MBP 15inch for programming / web development and graphics

[thegeezer3]

This will be my first time buying a mac so a bit nervous about choosing the right machine. Ive read so many posts on here that my heads swimming, but i think ive made up my mind but just want reassurance.

Primary use is programming in ruby, web development with ruby on rails and running unit tests in the background.
Ill also be designing sites with photoshop / fireworks. I dont expect to be manipulating super hi res images.
Occasional editing of pesonal photos but nothing heavy.
No video editing
No games
usual browsing etc

looking for it to be speedy for 3 years and maybe get a new one in 4.

Hooking up to a 24 monitor to get an extra lot of real estate a must.

Its definately a 15inch model but which one. Something tells me inside the 2.4 will be ok especially if spend the savings on an ssd (maybe 6 months from now when 250gb ones become a bit more affordable) and / or boost the ram to 8gm.

I have the money to buy the i7 but i dont like spending money on cpu cycles i wont use.

would appreciate some opinions.

 

[zumbooruk1]

From the performance charts I'd consider either the low end i5 or the i7. The only reason I went with the i7 is because of the graphics memory... not the cpu cycles. But for what your describing you need it to do, the 2.4 should work fine.

This will be my first time buying a mac so a bit nervous about choosing the right machine. Ive read so many posts on here that my heads swimming, but i think ive made up my mind but just want reassurance.

Primary use is programming in ruby, web development with ruby on rails and running unit tests in the background.
Ill also be designing sites with photoshop / fireworks. I dont expect to be manipulating super hi res images.
Occasional editing of pesonal photos but nothing heavy.
No video editing
No games
usual browsing etc

looking for it to be speedy for 3 years and maybe get a new one in 4.

Hooking up to a 24 monitor to get an extra lot of real estate a must.

Its definately a 15inch model but which one. Something tells me inside the 2.4 will be ok especially if spend the savings on an ssd (maybe 6 months from now when 250gb ones become a bit more affordable) and / or boost the ram to 8gm.

I have the money to buy the i7 but i dont like spending money on cpu cycles i wont use.

would appreciate some opinions.

 

[mdatwood]

For what you do many would even consider the i5 overkill 😉

With that said I went with the i7 since that's a part I couldn't upgrade after the fact. You really will not go wrong with either choice.