13-inch MBP 2.9 or 13-inch MBP 2.6 w/ retina

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Ok, so i've come to an impasse in my research for a computer. I am currently a senior in high school and will be attending UMass Amherst, studying Computer Science. I have been told by several people, some professors from UMass, that I could go with a pc or a mac. However, I'm beginning to prefer the mac so I could begin Apple based app design. So it came down to the 13-inch MBP, 2.9ghz i7 and the 13-inch MBP w/ retina, 2.6ghz i5.

I like the non-retina MBP a little more than the other as it came with a regular HDD at 750gb and it has the disk drive installed and it also has an ethernet port.

Although, I can't understand the purpose of a Solid State Drive. I mean i understand they have faster load times, more efficient, don't die as quickly, and are better in general over HDDs. Yet, is it worth spending the money on a SSD? I'm trying to keep the amount of money I'm willing to spend on this laptop to minimum as I'm going to college which is enough money to begin with. Also, what are the main differences between SSD and Flash Storage?

So, basically, I would like to know which one is more worth the money? And if the non-retina is considered to be, would it be worth it to upgrade the hard drive from an HDD to the 256gb SSD (not spending $600 for the 512gb)?

Thanks for the help.
 

chscag

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I mean i understand they have faster load times, more efficient, don't die as quickly, and are better in general over HDDs.

The jury is still out on that one. I'm not personally convinced that an SSD will outlast a regular spinning hard drive. Plenty of anecdotal stories which state otherwise. However, the technology improves every year. Just wish prices would come down faster....

As far as choosing between the retina or standard MBP, you can't really go wrong with either. My personal choice would be the standard MBP simply because it's upgradeable whereas the retina is not.
 
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Thanks man. I was also thinking about upgrading the standard MBP to the 256gb SSD. Worth $270?
 

chscag

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Is it worth the extra $270? In my opinion, it's not if I have to give it to Apple. You can probably do better by ordering an SSD from a third party such as Mac Sales (OWC) and installing it yourself later on. You can even remove the optical drive, order a data doubler kit from Mac Sales which includes an SSD and an external USB carrier to place the optical drive in.

If you're planning on going with the standard MBP, either the 13" or 15", don't order extras from Apple such as memory or an SSD. They charge premium prices. You can do better by ordering it later on from a third party like I said above. Use that $270 to buy Apple Care which gives you peace of mind for 3 years.
 

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