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MacBook Pro

S

sektor

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 24, 2009
35
29
Hello,

I would like to purchase the latest MacBook Pro (MB985LL if I am not mistaking).

I have however a couple of questions :

1. Do i have any reason to wait until Snow Leopard is released, and buy the macbook with that installed? Will there be any hardware changes? or should i just buy it and upgrade to Snow later?

2. By default, the MacBook Pro features 5400rpm HDD. I'm thinking of either putting a 7200rpm one or a SSD disk. Will either of those reduce battery life? Any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance :)

Alex
 
1. Snow Leopard won't be pre-installed immediately so just buy one now.

2. 7200rpm drive will reduce the time but SSD will make it longer
 
Thank you for the quick response.

Do you think SSD is worth it?
Has anyone actually used an SSD on a MacBook pro?
What are the pros/cons?

As far as i know, it will be much more speedy, less noisy, and better battery life.

What about the cons?

:)
Alex
 
Cost is the main disadvantage, but also capacity. I still have the 5400 rpm drive in my 13" and it works fine for basic tasks.
 
you won't need an SSD for average things
signature_SmileyFace.jpg
. The macbooks will run fine whatever they have in them compared to most computers.... As for Snow leopard, buy now because it wiill be quite a while before they come pre-installed. And hey, its a $29 £25 upgrade so nothing too steep
 
Thanks everbody for the input.
I decided to buy the default hardware. They told me it would take up to 1 month for build-to-order and i can't wait that long.

Just another question, is MB985LL indeed the latest 15,4inch 2,66ghz?
 
I have a question as well...

I don't mean to be rude and steal your thread, but I just thought I could throw a question in here cause it seems so similar.

I have been waiting a very very long time to finally get a Macbook Pro (atleast a couple years). It finally seems like the time is right, but I had been procrastinating the last few months on just waiting for Snow Leopard (which I realize now is pointless to wait for), new Ipod touch to get free with Ed. disc. (which I now realize is irrelevant to wait for as it won't work, should have figured that one out a while ago), and any hardware updates.

So basically it comes down to the question of there being any significant upgrades to the MBPs: graphics card, new SSD speed therefore changing cost structure, or anything else. Just curious to see if it is likely to announce anything dealing with the MBP as this mostly Ipod event coming up?
 
googlia said:
I don't mean to be rude and steal your thread, but I just thought I could throw a question in here cause it seems so similar.

I have been waiting a very very long time to finally get a Macbook Pro (atleast a couple years). It finally seems like the time is right, but I had been procrastinating the last few months on just waiting for Snow Leopard (which I realize now is pointless to wait for), new Ipod touch to get free with Ed. disc. (which I now realize is irrelevant to wait for as it won't work, should have figured that one out a while ago), and any hardware updates.

So basically it comes down to the question of there being any significant upgrades to the MBPs: graphics card, new SSD speed therefore changing cost structure, or anything else. Just curious to see if it is likely to announce anything dealing with the MBP as this mostly Ipod event coming up?
Click to expand...

No major update before Q1 2010. NVIDIA and ATI are delivering new GPUs later on this year and new mobile CPUs from Intel are coming in early 2010. As for SSD, don't buy from Apple, buy it from 3rd party and install it yourself.
 
another couple things...

1. I was thinking about keeping the hard drive at 5400 cause I was told the 7200 just stresses it more and can have negative effects of it's life, so in the long run the 5400 was the way to go. any thoughts?

2. I thought the 2.66 ghz model had 6mb L2 cache, but it seems that starts at the 2.8ghz model. I don't care about the extra ghz, seems pointless at that difference, and dont care about the extra hard drive space cause the extra 180 isn't totally helpful (I figure once I start needing space into that amount it's going to be inevitable to have to get external drives anyway). So is the $250 worth it for the extra 3mb L2 cache? Am I missing the importance of the extra drive space or ghz speed?

3. I'm going to start doing photography and photo editing and things, though the glare gives better blacks and color, are the times when antiglare works and saves your the annoyance and dealing with glare worth it over the regular screen?

