New MBP 13 inch VS Previous Gen MBP 15 inch Best bang for buck.

[MrXiro]

I'm gonna get one of the 2... I'm a bit strapped for cash but neither of these are really out of my range gonna use Best Buy's 18 mo. No interest dealie.

I like the idea of a 13 inch 2.2 ghz MBP. I'd get the $1199 model. All the power in a little package. Also the built in extra long battery is very appealing too.

But then there is also the 15 inch MBP of last gen. 2.4 ghz with the dual-boot video card for 1499 (it's 1599 at BB.com but I think I can get them to match the apple store price). The only really set back for me is the "battery life" is it THAT much weaker? Also I thought it COULD take 8GB of RAM... is that true or no? I'd want to max out the RAM on both machines...

Which one is a better bang for the buck? I can't decide whether that "new" 13 inch is a better buy with it's battery and such or if the 15 inch is worth the extra 300 bucks. Uses is video conversion for my iPod Touch and light video editing... but I've been extremely lazy with it the intention is there but the act is not. But my uses isn't even really necessarily a deciding factor.

What do you all think? Which is more "worth it" to you?

 

[Hellhammer]

I would go for previous gen 15". Dedicated GPU is very nice extra and will help when 10.6 is out.

Previous gen MBPs can take officially 4GB but unofficially 6GB. Buying 2 x 4GB chips isn't recommended now, it costs over 500$, price should come down in a year or so.

If you'll be using it for portable use mainly (take it to school, cafe, places were you can't plug it in) then you'll take advantage of better battery. Otherwise, you don't.

 

[MrXiro]

yeah at this point I DON'T take my MB out much and 7 hours on the new battery their Projected number right? real world will probably be like 4 hours? as opposed to real world being like 2.5-3 with the 15 inch?

Thanks.

 

[Hellhammer]

yeah at this point I DON'T take my MB out much and 7 hours on the new battery their Projected number right? real world will probably be like 4 hours? as opposed to real world being like 2.5-3 with the 15 inch?

Thanks.

It depends what you do. If you just surf in the web and talk with your friends through MSN or iChat, it'll last almost 7 hours but if you're gaming or doing other heave tasks which will use all of your Macs power, it'll be less.

My Acer's battery lasts from half hour to one hour when I'm surfing in the web and it's okay for me.

You'll love the prev gen MBP

 

[MrXiro]

It depends what you do. If you just surf in the web and talk with your friends through MSN or iChat, it'll last almost 7 hours but if you're gaming or doing other heave tasks which will use all of your Macs power, it'll be less.

My Acer's battery lasts from half hour to one hour when I'm surfing in the web and it's okay for me.

You'll love the prev gen MBP

mostly if I'm on battery I'm probably just watching a movie on a plane. DVD or ripped.

Cool man thanks for the advice.