deciding on macbook pro

So my decision is between the 15 in 2.53 ghz Nvidia 9400M 4gb ram, 250 HD
or 15 2.66ghz Nvidia 9400 and dedicated 9600 320 gb hd 4 gb ram. Both refurbished. Im on a budget. As far as my needs, I am going to be using it casually with maybe some games (at least I would like to have the capability to play games and boot windows if needed) and definetly the garage band. Theres about a 300 $ price difference. Wouild it be worth it to spend the extra 250, would this help "future proof" the laptop? Or should I just save the money and take the 2.53 ghz model.

I have researched this pretty thoroughly but have found a lot of conglicting info regarding the capabilites of the Nvidia chips.

thunderoad02 said:

So my decision is between the 15 in 2.53 ghz Nvidia 9400M 4gb ram, 250 HD
or 15 2.66ghz Nvidia 9400 and dedicated 9600 320 gb hd 4 gb ram. Both refurbished. Im on a budget. As far as my needs, I am going to be using it casually with maybe some games (at least I would like to have the capability to play games and boot windows if needed) and definetly the garage band. Theres about a 300 $ price difference. Wouild it be worth it to spend the extra 250, would this help "future proof" the laptop? Or should I just save the money and take the 2.53 ghz model.

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This question has been asked a bunch of times...I would say spending the extra $300 is not worth it.

And there is no such thing as "future-proofing" a computer...eventually all computers that were todays "speed-demons" become tomorrow's "dinosaurs".

Good luck with your purchase,

- Nick

Edit: Sorry...I missed the detail about the dedicated graphics card. I thought that you were comparing two laptops both with dual GPU's.

If your one laptop choice only has the 9400M, and your other laptop choice has both the 9400M & the 9600...then I "personally" would go for the dual GPU setup. Laptop's can almost always use more graphics "power". But of course this depends on your needs & budget.

as pigoo pointed out, it has been dicussed many times with many explanations from different poits of view .. as you said there is lots of conficting info, but in the end YOU are the one that has to decide if the extra cash is worth it or not, remember that

the dedicated card is faster as I'm sure you know, so you need to decide how much gaming you want to do and what you want to play ... again search the forums

Thanks for the info. I know it's a much asked question and like I said I did a lot of research. I wound up ordering the dual graphics setup, I just wasn't sure if the 300 dollar price difference was really worth it. I had seen some that said the integrated chip was capable enough to run something like call of duty4 while others said that the fps would be unplayable.Can't say I'm gonna do lot of gaming but I'd like the ability to do so. And I plan on keeping the laptop for awhile, so I think I made the right choice.

thunderoad02 said:

Thanks for the info. I know it's a much asked question and like I said I did a lot of research. I wound up ordering the dual graphics setup, I just wasn't sure if the 300 dollar price difference was really worth it. Can't say I'm gonna do lot of gaming but I'd like the ability to do so. And I plan on keeping the laptop for awhile, so I think I made the right choice.

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If the extra $300 wasn't a problem...I would have made the same decision.

Enjoy that new computer ,

- Nick

thunderoad02 said:

Thanks for the info. I know it's a much asked question and like I said I did a lot of research. I wound up ordering the dual graphics setup, I just wasn't sure if the 300 dollar price difference was really worth it. I had seen some that said the integrated chip was capable enough to run something like call of duty4 while others said that the fps would be unplayable.Can't say I'm gonna do lot of gaming but I'd like the ability to do so. And I plan on keeping the laptop for awhile, so I think I made the right choice.

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Good decision there bud;D By the way, I played Cod4 on the 9400m and it is able to play the game fine, though not at full spec. I would have made the same choice!