MPB or rMBP

[bb0bbby]

I have been a PC guy for a very long time & finally ready to pull the trigger on a mac.

Plan to use it for photo & HD video editing for my kids' sporting events and web browsing etc. I am wondering about the rendering abilities & speed differences between the 15" with with 750GB 7200rpm vs 256GB rMBP. I like to have good storage space b/c I travel quite a bit...but want it to be able to do what my PC has failed to do efficiently.
I am concerned about the 8GB vs 16GB and upgradability as well.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

~bb0bbby

 

[charlieegan3]

chances are you will live on 8gb, + it keep the $'s down

rMBP is more portable and will load stuff faster, but in terms of rendering shouldn't be a huge amount of difference.

 

[edk99]

Rendering abilities is non issue. Both are more then capable for what your uses are.

If storage is your main concern then the regular MBP is a good choice. I would opt for the HiRes screen. With that laptop you can replace the optical drive with another hard drive for more storage and also get a SSD to speed things up. Then you can upgrade the RAM on your own.

If you go with the rMBP memory should be a non-issue. Just upgrade to 16gb and be done with it. The $200 memory upgrade price is reasonable for the type of memory that the rMBP uses. As for hard drive space I feel that the 256gb is tight and I would opt for the 512gb ssd.

The rMBP will cost a little more initially because of ssd upgrade and memory upgrade but in the end if you upgrade the memory to 16gb and get a SSD for the MBP your cost will be close.

MBP
------
2.6ghz
8gb RAM
750gb 7200
Hi Res
-----------------$2,349.00

Upgrades
512SSD---------$400.00
16gb RAM------$100.00
-----------------$2,849.00

rMBP
2.6ghz
16gb RAM
512 SDD
-----------------$2,999.00

I weighed out the same choices above and ended up with a rMBP 2.6, 512, 16.

I have a usb 3.0 1.5tb external 2.5" portable drive I use for my music and movies.

 

[bb0bbby]

Thanks so much! I was definitely looking at the hi-res antiglare screen with the 750GB 7200rpm HD.
Still wondering why they don't offer the 16GB upgrade on the regular MBP

 

[Orlandoech]

Thanks so much! I was definitely looking at the hi-res antiglare screen with the 750GB 7200rpm HD.
Still wondering why they don't offer the 16GB upgrade on the regular MBP

I would NOT upgrade my HDD through Apple, its a rip off. I would get an SSD and replace it myself, much cheaper and super easy.

 

[bb0bbby]

I would NOT upgrade my HDD through Apple, its a rip off. I would get an SSD and replace it myself, much cheaper and super easy.

It is $45 to go from 750 5400rpm to 750 7200rpm on the regular MBP. I was planning on taking out the optical drive & upgrading to SSD later.
Am I missing something here?

btw - incredible pictures on your website! http://www.orlandoech.com/
WOW!

 

[BlazednSleepy]

I have 2.6hz 2012 cMBP with 7200rpm HDD. I also have a data doubler with OWC 6G drive in my optical and set it up so I get the best of both worlds. SSD for OS and applications and HDD for everyhting like photos music documents etc. So now I get the speed of an SSD and the space of an HDD.

 

[Orlandoech]

It is $45 to go from 750 5400rpm to 750 7200rpm on the regular MBP. I was planning on taking out the optical drive & upgrading to SSD later.
Am I missing something here?

btw - incredible pictures on your website! http://www.orlandoech.com/
WOW!

Ah, thats cheap. Yea, i would definitely do the optibay mod and SSD.

Thanks for the nice words, much appreciated.

 

[dw3bb10]

I just picked up a brand new 2012, base 15inch for $1650! Plan on picking up 8 or 16gb ram and an SSD on Black Friday....they should be cheap Lol