New 2011 or 2010 MBP 15" Base Model

sbbluewater · Mar 2, 2011

Hi There,
Have an opportunity to pick up a new 2011 MBP 15" base model or a new 2010 15" base model for a +$350 discount. Will use for basic word processing, e-mail, Internet browsing and some Photoshop. Don't really play games. Understand the new processor is much faster but don't really see how the HD Face Time camera or Thunderbolt will benefit me right now. Does it make sense to pay the extra for the 2011 version or should I save the money and go with the new 2010 version and use the savings for extra RAM and/or a SSD? Will the 2011 2.0 processor really make that much of a speed difference for web browsing and/or will applications open up or perform any faster considering what I will be using it for? Any help would be appreciated.

BrianLachoreVPI · Mar 2, 2011

sbbluewater said:
Hi There,
Have an opportunity to pick up a new 2011 MBP 15" base model or a new 2010 15" base model for a +$350 discount. Will use for basic word processing, e-mail, Internet browsing and some Photoshop. Don't really play games. Understand the new processor is much faster but don't really see how the HD Face Time camera or Thunderbolt will benefit me right now. Does it make sense to pay the extra for the 2011 version or should I save the money and go with the new 2010 version and use the savings for extra RAM and/or a SSD? Will the 2011 2.0 processor really make that much of a speed difference for web browsing and/or will applications open up or perform any faster considering what I will be using it for? Any help would be appreciated.

There are a billion threads of this nature floating around - but to answer your specific question, no, I doubt you'll see any web browsing improvement as much of that performance is dependent on factors external to your computer.

Regarding Applications - it will just depend. As more applications are written to capitalize on all 4 available cores (as well as utilize virtual cores) - then yes - you'll absolutely see a performance difference - but the only application you mentioned that I would expect to qualify is Photoshop.

If you check the refurb store - you can save more than $350. In fact - the computer I'm typing on right now can be had for about $1200 less than what I paid for it.

robduckyworth · Mar 2, 2011

for your uses you will be absolutely fine with the 2010 version. save yourself some money. for photoshop i recommend boosting the ram to 8gb (if you do this yourself you save even more money!)

New 2011 or 2010 MBP 15" Base Model

sbbluewater

BrianLachoreVPI

robduckyworth

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