I am going to school to become a Audio Engineer/ Music. I will be doing a lot of work in Ableton and other DAWs. I was curious as to what you all would recommend. I don't see the point in getting the i7 when the performance is nearly the same. I am leaning towards the 15" 2.53Ghz with the high resolution screen, not matte. And the graphics, 256 vs 512? Is the difference noticeable for the things i will be doing? Thanks for all your help.
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Which New 15" Mbp Is Right For Me??
- Thread starter genericman
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I am not sure but I believe the 512 graphics is only available with the i7 on the 15" (you can get it with the i5 on the 17" though).
The higher end graphics card is really only going to be useful/necessary if you are doing graphics intensive processes (gaming or video editing etc.)
good luck
-spg
The higher end graphics card is really only going to be useful/necessary if you are doing graphics intensive processes (gaming or video editing etc.)
good luck
-spg
Prices with Matte screen and 500GB HDD
2.4 - 5400 1799 150 100 2049
2.4 - 7200 1799 150 150 2099
2.5 - 5400 1999 150 0 2149
2.5 - 7200 1999 150 50 2199
Does the 2.5 buy you $100 more of processing day to day?
2.4 - 5400 1799 150 100 2049
2.4 - 7200 1799 150 150 2099
2.5 - 5400 1999 150 0 2149
2.5 - 7200 1999 150 50 2199
Does the 2.5 buy you $100 more of processing day to day?
I went with the 2.4Ghz 7200 rpm HD glossy screen, just because the difference in processor 2.4 vs 2.53 is too slight to notice, 7200 rpm does actually make a substantial difference, and Glossy, because i don't like how matte screens look, they always seem to look dirty even when you clean them.
i personally am so used to office because ive been a windows user up until this macbook pro update lol, but ive used iwork and if you dont want to pay for office iwork gets the job done, and then some, so its all about preference
+1
I went the same route for the same reasons, i5 2.4, 500gb 7200rpm, HD glossy. Though personally I prefer iWork
-Any of the i5's should be fine for you, but if you will be running a lot of plug-ins you might want to consider an i7.
-the video memory will make no difference in the apps you are using.
-buy a good external 7200rpm Firewire drive as a "scratch drive" for storing your audio files. You don't want to use your boot drive for this as it can result in reduced performance.
Probably none of them.
HP and Dell both make faster, cheaper, laptops, with a 2nd hard drive so you won't need to carry an external scratch drive with you.
HP and Dell both make faster, cheaper, laptops, with a 2nd hard drive so you won't need to carry an external scratch drive with you.
Thats silly. MBPs are far better for audio work than any HP or Dell, that is why, historically, the vast majority of audio professionals use Macs. The Apple CoreAudio drivers are rock solid and allow for low latency, which will be difficult to acheive with an HP or Dell laptop.
If you don't want an external drive, do what I did and replace the SuperDrive(you can use it with an external enclosure) with a second 7200rpm HD. You can get adapters for $15 bucks on ebay.
Also, if you want to use Logic as your DAW, a Mac is your only choice.