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MacBook Pro 2.53GHz or 2.4GHz

S

SteveRFC

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 23, 2008
6
0
Hi I've been reading these forums for quiet awhile and they have all been very helpful.

Sometime this week I'm going to upgrade my current MacBook 13" 2GHz to a 15" MacBook Pro.

The only thing is I would just like to know which of the 2.53GHz or 2.4GHz would be better for me. If I run Photoshop on my current 13" my fans go like crazy, laptop runs very very hot. So my question is will I notice much of a difference between the 2.53GHz or 2.4GHz for programs such a Photoshop?

Thanks Heaps,
Steve
 
I tried getting more ram which didn't really make much of a difference. Im pretty keen to upgrade to the new MPB but just wasn't sure if I would notice much difference processor wise.

Does the new MPB run hot with programs such as these?
 
I'm with the other posters. Get the 2.4 and buy extra RAM. That should see you set up with an excellent machine. Let us know what you decide to do.

Cheers and good luck
 
Get the 2.4 and upgrade the RAM and HD. The extra processing power won't be much of a difference and the cost does not justify it! Hope that helps! :D
 
I'd say the 2.53Ghz model. Not because the CPU is faster, but that you get more video memory for photoshop. Not having enough VRAM in laptops has always been an issue for me, so I went with this model and have been happy.
 
Tallest Skil said:
You won't notice the difference. Save your money and get some third-party RAM or a bigger HDD if you'd like.
Click to expand...

When I looked last month, crucial charged $135 for ddr3 ram and apple charged $150. I think it was like $145 with the education discount. I would say get the RAM from apple and be done with it unless you plan on selling the original 2gb that come with it. Selling 2x1gb sticks of ddr3 might be hard though since the standard now is 2 - 4gb already. Just my opinion and one of the reasons I went for the 2.53 ghz.

To the OP:

It won't really matter what machine you get, even the base model is more than powerful enough for anything you can throw at it. You can always get the base, load your programs and see how you like it from there. I opted for the 320gb 7200 drive and since I picked the 2.53ghz version it already came with 4gb ram. Oh and are you using an educational discount?
 
cg165 said:
To the OP:

It won't really matter what machine you get, even the base model is more than powerful enough for anything you can throw at it. You can always get the base, load your programs and see how you like it from there. I opted for the 320gb 7200 drive and since I picked the 2.53ghz version it already came with 4gb ram. Oh and are you using an educational discount?
Click to expand...
Yeah sounds great thanks for all your posts. Looks like I'll get the 2.4ghz and just get extra RAM for it. My girlfriend goes to a university here in australia so she gets a student discount so i'll take her along to buy "her new laptop" :D... hahah!!!

I'll upgrade the HD with either one of these:
320GB Serial ATA @ 5400 [Add A$ 160.00]
320GB Serial ATA @ 7200 [Add A$ 240.00]

Good thing is i'm selling my 13" to guy at my dad's work aswell to that'll at least take some of the cost down too.

Thanks heaps for your answers,
Steve
 
I owned the 2.4ghz unibody mbp and loved it so much I exchanged it for a 2.5ghz model. Do it! Well worth it!! :p
 
I reckon im gonna go the 2.53 in the end. I've got the cash to buy it so would hate to regret buying the 2.4 if I wasn't 'completely' happy.

Thanks for all your tips and help. I'm going in the the Apple store tomorrow to order it (because apparently they have none in stock).

Steve
 
SteveRFC said:
I reckon im gonna go the 2.53 in the end. I've got the cash to buy it so would hate to regret buying the 2.4 if I wasn't 'completely' happy.

Thanks for all your tips and help. I'm going in the the Apple store tomorrow to order it (because apparently they have none in stock).

Steve
Click to expand...

If you level the RAM out I don't think you would ever be able to detect a difference in a double blind test.
 
Have you checked out any benchmarks between the two systems? It's been a while since I've looked at them, but I think you'd have to be a power user (someone who wrung out every available processor cycle out of the machine) before you'd tell a difference.
 
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SteveRFC said:
I reckon im gonna go the 2.53 in the end. I've got the cash to buy it so would hate to regret buying the 2.4 if I wasn't 'completely' happy.

Thanks for all your tips and help. I'm going in the the Apple store tomorrow to order it (because apparently they have none in stock).

