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Only thing I'm jealous of is inertial scrolling. Hopefully it will come to older MBPs.
 
Advice needed

Can someone help me with this i cant decide on which to get


Option 1. = 1924$

# 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
# 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display

Option 2. = 2000$

# 2.66GHz Intel Core i7
# 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display


Same price, one has the i7 with the matte screen being sacrificed, whereas the other has the matte finish, with the i5.

Im leaning more towards the i7 option since ill be getting a better processor. I have a laptop right now with the glossy and it hasnt been a big factor. Also is the high resolution going to make a big difference?
 
Also is the high resolution going to make a big difference?

If you run Photoshop, software IDE tools, or any other thing that uses lots of toolbars, palettes and windows - consider the high-res screen.

If your eyes aren't great, though, many things will be smaller on the high-res. (I have a T61p with a 15.4" 1920x1200 screen, don't have young eyes, but love to have all that screen real estate to work with.)

Also, consider the height. The standard screen is only 900 pixels high. If you're used to that height, you should be fine. If you're moving from a system with more vertical - it might bother you that the menu items and other stuff makes your working area seem smaller. (I had a 14" with a 1400x1050 display, and replaced it with one with a 14" 1440x900 display. I really noticed losing 150 vertical pixels.)

There's no "right answer" - it's just what works for you.
 
15-inch: 2.4GHz vs. 15-inch: 2.66GHz

15-inch: 2.4GHz vs. 15-inch: 2.66GHz

That is $400 difference between the 2 systems. Is there a huge noticeable difference in performance? I got 2 external HDD's. Which one would you get?

I currently have 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 24" iMac, so I guess both MacBook Pros above would be faster.
 
Option 1. = 1924$

# 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
# 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display

Option 2. = 2000$

# 2.66GHz Intel Core i7
# 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
I'd go option 2. It also has the better video card I believe.
 
high resolution worth it?

Is the high resolution w/ antiglare update on the low end 15inch worth it?
 
I ordered my 15" earlier and the receipt said that it included an "accessory kit." I didn't see that in the MBP page under "What's in the box." What is it?
 
I've registered to this forum to post this question, and see if I'm too wrong or what.

AM I THE ONLY ONE MISSING USB3 AND SD XC SLOT???
we'll have to leave 2 years with these machines.

tell me it's me.

USB 3.0 is absolutely pointless given that the actual data transfer rates of the fastest available hard drives (180-200 MB/s avg) and internet connections (maybe 20 MB/s) are WELL below USB 2.0.
 
I'm disappointed in these "brand new" MBP's. The fastest Core i7 is the 2.66GHz, and there is NO quad-core, and NO Core i7 Extreme option available. Now that's a joke. That's why Apple likes to hide the Intel CPU ID.

Worse, though, is the "options" for the NVIDIA dedicated VRAM. The highest one you can buy is the GT 330M. What? An Apple MacBook PRO has only 512MB and 48 processor cores (CUDA) as its HIGHEST option??? LOL

The LED screen is what, an RGB LED or no RGB??? I bet the latter is the case. WTF!??!? And the Core 2 Duo for the 13 inchers is just a slap in the face for those who need an ultraportable MacBook "Pro". Lame.

I guess the iPad and the iPhone is what keeps Cupertino busy these days. No time for any real improvements on any Mac line. Boo!
 
May be indefensible, but I'll try ...

I'm sure Apple built dozens of prototypes with various configurations, and ran numerous benchmarks. In the end, the C2D+nvidea beat out the i5+intel, so they went with it. It was a trade off between upgrading the processor or not downgrading the graphics.

Also, don't forget that to most users a 20% increase in battery life is probably equally or more important than a 20% increase in speed.

that was the case for me, so I got the lower end 13".
 
I've already had two systems replaced due to poor build quality (heat causing case cracking and discoloration)

ok, yes... the plastic macbooks were crappy. you can't use that example any more. we are past the limitation where you can use those as an example of "build quality"


The only difference between them is that Apple uses metal that can dent, bend, warp, and scratch.

LOL. that is really funny. so... what does plastic do? :rolleyes:
 
ok, yes... the plastic macbooks were crappy. you can't use that example any more. we are past the limitation where you can use those as an example of "build quality"

Not true, seeing as how many millions of them Apple sold. That system was only recently replaced. With yet another cheap plastic system.

Plus those systems are still available outside of Apple.


LOL. that is really funny. so... what does plastic do? :rolleyes:

Well made plastic will stand up to every day abuse better than a hair thin piece of aluminum.
 
20 years of PC's and I've had enough...

It's also a typical piece of Toshiba plastic garbage, weights almost 7 pounds, is over 1.5" thick, has about a third of the battery life, at best.

Seriously, is this some revelation to you? If you do not care about a lot of these things, you can get some great low prices on machines with very high specs.



Check out the HP Envy 15 if you want to see what happens when you make a thin 15" machine with a quad core i7 - you end up with a machine with pretty abysmal battery life and an enormous heat problem.

We could play this game all day, frankly. It's always been possible to pick out specs and say "But look at this laptop - it has the same or better specs, and costs half as much". But people do ignore build quality, screen quality, battery life, etc. when making these comparisons. There are almost always tradeoffs with laptops.

I'm not saying that the MBP is perfect, or that there aren't some really nice PC alternatives (but I would point to Asus and Sony as companies that make nice alternatives, not crap like Toshiba or the flawed HP Envy). But it's important to look at the whole picture.

I'd have to say I completely agree w/ Zadillo. I've been a dedicated PC user for almost 20 years and I've just recently purchased a Macbook Pro. I couldn't be more pleased. It just works, and works very well.

