Which Macbook Pro 13" is for me?

[ec1x]

I'm looking to buy a macbook pro 13" sometime soon for my first year of college so that i can take advantage of the free touch and printer rebate. I have never owned a mac before so this is all somewhat new to me.

I plan on using it to play video games such as Starcraft 2 when it comes out, programs like word and excel, using photo editing software like photoshop, and doing a light amount of video editing.

So my questions are:
1. do i get the 2.26 GHz or the 2.53 GHz macbook pro 13"?
2. should i upgrade the hard drive in either case from question 1, or should i wait and eventually invest in a 7200 rpm HD?

thanks for all your help!

 

[itisme1760]

I am not sure on the system requirements for Starcraft 2, but it may seem like that it might not run as well as you wish, even on the almighty 9400M.

Here's a direct quote from Blizzard:

For Starcraft II, we wanted to maximize compatibility with less capable systems to ensure hassle-free game play for as broad a player base as possible. Yet we also wanted to utilize the full potential of any available hardware to ensure the game's looks were competitive. This meant supporting a wide range of hardware, from ATI Radeon 9800/NVIDIA GeForce FX's to the ATI Radeon HD 4800s and NVIDIA GeForce G200s

Nvidia GeForce FXs are pretty old, so I'd imagine that it will work, just not sure how well it will run though.

As per the CPU, it's well above the minimal / alternate requirements.

StarCraftWire.net Minimum Specifications:

* CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
* Memory: 1 GB RAM
* Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5500
* Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*

 

[ec1x]

im not sure if im allowed to do this but i want to bump this thread and get more opinions. thanks

 

[qpid]

I wouldn't bother with the extra ghz. I would take the money saved and bump the ram to at least 4gb, you can never have too much ram. If you can find a good deal also upgrade the hd to a 7200rpm model. You can likely do both for the extra money that you'd save by not going with the faster proc.

 

[seong]

I got the new MBP yesterday, intalled Windows, and the SC2 Beta works like a charm!
If you want 40+fps, then you should decrease shadow to 'low'.