Refurb 15" MBP or New 15" MBP?

[kuklachica]

I'm looking into getting a 15" MBP because the screen size of my 13" just isn't cutting it.

Would you suggest getting the refurbed unibody 2.4 Ghz MBP, or the new 2.53 MBP? Price differences aside, what are the major pro's and cons of the two machines? I don't know much about the various updates of the MBPs so don't know how good the 2.4 Ghz is? what would be your advice?

I don't do much with graphics, so the integrated graphics might not mean anything to me. I also don't care about the card slot because they are cheap enough to buy anyway, and I just plug my camera in via USB anyway. And the RAM I can always increase on my own also, for much cheaper. The extended battery life on the new 15" is my real attraction, but is it worth an extra $250?? (I get an educator's discount of $100 off the price of a new one). Does the refurb one have an expansion slot??

Current 15"

-2.53 GHz
-250 GB HDD
-4 GB RAM
-integrated battery
-NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
-SD card slot

Refurb Store:

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

-15.4-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
-2GB memory
-250GB hard drive
-NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor; and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory2
-Multi-touch trackpack
-Illuminated keyboard

Thank you for your advice!

 

[airplaneman]

It depends on how long you plan to keep it. In the long run, I think the new MBP will pay for itself- no need to buy an expensive replacement battery, better screen, etc. Also, there's more memory in the new one in the models you compared. 2GB just won't cut it in the coming years. So it boils down to this- how long do you want to keep your MBP?

Edit: Since you don't care much about graphics, what's the use about getting a dedicated card? Also, do you have a preference about buying new or refurbished computers?

 

[kuklachica]

I don't care about the graphics card, but I was trying to provide the full specs so I could get complete advice.

Also, why would I not need to replace the 7 hour battery? Are they supposed to last longer than the others?

Sorry if I seem ignorant, I am still learning about the notebooks.

 

[Chad H]

I don't care about the graphics card, but I was trying to provide the full specs so I could get complete advice.

Also, why would I not need to replace the 7 hour battery? Are they supposed to last longer than the others?

Sorry if I seem ignorant, I am still learning about the notebooks.

The battery would be worth it to me. Apple says their new batteries get "7 Hours" and can take "1000 recharges". That's alot more than the average notebooks on the market.