Moving from 08 uMBP to . ?

[Gr80Likes2Boogi]

Hey all,

My '08 15" uMBP Core2duo (2.8ghz, 4gb RAM, 500gb HDD) is a little long in the tooth, and I'm considering an upgrade. Here are the options as I see them right now, and I'm interested in hearing your opinions!

Option 1 - upgrade to an SSD, do a clean install of OSX, replace battery (which it needs regardless)

Option 2 - refurb'd MBa, looking at the 1.7ghz i7, 8gb ram, 512SSD

Option 3 - refurb'd uMBP 15" with all the bells and whistles I can get in my budget.

Looking to spend $1400-1600. I used to do a lot more Logic work, and still do a fair amount of audio/video control via Qlab. Other than that, the normal junk one does when typing their lives away (word processing, internetzing, light Steam games). I'm just curious if anyone has made the jump to a smaller computer and what their experience is. By every metric, the MBa i7 is a "better" computer than my current rig.

 

[Natzoo]

the MBA is fine, upgrade to 8gb of ram. Or just get the rMBP. Your call retina screen or non retina screen. Also the rMBP is more powerful

 

[redheeler]

Hey all,

My '08 15" uMBP Core2duo (2.8ghz, 4gb RAM, 500gb HDD) is a little long in the tooth, and I'm considering an upgrade. Here are the options as I see them right now, and I'm interested in hearing your opinions!

Option 1 - upgrade to an SSD, do a clean install of OSX, replace battery (which it needs regardless)

Option 2 - refurb'd MBa, looking at the 1.7ghz i7, 8gb ram, 512SSD

Option 3 - refurb'd uMBP 15" with all the bells and whistles I can get in my budget.

Looking to spend $1400-1600. I used to do a lot more Logic work, and still do a fair amount of audio/video control via Qlab. Other than that, the normal junk one does when typing their lives away (word processing, internetzing, light Steam games). I'm just curious if anyone has made the jump to a smaller computer and what their experience is. By every metric, the MBa i7 is a "better" computer than my current rig.

A refurb 15" rMBP would fit your budget, the main disadvantage would be lack of a dedicated GPU (which the Macbook Air doesn't have either). However, you'll get bonuses such as a retina display, fast SSD, better battery life, and a thinner/lighter laptop compared to a classic unibody MBP.

 

[austinpike]

If the core2duo has the horsepower you need (sounds like it does,) why not try to milk it a little longer? An SSD and a clean install will do wonders for it. You can get a 256GB for $100 or less and a generic battery for $20.