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Looking to buy a MacBook Pro this summer, 128M 8600 or 256M 8600?

I

iCeFuSiOn

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 18, 2007
511
0
Hello everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a 15" MacBook Pro between now and the end of August and am trying to decide between the 2.2GHz model and the 2.4GHz model. The only difference I notice is more hard drive space, 200MHz more processing power, and 128MB 8600M-GT vs 256MB 8600M-GT graphics processor.

Here is what I am planning on doing with it:

- Browse the internet, send e-mail
- Listen to music
- Have some fun with the iSight and Photo Booth (tried it out with an iMac at a local store recently and it blew me away)
- Photo editing and touch-up, enlarging, etc. Nothing heavy, at least not yet.
- Graphics design using Adobe Photoshop
- Website design and coding
- Word processing, spreadsheets, etc.
- MAYBE some light gaming (if I ever decide to get into WoW or something)

.. and basically, managing my life. Should I go with the 2.2GHz or the 2.4GHz model? It's a $600 price difference on the Apple Canada online store. I would like to have a system that will last me for a few years, I'm thinking 3 to 4 years before having to replace the laptop.

Also, anyone who owns either of these, what do you think of them? How are they in real-world performance (I know I could have looked at the BareFeats performance chart but Im more interested in real-world performance over benchmark results).

Thanks in advance,
 
It seems to me like the 2.2 model should be good for you, but the 2.4 will be able to run more intense software in the future with its 256mb video card. I would personally get the 2.2 since I don't see the $500 additional cost to be worth it, but you might see differently. If you think that you will need the 256 in a few years, get the 2.4. If not, it's up to you. Both are amazing computers (I want one!) but the choice is yours.
 
get the cheaper model

Save the money and put that toward your next computer. You can buy your next computer 15-20% earlier. That computer will blow away either of these.
 
I've been working with Windows machines and replacing my computer every ~18 months so I want something that will last me a while, probably 3 years or so minimum.
 
Any MacBook could handle what you said extremely well, so you're fine with the lower end model. If you really want to speed up performance in graphics, you better invest in 4Gb of RAM, and an external hard drive. You'd be offsetting any performance difference, I think.
 
Juan Moro said:
Any MacBook could handle what you said extremely well, so you're fine with the lower end model. If you really want to speed up performance in graphics, you better invest in 4Gb of RAM, and an external hard drive. You'd be offsetting any performance difference, I think.
Click to expand...

the macbook can only handle 2gb of RAM, maybe 3GB depending on who you talk to.
 
I would just like to clarify that while I realise that the MacBook is a viable option, I would like to have a notebook with discrete graphics, and I would not be able to work with the 13" screen because of the nature of what I plan on doing.
 
From what you plan on doing with your computer, the base 2.2GHz MBP sounds like it'd be a perfect fit.
 
i seem to have a slightly different opinion to some.. if you are going to have this computer for at least 4-5 years then id go the higher model. the 0.2ghz probably wont do much, but the extra 128mb vram will come in quite handy in the futre. maybe not now but eventually it will pay off, especially when its gets on in age.

i forgot my other point...ahwell.
 
DoFoT9 said:
i seem to have a slightly different opinion to some.. if you are going to have this computer for at least 4-5 years then id go the higher model. the 0.2ghz probably wont do much, but the extra 128mb vram will come in quite handy in the futre. maybe not now but eventually it will pay off, especially when its gets on in age.

i forgot my other point...ahwell.
Click to expand...

If you remember that point feel free to post it, I'm all ears. I believe I said in the first post that I would be purchasing around the end of August(ish) so...
 
If you don't mind a refurb, £900 for a C2D MBP. I have one (not a refurb - I couldn't justify the wait for a SR beast).

You know it.
 
$500 will not really buy you a massive difference right now; if you shell out, it will be for the improved performance you'll be getting 3-4 years down the line when 128MB of video memory MAY not be quite enough anymore. However based on what you are working on I would guess that 128MB should last you fine for that long based on the research I did before I bought mine.
 
iCeFuSiOn said:
If you remember that point feel free to post it, I'm all ears. I believe I said in the first post that I would be purchasing around the end of August(ish) so...
Click to expand...

around the end of august is a good idea. hope ur not worried about leopard or chucking in another $129 for the upgrade. if not then go for it, the mbp's wont be upgraded for another while.

and yea def go the 256vram, itl come in handy
 
DoFoT9 said:
around the end of august is a good idea. hope ur not worried about leopard or chucking in another $129 for the upgrade. if not then go for it, the mbp's wont be upgraded for another while.

and yea def go the 256vram, itl come in handy
Click to expand...
Nope, I'm not overly worried about Leopard, I can get all of my work done just fine with Tiger for the time being, and when the time comes to upgrade $129 is a small price to pay for the value that the next revision of OS X brings.
 
Hard drive?

Now, one more question, for those of you with 5400RPM or 7200RPM drives, how much of a difference do they make in speed/heat/battery consumption? Not looking for benchmarks, I want real world experience with these. Thanks.
 
iCeFuSiOn said:
Now, one more question, for those of you with 5400RPM or 7200RPM drives, how much of a difference do they make in speed/heat/battery consumption? Not looking for benchmarks, I want real world experience with these. Thanks.
Click to expand...

i promise you unless your using FC you wont notice any difference.
 
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