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MacBook pro 2.66GHz new model vs previous model conundrum

L

Lomaxfairchild

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 25, 2003
20
0
PC World (in the UK) are selling the old 2.66GHz 15" model for £1,149 (rather than £1,499 for the new model).

The differences between it and the new model are summarised below (as I understand them)

Battery: Old: 5hr, New:7hr non-swappable
Display: New: Better colour gamut (apparently?)
Processor: Old: 6MB cache, New: 3MB cache
Card bay: Old: Express34, New: SD

Of the above only the battery life is of any relevance to me (unless the display quality is really that different?). The SD card would be marginally more useful than the Express card.

So is the new model worth the extra £350?
 
The old one doesn't have 5hrs battery life, it has about 3-3.5hrs in real terms.

The new one only has 7hrs if you are word processing / light usage.
In real terms you get about 5-6hrs for the new one.

If you can afford it id get the new one for the battery alone - it lasts 1000 cycles compared to 300 for the old one - just forget about the if, buts & maybe's and buy the new one.

I have the new one - so far so good.

ps. i would never buy anything from pc world
 
yuanmoons said:
The old one doesn't have 5hrs battery life, it has about 3-3.5hrs in real terms.
Click to expand...

I was taking that as read - the point being that there's a 2hr difference

If you can afford it id get the new one for the battery alone - it lasts 1000 cycles compared to 300 for the old one
Click to expand...
Interesting, I didn't know that.

ps. i would never buy anything from pc world
Click to expand...
Why not? They're just box shifters after all. If you're talking about going to them for advice, however . . . ;-)
 
hmmn, didn't know that they were selling the old ones off, interesting. For me the pros are:
Old one-Express card slot is a huge bonus
New one- Matt screen option is a huge bonus

I don't care about the battery. I have had to change the battery in my MBP so having an easily replaceable one is nice. I am fine with my current MBP battery life.

I think because of this I will wait for the next revisions. If they had kept the expressscard I would update now.
 
Just to add something extra into the mix: The old model has double the video RAM (512MB).

So (for me, at least) it comes down to: better battery vs more video RAM + £350 discount
 
What are you using the machine for?
Traveling a lot?

If you are gonna use the machine on battery 3hrs+ every day i'd pick the new one.
In any other case, i'll go for the old one.
 
Will the video ram truly make a difference to your daily mac experience? If so, then get it. How often is it going to matter to the average user? Not much in my opinion.

Will the battery be helpful? 5-6 hours is probably going to be a full days usage for most people with abit of 'sleep' in between etc.

If both are useful then toss a coin and be done with it :p

Battery is a real tangible measurable immediate benefit. The extra 2 hours makes a big difference to me DAILY.

If you re charging the old battery twice a day - thats 300 cycles = 150 days = 6 months

If you are charging the new battery once a day thats a 1000 cycles = 1000 days = 3 years

Ofcourse there will be variations and it maybe only 800 cycles in real terms but you get the point.
 
cluthz said:
What are you using the machine for?
Traveling a lot?

If you are gonna use the machine on battery 3hrs+ every day i'd pick the new one.
In any other case, i'll go for the old one.
Click to expand...
I rarely find myself running out of battery on my current MacBook - even with its 3yr old depleted battery. Like many of these things, the extra battery would be nice but not essential.

I think I'm going to let the money be the deciding factor and go for the old one with its marginally better spec/poor battery trade-off
 
Go with the new, you'd be wondering if you made the right decision or not.

The less onboard cache will not impact performance severely and as you noted you think the SD slot is better then express card
 
Lomaxfairchild said:
I rarely find myself running out of battery on my current MacBook - even with its 3yr old depleted battery. Like many of these things, the extra battery would be nice but not essential.

I think I'm going to let the money be the deciding factor and go for the old one with its marginally better spec/poor battery trade-off
Click to expand...

glad to help :) enjoy!
 
Don't forget that the current 2.66ghz version is just a processor upgrade of the previous 2.4ghz version which was the low end MBP. 3MB L2 Cache only half the video ram, but it does have that internal longer lasting battery

The previous 2.66Ghz was the high end model when it released. Since I already have this one, I would say get this. Just for the battery alone it's not worth getting the newer one as I think more memory in the long term is better to keep you a little future proof.

You can always do what I did and buy a spare battery for £99
 
Thanks for all the advice.

In the end I bought the old model as it seems better in all but battery life and paying another 30% just for that didn't seem worth it.

As pointed out up thread, I can always buy an extra battery if I need it.
 
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