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Questions on purchasing the 2011 MacBook Pro

H

hokiepokie07

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
601
11
I've decided on the 15 inch.

Is it worth going from 2.0 ghz to 2.2 or even 2.3? Will I noticed a major difference?

I'm leaning towards getting the 8GB of memory. Thoughts?

On my hard drive ... I'm leaning towards the 500 GB @7200 rpm over the 750 GB because of the speed. I have an external hard drive I use now. My MacBook Pro now only has around 160 GB, that's why I'm thinking the 500 GB with faster speed is fine. What differences in speed will I notice? Thoughts?

Thanks for the help.
 
hokiepokie07 said:
I've decided on the 15 inch.

Is it worth going from 2.0 ghz to 2.2 or even 2.3? Will I noticed a major difference?

I'm leaning towards getting the 8GB of memory. Thoughts?

On my hard drive ... I'm leaning towards the 500 GB @7200 rpm over the 750 GB because of the speed. I have an external hard drive I use now. My MacBook Pro now only has around 160 GB, that's why I'm thinking the 500 GB with faster speed is fine. What differences in speed will I notice? Thoughts?

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Before you upgrade the HDD and before you add RAM, get an SSD. Period. Nothing else will make the same amount of difference. If you don't want to get Apple's then get the base hard drive with your machine and put that HDD into the Superdrive bay.

I wouldn't spend the money on the proc. increase unless you game and want the better video chip. You won't notice the speed for most things. (Again, that money on an SSD would be way more noticeable)
 
TheHoff said:
Before you upgrade the HDD and before you add RAM, get an SSD. Period. Nothing else will make the same amount of difference. If you don't want to get Apple's then get the base hard drive with your machine and put that HDD into the Superdrive bay.

I wouldn't spend the money on the proc. increase unless you game and want the better video chip. You won't notice the speed for most things. (Again, that money on an SSD would be way more noticeable)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I like the 256 GB SSD, but it's pretty expensive compared to the 128. Thoughts?
 
It really depends what sort of programs you will be running. For the programs I use (AutoCAD and video editing/conversion) people recommend the 2.2GHz i7 Quad, but I really can only afford the 2.7GHz i7 13" or the 2.0GHz i7 Quad 15" if some sacrifices are made.
 
hokiepokie07 said:
Thanks for the input. I like the 256 GB SSD, but it's pretty expensive compared to the 128. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Buy the 128 SSD and use an external HDD to keep files you don't often. Or wait a few months a buy an external HDD that has light peak and transfer files back and fourth lickidy split.
 
hokiepokie07 said:
Thanks for the input. I like the 256 GB SSD, but it's pretty expensive compared to the 128. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

If you don't use the Superdrive, remove it. Replace it with an Optibay mount kit that holds a 500 GB hard drive. Then you get the cheaper SSD for the system and store your photos and iTunes on the hard drive. It will be the same price as the bigger SSD but you'll have 700GB+.

Or as the poster above said, use an external.

It all depends on how much data you need to have locally. I run a 100GB SSD right now as my main drive; but I have a 750GB in the second bay. I can't run just SSD unless it is 500 GB or more.
 
hokiepokie07 said:
Thanks for the input. I like the 256 GB SSD, but it's pretty expensive compared to the 128. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

One of the options I pondered long and hard when I made my purchase of my 17" MBP today was the HDD. I ended up going with a 256GB SSD and here's why.

Originally I was going to just take the stock drive and purchase a 256GB SSD of Newegg and swap it out. That way I can throw the HDD in an enclosure and gain an external drive in the process. The problem I was having was the $$$ pricetag of the 256GB over the 128GB. Knowing the 128GB would be pushing it on space I would need, I knew if I went that way I would need another SSD in there eventually to give me the space I required. The price difference between the 128GB SSD and the 256GB SSD was about $350 (education discount). So after researching it, the option to install another 128GB SSD in the Optical Drive Bay was going to cost me the same ($99 for the Opti Bay Adpater, $250 for a 128GB SSD). So I fronted the money and opted to just get the Apple supplied 256GB SSD instead. I still get the Superdrive if I ever use it, and further down the road I can always throw in another SSD if I wanted to. At least I know I have all the space I need from the start and the rest is fluff in case I need it. I also have the peace of mind that if anything were to go wrong, it's all covered with Applecare without me having to swap my aftermarket drive out.

I truly believe with the processors Apple has thrown into these machines, the bottleneck with surely be the HDD. 4GB of ram is still more than enough for OSX and almost every "everyday" app. I did upgrade to the 8GB solely because I do a lot of CAD drawing and 3D rendering and in my case, it does make a difference.

-Z
 
ok - so is it worth going from a 2.0 ghz to 2.3? I don't do much gaming on my laptop.

I'm a teacher, so I do use it for programs for my students, but nothing like when I was in college and used it to video edit.

Should I just stick with 2.0, 128 SSD, 4 GB?

Or, go for the 2.0 & 8 GB?

Or, even go for 2.2 GHZ & 8 GB?

Thanks.
 
Last, for everyday viewing, what it be better to get the Glossy screen over the anti-glare so my graphics, videos, pictures, etc. look better?
 
Grouchy Bob said:
^This.

Save your money for union dues. You can always upgrade the SSD when the price falls within reach of mere mortals.
Click to expand...

Might be a dumb question, but does the 2.0 GHZ come with a turboboost? If so, what's it capable of reaching?
 
hokiepokie07 said:
Might be a dumb question, but does the 2.0 GHZ come with a turboboost? If so, what's it capable of reaching?
Click to expand...

Yes, it will turbo.

Also, you will find little (if any) main stream software in your line of work that will use/need all 4 cores.

Curious though... what makes you want to lug that 15-incher to and from class/campus? Your needs are well suited for the MBP13.
 
You aren't going to notice a difference between the 2.0 vs 2.2 or the 2.3.. That's at a maximum difference of 300Mhz. Remember the quad cores have hyperthreading, so it will spread out your applications across more cores evenly. 4 cores = 8 threads. All the sandy bridge lines have turbo boost as well. The 2.3 should boost up to 3.2 and the 2.0 should boost upwards of 2.8GHz. That's based off my assumption, the numbers could be different. Either way 4 cores, 8 threads, running at 2.8GHz with a SSD behind it is going to be more than any user will need right now. If you need more, buy a desktop.
 
Grouchy Bob said:
Yes, it will turbo.

Also, you will find little (if any) main stream software in your line of work that will use/need all 4 cores.

Curious though... what makes you want to lug that 15-incher to and from class/campus? Your needs are well suited for the MBP13.
Click to expand...

I've always had a 15 inch laptop. They aren't really that heavy, in my opinion. I'm a high school teacher, so I basically just carry it from my car to my class.

I'm just not a big fan of the 13 inch MBPs compared to the 15.
 
Inq said:
You aren't going to notice a difference between the 2.0 vs 2.2 or the 2.3.. That's at a maximum difference of 300Mhz. Remember the quad cores have hyperthreading, so it will spread out your applications across more cores evenly. 4 cores = 8 threads. All the sandy bridge lines have turbo boost as well. The 2.3 should boost up to 3.2 and the 2.0 should boost upwards of 2.8GHz. That's based off my assumption, the numbers could be different. Either way 4 cores, 8 threads, running at 2.8GHz with a SSD behind it is going to be more than any user will need right now. If you need more, buy a desktop.
Click to expand...

Good points.

That's pretty much my thoughts.

That's why I'm probably going to get the 2.0 GHZ, 128 SSD, 4 GB Ram.

On my MacBook Pro now (4 years old I think), I have 2 GB Ram and for the most part it works fine.
 
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