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Would i be wasiting my money? Upgrade from C2D to i5?

M

maf2k8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2009
316
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I just bought my mac about 5 months ago, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.53, 4gb ram.

This is my first Mac ever ( and i am loving it actually ) but like anyone, I am all about speed....lol...

I pretty much....
Surf the web
Use Garage Band to record some guitar tracks
Import some videos from my Sony HD camcorder to iMoive and Export them or upload to YouTube
Run my screen res at 1024x768 stretched ( i have bad vision so i think ill stick to the standard screen if i were to upgrade because anything higher and its a bit hard to see for me )
burns CDs DVDs
watch movies

So pretty much just your basic user i would say....

Would upgrading to the 15" i5 be just a waste? would i notice any speed increase?
 
Totally yes. An ipad is powerful enough for your needs if it wasn't for the screen size and garageband.
 
maf2k8 said:
I just bought my mac about 5 months ago, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.53, 4gb ram.

This is my first Mac ever ( and i am loving it actually ) but like anyone, I am all about speed....lol...

I pretty much....
Surf the web
Use Garage Band to record some guitar tracks
Import some videos from my Sony HD camcorder to iMoive and Export them or upload to YouTube
Run my screen res at 1024x768 stretched ( i have bad vision so i think ill stick to the standard screen if i were to upgrade because anything higher and its a bit hard to see for me )
burns CDs DVDs
watch movies

So pretty much just your basic user i would say....

Would upgrading to the 15" i5 be just a waste? would i notice any speed increase?
Click to expand...

Not worth it, you won't notice any major speed increase, if anything you'll notice a bit longer battery life but not enough to justify the extra cost of upgrading to it.

You'll notice more performance by getting an SSD instead.

You should wait for the next gen MBP instead, or the second next.
 
Do you have the money to burn? The base i5 is faster then the fastest C2D from last year. Day to day you won't see a huge improvement. The video has been much improved, so you'd see a boost in anything graphics related.

I love my i7, and if speed is THAT important to you, and you have money to waste... go for it!
 
kaf2k8 -- I agree with others who have said that replacing your nearly new MBP now simply to upgrade from a C2D to an i5 chip would be a waste of your money. Your current machine should continue to do a sterling job of handling the tasks you give it for the foreseeable future and that's the acid test.

I must disagree, however, that the iPad would be a decent full time substitute for your MBP, even without Garageband being considered. I have an iPad and love it for what it does. Nevertheless, it's Web browser is limited and inconvenient by the standards of every OS X or Windows based browser. Also it's mail client is primitive. There are many other weaknesses, too, which I will not get into here. The iPad promises to get a lot better but still has a long way to go. It is a lot of fun for casual Web surfing and for watching videos while wandering around but it should never be confused with a real computer.
 
Yes it's faster, but not worth the dough in my opinion. The c2d is still a great machine.
 
Lets just say "IF" i did go for the upgrade, Since i use such a large screen res 1024x768 then i should NOT go for the High Res screen upgrade option, correct?

Once again, this is a big IF.
 
maf2k8 said:
Lets just say "IF" i did go for the upgrade, Since i use such a large screen res 1024x768 then i should NOT go for the High Res screen upgrade option, correct?
Click to expand...

Correct – the extra cost would be a waste.
 
maf2k8 said:
Lets just say "IF" i did go for the upgrade, Since i use such a large screen res 1024x768 then i should NOT go for the High Res screen upgrade option, correct?

Once again, this is a big IF.
Click to expand...

Yup. No way should you upgrade to the high res screen if your going to use it at 1024x768. Very counter productive.
 
maf2k8 said:
Lets just say "IF" i did go for the upgrade, Since i use such a large screen res 1024x768 then i should NOT go for the High Res screen upgrade option, correct?

Once again, this is a big IF.
Click to expand...

1024x768 isn't a large resolution anymore, it's the smallest by now. That's beside the point, why would you want to get the high res if you don't even use the standard resolution on the current MBP?
 
How about this configuration

I have a MacbookPro C2D 2.2Ghz with 2 GB ram at 667MHz that is DDR2 version - Is it worth it for me to upgrade - I currently have a 15" and thinking about going to a 17"
 
larryg1do said:
I have a MacbookPro C2D 2.2Ghz with 2 GB ram at 667MHz that is DDR2 version - Is it worth it for me to upgrade - I currently have a 15" and thinking about going to a 17"
Click to expand...

You need to tell us what you're doing with it and why you feel the need to upgrade to 17"?
 
larryg1do said:
I have a MacbookPro C2D 2.2Ghz with 2 GB ram at 667MHz that is DDR2 version - Is it worth it for me to upgrade - I currently have a 15" and thinking about going to a 17"
Click to expand...

You can't ask this question with out giving us more information... but hey, why not? lol.
 
What I do with my laptop

It is my primary computer at home. I do all the typical activities (mail, browsing, itunes). I will be scanning a lot of old photos of family that were just discovered. IN addition I am a physician and use EMR software to take care of patients. Some video of the kids but noting to complicated.
 
Then I would say keep it, and get yourself a nice 24" monitor. Upgrade RAM if you can, and you would see more of a difference than a new computer. I don't think it's worth spending $2300+
 
larryg1do said:
It is my primary computer at home. I do all the typical activities (mail, browsing, itunes). I will be scanning a lot of old photos of family that were just discovered. IN addition I am a physician and use EMR software to take care of patients. Some video of the kids but noting to complicated.
Click to expand...

I would probably say no then. My G5 is fine for tasks like that, and isn't noticeably slower in most tasks then this i7. Your C2D is able to run all of the latest software, so I wouldn't recommend an upgrade.
 
larryg1do said:
It is my primary computer at home. I do all the typical activities (mail, browsing, itunes). I will be scanning a lot of old photos of family that were just discovered. IN addition I am a physician and use EMR software to take care of patients. Some video of the kids but noting to complicated.
Click to expand...

None of them require the need of the faster hardware, you won't benefit at all. Since it's your primary system at home, just get an external monitor (I recommend Dell's 24" FPW2405) and upgrade to 4GB of RAM, check OCW for memory upgrade options.
 
I can upgrade ram - only up to 4GB. My son has a new MacBook Pro - about 1 year old and it seems much faster - but maybe not worth the expense - thanks for the replies. I wouldn't add a 24" screen because I move around a lot in the house and do travel occasionally - I would rather put the money elsewhere than a permanent monitor.
 
We do have a new imac at home but that is my wife's primary computer - I hardly ever use it because she uses it so much - so although the laptop is my primary computer it is not the households.
 
If you were going from a dual core portable to quad core i5/i7 iMac, probably.

But for most of the general apps, you are just spending money on bragging rights going from 1 generation dual core to the next generation dual core.

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp18.html

So the best bang generally is likely is every other generation, unless you got the cash to burn. Or the next generation stacks on more cores.
 
larryg1do said:
I can upgrade ram - only up to 4GB. My son has a new MacBook Pro - about 1 year old and it seems much faster - but maybe not worth the expense - thanks for the replies. I wouldn't add a 24" screen because I move around a lot in the house and do travel occasionally - I would rather put the money elsewhere than a permanent monitor.
Click to expand...

That's the point. You use the large screen when you do the work at home. You did say the primary system at home, you didn't mention that you actually carry the laptop around the house all the time, in this case why would you want 17" if it's heavier?
 
The usefulness of the 17" is to be able to have two different application screens next to each other and see the whole page. Also the Electronic Medical Record I am using will automatically optimize for high resolution screens which I don't have. Generally I use the computer on the couch so I 24" screen doesn't work well for me.
 
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