Which is the better decision---Cheaper CD or C2D????

[Planner Dude]

The refurb store has the following models:


Refurbished MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display (1440x900 resolution)
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
100GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera
Front Row and Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $1,399.00

OR

Refurbished MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display (1440x900 resolution)
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
120GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load 6x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera
Front Row and Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $1,599.00

Which do you think is a better buy?

Will i miss out on much by having the core duo over the core2 duo?

I know 2.0 vs 2.16 is not not much of a difference, but what about the cd2 difference. The 3GB RAM would be nice, but probably not necessary for some years. Again the FW 800 is nice but I don't know if I really need it.

I don't want to be kinking myself down the road, but if the there is not much of a performance difference then I think it would be better to take the extra cash for a RAM upgrade (aftermarket).

So is saving $200 bucks worth??? Your input please

 

[livingfortoday]

Well, for $200, you get a bigger HD, faster processor, faster SuperDrive (the originals were slower, right?), but less VRAM. It depends on what you plan on doing with it. If you don't think you'll use it for games, I'd go for the C2D, since the extras seem to make it worthwhile. If you game ocassionally, go for the CD, since it has the extra VRAM.

 

[poopyhead]

you can upgrade the processor later on if you feel the need to. CD and C2D are interchangable and not soldered to the mother board.

 

[Jasonbot]

you can upgrade the processor later on if you feel the need to. CD and C2D are interchangable and not soldered to the mother board.

Unfortunately the apple laptops all have soldered-on processors, unlike the iMac and macmini you will need 1337 solder skillz to interchange the processor

 

[BigPrince]

Unfortunately the apple laptops all have soldered-on processors, unlike the iMac and macmini you will need 1337 solder skillz to interchange the processor

And then if you ever need to service it, hope to God they don;t check the processor.

 

[Planner Dude]

Well, for $200, you get a bigger HD, faster processor, faster SuperDrive (the originals were slower, right?), but less VRAM. It depends on what you plan on doing with it. If you don't think you'll use it for games, I'd go for the C2D, since the extras seem to make it worthwhile. If you game ocassionally, go for the CD, since it has the extra VRAM.

I don't do games too much....just the occasional simcity4, but I do use sketchup which is a 3d dependent app. Do you think the extra 128mb will make a big difference with those types of apps or is it just for games?

 

[Jasonbot]

I don't do games too much....just the occasional simcity4, but I do use sketchup which is a 3d dependent app. Do you think the extra 128mb will make a big difference with those types of apps or is it just for games?

I would rather go for the faster, better 64bit processor and larger HD than a big grapics card. sketchup runs nicely on my 2.16 iMac.

 

[Planner Dude]

I would rather go for the faster, better 64bit processor and larger HD than a big graphics card. sketchup runs nicely on my 2.16 iMac.

I am just curious...have you tried sketchup on a macbook?
If so, how does it run?

 

[Deputy-Dawg]

To the best of my knowledge the 15.4" MBP CD super drive was not capable of burning dual layer DVDs the C2D's is. Also there was considerable concern about heat issues with the CD which seem to have been resolved in the C2D.

 

[Butthead]

Read through the announcement threads on the C2D to find out what the differences are. I would take the C2D over the CD, just because the CD's were plagued with problems like overheating from the lack of well designed cooling/fan operation. The GPU runs at a higher clock speed in the C2D, and I'll bet this is more important overall, even for games.

Piece of mind that Apple worked out some of the flaws in the CD, makes that extra $200 worth it for me.

Read this article on barefeats (faster CPU, but you should see similar-small difference btw lower speed CPU's), and then click on the links for more info:

SHOOTOUT: Two MacBook Pros -Core Duo versus Core 2 Duo

C2D still doesn't support dual-layer IIRC, the DVD drive in the MBP 17in is thicker and does; 9.5mm vs standard 12.7mm. see link below, 1/2 way down the page

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/archives/dec06/122906.html

 

[potdude]

I think the decision depends on how imporant $200 is to you. If you can afford it then surely the C2D is the better machine, but if that $200 is something you can't easily part with then get the cheaper one. Who knows how wealthy those that are giving opinions are.

The refurb store has the following models:


Refurbished MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display (1440x900 resolution)
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
100GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera
Front Row and Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $1,399.00

OR

Refurbished MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display (1440x900 resolution)
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
120GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load 6x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera
Front Row and Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $1,599.00

Which do you think is a better buy?

Will i miss out on much by having the core duo over the core2 duo?

I know 2.0 vs 2.16 is not not much of a difference, but what about the cd2 difference. The 3GB RAM would be nice, but probably not necessary for some years. Again the FW 800 is nice but I don't know if I really need it.

I don't want to be kinking myself down the road, but if the there is not much of a performance difference then I think it would be better to take the extra cash for a RAM upgrade (aftermarket).

So is saving $200 bucks worth??? Your input please

 

[Deputy-Dawg]

I think the decision depends on how imporant $200 is to you. If you can afford it then surely the C2D is the better machine, but if that $200 is something you can't easily part with then get the cheaper one. Who knows how wealthy those that are giving opinions are.

Hey pot....
Ever hear the expression "penny wise, pound foolish". Not spending the additonal $200 could prove to be very expensive if the machine he gets tends to overheat and is unreliable.

 

[neyoung]

If the $200 isn't a huge deal to you definitely go for the upgrade.

"CONCLUSIONS
The MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo's advantage over the Core Duo version ranged from 9% to 60% depending on what app we ran. The faster core clock speed should provide an 8% advantage, so everything beyond that is "gravy." Most surprising were the significant gains with Aperture 1.5 and Photoshop CS2.

More good news. Using Graphiccelerator, we were able to display the core frequencies of the ATI Mobility Radeon 1600 GPU while running OpenGL 3D games on the new 15" MacBook Pro. To our delight, the core clock jumped from 311MHz to 423MHz. The memory clock jumped from 297MHz to 450MHz. In the previous series of 15" MacBook Pros the clock speed remained at lower levels (we assume) due to cooling issues. Only the 17" MacBook Pros were up-clocking."

from the above link http://www.barefeats.com/mbcd6.html

You'll not only get a faster clock rate, but quicker overall performance, and a bonus of higher gpu clock rates!