Right Now! Refurb store MBP 2.66Ghz only $250 more than the 2.53 - A Deal?

[thebeave]

Would like your input if you don't mind...

I just bougt the 2.53 antiglare on the refurb store, but the 2.66 antiglare is only $250 more (vs $300 more if bought new).

Is this a wise upgrade - $250 for faster processor, improved graphics,slightly larger HDD - if I'll use it for PS4+, maybe aperature or lightroom, iMovie, maybe FCE, garageband, maybe logic. Or would i see better performance from these programs on my 2.53 if I apply the $250 to a faster drive or to something other than RAM/

Both have anitglare, which i definitely want.

I understand there might be new releases in two weeks, but i'll hold on to either purchase in the box for 14 days until potential announcements on the 27th then decide if I want to keep it. Thanks

 

[Jaro65]

Sorry, but how do you get better graphics in a 2.66GHz model as compared to 2.53GHz one? Frankly, if you think you need a high-power machine, you may want to just return yours (since you're going to keep it in the box) and wait to see what the 27Jan brings. If you're thinking of spending extra money to jump from 2.53 to 2.66 model (which is totally not worth it) and believe that you need more power, the i5 would be the way to go.

 

[m85476585]

2.66 is 5% faster than 2.53. In iMovie that would save you 3 minutes on an hour of encoding. You will never notice, and the money would be better put towards a SSD. Might be worth it if you get the 9600, though.

 

[thebeave]

how do you get better graphics in a 2.66GHz model as compared to 2.53GHz one?

The Specs say the 2.66 comes with the second discreet graphics chip, the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT .
But doing some additional research since my original post, I read on the Adobe website that photoshop in CS4 doesn' t necessarily take advantage of the GPU in the 9600 chip , so perhaps it's a waste of $ from the photoshop angle.

And the point of getting a refurb now, either model, is that I'm hedging in case the 27th doesn't bring the upgrades/ speedbumps as rumored. I grabbed a not-too-often available 2.53 antiglare. The point of this post is, does $250 in "upgrades" o the 2.66 get me much as a casual user of all of the aforementioned applications. If there are any changes on the 27th but not ones worth the new machine premium, I'll keep the refurb i've beeen waiting weeks to find and save hundreds.

 

[thebeave]

2.66 is 5% faster than 2.53. In iMovie that would save you 3 minutes on an hour of encoding. You will never notice, and the money would be better put towards a SSD. Might be worth it if you get the 9600, though.

Thanks for the imput. And the Speedmark results for my particular uses/ apps are similar enough that I think I'll keep the 2.53. At least until the 27th!