Which 13" MBP is right for me? Advice, please!

[tinyfireworks]

Hi all,

After months of waiting and debating, I'm finally ready to pull the plug on a new laptop to replace my 14" iBook G4 that's still chugging along. I was originally hoping to go with one of the new 15" MBPs but it just doesn't make sense for me budget-wise right now, since I'm fairly sure the 13" with some additional bits and pieces will be sufficient for my needs. I'm not sure which to go with, though, the low-end or the high-end?

On top of web browsing, word processing, basic GarageBand, iTunes, and iPhoto stuff, I need to be able to run Photoshop CS5 (with the occasional batch edit), some other CS5 apps like InDesign concurrently (but nothing too intensive), and play a bit of WoW. I'm interested in running Windows 7 through BootCamp just for fun, but it's not critical. Either way, I plan to put a bigger 7200 rpm hard drive in on my own, and add an external monitor for use in photo editing. I'm pretty sure I know what you're all going to say, but is the processor bump from the 2.4 to the 2.66 worth the $300 difference?

Basically, I'm hoping for some confirmation that the low-end will suit my needs, but I'm open to suggestions. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[EasyJW]

the processor bump is barely noticeable, i've been on both side by side and most of the apps your running won't even use the extra cpu, it's ram they'll use best

go with the 2.4

 

[tinyfireworks]

Great! Thanks, EasyJW.

 

[shoppy]

2.4 is the way forward here, buy a new HDD for extra capacity. I am selling my last 13" and have just brought a new 13" base.

 

[Arminator]

Go for the 2.4 model, and build in a SSD. This will boost your experience in a significant way.

 

[mbcracken]

I'm in the same boat...iBook G4 1.2 is really showing it's age and have been wondering about the same MBP options. Thanks for all those inputs from above.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[brendu]

2.4 Ftw

 

[iVizard]

reconsider

you should reconsider the 15 inch if you were considering the 2.66 because when i got my education discount they gave me 200$ off the base 15 im not sure if this was me getting lucky or its like this at all apple stores so the price difference between 15 and 13 was only 400$ for a heck of a lot more.

 

[mitchleeh]

you should reconsider the 15 inch if you were considering the 2.66 because when i got my education discount they gave me 200$ off the base 15 im not sure if this was me getting lucky or its like this at all apple stores so the price difference between 15 and 13 was only 400$ for a heck of a lot more.

Can you please explain how this happened? Was it a new 2010 15" MBP? Where are you?