Need some advice, MBP v rMPB

[Acterveld]

Hi,

I'm looking to order a MacBook on Monday, however I'm having a dilemma on what to buy...

I have a high end custom built desktop for gaming with an SSD for windows and HDD for everything else, spotify for music and an external HDD for movies.

In September 2013 I'll be off to university for a computer science degree, where I may be required to install windows.

The two options are:

MacBook Non-Retina 15":
2.6 Ghz i7
8GB RAM that I'll upgrade to 16 myself
750 GB 5400RPM HDD (URGH...)
Anti Glare display

Or

MacBook Retina:
2.3 Ghz i7
16GB RAM
256GB SSD (I feel this may be too small despite where I said I store media in the above paragraph)

I REALLY don't want to shell out so much more for a 2.6 512GB retina. So what would you guys suggest.

 

[charlieegan3]

The main thing is the lack of the optical drive, is that going to be an issue?

Also do you think you can live on 256gb? Give us more of a feel for the amount of data involved.

Out of interest where are you doing CS?

 

[Acterveld]

The main thing is the lack of the optical drive, is that going to be an issue?

Also do you think you can live on 256gb? Give us more of a feel for the amount of data involved.

Out of interest where are you doing CS?

I haven't used a disk drive in a year haha

Like I said I dont often keep music on internal storage, I use spotify. On my current desktop I have a 1TB for anything non OS related. 280GB worth is games so I think I'm only using like 120GB, and that's with some films and music which I haven't cleaned up.

It's more if I have to dual boot I feel 256 will be uncomfortable to work with. Always better to have too much storage than too little. Although I would buy a 1TB portable external for any films and photos.

In relation to where, I'm looking at places like York and Durham at the moment but my actual choices are still not set in stone

 

[bf2008]

Well, if you need to run Windows 256gb will probably be too little for two OSs. However, I think using windows on a mac kind of sucks and it's a waste. Why not buy the rMBP and sort out the windows side with a windows pc? Buying the non retina MBP is a bit of a pity, because the rMBP doesn't really cost more if you take into account that it comes with an SSD.

 

[Acterveld]

Well, if you need to run Windows 256gb will probably be too little for two OSs. However, I think using windows on a mac kind of sucks and it's a waste. Why not buy the rMBP and sort out the windows side with a windows pc? Buying the non retina MBP is a bit of a pity, because the rMBP doesn't really cost more if you take into account that it comes with an SSD.

I was thinking that, my desktop will be fine for windows tasks. Any one else have input?

 

[retinarob]

I would figure out when you think you're going to be getting your next notebook after this upgrade. If it's not going to be for another couple years I'd go with the retina so that you have the updated display.

With a powerful desktop you have what you need windows and gaming.

You seem competent enough to manage the 256GB storage, so the base model would be fine for OS X. There will also be computer labs if you really need them, but compatibility between windows and mac is generally pretty good (at least it was in 07 when I was doing my CS requirements in college!).

 

[Acterveld]

I would figure out when you think you're going to be getting your next notebook after this upgrade. If it's not going to be for another couple years I'd go with the retina so that you have the updated display.

With a powerful desktop you have what you need windows and gaming.

You seem competent enough to manage the 256GB storage, so the base model would be fine for OS X. There will also be computer labs if you really need them, but compatibility between windows and mac is generally pretty good (at least it was in 07 when I was doing my CS requirements in college!).

True, I was looking at high end airs but I think coming from a high spec desktop, a dual core will just feel odd even though I doubt I'll be doing many processor intensive tasks.

 

[BornAgainMac]

For Windows (Gaming), I use a 50 GB partition with a Macbook Air and place my Steam games on an external USB drive. Older games and traditional Windows applications run fine in Parallels / VMWare using an external USB drive when I am using my Mac. You can get around the 256 GB limitation by having all media stored on external drives. For some reason, Mac Applications need to be installed on your primary boot drive.

I was considering moving to a normal MBP but for the money the rMPB makes better sense. I wish SSD drives were the same price and capacity as traditional drives.

 

[miles01110]

Get the non-retina model.

 

[Acterveld]

Get the non-retina model.

That's my instinct at the moment, or would you suggest I wait until next year when I NEED a Laptop (I wanted it early just for something new, sounds silly but hopefully you can see where I'm coming from) and seeing what they do with the Retina 2nd gen and whether or not they discontinue the cMBP?

 

[Judas1]

Get the non-retina. You said you were going to upgrade the ram yourself. While you're at it, you can replace the superdrive with a SSD. There are tutorials out there to replace the superdrive with an SSD. Great because you'll have both a fast SSD for the OSs, and the HDD for media files.