08-02-2009, 04:44 PM

Looking for what I should get for my 13" macbook pro

I will be doing a lot of HTML, flash, internet surfing, downloading, music making (Sonar), music listening, Maybe some programming in the future, and will be using bootcamp and maybe parallels

I need to know how much RAM, Proccesser speed, etc. to get
Thanks

08-02-2009, 05:06 PM

Get the best you can afford at the time you buy it - the standard spec MBP will cover all your needs by the looks of things. My only advice would be to buy the RAM from a 3rd party, rather than Apple.

I would say the 'sweet spot' for specs today would be:

2.53 Ghz CPU
4GB RAM (get 2GB and upgrade with a 3rd party)
250 GB HDD

If you really want something much quicker, get a SSD if you can afford it. 128GBs is almost affordable now and far quicker than the standard 5400rpm drives.

08-02-2009, 05:13 PM

I would say that unless you absolutely need the speed of SSD, you can do without it. IMHO, the cost still doesn't justify what you get.

I don't really know anything about Sonar or Flash but any MBP, like Zoolook said, should meet your needs. I also agree with Zoolook about the RAM - Apple's premium is too much to justify. Purchase your own RAM if you feel you need more.

08-02-2009, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by vansmith

I would say that unless you absolutely need the speed of SSD, you can do without it. IMHO, the cost still doesn't justify what you get.

It's getting close. An SSD will probably give most people more performance increase than going from 4GB to 8GB of RAM for example. There's an excellent article on Anandtech that makes this exact point. What's more, a 128GB SSD will cost less than 8GBs of RAM ($350 Vs $850).

This is probably not what the OP is looking for exactly, but I think I am at the point where I would recommend an SSD to a power user over 8GB of RAM, especially if they're doing audio work.