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Old Macbook Pro vs. New Macbook Pro

L

local711

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2008
6
0
Hey, if anyone can help me with this question, I'd much appreciate it. I know it's a bit idiosyncratic, but I'm a first time Mac buyer and I'd like to get it right, especially when dropping 2,000 bones.

I'm about ready to buy a Macbook Pro 15" 2.4 GHZ, but deciding between the 07 model and the newly released update, since it appears that the benchmark scores were better for the older 2.4 GHZ model

Amazon has the older 07 models discounted at the moment with a $150 rebate.
I can also get a student discount at the Apple Store, but would have to pay tax on a $2000+ machine. In the end, the Amazon price is about $150 lower still.

My questions are:

The new model has the option of a 7200 rpm hard drive. How much of a speed boost would this give over the 5400 hard drive?

How much of a difference does the lower cache on the new chips make, with the same speed rating?

These two combined, what would be faster, the new 2.4 ghz model with a 7200 hard drive, or the older model with a 5400 harddrive. Don't really care about the HD size, I won't fill it up anyway.

Thanks guys, I'd appreciate any advice or related info!
 
the thing i really like with the penryns is the fact that it runs cooler and lasts longer.i go to uni at another city so long battery life is good.and cool laptop thats not painful on the lap makes train trips alot more pleasant.
seriously the heat issue is significant...before i bought the penryn i almost bought the old base model MBP...at 2.2ghz...120gb HDD..and that thing was hot on idle.the only way my macbook pro penryn would get that hot was if it was running Win Vistafor this alone id justify the $150 premium...that and you get a newer laptop :)

on the performace side, the 2.4 merom has a slight edge over the penryn becaus eof the larger cache.but they arent really comparable as the new 2.4ghz is a base model, not a midrange.

the HDD on the old 2.4 is also only 160 GB i believe?which sucks compared to the new 200gb...as for 7200 vs. 5400, there has been long discussions on this and it breaks down to:what will you use the machine for?heavy video editting/batch music encoding/large image processing...sure go the 7200...other than that, the 5400 is sufficient.when it comes to day to day use, the RAM plays more part in performance, the difference between 5400 vs. 7200 is minimal...ive reincoded alot of albums from 320 mp3 to vbr aac on BOTH a PC with 200gb 7200 Sata and my penryn 200gb 5400. ive found that my pc is slower!conclusion: 5400 hard drive is sufficient for most tasks, the bottleneck usually lies in processor or ram.
 
ive had my MBP for 4 days now (my first mac too)...and i've got no complaints- it works beautifully.

I was originally going to buy the previous gen about 3 weeks before the update came out. In the end i waited because you got a bit more bang for your buck (multi-touch, penryn, bigger HDD). But if you can pick up a previous one for cheap, i reckon it's worth going for.

Admittedly i feel a lot poorer, but im happy with my decision. Best of Luck with yours. Either way i think you'll get a good computer.
 
I'm trying to make a similar decision. I can get a new 2.2 SR for $1499 or the new 2.4 Penryn for $1799. Is the $300 worth it?
 
Never buy last year's technology if you can afford the most up to date. Just my two cents worth. The heat, LCD vs back light, and the larger hard drive all make the most current model more attractive. Also, it should retain more of it's value longer than the older model. If you have the cash, buy the current model, you will be happier in the long run.
 
I agree with the above postings: I am in the same situation regarding getting the previous base model for $1499 or the new for $1799, and I'm going with the new. Primarily because of the:

Extended battery life
Heat issues
Video Card Upgrade
Larger HD(eliminates the need to buy external)

Those are just the big things. On top of that you get the updated keyboard(nothing big but still a perk) and especially the multitouch which is cool and which I think will eventually have more uses(see the article on Advanced Multitouch Gestures). Now I just need to get the money from selling this damn Dell and order my MBP! Just a thought to anyone else ordering a new one out there, if you live in a very high sales tax area(like me in Chicago, where sales tax is an agonizing 9.25%!), it might be cheaper to have it shipped to a relative and then have them ship it to you. For me even though it extends the wait it's worth saving nearly $80.
 
MacWorld benchmarks

Just read the review of the new MBP's at macworld.com. Article and benchmarks
for the various permutations. Made me want a new penryn. About
10% faster overall, less heat etc.
 
Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to go with the newer model. Now the only question is whether or not to spring the extra 100 bucks for the 7200 hard drive.
 
local711 said:
Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to go with the newer model. Now the only question is whether or not to spring the extra 100 bucks for the 7200 hard drive.
Click to expand...

