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Macbook Pro : which one?

A

apersianboyCOM

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 28, 2008
328
0
London, UK
Hi!
(I did a search using mroogle but couldn't find anything specific to what I want to ask!).
I'm a windows user and want to get a Macbook Pro in the next couple of days because I've had enough of windows.

I currently have a 14.5" Sony Vaio running on windows XP (it's about 5 years old!),40GB hard drive, intel celeron 2.8GHz processor, and 448MB RAM.

I was thinking about the 15" Macbook Pro, with 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM and 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive. OR with the 2.8GHz processor.
The only thing is I'm scared if I get the 2.5GHz one it might be slower than my current laptop as it's got a 2.8GHz processor.

I will be using it for general tasks such as word, listening to music, using Nero/toast to burn DVD's and more memory consuming tasks for webdesign using Adobe Photoshop and (Paint shop Pro - on windows in bootcamp).

Please help me, any advice will be much appreciated I really don't know what one to get, and as I'm spending so much I'd rather pay the extra £206 for the 2.8Ghz (if it will benefit me).

Looking forward to your replies.
 
apersianboyCOM said:
intel celeron...

...I get the 2.5GHz one it might be slower than my current laptop as it's got a 2.8GHz processor.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for that laugh. I needed that. This isn't 1996. The Megahertz War has been over for the longest time. A 1.8GHz Core Duo performs better than a 4.8GHz Pentium 4. Gigahertz is meaningless across processor lines now.

Heck, get the base model if you want. It'll be... I want to say a minimum of twice as fast as your laptop, even with only 4x the RAM instead of 8x the RAM.
 
apersianboyCOM said:
Hi!
(I did a search using mroogle but couldn't find anything specific to what I want to ask!).
I'm a windows user and want to get a Macbook Pro in the next couple of days because I've had enough of windows.

I currently have a 14.5" Sony Vaio running on windows XP (it's about 5 years old!),40GB hard drive, intel celeron 2.8GHz processor, and 448MB RAM.

I was thinking about the 15" Macbook Pro, with 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM and 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive. OR with the 2.8GHz processor.
The only thing is I'm scared if I get the 2.5GHz one it might be slower than my current laptop as it's got a 2.8GHz processor.

I will be using it for general tasks such as word, listening to music, using Nero/toast to burn DVD's and more memory consuming tasks for webdesign using Adobe Photoshop and (Paint shop Pro - on windows in bootcamp).

Please help me, any advice will be much appreciated I really don't know what one to get, and as I'm spending so much I'd rather pay the extra £206 for the 2.8Ghz (if it will benefit me).

Looking forward to your replies.
Click to expand...


So, what is your question? Will you notice the difference?...I missed the part about the celeron, that is funny.
 
I think you should go for the base model MBP and upgrade the memory/hard drive yourself or if you don't wanna do that just spend more and let apple do it. I don't think you need the 2.5 or the 2.8 to answer your question.

ChrisN
 
What I meant was because it's a different OS will it matter?
Also will the fact that I had a intel celeron processor and the macbook pro having a Intel Core 2 Duo processor make any difference in speed?

Will having the 2.8GHz benefit me for the tasks I want to use it for?
 
Tallest Skil said:
Thanks a lot for that laugh. I needed that. This isn't 1996. The Megahertz War has been over for the longest time. A 1.8GHz Core Duo performs better than a 4.8GHz Pentium 4. Gigahertz is meaningless across processor lines now.

Heck, get the base model if you want. It'll be... I want to say a minimum of twice as fast as your laptop, even with only 4x the RAM instead of 8x the RAM.
Click to expand...

A MacBook Air will be faster than his celeron. :eek:
 
apersianboyCOM said:
What I meant was because it's a different OS will it matter?
Also will the fact that I had a intel celeron processor and the macbook pro having a Intel Core 2 Duo processor make any difference in speed?

Will having the 2.8GHz benefit me for the tasks I want to use it for?
Click to expand...

Yes. OS X runs faster than Windows even when they have identical hardware. Strangely, Windows runs faster on Mac hardware than on identical PC hardware, as well.

Yes. VERY much so.

You'd be perfectly fine with the 2.4 or 2.5 for what you're doing. Don't spend more than you can unless you particularly want to.
 
To be honest you could easily get the Stock Macbook pro. The processor thing was pretty funny, I would read up on the Core Architecture. It's not clock speed that makes things fast anymore it's a lot more than that.
 
Thanks a lot for the quick replies I really appreciate it... lol made me laugh too and as they say you learn something new everyday! (I haven't done IT in years!).

I was thinking about the base model but I'd rather have the 4GB of RAM.

how about for burning DVD's? will the 2.5GHz one be pretty quick at say a 2 hour movie?
 
apersianboyCOM said:
Thanks a lot for the quick replies I really appreciate it... lol made me laugh too and as they say you learn something new everyday! (I haven't done IT in years!).

I was thinking about the base model but I had a look at it in the Apple store and the screen size seems too small compared to what I've already got! I know it's only 2" bigger but the macbook pro just looks nicer.

how about for burning DVD's? will the 2.5GHz one be pretty quick at say a 2 hour movie?
Click to expand...

