MacBook Po 15" i5 - 2.4ghz or 2.53ghz?

[Nghia Nguyen]

Hello,

I don't know if this question has been raised before. If it is, I'm sorry for duplicating the topic. As obvious as the topic title, I'm in the dilemma of choosing between the two. I saw the benchmarks and some comparisons among the new ones and the previous division. I really want to get the i7 15" but a lot of folks say it's not really more powerful in performance (not that I can tell) and I'm also on a budget.

I'm a freelance photographer and graphic designer (nothing involves with videos), so I assume 256MB video card is really enough. Some people have to have the 512MB, not that's really not necessary for me. That brings me down to the i5 options - 2.4ghz and 2.53ghz. The only differences that I see are the HD capacity (320GB vs. 500GB) and a a faster processor in the 2.53ghz. (Is there really anything else that I didn't know yet?)

I have a friend working for Apple, and he's gonna help me get a family & friend discount when I buy it. So after discount, the 2.4ghz will be $1,529 while the 2.53ghz will be $1,699 --- that's $170 difference. Is the 2.53ghz worth it? If it is, why? If $170 makes it really superior, I don't mind spending an extra bill. I really want to make my money worthwhile here. Plus, I plan on using the $170 that I'd save and spend it on AppleCare. That would make more sense to me.

Any input is welcome. Thanks.

 

[Hellhammer]

2.53GHz is ~5% faster than 2.4GHz but it's ~10% more expensive, so no, it's not worth it. I doubt you would notice any difference anyway. For that 170$, you can buy 1TB internal and install that if the HD space really matters

 

[thinh3d]

From your username, sounds like you are a VNese
btw, regarding your question, the 2.4ghz is much better and smarter choice the speed bump is unnoticeable for your usage. So spend the 170$ for the apple care is much better

Also, the difference between the 2.4 and 2.53 is only the speed bump and HDD size. As I said above the speed bump is unnoticeable, and the HDD swap can be done by DIY, and you have 2 HDD to use (1 will go to a closure, of course)

 

[runebinder]

From what I've seen of the bench marks the 2.53 doesn't look like its worth the extra money. spend the difference on the Apple Care instead.