Buying a Mac Notebook

Ok- so I have decided its time for a mac notebook. This is my first new mac in about 6 years, and my first mac notebook in about 11 years. Needless to say I'm a little behind. I've ruled out the base Macbook and Macbook Air- I definitely want a 15 inch screen. I'm just not sure on what spec's a need.

Here is what I intend to use the machine for:
- Basic internet /email etc
- World of Warcraft
- Itunes (never more than 3000 songs / podcasts)
- Photos- I'm into photography and would like to use an app a little more advanced then Iphoto- I will usually keep between 500-1000 high res photos on the machine.
- Watching tv / movies online, Hulu, fancast, etc

Here's whats important to me:
- Speed
- Durability
- Longevity - I don't want to have to replace this thing in two years
- Noise / Heat

I need to determine whether to go with the 2.53ghz or the 2.66ghz and whether to upgrade to a solid state drive, and if so whether I'd be ok with the 128 for what I want to do or if I would need to go up to the 256. Or- if the ssd isn't worth it, which ATA drive I would need.

Any insight would be appreciated. I'm tech savy enough to have a basic understanding of mac/computers in general but if you could keep responses in relatively layman's terms that would be great

Processor speed between the two doesn't make a lot of difference for what you are doing with your machine. You probably won't even notice any difference between the two anyways.

Basically get what you can afford. It's obviously better to get the higher end specs to future proof your purchase, as well as higher resale value.

It seems that you probably need a lot of storage for what you will be doing. I would advise on getting an external HDD as a back up for your pictures.

I wouldn't worry too much about the RAM or the HDD right now because you can always upgrade those from third party vendors for a lot less yourself.

Thankyou for the quick response. From what I understand I think you're correct with the processer- so I think I'll get more value from the 2.53. I did note that the 2.66 has the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB, where the 2.53 has just the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. I have no idea what this means- would it make a difference for me?

Also- what is the deal with the SSD vs the ATA, and what would be the impact of having the 128 SSD vs the 256?

Thanks!

Chazz_Goodtimes said:

Thankyou for the quick response. From what I understand I think you're correct with the processer- so I think I'll get more value from the 2.53. I did note that the 2.66 has the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB, where the 2.53 has just the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. I have no idea what this means- would it make a difference for me?

Also- what is the deal with the SSD vs the ATA, and what would be the impact of having the 128 SSD vs the 256?

Thanks!

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The 2.66 has two GPUs, two graphic cards. The 9400 being the lower version which uses less power, however it takes away from your system's memory.

The 9600 is the dedicated card which means it has it's own memory. I would take that into consideration for gaming since they tend to be CPU and GPU intensive.

SSD VS. SATA HDD comes down to money vs storage. The SSD is supposedly faster in writing and reading, uses less power, and doesn't have any moving parts. It all sounds good and all but cost a lot of money for the amount of storage you get out of it.

I would only consider it if you have the extra money and want to play around with something that is new. The technology is still in development so I would wait awhile longer before it becomes mainstream and the price goes down.

The only real usage I can see for an SSD is installing your OS and programs. Everything else needs to be stored on an external storage device because you will run out of space quickly.

I would save the money from the 2.66GHz and instead get a good protection plan (Apple Care or whatever it is) - if youre looking for "longevity" it cant hurt.

I just purchased a 13" MBP with 2.5ghz and 4gram. I would've liked to go with a SSD myself but the benefit doesnt outweigh the cost. The SSD looks up information faster but its way too expensive. You can always purchase one down the road when the prices go down and capacity increases.

hi there! this is my first post here. i am a photographer and just switched to mac in october. love it. i got the 15 inch 2.53 ghz mackbbok pro. i run photoshop cs4 and bridge daily, processing large files and it it is handling it quite well. this is the base model of the 15 inch mbp. love it!! i have 2 externals, one for time machine, and one that i use to back up my client image folders manually after i process them. good luck!!

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I factored in the Applecare to my price range so thats a must have. (My old I-Mac basically blew up on the 3 year mark and the applecare fix got me another 2-3 years out of the machine).

So I narrowed things down a little and came up with some different combos based on my spending limit. Given my info above on what I'll be using it for, and assuming I eventually get an external drive for photos etc, any thoughts on what I should go with?

Based on my price range here are my options:
Option 1 / Option 2 / Option 3 / Option 4
Screen: 13 / 15 / 15 / 15
Processor: 2.53 / 2.53 / 2.53 / 2.66
Memory: 8GB / 4GB / 4GB / 4GB
HD: 320GB ATA / 500GB ATA / 128GB SSD / 500GB ATA
Graphics 9400M / 9400M / 9400M / 9400M+9600M GT w 256MB

Finally- if I extend myself a little bit I could go as high as (assuming there would be a significant pickup in peformance):

Option 5 / Option 6
Screen: 13 / 15
Processor: 2.53 / 2.66
Memory: 4GB / 4GB
HD: 256GB SSD / 128GB SSD
Graphics 9400M / 9400M+9600M GT w 256MB

sorry one more thing- I don't plan to do any manual installations of hardware down the road- I just don't have the know-how and would prefer not to deal with the hassle of handing my computer over to someone so they can void my warranty. So any of the options above would be under the assumption that more likely than not I won't be doing any additional upgrades.

Chazz_Goodtimes said:

sorry one more thing- I don't plan to do any manual installations of hardware down the road- I just don't have the know-how and would prefer not to deal with the hassle of handing my computer over to someone so they can void my warranty. So any of the options above would be under the assumption that more likely than not I won't be doing any additional upgrades.

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Replacing the HDD and or the RAM doesn't void your warranty. These things can be easily done yourself. There are so many guides and videos on the internet that there shouldn't be any excuse not to do it yourself.

And they are very easy to install and I'm sure you won't mess up.

Oh and get Apple Care one year after you've had your Mac. Remember, one year is already covered.

Glad to clear up that misconception I had about upgrading hardware. So everything else being equale- which of the above a options would be the best bet?