Refurb Feb 11 MBP vs new RMBP

[garfey]

Hiya,

I am having some major dramas in getting the retina MBP and I'm looking at other options for my needs.

I am getting a new laptop mainly so I can edit 1080p video footage (from my go pro HD 2) - my current Sony Vaio can't even play 1080p lol. Otherwise it will just be used for Web design and browsing web / watching Movies etc. Also I'd like to be able to play Diablo 3 if possible..

Anyway - I pre-ordered a Retina MBP (base model) partly for the spec and partly for the look, and that screen! But I have just seen a refurb Feb 11 MBP for sale on the apple site (spec below) for £800 ($1200) cheaper.

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.0GHz quad-core Intel i7
Originally released February 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Hi-Res antiglare widescreen display, 1680-by-1050 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6490M (256MB)

Will I be able to do all I want to do with this? (I suspect the GPU may be an issue for the Diablo side) Would I notice the difference between the two machines (realistically)?

Could there be any lower options in the new range that would meet my needs? (I would even consider an Air if it would do what I wanted).

Thanks in advance, Garf.

 

[alexiszorba]

Even the new air can edit 1080p, it depends on your expectations and comfort while doing so. IF you spend hours every day editing video or if it is not central.

If you take the new air, please increase the ram to 8go as this is a minimum if you are going to edit full hd clips.

Using the macbook air or the retina macbook will feel faster than the refurb macbook because of the SSD. If you do take the refurb, keep in mind that you will never have USB 3 and don't forget to include a RAM upgrade in your budget, you need to bring that to 8Go at minimum. You could also invest in a Crucial M4 SSD of say 256Go which will vastly improve the responsiveness of your macbook pro refurb.

500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm : this original drive is SLOW - if you don't want to buy a SSD, at least buy a drive that runs at 7200 rpm. I cannot work on 5400 rpm anymore... yet nothing beats the comfort of SSD.

 

[garfey]

Alex, thanks for the response.

I should probably have stated that this is a hobby not my job - so I shouldn't be editing for 8hrs a day or anything. But I would like it be quite responsive when editing and not take all day to export at 5 min clip

I did think that with the refurb I would upgrade the HDD to SSD and give it a RAM boost which would increase the price (prob by about £200).

 

[boomhower]

The refurb will edit 1080P just fine. If you were doing it for profit then the added power of the IB may be worth it. Unless the edit is huge you'll be talking seconds, not minutes in processing time. Get the retina if you want the screen, if it's mainly the processing power you want the difference is there but won't be massive. The real performance difference that you will notice is in the SSD.

 

[garfey]

Thanks.

How would the 2012 13" air compare for occasional 1080P editing?

 

[alexiszorba]

the 2012 air will be very convincing and fast when editing 1080p. Don't worry about this. It will be a bit slower than the 2011 macbook pro refurb but not much.
Make sure you get the 8Go of RAM.

 

[lympero]

I have the same dilemmA... 2011 MacBook pro(2.2quad 4gb ram,500gb hdd and 6750 512mb ati) or the basic 2012 13inch MacBook air with 8gb ram.
In geekbench the MacBook pro reaches 9800 and air 6000.
But air is so nice and small....

 

[ugahairydawgs]

I would say go with the same model of the late 2011 15" MBP instead. At $1439 you get the 2.2 i7 and double the RAM on the GPU.

For $120 more I think that is the better deal.

 

[OSMac]

I was convinced a refurb quad 15" for $1300 was the way to go until I used the retina display for 1/2 hour.

It's a very big difference.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

I was convinced a refurb quad 15" for $1300 was the way to go until I used the retina display for 1/2 hour.

It's a very big difference.

Yep....about $900 to be exact.

 

[OSMac]

Yep....about $900 to be exact.

Well said!
When you put it like that it's hard to say if the improvement is worth $900...

If someone is happy with a lower res display, save the money and stick with it.

After using a retina you may not want to go back, I was never a fan of OSX font rendering before

 

[garfey]

Well after looking into it I've completely changed my mind now and gone with a fully specced new Macbook Air (with education discount) making it £600 ($900) ish cheaper than the retina MBP - in the end I can't justify the extra for what I will be doing with it.

Thanks for all the responses.