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so are you wondering if you should get the 2.93 vs 2.66 stock mbp?

S

stevieapollo

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 26, 2008
66
0
Whittier, CA
just thought i would give some insight to those who just can't decide. i was stuck between getting the stock 17" or the 2.93ghz model. so i bought the stock macbook pro and within 2 weeks i decided i just couldn't have the 2.66 when i knew the 2.93 was within my reach! so i went to my local apple store and told them i was not happy with the machine my main complaint was i was not getting anywhere close to 7 hours battery life. they took it back with no restocking fee.:D once i got home i called apple and put in my order for the 17" 2.93 7200rpm hard drive!! after the longest 2 weeks of my life it finally arrived!! it was well worth the wait!! I am seeing a nice speed increase with the faster processor. I would highly recommend anyone who cant decide to take the leap and upgrade that processor baby!! you wont regret it. but you may regret settling for the stock 2.66! of course it depends what you will be using the machine for...im a logic, final cut and dabble in aperture/photoshop. i couldn't be happier!!

so if you just cant decide what macbook pro is right for you i would recommend getting that 2.93ghz don't listen to those who tell you its only a 10% speed increase and isn't worth the extra 300!! I found it was well worth the extra buck!!

now all i need to do is order me one of those momentus 500 7200rmp drives:rolleyes:

*apollo*
 
not momentus 7200. But Vertex 256 :) Don't you think that there might be a bit of imagined increase there? As in you keep trying to reaffirm that its faster, and hence it seems faster to you. What do you use your MBP for anyways?
 
I've run both 2.66 and 2.93 side by side, besides the obvious math that shows it is in fact a 10% bump in speed. I wasn't overly impressed. $300 bucks towards a SSD will show a much bigger overall improvement to system speed.

I didn't do but a few tests but it was tough as my buddy has a 7200 rpm drive in his 2.93. I wasn't $350 worth impressed. He wasn't either for the money, but then again he buys a new computer maybe every 5 years, where as I'll upgrade in a year or two max. I think SSD's give the biggest "bang for the buck" , and in six months to a year will be 50% of the cost they are now. 512gig SSD will be sweet :)
 
Yeah man. The speed increase is all in your head. Knowing you have the faster processor is making you believe that it is faster. I'm not saying it isn't faster but 266MHz isn't a big difference. It is in no way worth the $300 Apple asks for. That $300 is better spent getting a 7200RPM drive or for faster performace, an SSD.
 
aaah the good old "placebo pill" effect. Apple is making so much money off people like you, who feel their computer is faster just because they know in their minds that the processor is 10% faster. when in reality the difference is barely even noticeable in real world computing. I'm glad you feel better though at the end of day you gotta do what makes you feel better. but had you spent the money on an SSD or something that made a real difference you would have noticed a speed increase. As it stands you gave Apple $300 for a placebo pill and someone in marketing is smiling and padding their wallet.
 
If I decide I want a 256 SSD in the winter, how hard is it to install it? I have no experience at all with installing parts on a computer. Would I need to take it to an Apple Store for them to install it for me? Also, would I lose the information I have saved on my MBP once I decide to install an SSD?
 
derek1984 said:
If I decide I want a 256 SSD in the winter, how hard is it to install it? I have no experience at all with installing parts on a computer. Would I need to take it to an Apple Store for them to install it for me? Also, would I lose the information I have saved on my MBP once I decide to install an SSD?
Click to expand...

Its super easy to replace, there are several nice tutorials online with pictures. As for your data you have a few options,
-one is to use time machine and back everything up on an external drive then when installing osx on the new drive choose the option back up from time machine file.
-Another is to buy an external HD case or SATA to USB cable and plug in your new hard drive then use Carbon copy cloner to make an exact replica of your current drive to the new one. swap out the hard drive, boot up and you're all set.
 
bigjnyc said:
Its super easy to replace, there are several nice tutorials online with pictures. As for your data you have a few options,
-one is to use time machine and back everything up on an external drive then when installing osx on the new drive choose the option back up from time machine file.
-Another is to buy an external HD case or SATA to USB cable and plug in your new hard drive then use Carbon copy cloner to make an exact replica of your current drive to the new one. swap out the hard drive, boot up and you're all set.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the helpful info. I plan on going SSD once prices start to come down.
 
