Probably buying new MBP, am I crazy?

[plasticphyte]

I am not your average developer. I run very intensive servers in the background that require the latest hardware; not to mention all the virtualization I do.

Can these servers and virtualised platforms be run from a standalone server?
Not getting into the detail but perhaps that's the better route to take.

A lot of your questions can only be answered in arbitrary terms. But like I said before (albeit subtly), it sounds like you've already convinced yourself you need it, and given your most recent reply it seems like you're ignoring what's been said (even though your post did kind of open you up to the replies your getting ).

At any rate, do or not do, there is no wrong answer.

 

[JodyK]

Crazy ... Yeah crazy NOT to get a new MBP! Do the i7!

 

[entatlrg]

Crazy ... Yeah crazy NOT to get a new MBP! Do the i7!

Saw in your sig you have a 15" and 13" MBP too.

How do you manage the two together, (dropbox?), which one do you use the most?

 

[arachn1d]

Can these servers and virtualised platforms be run from a standalone server?
Not getting into the detail but perhaps that's the better route to take.

A lot of your questions can only be answered in arbitrary terms. But like I said before (albeit subtly), it sounds like you've already convinced yourself you need it, and given your most recent reply it seems like you're ignoring what's been said (even though your post did kind of open you up to the replies your getting ).

At any rate, do or not do, there is no wrong answer.

Yeah I realize I left it to open. It just irritates me people are so eager to jump on you, but my fault for not explaining everything.

Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do the virtualization on a server because I need to be mobile when testing things in different OS's.

The main thing I'm trying to find out here though is how much faster is the mobile i5/i7 over the mobile C2D that was in the previous MBP's?

 

[entatlrg]

Yeah I realize I left it to open. It just irritates me people are so eager to jump on you, but my fault for not explaining everything.

Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do the virtualization on a server because I need to be mobile when testing things in different OS's.

The main thing I'm trying to find out here though is how much faster is the mobile i5/i7 over the mobile C2D that was in the previous MBP's?

30 posts but no answer to your question yet if you search you'll find some info but I'd also like to hear from someone here who's had both and get first hand info.

 

[nullptr]

I sold my Late 2008 Macbook Pro for $1699 on eBay like 3 days before the new ones were released. Then I bought the newest one with HR Glossy for pretty much the same price.

You have to get lucky and find a sucker to buy your laptop though.

 

[jleach1]

The performance increase would be dramatic for rendering...the i7 would be nice for virtualization if im not mistaken. But to be honest, i would go out and buy an SSD. Supposedly they're the greatest performance-enhancing upgrade--ever!!! This way, you get your performance increase (+ a massive perceived real-world performance boost), and you have an ssd. Worst case scenario? You have an SSD. Lol (and you'll have a backup notebook hdd that you can turn into an external drive if you'd like.)

If all doesn't work out, you can order the MBP you'd like with the i7 and 8gb of ram, and install the SSD yourself, and you'll save a ton of money in the process. Not to mention...you get to pick the SSD you want. It could also be a nice selling point in 8 months. SSD prices will drop by then...but not as dramatically as everyone thinks, and most people will still be hungry for em.

In addition to the SSD adding to the price when you sell it, if you pick a drive with a nice, solid warranty, that will comfort the buyer when it comes time to sell it. I know i'd be happy to hear that theres a crucial/patriot drive with a 5 year warranty inside the machine i just bought.

If you need a few suggestions, or more information, i'd be happy to help ya out!

Please consider this. You can't go wrong.

 

[sebgreen]

madness

I am a full time web designer/developer.

I currently run a macBook Pro 15" 2.53 Ghz, 4 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD. I have no need to upgrade. I am using all the latest apps etc and the machine is still lightening fast.

Unless you batter and brake your machine there is absolutely NO NEED TO UPGRADE. I doubt you will even notice the differeance.

Personally I upgrade every 3 years. In that time frame performance enhancements are noticeable.

A lot of people out there get a buzz from having the newest machine blah blah blah. Personally I get a buzz from having a good machine that for everyday tasks is just as fast as theirs and also the 2grand+ in my bank account.

 

[LedCop]

Yeah I realize I left it to open. It just irritates me people are so eager to jump on you, but my fault for not explaining everything.

Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do the virtualization on a server because I need to be mobile when testing things in different OS's.

The main thing I'm trying to find out here though is how much faster is the mobile i5/i7 over the mobile C2D that was in the previous MBP's?

If your computer is hitting the swap often, 8GB of RAM makes sense and can be applied to your current computer.

If you hear your hard disk churning often (but could be lessened with the 8GB of RAM) then an SSD makes sense and can also be applied to your computer.

If Activity Monitors shows your processors maxed out often, the i5/i7 makes sense and you might as well get the RAM, SSD and i5/i7 as a whole package.

How would you like us to quantify how much faster the new processors are over the old?

