Ssd

[saberahul]

I have a early 2011 2.7GHz i7 13" with 8GB RAM and 512HDD. I'm considering upgrading this machine to the 840 evo for around $300.

I'm not sure whether it's worth upgrading or just spending $1,500 for a new MBP with retina display and thinner body and lighter weight…

The issue isn't the money - $1,500 means nothing to me, but the need of a laptop. If I were to buy a new laptop, it seems like too much hassle to sell this one off or pass it to someone. On the other hand, I could just buy the SSD, swap out the HDD, and go about it. Kind of confused as to which makes more sense.

How much life would this machine have left anyways? I generally push it to its limits but it hasn't let me down once. Bought it when it came out. Assuming I can make it go for another 3-4 years, do you recommend upgrading the SSD or trashing the machine?

Also, I have AppleCare on this machine until June 2014. Does upgrading void warranty?
Lastly, if I upgrade to SSD and swap out the HDD, how would I go about installing OS X and so forth? I have a time machine backup drive.

 

[Raunien]

I'm still using a cMBP from 2012, but that's because I need the anti-glare display. That being said, if money's not an issue, I would get the rMBP. However, make sure you get the right configuration with your usage of RAM and SSD size.

The screen will definitely be better than the unbearable 1280x800 resolution of your current machine. I can't comment on the lag during scrolling and animations on the current retina models though as I haven't tested the 2013 models. Make sure you go to the apple store and play around with it a little bit before making a final decision.

 

[maflynn]

You really haven't gone into details as to how you plan to use the machine, other then pushing it to the limits.

Are you looking for the 15" rMBP or the 13" rMBP, consider only the high end offers a dedicated GPU on the 15" rMBP. Depending on your needs this may or may not be an issue.

I'd say that you'd probably get more bang out of your buck by upgrading your existing machine and waiting a year or two until you see the performance really starting to affect your work.

 

[Gjwilly]

The issue isn't the money - $1,500 means nothing to me.....

You know my birthday is this month.....
How about giving me nothing?

 

[saberahul]

You really haven't gone into details as to how you plan to use the machine, other then pushing it to the limits.



Are you looking for the 15" rMBP or the 13" rMBP, consider only the high end offers a dedicated GPU on the 15" rMBP. Depending on your needs this may or may not be an issue.



I'd say that you'd probably get more bang out of your buck by upgrading your existing machine and waiting a year or two until you see the performance really starting to affect your work.

Well I mostly run engineering applications all the time and some IDEs. For example, I'm generally using autocad, pro/engineer in VMware, matlab, all office apps, video chats in the background using hangouts, about 20-30 safari tabs, and other general apps like iTunes and all. Otherwise I'm almost always running task management apps,iPhoto, imovie. In total if say I'm multi tasking with about 30 apps at a time plus video plus safari (yes I do a lot at once).

I was considering the highest end 15 but don't like the bulk of a wider screen. I travel a lot for work and don't imagine seeing myself sitting with a 15" laptop.

I don't think a dedicated GPU would help as much. I game from time to time but that doesn't matter. I just need power, portability, and battery life. Speaking of which, would an air handle the usage above on its 1.7 or whatever ghz processor? I really like the look and weight of the machine.