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Macbook Pro 2.53 or 2.8?

M

matthemercyless

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 24, 2006
75
0
Hull, UK
Hey everyone,

I am looking to replace my aging PowerBook with a juicy Macbook Pro sometime soon, and was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on the prospect of sticking with the stock 2.53ghz or upgrading to 2.8ghz at a cost of £180 (with university discount).

I've had my Powerbook for almost 5 years now, and not only is she falling to pieces (quite literally) but I am beginning to miss out on new software and online services (such as downloading BBC programmes via iPlayer) because I don't have a Mac with an Intel processor.

I do lots of video encoding, video/MP3 ripping, like to play around with my huge photo library and I do enjoy the odd bit of gaming so the extra few megahertz would certainly be used. I am also expecting my first sprog soon, so I expect that this will be my only Mac purchase for at least 4/5 years and I was thinking that I will never be able to upgrade the processor, so I may as well get the best I can.

On the other hand lets look at the things I could buy with the £180 it would cost me to upgrade the processor:

A new 24" LCD monitor
An xbox 360
A new external HDD/NAS and 'N' spec wireless router
A bluetooth keyboard, mouse, desk and chair
An upscaling freeview/dvd box
180 cans of decent beer
360 cans of **** beer
A few nights out
18,000 penny bubble gums
30 minutes with a good hooker
9 visits to a cheap hooker

So what are your thoughts on the matter?:mad::rolleyes::cool::D;):p:eek::(:):eek::confused:
Should I pay for the extra processor power or buy something else with the savings?

Thankyou in advance!
 
I guess it really depends on how large the CPU intensive tasks are.

I know in my case the editing I do is pretty basic/intermediate (I have a 2yr old so I bust out the Canon Digital Rebel XT/Flip MinoHD) and throw together little video's of trips, or outings (zoo, etc) so the time saved by going to the 2.8 was negligible (few minutes max of encoding time to DVD).

If you're doing some pretty high end work then that 10-20-30-60mins that you might save (depending on how crazy large the project is) may be worth it.

I know back when I did local paintball DVD's of tourney's it'd take up to 9hrs to encode the DVD when I was finished since I had hundreds of clips, audio, transitions when needed, inserts, etc that an hour faster processing (or even 45mins) would be worth it since I was making these once a month and it'd put my PC out of commission for a good chunk of time. But now a days i'm not pushing those envelopes so it's not worth it.

I went with the 2.53ghz processor for that reason. The stuff I'm doing isn't going to have more than a few mins rendering difference so it wasn't worth the upgrade cost to me. Plus I still have my Windows gaming PC if I need another PC (much higher specs than my MBP... I built it just for gaming over the summer) which I can always fall back on if my MBP is doing something like that.

So really... it's up to you, and your tasks.

D.
 
All puns aside (I'd go for the 30 min one):

Get the 2.8GHz MBP. In gaming you want the most possible, video editing and encoding are hard hitters on the processor. Also, since you have a 5-year old PB, then its logical for you to want to have this new MBP for another 5 years. So, to a 5 year outlook, I'd say future proof it as much as possible and a 2.8GHz CPU is a good way to future proof your new baby.

Other than that, I rest my case.
 
2.53.... if you get the 2.8 it is a BTO and you wont be able to swap it out in the store when something goes wrong with it, heaven forbid.
 
wow you can get a hooker for £20 where your at? Not sure what that is in US$ but it sure sounds like a deal to me.
 
stevo8 said:
wow you can get a hooker for £20 where your at? Not sure what that is in US$ but it sure sounds like a deal to me.
Click to expand...

$35 for a hooker? That sounds expensive :D

@OP: I'd get the upgrade if you plan to use the computer for a long time; otherwise if you are going to just upgrade in 2 years, then it wouldn't be worth it.
 
matthemercyless said:
A new 24" LCD monitor
An xbox 360
A new external HDD/NAS and 'N' spec wireless router
A bluetooth keyboard, mouse, desk and chair
An upscaling freeview/dvd box
180 cans of decent beer
360 cans of **** beer
A few nights out
18,000 penny bubble gums
30 minutes with a good hooker
9 visits to a cheap hooker
Click to expand...

All these stuff you can upgrade or buy later
when you save the money

but the Processor cant be upgraded:D
 
Get the 2.8! I got it and so glad i did. If you ever have any problems (like me) it takes apple 3 days for it to arrive and they give you a nice £60 to say sorry.
 
Nipz said:
Get the 2.8! I got it and so glad i did. If you ever have any problems (like me) it takes apple 3 days for it to arrive and they give you a nice £60 to say sorry.
Click to expand...