stevieapollo said:
just thought i would give some insight to those who just can't decide. i was stuck between getting the stock 17" or the 2.93ghz model. so i bought the stock macbook pro and within 2 weeks i decided i just couldn't have the 2.66 when i knew the 2.93 was within my reach! so i went to my local apple store and told them i was not happy with the machine my main complaint was i was not getting anywhere close to 7 hours battery life. they took it back with no restocking fee.:D once i got home i called apple and put in my order for the 17" 2.93 7200rpm hard drive!! after the longest 2 weeks of my life it finally arrived!! it was well worth the wait!! I am seeing a nice speed increase with the faster processor. I would highly recommend anyone who cant decide to take the leap and upgrade that processor baby!! you wont regret it. but you may regret settling for the stock 2.66! of course it depends what you will be using the machine for...im a logic, final cut and dabble in aperture/photoshop. i couldn't be happier!!

so if you just cant decide what macbook pro is right for you i would recommend getting that 2.93ghz don't listen to those who tell you its only a 10% speed increase and isn't worth the extra 300!! I found it was well worth the extra buck!!

now all i need to do is order me one of those momentus 500 7200rmp drives:rolleyes:

*apollo*
Click to expand...

It so isnt worth the extra $300 (but glad you are happy). You bought into the marketing... Get an Intel SSD and then you wont believe the difference in your computer.
 
derek1984 said:
Just out of curiosity, what is the stock SSD that Apple installs in the MBP's?
Click to expand...
I believe Apple uses the Samsung MLC SSD but I would avoid it. Its generally cheaper to upgrade on your own and the performance doesnt measure up to the Intel SSD. Biggest problem with the Intel is size 80GB compared to 128GB.

I only have 30GB filled up, but I also setup a home network and backup all large files on my Time Capsule to save space. The notebook is blazing fast. Best upgrade I have ever purchased!! It truly is night and day. When I drop the stock hard drive in my computer feels sluggish and programs take upwards of 15-20 seconds to open compared to 1-2 seconds with the SSD.
 
drew0020 said:
It so isnt worth the extra $300 (but glad you are happy). You bought into the marketing... Get an Intel SSD and then you wont believe the difference in your computer.
Click to expand...

Ditto. When I was buying my MBP I calculated that it's actually 10% of the cost of the laptop for a mere 10% speed increase, where as I put the money to good use and got the 17" because i's worth the extra bucks for the screen real estate and I'm really happy I went for it. The idea of just one more thing, and one more thing could see you spending a lot of money!
 
apersianboyCOM said:
Ditto. When I was buying my MBP I calculated that it's actually 10% of the cost of the laptop for a mere 10% speed increase, where as I put the money to good use and got the 17" because i's worth the extra bucks for the screen real estate and I'm really happy I went for it. The idea of just one more thing, and one more thing could see you spending a lot of money!
Click to expand...
Youll be lucky if you see a 10% increase in speed. Most likely you wont even notice it. The bottleneck of these computers isnt the processor, its the hard drive. Most people probably barely tax the processor during daily use.
 
I'm just waiting for a 500+ gb SSD to be released so i could upgrade my 15" MBP... yeah i know i might be waiting for a while but its ok i only got my MBP last week and i'm not a power user the current speed is great for me. I got the 2.66 with 4gb ram by the way.
 
dont think ssd are worth it at this time...

I use my macbook pro for video editing and logic!! i also dabble in photography... i am just simply stating my experience. i had the 2.66 for 2 weeks. wrote and recorded songs, edited HD video clips. the computer did just fine with whatever i would throw at it. but like i said after i received my 2.93Ghz mbp i noticed things happening faster!! now to be fare i should have mentioned that my 2.66 machine had the stock 5400 HD and my new 2.93 has the 7200rpm. so a lot of the speed could be from the hard drive alone. but i maid sure to render plenty of video and i DID noticed things were happening faster!! they just were. if its all in my head like some of you were saying then so be it! lol but I think it is worth the extra 300$ hands down. when we see a macbook pro refresh the 2.93 should still be around and your 300$ would have been a good investment on keeping your machine from not becoming obsolete!

SSD are to expensive!!! i need more then 128GB and the 256GB are just to expensive! i have also read and heard from apple on line and on the phone that the ssd are faster doing some tasks but have proven to be slower in other areas! so i don't really think ssd is something i need right now..7200rpm drives get the job done!!

now please just think about what makes sense? you cant upgrade your processor after the fact! but you can always throw in a SSD when ever you want!!

I THINK THE 2.93GHZ MBP IS WORHT THE $300 IT TOOK ME BUYING THE 2.66 THEN RETURNING IT FOR THE 2.93 TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION!

