Macbook Pro choice advice

[christoph1784]

Hello everyone, i am having a bit of a conundrum trying to figure out which model of MBP to purchase. I typically work with pretty big photography files and do occasionaly work with hd video in final cut as well. I would be replacing a 2.8ghz MBP C2D processor, 500gb hdd 9600 512mb with 8gb of ram, this computer sadly thanks to one of my friends met an unfortunate end. I dont mind waiting longer for video encodes since i dont do it so much, and found the 2.8ghz i had to be sufficient for most tasks. 75% of the time the computer is hooked up to an external monitor. Whatever i get i would eventually be replacing the hdd with a solid state once they go down in price, and popping some aftermarket ram in too so those arent really sticking points on which model to choose. My debate is between the 15 inch i5 and the 15 inch i7. I am wondering for my purposes will the difference in the 256mb vs the 512mb cause me issues either with photoshop or running things on a 24-27"

 

[Vantage Point]

I have the 15" i5 2.4 and use photoshop CS5 w/8Gb ram with a 26" monitor. No problems at all.

Compared to the i5 2.4 the i5 2.53 is about 5% faster and the i7 2.66 is about 15%. But the i5 2.4 not only has turbo boost but hyperthreading which may make it faster than a 3.06 C2D in some tests like geek tests. This means the slowest i5 2.4ghz can be noticably faster than what you had. You can see the benchmark scores here

 

[christoph1784]

Thanks for the link, according to those results the i5 2.4 is sufficiently better than what i had. The video card was my main concern but since you dont seem to be having any issues with it I think i will go the same route and save myself a few hundred bucks to upgrade later, really wish i had the option to grab the amped up video card though with this i5, i guess i could if i went with the 17 inch but for the 25% of the time the computer is travelling i would hate myself for it.

 

[Vantage Point]

I've had no issues with the video card watching TV shows on my 26" monitor. I also had a late 2009 27" iMac 3.06 C2D and that had only a 256 video card and no problems. Also, the i7's run hotter and draw noticeably more power form the battery - I lost a link that shows this but it is at least 30 minutes less battery time with an i7. Mine has never gotten very hot yet

I suspect the bigger video card would be more important for those playing games and need fast screen refreshes but I don't play games, mostly photoshop and the occasional show.

The money I saved has gone into a ram upgrade and soon a hard drive upgrade, probably a 500gb 7200 rpm hitachi that goes for about $65 on Amazon now.. I also bought my 15" MBP on Amazon for only $1675 no tax and free shipping - great deal

 

[christoph1784]

Ordering

Gonna be ordering it in about an hour, abusing my friends discount before it expires, total comes out to 1620ish for the 2.4 i5, unless i opt for the hd antiglare screen, which im still on the fence about, most of the time it wont matter but when i am in travel mode it would be nice, and will kick the final cost to 1750.

 

[Vantage Point]

The anti-glare would be my choice except that it is only available on the hi-def screen. I am not a fan of the higher rez screen since I don't like small fonts, as well as smaller web images. Wish Apple would offer anti-glare as the standard instead of glossy but sex sells

 

[iPhone1]

Anti-glare screen offers more accurate colors which may be important to you if you produce prints on a regular basis.

 

[macpluslaptop]

The anti-glare would be my choice except that it is only available on the hi-def screen. I am not a fan of the higher rez screen since I don't like small fonts, as well as smaller web images. Wish Apple would offer anti-glare as the standard instead of glossy but sex sells

I was worried about this before getting my hi-res MBP, but I haven't had any problem with small fonts. I just zoom when I have to (as I've always done with Word docs). Maybe the clarity of the hi-res screen makes the difference.

 

[Vantage Point]

I was worried about this before getting my hi-res MBP, but I haven't had any problem with small fonts. I just zoom when I have to (as I've always done with Word docs). Maybe the clarity of the hi-res screen makes the difference.

I had a 27" iMac, same pixel density but pushed further back which makes apparent size smaller. I am one of those people that couldn't take it and often used it at a different resolution setting. That worked but why have a monitor that you don't use at it's native resolution. So I sold it and bought my MBP and external monitor combo and life is good. Of course using the magic mouse made it trickier to zoom than pinching the trackpad.