Steve
Click to expand...

That's a good idea. If you add in the upgrade to 4gb ram plus the hard drive upgrade with the $200 off (edu discount) instead of the $100 for the base model, you're paying about $200 more. You can't upgrade the processor in the future or the video card ram. If you have the cash go for it. It might not be a big difference now, but hardware gets outdated fast and you don't want to question your purchase of "should I have got the better one" down the road. Just my $.03 (I thought it had more value than 2 cents)
 
SteveRFC said:
I reckon im gonna go the 2.53 in the end. I've got the cash to buy it so would hate to regret buying the 2.4 if I wasn't 'completely' happy.

Thanks for all your tips and help. I'm going in the the Apple store tomorrow to order it (because apparently they have none in stock).

Steve
Click to expand...
I did the same. CS4 makes use of the GPU for processing, and with more and more CUDA apps, I thought that the 512MB of VRAM would come in useful - as well as having 4GB of normal RAM already in the machine. The CPU boost isn't that important.
 
SteveRFC said:
I reckon im gonna go the 2.53 in the end. I've got the cash to buy it so would hate to regret buying the 2.4 if I wasn't 'completely' happy.

Thanks for all your tips and help. I'm going in the the Apple store tomorrow to order it (because apparently they have none in stock).

Steve
Click to expand...

Both models will run just fine and do everything you want, but the faster one will do them faster. Getting the faster hard drive is worth it though and the battery usage is negligible. Also many have said 4GB DOES make a difference to a Mac, everything runs smoother.
 
I don't know about disk prices in Oz, but consider this:

+ $240 to upgrade to 320g, 7200.

I bought a Seagate 320g 7200 drive for about $100 US, and then I picked up a Macally 2.5" external case (FW, USB) for about $35. I took out the drive on my 17" early 2008 MBP, dropped the 320 in, put the old 200 gb one in the Macally case, and there was a nice spare drive.

Your plan has you spending another $100 over what I spent, just for the upgrade. And you still end up with just one drive.

It's said that replacing the drive on a new MBP is easy (not so easy on the old ones).
 
cg165 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)



That's a good idea. If you add in the upgrade to 4gb ram plus the hard drive upgrade with the $200 off (edu discount) instead of the $100 for the base model, you're paying about $200 more. You can't upgrade the processor in the future or the video card ram. If you have the cash go for it. It might not be a big difference now, but hardware gets outdated fast and you don't want to question your purchase of "should I have got the better one" down the road. Just my $.03 (I thought it had more value than 2 cents)
Click to expand...

I got a really good deal actually, Went into the apple store with my girlfriend who goes to university near the mac store and got around $400 AUS ($250 US) off the machine and because there was an xmas sale I got a further $100 AUS ($65 US) and a free Apple TV...:eek::eek::eek:

Very happy with the purchase So I paid about $3,500 Australian ($2,200 US) for the 2.53 MPB and an Apple TV.

The bloke reckons it will be in later this week or early next week. :D
 
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SteveRFC said:
cg165 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)



That's a good idea. If you add in the upgrade to 4gb ram plus the hard drive upgrade with the $200 off (edu discount) instead of the $100 for the base model, you're paying about $200 more. You can't upgrade the processor in the future or the video card ram. If you have the cash go for it. It might not be a big difference now, but hardware gets outdated fast and you don't want to question your purchase of "should I have got the better one" down the road. Just my $.03 (I thought it had more value than 2 cents)
Click to expand...

I got a really good deal actually, Went into the apple store with my girlfriend who goes to university near the mac store and got around $400 AUS ($250 US) off the machine and because there was an xmas sale I got a further $100 AUS ($65 US) and a free Apple TV...:eek::eek::eek:

Very happy with the purchase So I paid about $3,500 Australian ($2,200 US) for the 2.53 MPB and an Apple TV.

The bloke reckons it will be in later this week or early next week. :D
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a really good deal you got! How did you get an apple tv too?! I ordered mine online the day they were released, used an educational discount and spent quite a bit more than you did.

I'm about to get a MacBook for my wires parents (they live out of the country and it's cheaper here) so if there's something you did to get a better deal let me know so I can save them more money.

Does anyone know if I should get a new MacBook on black Friday or use an educational discount, which is better?
 
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