Which 15" MBP??

[macgeek77]

I am in the market for a MBP. I know I want the 15" but I am not sure which model. With the education discount, I can get the baseline for around $2100 (with an upgraded HD to 160GB). Or, I can get the better 15" for around $400 dollars more. Here are my interests:

1) Computer/Mechanical/Electricial engineering
2) iMovie
3) Garage Band
4) Windows for playing games one would find on PS2 or Xbox 360 (Madden NFL 2007, Spiderman, Call of Duty 3, etc.)

Finally, I might be using Final Cut express HD. This is only a possibility and if it did happen, it would not be used real often. Also, with the games, I would only be playing from time to time, but I do want quality graphics.

Since I will have to purchase Windows (a good sum of money), I don't have a whole lot of money to spend. If the upgraded graphics card and boosted speed is worth it, then I will come up with the extra money somehow; otherwise, the baseline.


Thanks for any help!

 

[CalBoy]

Go with the baseline if you're only going to play games once in a while. The mid-range mbp is really better for heavy games. The savings offered by the base mbp are really tremendous; to me, it offeres the best value.

 

[spjonesi]

On a budget, IMO, the 2.2 offers a wonderful value for the power it offers. As long as you aren't doing too much in the realm of FPS etc and or anything really demanding gaming wise, I'm sure you'll be ok with the 2.2 and the 128 vram.

I'll be going for Computer Science and MIS in the fall. I took advise I've read here and I simply bought the best I could afford...so I've just ordered the 2.4 parallels, xp, applecare, and 4gb of ram (installed by me, I'm not going to pay apple $600 plus for that!). It is complete overkill. I'm planning on keeping it for a LONG time

Steve

 

[Gymnut]

Since you're a student, have you considered the ADC(Apple Developer Connection) Student membership? For a one time fee of $99 you're entitled to a once in a life time hardware discount that would bring down the high end 15" MBP(2.4GHz) to $1999 or the baseline to $1599.

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/airtunes.html
http://developer.apple.com/students/sthardware.html
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/310776/