New MBP Spec Advice Needed For Specific Use

[jzj687]

Hi,

I am a law student and have been waiting for this upgrade for quite a while (I'm still using my TiPB G4).

So, now that all the possible specs are available, I just need some help figuring out what best fits my needs, listed below. Also, just FYI, money isn't the issue here, I just don't want to be wasting money on upgrades I would never even see the advantage of...

My Typical Usage

Word Processing: Have about 6 document open at once, for a looong time and do a lot of editing and formatting.

iTunes/Safari/MSN/iChat: The usual...

Adobe CS3: Occasionally edit photos

Sound Editing: Occasionally clip MP3s

Quicktime/DVD: Watch a lot of videos (all formats)

Boot Camp: I'm going to need to run Windows, either with bootcamp or parallels or something... Would like it to run as smoothly as possible

Gaming: Never used any games before, but looking to start

My set up, before advice, would be:

NEW MBP/2.83/4GB/320GB@7200RPM

With this is mind, is there any reason to jump to the 2.83 model from the 2.53? Would that help Windows virtualization/gaming at all? Also, what about the 7200 RPM, only a $46 upgrade....might as well, right???

Thanks for your help!

 

[7even]

I don't think you need the highest of the high-end specs for the usage patterns you described. The stock 2.5 ghz config should be enough for you. The difference between 2.5 and 2.8 ghz would only be noticeable if you do processor-intensive tasks constantly (encoding videos, 3D rendering, etc.) I would get the 2.5 ghz with 4 gigs of RAM. Upgrade the hard drive later if you feel bottlenecked by the stock 5400 rpm drive.

I bet you would get by with the 2.4 ghz model as well but if money isn't an object I'd get the 2.5 ghz anyway

 

[Beric]

Why do you need a MBP? What would a MBP do for you that a MB with an external monitor wouldn't?

 

[Empyre]

Why do you need a MBP? What would a MBP do for you that a MB with an external monitor wouldn't?

He said he was going to be getting into gaming, so I would certainly recommend a MBP for gaming endeavors, Although it does depend how high of quality games you want to play (graphically demanding), during the keynote yesterday the Macbook was playing Need For Speed flawlessly if I recall. But i would overall go with the 2.53GHz Stock model, I dont think you'll notice the difference in the 5400RPM drive vs. 7200RPM drive. Save your cash, get the Stock 2.53 GHz...its pretty well loaded for what you want to do!

 

[Beric]

He said he was going to be getting into gaming, so I would certainly recommend a MBP for gaming endeavors, Although it does depend how high of quality games you want to play (graphically demanding), during the keynote yesterday the Macbook was playing Need For Speed flawlessly if I recall. But i would overall go with the 2.53GHz Stock model, I dont think you'll notice the difference in the 5400RPM drive vs. 7200RPM drive. Save your cash, get the Stock 2.53 GHz...its pretty well loaded for what you want to do!

That's the deal. A $1299 MB can do everything he needs and more, everything except gaming. So he's basically spending $700 for a graphics card. And I refuse to buy into that blatant Apple rip-off.

 

[tremendous]

Hi,

I am a law student and have been waiting for this upgrade for quite a while (I'm still using my TiPB G4).

So, now that all the possible specs are available, I just need some help figuring out what best fits my needs, listed below. Also, just FYI, money isn't the issue here, I just don't want to be wasting money on upgrades I would never even see the advantage of...

My Typical Usage

Word Processing: Have about 6 document open at once, for a looong time and do a lot of editing and formatting.

iTunes/Safari/MSN/iChat: The usual...

Adobe CS3: Occasionally edit photos

Sound Editing: Occasionally clip MP3s

Quicktime/DVD: Watch a lot of videos (all formats)

Boot Camp: I'm going to need to run Windows, either with bootcamp or parallels or something... Would like it to run as smoothly as possible

Gaming: Never used any games before, but looking to start

My set up, before advice, would be:

NEW MBP/2.83/4GB/320GB@7200RPM

With this is mind, is there any reason to jump to the 2.83 model from the 2.53? Would that help Windows virtualization/gaming at all? Also, what about the 7200 RPM, only a $46 upgrade....might as well, right???

Thanks for your help!

considering i can do all of this aside from gaming and obviously boot camp, easily, on a 1.33 powerbook, i'd say you don't even need an MBP. a Macbook would more than suffice. save the difference and get a wii or a ps or an x-box or don't even bother getting into gaming.

 

[jeff48]

You're doing law school and you have time to consider getting into gaming?

LMFAO

BTW any base model Macbook will do the job. Check with your law school though and if they allow final exams to be taken on your personal computer, some final exam software is NOT compatible with Macs using Parallels. I am not certain about Bootcamp configs but check with your school's IT guy or gal.