refurb 2.4 ghz uMB vs. refurb 2.26 ghz MBP

[SoCalDreamin]

Hi there!

I'm a first time poster/long time reader, and I think I'm finally ready to make my first mac purchase. I'm a little unsure of which notebook to buy, though. I'm definitely interested in a 13 incher, but I'm torn between the previous generation high end macbook and the current low end mbp. I'm pretty sure I want to by a refurb since I've heard they are quality products and allow me to get a good deal. Currently both models in question run at $999 so price isn't the issue. My main concern is that I want a 250 gb hd. I know that if I buy the mbp I can upgrade the hd myself, but that's not something I wanna do; I'm not the most handy of people and don't want to risk damaging my new mac. That being said, the 2.4 uMB looks good because it has the larger hd already installed. However, from looking through the forums here and looking at some reviews, the uMB has been said to be a lower quality machine and the screen has definitely gotten some negative reviews. I don't really want to skimp on screen quality since that's something I have to constantly look at, but I've read that Apple updated the screen on the uMBs to make them a little better. (Is this true?) I also know that the firewire and SD card slot on the mbp excite a lot of people, but I don't even know what firewire is and I don't have a digital camera or anything that would require the use of the SD slot.

With all that being said, which machine would you recommend? (I will be using the computer for web browsing, listening to music, watching tv online, occasionally watching movies, and word processing.)

I'm sorry this post was kind of long. Thanks for reading it, and thanks in advance for your help! I can't wait to finally be a mac user!

 

[jb1280]

The higher quality display and the superior battery would be enough to get the Macbook Pro.

I just switched from a 15" macbook pro to the 13" macbook pro, and it is lovely.

I put in a 500gb hard drive and I am by no means a "tech" person. If you can competently use a screw driver, you can replace the drive easily.

 

[spinnerlys]

Firewire is a transfer protocol and port interface like USB, just better in many regards. It uses almost no CPU, as it has a dedicated chip, as USB has to go through the CPU. Also can Firewire sustain faster and more constant transfer speeds than USB 2.

The displays on the new 13-inch MBP is on par with the new 15-inch and the already excellent 17-inch MBP.

Also consider the non-replaceable battery, which will give you almost double the battery time as the older uMB.

And the new uMBPs can all have up to 8GB.

If you're worried about the CPU speed difference, don't be. You won't notice it.

As for replacing the HDD, it's quite easy.

Here is a guide for replacing it: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MBPRO_13inch_Mid2009_Hard_Drive_DIY.pdf