08-22-2009, 04:23 PM

I was taking a peek at the 13 inch and I noticed that if you select the first model and give it 4 gigs of memory and the 250 HDD it comes out to $1,234. However, if you select the other model that already has these specifications you pay an extra 165 dollars for the 2.53 Core 2 Duo (the other model has the 2.26).

Is there really that much of a difference between the two processors?

08-22-2009, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by CryptAck

I was taking a peek at the 13 inch and I noticed that if you select the first model and give it 4 gigs of memory and the 250 HDD it comes out to $1,234. However, if you select the other model that already has these specifications you pay an extra 165 dollars for the 2.53 Core 2 Duo (the other model has the 2.26).

Is there really that much of a difference between the two processors?

Exactly...you should be paying extra for the faster processor...which looks like from your calculations...$165 bucks extra.

Is it worth it, or will you notice the difference...I doubt it. Get the 2.53 if you have the extra bucks, otherwise get the 2.26.

- Nick

08-22-2009, 05:23 PM

The increase in the CPU clock frequency is 11.9 %. For this increase, OP will have to pay an extra 13.3 %. The way I see it, there are very few cases in which it would be worth the extra 165 $ to do this kind of upgrade on a 13" laptop. It makes me think: "If you really can spare that money, how about buying an extra iPod instead?"

Anyway, I advice OP to tell us what he/she will use the computer for.

08-22-2009, 10:05 PM

4gb(what the 2.53 already comes with) crucial memory is $50-$60 bucks.

160gb vs 250gb. all 5400rpm...blah. I would have either way poped in a 500gb 7200rpm

So I see it as about $250 more for higher cpu freq.

2.26 at 1099$ vs 2.53 at1399$

08-22-2009, 10:43 PM

The faster processor only has higher resale value. Other than that you probably won't even notice the difference between the two processor speeds.

08-22-2009, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by torbjoern

The increase in the CPU clock frequency is 11.9 %. For this increase, OP will have to pay an extra 13.3 %.

Actually since it is a dual core it is two core that are 11.9% faster so it will actually be 23.8% faster, but unless you are running like 20 apps at once go for the 2.26GHz.

08-23-2009, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by wolves12

Actually since it is a dual core it is two core that are 11.9% faster so it will actually be 23.8% faster, but unless you are running like 20 apps at once go for the 2.26GHz.

You fail mathematics forever

08-23-2009, 04:42 AM

And I have a 2.66 GHz Core2Duo so actually that's 5.32 GHz...right??




I love it!!

08-23-2009, 05:02 AM

And this is the newest PowerMac Water.... great machine!!
Little rough on the edges, but still...:lol:

08-27-2009, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by pigoo3

Exactly...you should be paying extra for the faster processor...which looks like from your calculations...$165 bucks extra.

Is it worth it, or will you notice the difference...I doubt it. Get the 2.53 if you have the extra bucks, otherwise get the 2.26.

- Nick

Yes, I know you are paying for the faster processor -- hence the post

The only way I can see the processor being worth it is if it offers a big increase in speed (given that $165 could be spent else where) and since there are other factors outside of just Ghz (cache, processor core, etc), I figured I'd ask

Originally Posted by torbjoern

The increase in the CPU clock frequency is 11.9 %. For this increase, OP will have to pay an extra 13.3 %. The way I see it, there are very few cases in which it would be worth the extra 165 $ to do this kind of upgrade on a 13" laptop. It makes me think: "If you really can spare that money, how about buying an extra iPod instead?"

Anyway, I advice OP to tell us what he/she will use the computer for.

My initial thoughts as well.

It'll be a normal web/mobile computer that will undergo the "average user" usage. I do plan on doing some development work on it. I've never used the OS X development tools (I've heard of XCode but not sure if it is an IDE or just an editor), but I normally just use a enhanced editor with syntax highlighting anyways.


Thanks for the replies.

08-27-2009, 10:50 PM

For what you have posted you should be fine with the 250GB hard drive and 4GB of ram. Which is pretty good.

I paid 1199 for my macbook pro and it only came with 2gb of ram and a 160gb hard drive. And if what you are saying is correct you can upgrade to a 250gb hard drive and 4gb of ram for only 35 dollars more? That is actually a good deal.

For me a new 500gb 7200rpm hard drive cost me 120 bucks. Then I have to spend around 70 bucks for 4gb of ram. So for 190 I will have a faster hard drive with bigger capacity but same amount of memory. I think you should be fine with your choice. As I take a lot of pictures and do photoshop cs4 and also movie editing.

But don't spend all that coin on a little faster processor. Like everyone else said, you probably won't notice a difference, especially for what you said you are going to do with the laptop.

08-27-2009, 11:25 PM

I would say go for the 2.26ghz and then add 4gb ram and 500gb hard drive by yourself.

You won't even notice the difference between the two processor speeds.