question about which Macbook Pro to buy

Ok, I have a dillemma. I really want to buy a Macbook Pro 15"-nothing special. I just don't know which one I should get. I (OBVIOUSLY) really want the newest unibody 15" that sells retail 1999+ but I have also been looking at the MBP 15" last gen. that Apple is selling as a refurb for 1599. I know there are some tiny tweaks and differences between the two(trackpad, unibody vs. not-unibody, everything is on the left w/the unibody, etc).

My question is: shall I get the refurb or just try to keep saving up for the extra bells and whistles?
The only thing I really like about the unibody is:
a) it's the newest one
b)the multi-touch trackpad

**I'm also not sure to get the glossy or matte screen if I end up getting the previous version-I'm thinking the glossy cuz it looks nicer...but still up in the air on that one as well

The thing that confuses me is about the multi-touch trackpad. What's the difference between the two? The older gen. says it has it but seems to 'differ' from the unibody MBP. Can anyone tell me?

I don't need anything really that special about a Macbook pro.
I'm just a reg. college student who will be using it for basic emails/surfing(addictions!!!!!), word-processing and storing music and lots and lots and lots of photos. I can afford a macbook, but I really like the extra 2" of screen space.
This will be my first Apple and my PC(of s**t) desktop has OFFICIALLY run out of ram and memory and crashes more often than eviel kenievel.(256mb ram, 80gig hd-yuck! but cost me only 650 @ the time and I was an inexperienced buyer)

So, here are my options:

15-inch: 2.4GHz
Intel Core 2
2GB Memory
250GB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB
$1,999.00


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display
2GB memory
200GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory
$1,349.00

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch glossy widescreen display-GLOSSY
2GB memory
250GB hard drive; 5400 rpm
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
$1,499.00

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display
2GB memory
250GB hard drive; 5400 rpm
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
$1,499.00



Any help/answers will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Well, the new MacBook Pro is obviously faster and has a nicer design. But in terms of the functional areas you've mentioned, there are no earth-shattering changes.

You are correct in that the older model does have a multi-touch trackpad. The only enhancement in the newer model is 4-fingered gestures for activating Expose and whatnot. Personally, I just use hot corners and have never felt the needed for expanded functionality. Keep in mind that only a select few applications actually work with the multi-touch features anyway, so their usefulness is quite limited at this point.

With a limited budget, I think the older model MacBook Pro will be a good fit for you. As to your debate over glossy vs. matte, I would have to say that's more of a personal preference. I prefer the look of a glossy screen and don't usually experience too much of a problem with glare. Contrast seems much better and blacks look deeper. It's particularly good for view video in my opinion (DVDs and such), so if that's an intended use, glossy may be the better option. Conversely, if you're going to be getting into photography and want a truer representation of your photos, matte might be the better option.

While you're shopping, check out MacMall for their prices as well. The prices are usually a little lower with instant rebates plus some sort of mail-in rebate as well. Only consideration might be the "start date" of the actual warranty period.

MacBook Pro on MacMall.com. Buy your MacBook Pro from the #1 Apple Direct Reseller.

what is 'hot corners?'

Also, can you do the whole pinching, swiping for zooming in and out on pics w/the older macbook pro?

RamblinMan said:

While you're shopping, check out MacMall for their prices as well. The prices are usually a little lower with instant rebates plus some sort of mail-in rebate as well. Only consideration might be the "start date" of the actual warranty period.

MacBook Pro on MacMall.com. Buy your MacBook Pro from the #1 Apple Direct Reseller.

Click to expand...

I've checked out macmall.com and it's nice w/the rebates, unfortunately, you still need basically the price of a brand new mbp and I know you get the money right back, but I think in my situation, quicker is better. Now if someone had said, go w/the unibody than the previous mbp, then I obviously would've waited the extra couple paychecks to get it. But my comp. sucks butt right now and it looks as if I'll have it quicker than if I get the unibody.

Buuuuuuuuuuut....if I get the credit from best buy...I might just do it that way!!!!

jakwabbitt449 said:

what is 'hot corners?'

Also, can you do the whole pinching, swiping for zooming in and out on pics w/the older macbook pro?

Click to expand...

You can set up OS X so that when you drag your cursor all the way to the corner of the screen it will do certain functions. For example, my upper left does Expose: Show all windows, upper right does Expose: Hide all windows, lower left does Dashboard and lower right blanks the screen.

Yes, the older MacBook Pro has support for all of those functions. The only thing missing is the new 4-finger gestures, which as I understand it are mostly used to trigger Expose (but as I mentioned, can be triggered in other trackpad-based ways).