hope to have in the near future. A nice big screen to plug into in an office space, but still not confined to the office and certainly not missing anything in the field.

Edit, grats though, I'm sure it'll serve well :)
 
I found myself on a similar situation not long ago but I choose a different path: desktop + MPB 13" (base model + 8 GB RAM). Laptop for portability and lighter workloads and the desktop for the heavylifting. The RMBP 15" didn't strike me as very portable (it wouldn't fit in my bag) plus it's less powerful than a mid-range desktop PC/iMac.
 
yjchua95 said:
How does that make sense?
Click to expand...

easy: what if the price is calculated with the 750m in it. and they just want to discourage people to buy this specific configuration without the 750m?
so instead of thinking it's free, they are actually penalising the iris pro only on that configuration.
 
mr.bee said:
easy: what if the price is calculated with the 750m in it. and they just want to discourage people to buy this specific configuration without the 750m?
so instead of thinking it's free, they are actually penalising the iris pro only on that configuration.
Click to expand...

In the end, the effect is still more or less the same...you pay the same price for a minimum configuration of 2.3GHz, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, and you can choose to walk away with or without the dGPU.
 
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