New MacBook Pro - what to do?

[Sehnsucht]

OK, so I just wanted some opinions on the following scenario:

I currently own a 20" aluminum iMac, 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive. I've had it only since this August, and I LOVE it to death and have had zero problems. Now, recently I've begun to realize that I'll be needing a portable computer, i.e. a MacBook Pro, for classes and several upcoming trips. My parents have a hideous Dell Vostro something-or-other that takes at least several millennia to boot, roars like an overclocked hair dryer and belches black smoke. Now, I'm in the process of convincing them to order me a new maxed-out 15" MacBook Pro (subtotal $2,928) and they get my iMac in return. Ultimately it will be up to them whether they want to spend the money, but I'm curious if it's really that practical, since at the moment I don't have to worry about battery life. Anyone?

 

[akashhhhh]

If this was your money, clearly the best thing to do would be save about $1500 and go for a Macbook. It'd give you better battery life and be more portable.

Given that it's your parents money and you can probably weasel a maxed out machine out of them, why not .

Basically, just hope that they bite.

 

[surgedc5]

if you can get your parents to buy it for you go for the top of the line 15inch with ssd

but yeah 13 inch its more portable in my opinion

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Shave off a a bit by upgrading hard drive/ram yourself. Or go for a macbook, and upgrade the hard drive/ram yourself.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Sounds good...I'm particularly interested in getting one with a SSD, but after googling "solid-state drives for aluminum MacBook", I quickly came to the conclusion that it is NOT more economical to upgrade later in this way...those little effers are about $2,500 each for a 128GB*, whereas if you go through Apple it's just an extra $600 to add during configuration. And truth be known, spending your parents' money is hella fun!

*From Imation.

 

[LDB]

Another option would be to go for the 15" MBP refurb 2.6 for $1799 and be more fiscally responsible with your folks money.

 

[bushbaby]

Another option would be to go for the 15" MBP refurb 2.6 for $1799 and be more fiscally responsible with your folks money.

And the folks will be having heart attacks when he says he had to take his $1799 (plus tx) machine in because the gpu failed. And Apple knew about this problem.

I was going to do this myself, be careful with my budget and get a refurb. Plus I would get the matte screen! Then I read up on the 8600 gpu problem. It is not trivial. In fact, Apple should have just issued a recall and fixed them. There is one writer who said everyone of these will fail. It's a matter of time and usage.

 

[LDB]

There's also the new one with a 7200 rpm 250gb drive giving double the storage space for $550 less before tax. There are usually a few ways to save if one wants to.