Really? I've had 3 Mac Book Pro's since they were launched since October, each one taking about a month to get to me due to defects. In fact what Apple do is order a replacement then put it on hold until after they receive your laptop back, then you have to call them to chase it all up and get the new one released to you. And I had not one offer of compensation, then again I didn't want to shout at them because of the possibility of getting 4 or 5 computers!!

This relates to BTO only, I would get the stock 2.53, I did, my belief is it will run cooler and the battery will last a bit longer and it will play games just fine, it play's Crysis fine and COD 4 etc. And with a bit of luck, and Windows 7, you may just be able to use the 9600GT for graphics, the 9400M for the physics and the CPU for, well, the rest of the stuff all at the same time! This will give you a BIG push in the games I think. It's what Snow Leopard is supposed to be about.
The real best option, get the 2.53 and put that £180 towards a very fast SSD drive. Or 180 cans of **** beer and 3.5 visits to a cheap hooker?
 
apolloa said:
Really? I've had 3 Mac Book Pro's since they were launched since October, each one taking about a month to get to me due to defects. In fact what Apple do is order a replacement then put it on hold until after they receive your laptop back, then you have to call them to chase it all up and get the new one released to you. And I had not one offer of compensation, then again I didn't want to shout at them because of the possibility of getting 4 or 5 computers!!
Click to expand...

I made them send me the replacement laptop before i would send mine back. Also i spoke direct to the manager. Find you get a lot more done faster this way.
 
Nipz said:
I made them send me the replacement laptop before i would send mine back. Also i spoke direct to the manager. Find you get a lot more done faster this way.
Click to expand...

Ah, I was nice to them you see as reading on here I was thinking I was on the slope of others and having to get 4 or 5 machines before I hit the jackpot! LOL, still I find it fast enough for me, then again that's for my needs. It does game just fine too. But if your going to ever encode in HD then I would recommend the 2.8.
 
minik said:
Really? I ordered a CTO 3.06Ghz iMac online and was able to swap it out at the local Apple Store.
Click to expand...

Maybe they like you. Apple's return policy says that they do not accept returns on a "Product that is custom configured to your specifications"... or BTO. If something goes wrong with it then of course they will take it back, but you may have to wait for them to ship one of the same specifications as yours unless you are fortunate enough and they have one or more in house.

Billy
 
hmm yah, it might save like 5 to 10 sec on a really intensive task......but its your money dude, get what you want, if you feel like youre gonna miss out with the 2.53 then go the bigger
 
There have been some posts about people selling their 15s to get the new 17". If you could find one of those 2.8s for sale then perhaps you could get the rig you want, a four hands happy-ending massage from a few cheap hookers and still some left over for decent beer ;)
 
Billydelp4 said:
Maybe they like you. Apple's return policy says that they do not accept returns on a "Product that is custom configured to your specifications"... or BTO. If something goes wrong with it then of course they will take it back, but you may have to wait for them to ship one of the same specifications as yours unless you are fortunate enough and they have one or more in house.

Billy
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you as I read the same policy as well. However, the Mac Genius said the same thing to me at first and later he found a stock 3.06Ghz iMac in the backroom. He did the RAM upgrade and called it good. I had AppleCare and ProCare during the visit.

I think there will be some 2.8Ghz MBP in the store, but limited stock?
 
Billydelp4 said:
2.53.... if you get the 2.8 it is a BTO and you wont be able to swap it out in the store when something goes wrong with it, heaven forbid.
Click to expand...

Thats just daft. "Don't get the better processor because the machine may be faulty". If its faulty, you can send it back, BTO or not, you just have a longer time period to wait around for the new machine.

Anyway, the price difference between the two is fairly moddest by Apple standards, so the extra money spent now, a few years down the line will be unnoticeable and you will have future proofed that little bit better.

Go 2.8.
 
go 2.53...don't spend unneeded money for a processor speed bump that you will probably not even notice unless you do tasks like video encoding for a living. Spend the money on something much more worth while such as a nice case for your laptop, keyboard, mice, external monitor, hdd, etc... Also if you think getting the 2.8 will future proof your purchase than that is wrong because in the world of computers, it is almost impossible to future proof anything especially at the rate at which technology is advancing.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. Everybody makes good points on the matter.

I really do want to make the laptop last, and seen as though its one thing I can never upgrade, it makes sense to get the best I can.

However, I think it will come down to money and timing. If I have the money to buy the base model just as a new revision is released I will probably just get that. However, if I manage to put away enough money for the upgraded version by the time a new revision comes around then I will spend the extra and upgrade the processor.

I'm not in a massive rush, so I will certainly be waiting for the Nehalem revision to come around.
 
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