Macbook Pro base or midrange model?

[Dachande663]

Hi Everyone,
I've decided to get a Macbook Pro sometime late next month or early July when some outstanding debts come in from clients. I was initially budgeting for the baseline Macbook Pro but I now have an extra excess that would allow me to get the midrange model. My question is, is the extra £300 worth the additional performance? I know the midrange model has a faster processor, larger L2 cache, double vram and a larger HDD but is this really worth the extra cost?

Any opinions, or even better benchmarks, will be much appreciated.

 

[aaronw1986]

Hi Everyone,
I've decided to get a Macbook Pro sometime late next month or early July when some outstanding debts come in from clients. I was initially budgeting for the baseline Macbook Pro but I now have an extra excess that would allow me to get the midrange model. My question is, is the extra £300 worth the additional performance? I know the midrange model has a faster processor, larger L2 cache, double vram and a larger HDD but is this really worth the extra cost?

Any opinions, or even better benchmarks, will be much appreciated.

It really depends on what you are doing...for most people it's not worth it. We need more info.

 

[Fenir]

I like that question Dach. I will be getting an MBP soon as well, and am not sure.

For me, I am more interested in the added Video Card memory, as occasionally I will boot into XP and do a little bit of gaming. But I'm not quite sure that justifies the price difference.

 

[Dachande663]

My main uses will be as follows:

• Primarily web design; heavy use of Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver etc
• Possible video editing; (the reason I'm getting a Pro over MB), I'm doing a multimedia course at Uni that will require use of video, but not sure to what level.
• Gaming; I have a 360, but I still like CS:S and I'm planning to get CoD4 as well.

Would any of these benefit greatly from the extra? I'm also tempted to get the midrange model for the extra resale value (assuming there is any). Thanks so far.

 

[MattZani]

Im assuming your going to keep this for a good 3 years or so, and my rule is buy the best you can, because other than ram and hdd, you cant upgrade it.

 

[cmcbridejr]

Set aside a budget for software and accessories (mouse, bag, etc), then buy the best model you can afford with the money leftover.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

Stick with the base model. The extra VRAM in the midrange does little to improve game performance. The only big thing you are missing out on is the slightly better processor (which will offer 5 - 10% more performance). IMO, £300 isn't worth the slight power boost. Go for the low-end and buy yourself £300 worth of chocolate or something

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp02.html - They compare the 17" to the 15" which isn't really fair as the 17" has a higher clocked graphics card and it's BTO'd with the 2.6 GHz processor, but it gives a decent idea.

 

[Dachande663]

That's the thing, I can afford either model, I've already budgeted for all the additional hardware and software I'll need. I just didn't know if the higher specs were worth the difference, but it seems they aren't. Thank you for the advice.