4. The question I'm most concerned about... Where to buy. I used to work for a marketing company where I would have to work in best buy for a few hours on some weekends, yada yada, became friends with mac rep, yada yada, he says (obviously cause he works there too probably), that the best buy protection plan is the one thing they have over the apple store. Also he said best buy will match the education discounts, so right there I'm just wondering why not get it @ best buy? I've hated giving into best buy and havent really bought anything there in the past few years, but it seems they may have the best option on this one. Do people have experience with their protection plan? Can I buy apple protection as well and use them for software issues? Basically, what does everyone find the best way to go about purchasing one would be (apple, macmall, best buy, shady crack dealer on corner)?
 
googlia said:
another couple things...

1. I was thinking about keeping the hard drive at 5400 cause I was told the 7200 just stresses it more and can have negative effects of it's life, so in the long run the 5400 was the way to go. any thoughts?

2. I thought the 2.66 ghz model had 6mb L2 cache, but it seems that starts at the 2.8ghz model. I don't care about the extra ghz, seems pointless at that difference, and dont care about the extra hard drive space cause the extra 180 isn't totally helpful (I figure once I start needing space into that amount it's going to be inevitable to have to get external drives anyway). So is the $250 worth it for the extra 3mb L2 cache? Am I missing the importance of the extra drive space or ghz speed?

3. I'm going to start doing photography and photo editing and things, though the glare gives better blacks and color, are the times when antiglare works and saves your the annoyance and dealing with glare worth it over the regular screen?

4. The question I'm most concerned about... Where to buy. I used to work for a marketing company where I would have to work in best buy for a few hours on some weekends, yada yada, became friends with mac rep, yada yada, he says (obviously cause he works there too probably), that the best buy protection plan is the one thing they have over the apple store. Also he said best buy will match the education discounts, so right there I'm just wondering why not get it @ best buy? I've hated giving into best buy and havent really bought anything there in the past few years, but it seems they may have the best option on this one. Do people have experience with their protection plan? Can I buy apple protection as well and use them for software issues? Basically, what does everyone find the best way to go about purchasing one would be (apple, macmall, best buy, shady crack dealer on corner)?
Click to expand...

1. 5400rpm is enough for most people. I would wait for bigger and cheaper SSDs

2. 2.8GHz model has also 256MB more VRAM. If you have the money, I would say, go for it.

3. Go to store and compare them
 
Yea I'm figuring just to go for it, I think those 3 things combine are worth the $250. I'm also one of those people that figure once you're gonna spend a ******** of money, you might as well spend a few more dollars and get what you really want. As in going to the store to compare, I never understood that cause I don't know to compare systems at the store, do they have strenuous programs you can run to test stuff like that. Basically when I'm at the store it's just a bunch of models that look all the same just different sizes.

any suggestion on where to buy?
 
googlia said:
Yea I'm figuring just to go for it, I think those 3 things combine are worth the $250. I'm also one of those people that figure once you're gonna spend a ******** of money, you might as well spend a few more dollars and get what you really want. As in going to the store to compare, I never understood that cause I don't know to compare systems at the store, do they have strenuous programs you can run to test stuff like that. Basically when I'm at the store it's just a bunch of models that look all the same just different sizes.

any suggestion on where to buy?
Click to expand...

What I meant was, glare and matte display is an opinion question, there's no right and wrong answer. That's why you should go to store and compare them and pick which you like more.
 
oh yea, i thought u meant compare speeds and things, but for the screen you are absolutely right. good call.
 
sektor said:
Thanks everbody for the input.
I decided to buy the default hardware. They told me it would take up to 1 month for build-to-order and i can't wait that long.

Just another question, is MB985LL indeed the latest 15,4inch 2,66ghz?
Click to expand...

Yes, you are purchasing the newest hardware.

15.4" MBP's
MC118LL/A Newest 2.53Ghz
MB985LL/A Newest 2.66Ghz
MB986LL/A Newest 2.80Ghz
 
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