It will be plenty fast for buring DVD's, Although it's more the Optical drive that make the difference in this case.
 
Mid tier Macbook Pro is a better value than the low end, if you know you want to upgrade the RAM and Hard drive anyway - Apple does it for you and not only do you get the faster proc, but you get warrantied coverage of your (from Apple) 4gb RAM and larger hard drive.

I usually always recommend the lowest tier as the best value, but for the Macbook Pro, I wish I would have bought the middle tier instead.
 
so if I do get the 2.5GHz one instead of the 2.8GHz one there won't be much of a speed difference between them? anyone know how much faster the 2.8GHz one is (percentage wise)?

Also, I read somewhere that having the 7200 rpm hard drive makes the laptop really hot, is this true?
 
apersianboyCOM said:
so if I do get the 2.5GHz one instead of the 2.8GHz one there won't be much of a speed difference between them? anyone know how much faster the 2.8GHz one is (percentage wise)?

Also, I read somewhere that having the 7200 rpm hard drive makes the laptop really hot, is this true?
Click to expand...

15" unibody in Geekbench 2:

2.4: 3129
2.5: 3290
2.8: 3671

Whatever those numbers mean. :D
 
apersianboyCOM said:
so if I do get the 2.5GHz one instead of the 2.8GHz one there won't be much of a speed difference between them? anyone know how much faster the 2.8GHz one is (percentage wise)?

Also, I read somewhere that having the 7200 rpm hard drive makes the laptop really hot, is this true?
Click to expand...

No on the hot.
 
Don't compares physical numbers. Especially when it comes down to cores and all, the mac's never have been matched by the numbers in the PC's. Like how the laptops would get 1ghz when the dells were up to 2.2, etc. They are just as fast, just simply didn't need the extra power. It is the same today and I think you would be impressed with the base, let alone the 2.5. Maybe even try the cheapest one first and then before 2 weeks are up, make up your mind. They will take it back no questions asked if you take care of your new MBP. I don't highly recommend this option thought. Even with the standard configuration of memory, you new mac will smoke you old pc ;)
 
TopGear300 said:
Don't compares physical numbers. Especially when it comes down to cores and all, the mac's never have been matched by the numbers in the PC's. Like how the laptops would get 1ghz when the dells were up to 2.2, etc. They are just as fast, just simply didn't need the extra power. It is the same today and I think you would be impressed with the base, let alone the 2.5. Maybe even try the cheapest one first and then before 2 weeks are up, make up your mind. They will take it back no questions asked if you take care of your new MBP. I don't highly recommend this option thought. Even with the standard configuration of memory, you new mac will smoke you old pc ;)
Click to expand...

Is that because my laptop had a intel celeron processor and the MBP has a Intel Core 2 Duo processor? so even if I get the 2.5GHz one it will be much faster than the 2.8GHz on my laptop right now because it's core duo?
 
apersianboyCOM said:
Is that because my laptop had a intel celeron processor and the MBP has a Intel Core 2 Duo processor? so even if I get the 2.5GHz one it will be much faster than the 2.8GHz on my laptop right now because it's core duo?
Click to expand...

Yes, The Core (that means Core 2 Duo) Series processors are a lot faster than Pentium 4's which is faster than a celeron. It is no comparison vs. your celeron. Put it this way The core 2 Duo will destroy your celeron in anything!
 
apersianboyCOM said:
Is that because my laptop had a intel celeron processor and the MBP has a Intel Core 2 Duo processor? so even if I get the 2.5GHz one it will be much faster than the 2.8GHz on my laptop right now because it's core duo?
Click to expand...

Think of it like gears on your car. Your celeron is 1st gear, your Core2Duo is 5th gear. The Mhz/Ghz is your Rev counter.

In first gear at 3000rpm, you are going maybe 20-30mph. in 5th gear at 3000rpm your are doing 80. The speed of the engine doesn't determine how fast your are going, just how quickly the engine is turning.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Even if you got the 2.1 in the last-gen MacBook it would be faster.
Click to expand...
That's wicked, thanks a lot.


Techguy172 said:
Yes, The Core (that means Core 2 Duo) Series processors are a lot faster than Pentium 4's which is faster than a celeron. It is no comparison vs. your celeron. Put it this way The core 2 Duo will destroy your celeron in anything!
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for your explanation, that was my main question because I was worried about having a 2.8GHz right now and downgrading to the 2.5GHz on the MPB and if it would make a difference, I really appreciate it.

yetanotherdave said:
Think of it like gears on your car. Your celeron is 1st gear, your Core2Duo is 5th gear. The Mhz/Ghz is your Rev counter.

In first gear at 3000rpm, you are going maybe 20-30mph. in 5th gear at 3000rpm your are doing 80. The speed of the engine doesn't determine how fast your are going, just how quickly the engine is turning.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your description, I get it now :)
 
The new 7200 drives are not hotter and also use no more power than the
5400's. But they do produce a little very high freq. vibration on the top of the laptop I had never noticed before. Just upgraded to a Seagate Momentus 7200.3 a few weeks ago.
 
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