I've been thinking about this for a few weeks and am still stumped.
I currently have a mid-2011 mac mini (AMD GPU) and after upgrading the ram to 8gb and the HDD to an SSD, I adore it. The GPU is a bit anemic for the occasional game, but certainly tolerable.
I'm looking at upgrading to a macbook pro with discreet graphics because I just can't keep my old vaio laptop limping along much longer. I use it from time to time when I do computer repair work for others. Rather than have two systems, I'd rather just sell my mini, monitor, etc and just have one computer.
My mini still has applecare, but with the SSD in there, it would be hard to sell that and even if I did, I wouldn't likely reclaim the cost on this SSD. I think it would be easier to see and I would see a better return if I included the upgraded ram but I put back in the factory HDD.
With a classic macbook pro, I could reuse this SSD and use the factory hard drive in the ODD bay for extra storage. Upgrading the ram is trivial and cheap enough not to matter to me. I have all the extra ports on there, including the firewire plug so I can use my external 3TB drive at home. The pixel density would be much better than that of my 23 inch monitor, which I loathe.
On the other hand, I run BOINC and the thermals are theoretically better on the retina model. Quieter. 256gb is okay for use as a desktop where I can just tie in my external drive as I am now, but when I'm away from home I would like more. That display is absolutely stunning. As a power geek, it's a terrible system. Not a single thing can be swapped around.
The last time I had a mac with a built-in screen, it was a 24 inch imac and the image retention issues that apple refused to fix made me hate that machine. I worry that with a laptop, retina or otherwise, those issues may return. How likely would this be?
What about the fan noise? I plan to let BOINC run whenever the unit is plugged in. Is the retina really that much quieter? My mini used to annoy me with the fans spun up but now it's become a little white noise machine. I have grown to enjoy it.
I'm leaning toward the classic macbook pro, but the upgrades I can feasibly drop in today may limit my options tomorrow, when that resolution could really pay off and resale could be higher.
I currently have a mid-2011 mac mini (AMD GPU) and after upgrading the ram to 8gb and the HDD to an SSD, I adore it. The GPU is a bit anemic for the occasional game, but certainly tolerable.
I'm looking at upgrading to a macbook pro with discreet graphics because I just can't keep my old vaio laptop limping along much longer. I use it from time to time when I do computer repair work for others. Rather than have two systems, I'd rather just sell my mini, monitor, etc and just have one computer.
My mini still has applecare, but with the SSD in there, it would be hard to sell that and even if I did, I wouldn't likely reclaim the cost on this SSD. I think it would be easier to see and I would see a better return if I included the upgraded ram but I put back in the factory HDD.
With a classic macbook pro, I could reuse this SSD and use the factory hard drive in the ODD bay for extra storage. Upgrading the ram is trivial and cheap enough not to matter to me. I have all the extra ports on there, including the firewire plug so I can use my external 3TB drive at home. The pixel density would be much better than that of my 23 inch monitor, which I loathe.
On the other hand, I run BOINC and the thermals are theoretically better on the retina model. Quieter. 256gb is okay for use as a desktop where I can just tie in my external drive as I am now, but when I'm away from home I would like more. That display is absolutely stunning. As a power geek, it's a terrible system. Not a single thing can be swapped around.
The last time I had a mac with a built-in screen, it was a 24 inch imac and the image retention issues that apple refused to fix made me hate that machine. I worry that with a laptop, retina or otherwise, those issues may return. How likely would this be?
What about the fan noise? I plan to let BOINC run whenever the unit is plugged in. Is the retina really that much quieter? My mini used to annoy me with the fans spun up but now it's become a little white noise machine. I have grown to enjoy it.
I'm leaning toward the classic macbook pro, but the upgrades I can feasibly drop in today may limit my options tomorrow, when that resolution could really pay off and resale could be higher.