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It's Almost "GO" Time...

V

vesoned

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 5, 2010
6
0
I've been checked almost every thread on
this forum for the past couple weeks because
I can finally get a macbook pro after wanting one
for the past 10 years.

I'm a few days away before I can order but I'm
still stuck on a few things.

My situation:
I'm going back to school for web development/web design
and I already have a core i7 desktop at home with a
23" screen I could use for a 2nd monitor for my MBP.

The programs I'm going to be running are Adobe CS5
(Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash...), Internet (prob alot
of different browsers to check my websites...Chrome,
Firefox, IE) and some sort of word processing suite
(we get Office for free). No Games At All...

Now for the problem (good problem to have after all
these years) I've narrowed my choices down to 3.

These are coming from Amazon btw (Faster Shipping +
Tax Free)

$2100 Setup:
Core i5 (Base Model 2.4 GHz)
Intel X-25M 80 GB SSD
Speck Satin Case
Brenthaven Backpack/Messenger Bag
Logitech Revolution Mouse
Moshi Palmguard

$2400 Setup:
Core i7 (2.66 GHz)
Intel X-25M 80 GB SSD
Speck Satin Case
Brenthaven Backpack/Messenger Bag
Logitech Revolution Mouse
Moshi Palmguard

OR

$2200 Setup:
Core i5 (Base Model 2.4 GHz)
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD
Speck Satin Case
Brenthaven Backpack/Messenger Bag
Logitech Revolution Mouse
Moshi Palmguard

Would it be more beneficial to have the core i7, get
the 80 gb SSD for now and wait for the prices to fall on
the SSD's or should I get the core i5 with the bigger SSD
for right now.

I've read that the difference between the core i5 and i7
isn't going to be noticed in day to day work and since I
prob won't be doing any video rendering on it I won't really
need the power.

BTW I'm fine with the 80GB of space I don't plan on using
windows in parallels to game and I'm only going to have a
max of five programs for school work, no music, videos or
anything that will take up that much space.

Which one do you guys think I should go with...?

Thanks for your help
 
I think this thread is better off in 'Buying tips and advice' section of the forums. You'll probably get some better advice there. Any admins out there willing to move the thread?
 
Pick the CPU, not the hard drive

You'll always be able to upgrade your hard drive later on. But you won't be able to upgrade the CPU.

Take the i7 laptop and see how far along the hard drive is enough for your needs. When you feel cramped just upgrade the hard drive.

BTW, good pick on going with the SSDs only.
 
fierarul said:
You'll always be able to upgrade your hard drive later on. But you won't be able to upgrade the CPU.

Take the i7 laptop and see how far along the hard drive is enough for your needs. When you feel cramped just upgrade the hard drive.

BTW, good pick on going with the SSDs only.
Click to expand...

Agreed, the hard drive is a lot easier to upgrade than the actual computer.
 
Go with the Core i7 without the SSD. SSD's will slow down because they have limited re-writes, and if you're going to be a web developer, you'll be saving almost constantly.
 
Thanks for the quick feedback guys.

I was really excited watching all the youtube vids
on how fast the SSD's work but I was concerned
about them degrading overtime

@d88co88
should I wait for the technology to improve and
just get the hybrid Momentus XT or a standard HDD...

How long does it take for the hard drive to degrade
and when they do degrade will they still be faster
then the standard Hard Drive...?
 
i'd get the base MBP15 2.4 HR AG with the stock 5400RPM drive.

The benchmarks show almost no visible improvement in the extra 256 VRAM and i7 upgrade.

Add to that an aftermarket OWC/OCZ SSD drive with inbuild TRIM and it won't degrade over time like an intel x25 would (or so i am told, i don't have one myself yet).
 
vesoned said:
Thanks for the quick feedback guys.

I was really excited watching all the youtube vids
on how fast the SSD's work but I was concerned
about them degrading overtime

@d88co88
should I wait for the technology to improve and
just get the hybrid Momentus XT or a standard HDD...

How long does it take for the hard drive to degrade
and when they do degrade will they still be faster
then the standard Hard Drive...?
Click to expand...
^^ Haiku poem? lol

SSD's are not good yet. Not reliable and not great long term performance. It because OSX does not support TRIM command that is necessary to keep the SSD performing well. Without TRIM, it will get slower and slower with time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM
 
Lol Haiku, I was writing this on my phone but now I'm at my computer ... bigger screen. lol

I heard the OCZ has the built in TRIM function but isn't apple coming out with an update to add TRIM functionality...?

Do you have that set up @CSHawkeye81 ...

I feel like I'm leaning toward the i7 with maybe a standard HDD or the Momentus XT and just waiting for SDD to increase capacity.

But if that isn't going to happen soon I'm going to get the vertex 2...
 
vesoned said:
Thanks for the quick feedback guys.

I was really excited watching all the youtube vids
on how fast the SSD's work but I was concerned
about them degrading overtime

@d88co88
should I wait for the technology to improve and
just get the hybrid Momentus XT or a standard HDD...

How long does it take for the hard drive to degrade
and when they do degrade will they still be faster
then the standard Hard Drive...?
Click to expand...

Wait for tech to improve. I've heard great reviews on the Momentus XT, go with that.
 
Core i7.

You can always upgrade to an SSD later. The CPU you can never upgrade. It's faster and it holds greater resale value.
 
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