I hope this will help some of you looking to buy a new mbp. i wish this post was up a weeks ago to help me decide:cool:
 
stevieapollo said:
I use my macbook pro for video editing and logic!! i also dabble in photography... i am just simply stating my experience. i had the 2.66 for 2 weeks. wrote and recorded songs, edited HD video clips. the computer did just fine with whatever i would throw at it. but like i said after i received my 2.93Ghz mbp i noticed things happening faster!! now to be fare i should have mentioned that my 2.66 machine had the stock 5400 HD and my new 2.93 has the 7200rpm. so a lot of the speed could be from the hard drive alone. but i maid sure to render plenty of video and i DID noticed things were happening faster!! they just were. if its all in my head like some of you were saying then so be it! lol but I think it is worth the extra 300$ hands down. when we see a macbook pro refresh the 2.93 should still be around and your 300$ would have been a good investment on keeping your machine from not becoming obsolete!

SSD are to expensive!!! i need more then 128GB and the 256GB are just to expensive! i have also read and heard from apple on line and on the phone that the ssd are faster doing some tasks but have proven to be slower in other areas! so i don't really think ssd is something i need right now..7200rpm drives get the job done!!

now please just think about what makes sense? you cant upgrade your processor after the fact! but you can always throw in a SSD when ever you want!!

I THINK THE 2.93GHZ MBP IS WORHT THE $300 IT TOOK ME BUYING THE 2.66 THEN RETURNING IT FOR THE 2.93 TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION!

I hope this will help some of you looking to buy a new mbp. i wish this post was up a weeks ago to help me decide:cool:
Click to expand...



SSD definitely intrigues me and I will probably install it in the future but right now, I agree that they are too expensive. When I was configuring my MBP, I knew that there was nothing I could do about the processor in the future, but there was something I could do with the hard drive. I'll enjoy my 2.93 processor now and in the future, I'll install an SSD and more RAM as prices go down in time.
 
Ssd
derek1984 said:
SSD definitely intrigues me and I will probably install it in the future but right now, I agree that they are too expensive. When I was configuring my MBP, I knew that there was nothing I could do about the processor in the future, but there was something I could do with the hard drive. I'll enjoy my 2.93 processor now and in the future, I'll install an SSD and more RAM as prices go down in time.
Click to expand...
ssd is too expensive but you spend $300 on a measly processor upgrade?!? The reason the new computer feels faster is the harddrive upgrade and not the processor.
 
drew0020 said:
Ssd
ssd is too expensive but you spend $300 on a measly processor upgrade?!? The reason the new computer feels faster is the harddrive upgrade and not the processor.
Click to expand...


Maybe in 6 months time the Intel SSD comes down in price (which I notice it has been doing almost daily) and I will buy it then. 80GB is not enough memory for me anyways. I needed my MBP right away and for me, the most logical thing to do was get the best processor I can get since you can't upgrade that in the future and get SSD when it becomes more affordable. I plan on having my MBP for 4-5 years.
 
derek1984 said:
M in 6 months time the Intel SSD comes down in price (which I notice it has been doing almost daily) and I will buy it then. 80GB is not enough memory for me anyways. I needed my MBP right away and for me, the most logical thing to do was get the best processor I can get since you can't upgrade that in the future and get SSD when it becomes more affordable. I plan on having my MBP for 4-5 years.
Click to expand...

I have no problem with anyones personal preference but in my opinion you and the OP need to better understand how processors work. The difference that 233mhz means is almost negligible in real world performance.

I'm glad you are both happy with your faster processor but I would hate for a newbie to come on here and read this and get the wrong ideas. Anandtech has some great articles on processors and SSD. Makes for a great read!
 
What chipsets are the 2.93GHz vs. the 2.66GHz in the 17" mbp?

I remember I saw something that was different between the two. Was it the difference in the series of the chipsets?
 
You guys are brutal! Hilarious...damn, let him enjoy his computer for a while! There is a 10% processor speed increase, that is a real world difference for sure. Whether or not he it utilizes the power is another story. BUT, it is a REAL speed difference, NOT marketing Hype! Unreal....

OP, I think sometimes, some folks are jealous of others;)

Enjoy your computer, that is a Bad Ass machine bud!

Take care

Jer
 
derek1984 said:
Maybe in 6 months time the Intel SSD comes down in price (which I notice it has been doing almost daily) and I will buy it then. 80GB is not enough memory for me anyways. I needed my MBP right away and for me, the most logical thing to do was get the best processor I can get since you can't upgrade that in the future and get SSD when it becomes more affordable. I plan on having my MBP for 4-5 years.
Click to expand...

Memory is NOT the same thing has storage space. Very, very different things.
 
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