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Which of these MB/MBP's would you buy?

MacFanUK

MacFanUK

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 29, 2009
546
0
UK
I'm heading back to university at the end of September so I am looking to buy a laptop. I have had laptops in the past but never really used them at university, however, this year I will be living further away from campus so I will probably use it more.

I have looked at both PC laptops and Mac laptops and I am definately wanting to get a Mac. I have just set up a hackintosh and I love the OS.

I have used Macs before but I have never had a brand new one. I got a brand new MBP as an insurance replacement once, but sold it without opening it, only to buy a 2nd hand, dented one a few months later.

Anyway, I have been looking on the Apple store and the following are my choices:

1) 13" Macbook, 2.4GHz, 2GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, Illuminated Keyboard @ £799

2) 15" Macbook Pro, 2.4GHz, 2GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, 9600M GT GPU @ £969

3) 13" Macbook Pro, 2.26GHz, 2GB DDR3, 160GB HDD @ £770

4) 15" Macbook Pro, 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3, 250GB HDD @ £1110

Options 1 & 2 are both refurbs, which I have been against in the past, mainly because typically, refurbs cost about the same (or at most £20 less) than the HE store price. However, I was wondering if the refurb 15" would perform better in SL as it has a dedicated GPU.

Options 3 & 4 are both new and from the HE Store. The advantage of these 2 is that I would get the 3 year warranty as standard so wouldn't have to pay an extra £100+ for AppleCare. However, neither have a dedicated GPU.

What are your thoughts?

EDIT:
My uses: Web Development, graphic design (web orientated), general uni stuff (word processing, powerpoint, etc). A bit of video editing.

I will also be connecting either laptop to an external screen when I'm at home.
 
Treat yourself to a brand new one and DON'T sell it this time.

As always in a thread like this your uses come into play.
 
nigameash said:
why dont u just get the 13" Macbook Pro, 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3, 250GB HDD ;) it ll serve your purpose n give u the ultimate portability + battery life ;)
Click to expand...

To be honest, I've intentionally ignored the 13" 2.53GHz. I understand that it's the performance of the 15" base model but in a 13" body, but I really don't think the extra 300MHz will make that much difference.

The reason I put the 13" and 15" in my options was screen size rather than spec's to be honest. Certainly if I was considering the 13" 2.53GHz, I'd just pay the extra £100 for the 15" model.
 
I'd go with option 3, possibly with a 4GB upgrade (cheaper not to buy from Apple usually).

In my experience (Mac Mini) the 9400M is fast enough, so I wouldn't worry unless you're a gamer. It's streets ahead of the older kit with Intel graphics.
 
Option 3! I love my 2.26 13" MBP. Love it! Upgrade it later if you don't have the money, but I think its pretty good bang for buck.
 
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