Which 15" MBP should I get?

[TiffanyBee]

I'm sure this thread is overdone but any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I currently have a Dell XPS M1530 with 2.5 GHz core 2 duo, NVIDA 8600 (I'm pretty sure), 4GB Ram, & 250 GB of RAM.

Should I get the baseline MBP or should I get the 2.53 GHz one? How much faster is the i5? I know how fast a Mac is so I know any new MBP I get will be significantly faster than my current laptop but I want to know which one would be worth it.

 

[gaselectric]

I'm sure this thread is overdone but any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I currently have a Dell XPS M1530 with 2.5 GHz core 2 duo, NVIDA 8600 (I'm pretty sure), 4GB Ram, & 250 GB of RAM.

Should I get the baseline MBP or should I get the 2.53 GHz one? How much faster is the i5? I know how fast a Mac is so I know any new MBP I get will be significantly faster than my current laptop but I want to know which one would be worth it.

Well its really hard to answer your question without knowing more information about your intended usage. The Core 2 Duo processor isn't a slouch but the i5/i7 do shine when you are running processor intensive applications or processes (i.e. encoding a video in Handbrake).

And when you compare the baseline MBP, are you referring to the 13" MBP? Speed-wise, the i5 MBP (which only comes in 15"+) is quicker, but for casual internet browsing, email, etc., its not noticeably so. More importantly, is the extra screen real-estate important to you? Do you ever envision yourself pushing your computer to the limit (i.e. encoding)?

 

[djasterix]

I'm sure this thread is overdone but any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I currently have a Dell XPS M1530 with 2.5 GHz core 2 duo, NVIDA 8600 (I'm pretty sure), 4GB Ram, & 250 GB of RAM.

Should I get the baseline MBP or should I get the 2.53 GHz one? How much faster is the i5? I know how fast a Mac is so I know any new MBP I get will be significantly faster than my current laptop but I want to know which one would be worth it.

The isn't much difference between the two i5s (2,4 vs 2,53), so just get the base 15" and you'll be more than fine

 

[Rithem]

I absolutely love my i7.

 

[TiffanyBee]

I do want the 15" and I think the 17" is too much for a "notebook".

The things I'll be doing on my laptop include photoshop & probably some usage in final cut studio. Most likely some games as well.

I think sticking to the baseline of the 15" is a good idea too. Thanks for your help!

 

[Meever]

You might want to consider the resolution bump if you're going to do video editing it might be worth the extra 100 dollars.... but then again you could always get a Really nice 23" monitor for like 150-200 these days, that more than doubles your screen space....

 

[Ronnoco]

The isn't much difference between the two i5s (2,4 vs 2,53), so just get the base 15" and you'll be more than fine

IMO, the base 15 is the best bang-for-the-buck in the MBP lineup right now...

 

[TiffanyBee]

I concur, Ronnoco. A lot of my friends have been telling me that & I think I will go with the 15".

I have a 21.5" iMac so I think I'm okay on the monitor size. I'm going to be lugging this thing (the 15") around campus at school, wouldn't really want that extra 2 inches.