MacBook Pro configuration

Since most people are probably sick of replying to threads like these over and over again I'll help you out. New Macbook Pros should be coming out anytime now within the next few days or weeks. The specs will be considerably better as apples current line is basically the same specs for the past 4 years. New graphics cards and I core processors have been released and there will be considerable updates. With that in mind I would buy at minimum the 15 inch 2.66 ghz. The 15 inch with the 9400 in my mind is not good enough for any decent gaming or real video editing. If your just doing spreadsheets and watching movies you should be fine but I find that even with 1080p playback that computer will have a few hiccups here and there. Realistically your looking at 25% increase per mhz in the new processors and a possible 200-300% increase in graphics performance if you wait for the new ones. Check the Arrandale thread for all the information you need.

 

I have the 13" and mainly use it for browsing the internet and occasionally video editing and photoshop, it works fine with 2.26GHz and 4GB of memory. I run WinXP with Parallels and have no problems with memory.
If you get the faster hard drive your battery probably won't last as long. But if you mainly are just internet browsing you won't need it.
Everyone seems to like anti-glare or doesn't mind not having it. Take a look at one in person to decide for yourself. I do not have it and never have any issues, but I can't compare as I do not use one with it.

AppleCare is more than worth it if you need it. If you don't ever use it it would be a waste. If you think you might need it or don't want to risk it, get it. There are sellers on ebay who sell it for much cheaper but I can't remember for sure if it matters where you buy AppleCare. Someone was saying a while back they bought one in the UK and it wouldn't work trying to activate in the US. I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Macboook pro

i would get the Macbook pro with the 256megs video card...will last longer, for future video specs. don't upgrade ur HDD wait untill it gets slow then you will feel the boost. get parallels is awsome! and use spaces to make windows full screen and that way u could go back to OS X in a second...Apple care is worth if your keeping the machine for long time (4 years) specially with 1st gen i proccesors.

 

For what you want to do, yes the base 15" machine would be fine.

4GB should be fine as well - certainly plenty to start with, and you can always upgrade at a later date if you find your needs change.

Personally I like the matte screens better... the glossy ones show too many distracting reflections.

For the hard drive, I'd buy it with the stock drive, then replace that with something bigger/faster from a third party. The Western Digital Scorpio Blue drives are highly rated (quiet, fast and reliable). Or, if you want the ultimate in speed and don't mind sacrificing drive space get an Intel SSD drive or one of these OWC Mercury SSD drives.

I've never purchased Apple Care, and have been fine without it. However, it did come in handy at work when an iMac died a couple of years after it was purchased.