MacBook Pro configuration

[rasmusDoh]

Hey

Have never had a Mac, but have seriously fallen in love with them - especially since getting my first ever Apple product, my iPhone!

Could use you experts' help for this!

Wanna buy a MBP (like the design more and a few other reasons to not just get a MB) sometime soon. Willing to wait for the updates though, since i'm in no hurry - except that i'd love to get my hands on this baby..

Since this Laptop will be my only "screen" (have no extra monitor, nor a desktop computer) i'm gonna go with the 15".

I'm not the video editing type, so i'll mainly be using it for music, browsing, word, excel, a bit of Photoshop and watching some movies..
Will also be using it for university studies (economics) after "summer break"!
Will be needing to use Win 7 sometimes to for some work related programs - and would like to use both Boot Camp and Virtualization!

Guess the 2.53GHz and the graphics card in that will be enough for the above?

Will the 4 GB RAM do fine too - also when i'd like to use Windows virtualized now and then?

Should i upgrade the HDD from the standard 5400 RPM to the 7200 one? Ain't that expensive - but how much "better" is the latter one?

What about the display - will a Anti-Glare one be nice for my needs? Will it ruin the beauty of this machine?

Finally i'd like to know your opinion on the Apple Care Protection Plan - is it worth the 410$ (price in Denmark)?


Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[mgacam2]

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.

 

[Jazojas12]

Hey

Have never had a Mac, but have seriously fallen in love with them - especially since getting my first ever Apple product, my iPhone!

Could use you experts' help for this!

Wanna buy a MBP (like the design more and a few other reasons to not just get a MB) sometime soon. Willing to wait for the updates though, since i'm in no hurry - except that i'd love to get my hands on this baby..

Since this Laptop will be my only "screen" (have no extra monitor, nor a desktop computer) i'm gonna go with the 15".

I'm not the video editing type, so i'll mainly be using it for music, browsing, word, excel, a bit of Photoshop and watching some movies..
Will also be using it for university studies (economics) after "summer break"!
Will be needing to use Win 7 sometimes to for some work related programs - and would like to use both Boot Camp and Virtualization!

Guess the 2.53GHz and the graphics card in that will be enough for the above?

Will the 4 GB RAM do fine too - also when i'd like to use Windows virtualized now and then?

Should i upgrade the HDD from the standard 5400 RPM to the 7200 one? Ain't that expensive - but how much "better" is the latter one?

What about the display - will a Anti-Glare one be nice for my needs? Will it ruin the beauty of this machine?

Finally i'd like to know your opinion on the Apple Care Protection Plan - is it worth the 410$ (price in Denmark)?


Thanks a lot in advance!

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.

 

[David-fr]

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.

 

[atari1356]

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.

 

[rasmusDoh]

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 know that new ones are coming out soon - which i also wrote at the top of my thread..
So i guess what you mean is that i can't start trying to figure out which model is right for me till the new ones come?

As for the Storage seems pretty cheap for e.g. that 500GB WD one! Do i break any form of guarantee or separately bought insurance (if you know) if i manually replace the stock one with one of those?

A 7200RPM one ain't much faster than a 5400RPM one, or what? Not worth the extra cost and battery usage with my needs - or am i wrong here?