I don't know how big the differences in hard drives would be, but I do know that the 7200 HD would have a lower battery life and as i understand it the 7200 drive doesn't give a very large speed boost. Somewhere around 1-5%
 
Personally, I would save that $100 and get the 5400 drive. You could put that $100 towards Apple Care. Check on eBay for better prices than at Apple. Also note that you don't have to activate/purchase Apple Care for up to a year from your purchase, as the first year's warranty is included. Good luck. :)
 
how about $600 cheaper for older model?

I have a friend that is going to be getting her first mac (macbook pro) and I'm wondering whether a $600 discount is worth it to get the previous version. In the clearance section at the apple store, they have the midrange 15" MBP for $1899 (even less with corporate discount), which is $600 less than the original $2499 price tag.

For $100 or even $200, i think the new penryns are worth it, plus the bigger HD, more VRAM, multitouch, & running cooler, but for $600 less that question is a little harder to answer.

So I guess my question is - if a $600 discount worth it to get the previous version? (Since cost wasn't a huge issue for her, I'm inclined to say, if she can afford it, get the newer one - especially since she's probably going to keep it for awhile).

My other question is more general - does apple usually discount their "new" previous generation macs by this muh whenever the new ones come out?
 
Westsider 4 Mac said:
$600 is a lot of money. If the specs are close, I am saving that $$ and going refurb, especially since the warranty is the same.
Click to expand...


actually, they're brand new, not refurbs - you find them in the clearance section at the apple store (as opposed to the refurbs section). guess that makes the $600 even more worthwhile. personally, i'm hoping that they do something similar when the next revision comes out - I think i'd be okay with paying $600 less for a new previous revision.
 
turtlebud said:
I have a friend that is going to be getting her first mac (macbook pro) and I'm wondering whether a $600 discount is worth it to get the previous version. In the clearance section at the apple store, they have the midrange 15" MBP for $1899 (even less with corporate discount), which is $600 less than the original $2499 price tag.
Click to expand...

if you look at it this way, then yeah, you save $600 off the previous and current midrange prices.

another way to look at it though, for only $100 more you can get the current base model which by all accounts is neck and neck speed-wise with the previous midrange model. same vram, extra 40GB hard drive space, multitouch, bluetooth 2.1, and a cooler running cpu that uses less power (better battery life).

i think the only loss is 1MB of L2 cache which is probably negligible when compared to the added benefits.

EDIT: this is going by apple's prices. i just picked up the new base model from amazon for $1994 with a $150 rebate leaving it at $1884. no tax and free shipping. sweet deal if you ask me.
 
crayonshin said:
if you look at it this way, then yeah, you save $600 off the previous and current midrange prices.

another way to look at it though, for only $100 more you can get the current base model which by all accounts is neck and neck speed-wise with the previous midrange model. same vram, extra 40GB hard drive space, multitouch, bluetooth 2.1, and a cooler running cpu that uses less power (better battery life).

i think the only loss is 1MB of L2 cache which is probably negligible when compared to the added benefits.

EDIT: this is going by apple's prices. i just picked up the new base model from amazon for $1994 with a $150 rebate leaving it at $1884. no tax and free shipping. sweet deal if you ask me.
Click to expand...

That's a great point about comparing the previous gen mid-range model to the current low-end model. Amazon offers the previous gen mid range model for around $1900 with a $150 rebate too, so using your comparison of equivalent-ish macbook pros, it's around a $150 upgrade to get an equivalent macbook pro with all the bells & whistles they included (multitouch, newer processor, etc.) which seems like a pretty good deal.
 
Wow thats not a bad deal. I was getting a refurbished macbook pro for 1649 + 7% tax for around 1765. The new macbook pro via amazon and the rebate is only 79 dollars more.

Quick question how can i know if im ordering the glossy screen version, it doesnt say on or i cant find it on amazon. And how can i cancel an order thats on shippment via apple.

Thanks in advance guys
 
CaneCollegeboy said:
Wow thats not a bad deal. I was getting a refurbished macbook pro for 1649 + 7% tax for around 1765. The new macbook pro via amazon and the rebate is only 79 dollars more.

Quick question how can i know if im ordering the glossy screen version, it doesnt say on or i cant find it on amazon. And how can i cancel an order thats on shippment via apple.

Thanks in advance guys
Click to expand...


Call Amazon, and Call Apple. Both have outstanding customer phone service. Good luck to you. :)
 
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