I fell into the "same specs" trap w/ my former laptop (A Toshiba Satellite) and within months the battery lasted less than a half hour per charge. It also ran incredibly hot and as a result made a ton of noise.

Aside from all that... The plastic frame creaks and the paint wore off incredibly quickly. Not to mention the computer was just plain ugly.

Sure, if you put this laptop side by side w/ a Mac of the same specs they might perform similar in a benchmark, but there is absolutely *no comparison* to the user experience / quality of these two machines.

I'll gladly pay the premium for the quality any day. Just the truth...
 
Well, most PCs have moved on to 16x9 now. Apple is the only company stuck in the past with 16x10.

ok, this is just nonsense.

STUCK at 16:10? STUCK at a far superior, larger resolution?

16:9 is SMALLER, yo... it's a trick of the panel makers to sell you cheaper, smaller screens and make you think they are better... cause they are "HD". really, really stupid.

why would ANYONE want 16:9 when 16:10 available? i'll take 1920x1200 all day long, while you scrunch into 1920x1080.

more pixels are better! :D
 
Well made plastic will stand up to every day abuse better than a hair thin piece of aluminum.

um... right. well-made being... thick. and no piece of aluminum on the macbook is "hair thin".

yes, that low-end macbook is still crappy. but that's not the equivalent of what you had. that's the MBP 13". so still... can't use that one.

but wait... if you love PLASTIC so much.... :rolleyes:
 
USB 3.0 is absolutely pointless given that the actual data transfer rates of the fastest available hard drives (180-200 MB/s avg) and internet connections (maybe 20 MB/s) are WELL below USB 2.0.

You don't know what you're talking about.

1MB = 1 Megabyte = 8Mb = 8 Megabits

USB 2.0 = 480 Mbps = 60MBps *theoretical* maximum throughput

Actual real-world maximums for USB 2.0 tend to be around 40MBps. That is much, much slower than almost every regular hard drive on the market, let alone the SSDs and other newer devices out there.

USB 2.0 is a bottleneck for modern systems, especially if you are transferring or dealing with large amounts of data (like HD movies).
 
Looks like a solid round of updates. The options are there for those who want to pay for them, but it seems like the low-end 15" Macbook Pro is the sweet spot (now having the HD graphics processor included). The battery life they're able to pump out of these babies is truly astounding (as I type this on a 3 yr old MBP that gets about 1.5 hours out of its original but replaceable battery). 8-9 hours is crazy!

On the other hand, I'm still not a fan of the newer trackpad and keyboard, nor having to pay an extra $150 for a matte screen (with the added bonus of better resolution). I'm personally not at the point of needing a new computer since Adobe CS4 runs pretty darn well on this machine, but someday when USB3 becomes ubiquitous and Apple has finally made the transition I may have to bite. I worry more now about the spat between Adobe and Apple; all that hardware isn't going to do much if Adobe stops making applications that need it!

Then again, maybe Apple or someone else will come along with their own creative suite of design applications to challenge Adobe. Hah, no, just kidding. :p
 
ok, this is just nonsense.

STUCK at 16:10? STUCK at a far superior, larger resolution?

16:9 is SMALLER, yo... it's a trick of the panel makers to sell you cheaper, smaller screens and make you think they are better... cause they are "HD". really, really stupid.

why would ANYONE want 16:9 when 16:10 available? i'll take 1920x1200 all day long, while you scrunch into 1920x1080.

more pixels are better! :D

You do realize Apple recently changed their iMac screens from 16:10 to 16:9?

:p
 
I'd like to think that I'm a very objective person.

But the fact of the matter is, Apple sticking with the Core 2 Duo is indefensible. It's your money, please waste it as how you like, but not upgrading the processor for the 13" is a slap in the face. It'll probably sell like hotcakes and i don't think anybody cares about the extra power, but it's still a slap in the face. an upgraded graphics card, more RAM? That's just part of technology, they're merely "moving with it" instead of offering you something more. I think Apple fanboys are truly blind and I have never felt so bad for a group of fanboys in my life.

Oh also, It's sad that there's no resolution bump, but I realize that is probably very very farfetchd so that's fine. this is why anybody who gives a **** about computers don't buy mac. not because of how expensive it is. i'd spend the money if i felt like apple cared enough to not slap me around whenever there's a refresh.


that said, 15" seems to be the good buy. My only guess is that the i3 is backordered so maybe if we wait a couple of months, it'd be upgraded.


If you're doing such intensive tasks that a bump from core2 to i3 would be necessary then i think you shouldn't be looking at a 13" machine. Also, i think the i3 was not used because of licensing issues between Nvidia and Apple. They used Intel integrated and Nvidia dedicated which they could not do in the 13" due to lack of size.
 
ok, this is just nonsense.

STUCK at 16:10? STUCK at a far superior, larger resolution?

16:9 is SMALLER, yo... it's a trick of the panel makers to sell you cheaper, smaller screens and make you think they are better... cause they are "HD". really, really stupid.

why would ANYONE want 16:9 when 16:10 available? i'll take 1920x1200 all day long, while you scrunch into 1920x1080.

more pixels are better! :D

Yo, form factor has nothing to do with resolution. Of course you'll take 1920x1200 all day long, because you do not have much choice. However, with DELL and HP you could choose between 1920x1200 and 1920x1080 (and many other choices) and have RGB LED backlit screen on top of it. Not to mention something like NVIDIA® Quadro FX 3800M Graphics with 1GB6 dedicated memory. You probably have not even heard of this one. Why would you? Apple does not offer this one even on Mac Pro :D
 
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