 

[dreven79]

Wow and i was probably mad to be planning to keep my i7 for at least 3 years

 

[Abstract]

How would you like us to quantify how much faster the new processors are over the old?

Just give an arbitrary number and be as vague as possible. When he doesn't understand your response, get mad.

That seems to be the way.



If you can spend as much money as you want on tech, then there's no question to be asked. Just spend the money. Buy the i7 with SSD and as much RAM as you can fit. What's the point of asking if you have no budget on tech? A 5% performance increase is still 5%, and a 30% increase is still 30%. Either way you get a performance improvement for a relatively small business expense.

 

[RT2020]

I think you are not being very practical. If you want the latest shiny object, just admit it.

I have an early 2009 Macbook Pro C2D with 4Gigs of ram. I run VMware, AutoCAD, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, rendering programs just fine.

Upgrading every 8 months is excessive. If you require such power, a custom built PC will give you the most power.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of reinstalling programs, moving files, etc.

 

[Ack]

Why not keep an eye on Activity Monitor while you're working to see where your bottleneck is? Is it disk access, memory usage, or CPU? Once you know this then you can make an educated decision about what upgrades you need.

 

[wilycoder]

You claim to be a professional web developer but then you ask the internet for buying advice

I am a game developer and I never need advice/blessings from the internet on what computer I should buy.

I certainly dont start threads and then pull a streak of elitist crap saying stuff like "you dont understand my needs, I am over your head"

Grow up.

 

[dukebound85]

Well, I'll ignore most of you that probably have no idea the situation I'm describing. My macbook pro is **** slow when I'm developing and that's all you need to really know. The specifics are truly beyond you, and I don't deserve you trying to pinhole my situation without you knowing the technicalities.

Yet you come here asking for advice? LOL classic

The truly deciding factor that I'm trying to figure out right now is how much faster is the i5/i7 over the C2D 2.53 GHz?

There is this cool site...called google that may be able to help

Sure, I can just buy a SSD for $500, that means I need to spend at least $500 for an upgrade right now.

Well....yea?

However, if I can double my memory and increase my CPU power it's worth it to me to spend more money.

You do realize you can....transfer the ssd to the new computer whenever you get it right?

The money isn't the issue here. I can spend as much money on tech as I want. The issue here is whether the upgrade is beneficial enough.

If money is no issue, then why ask whether you should get it. You know you want it so stop trying to get us to side with you. Your money

If the only thing noticeable is the SSD upgrade then I can just do that. However if the CPU is truly that much better over the previous, then I'll happily pay more to have that as well.

Why could you just do that? I thought you said money was no object?

 

[Tankfantry]

As yet another shareholder I say sell to a PC person for $500 less then a new one and go get yourself a nice 17" Top of the line MBP. I mean don't you want to join that elite club of people who buy every 8 months for 10 years straight?

 

[henhowc]

Buy it. The world economy needs YOU.

 

[plasticphyte]

<snip>

The main thing I'm trying to find out here though is how much faster is the mobile i5/i7 over the mobile C2D that was in the previous MBP's?

There's plenty of benchmarking results available.
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=...ok+pro+benchmarks&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

How that performance increase translates to your needs is another matter entirely as most benchmarks are synthetic and not an accurate measurement of real world application (even 'real world' benchmarks are synthetic after a certain point).

I personally think you're better off in offloading the virtualisation work to a standalone system with remote access for when you're away from base, and only use local virtualisation when you've got no connectivity, obviously you know whether thats practical or not.

Follow that up with more RAM and an SSD in your current machine.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

I still have the last 2009 model. My MBP is about 6 months old. My job is full-time web-development so it makes sense to always have the cream of the crop.

My usual cycle is just to buy a new stock MBP every 8 months. This way I never have to buy apple care as well.

This is the first time I've been considering upgrading the HD because of SSD. I also have another incentive now: more memory and higher resolution.

If I buy a new MBP it would be the i5 or i7 with 8 gigs of memory and 256 SSD. It'll cost me about 3 grand.

I could sell the MBP I have now for $1,300.

Am I crazy or should I do it?

The thing I'm worried about is I won't be able to sell my more expensive MBP when the time comes around when I want to upgrade again (probably within a year or two).

I don't judge anyone. Setting aside the cost, I say if you would enjoy a new Mac you'll really like the new ones. I'm sure enjoying mine.

 

[green86]

I agree with the other posters... if money is no object, just buy it... why are you asking us? I don't understand the dilemma, your logic is very circular.

As everyone also said, there are PLENTY of benchmarks for you to reference on the web.

Since you want a definitive answer though, here it goes:

Even the slowest i5 is faster then the fastest C2D from last year. The Arrandale Architecture is a major generational leap, and for processor intensive tasks you would see an improvement. If your doing a lot of virtualization, it might be worth it. So there. Buy the thing.