Advice Needed

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Alright let me start off by saying ive never owned a mac and know next to nothing about them or Leopard. I would however like to change that.

Currently I am a senior in high school and have begun looking around at laptops for college. I have attained a full ride scholarship to the school i wanted to go to and as a reward, my parents have offered to buy me any Macbook i want. So ive been looking around on Apple's website, building different laptops and what not, and have stumbled upon a dilema. Should i get a highly upgraded macbook, which my parents would pay for, the lowest end mbp, which my parents would also pay for, or add in some money of my own and get the mid end mbp.

So i guess this thread comes down to this:
- Mb, 2.4ghz, 4 gigs ram, 250 gig hd
or
- Mbp 2.4ghz, 2 gigs ram, 200 gig hd, 256 dedicated graphics

- and why

or is it worth it to spend the extra cash to get the mid end mbp?
-Mbp 2.5ghz, 2 gigs ram, 250 gig hd, 512 dedicated graphics

Im going to be majoring in mechanical engineering, if that helps. And i plan on using it for everyday tasks, a little gaming, a little photo/video editing, and designing stuff down the road.

And please dont post this or that, give a reason why.
Thanks in advance,
Jake
 
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[2008 MacBook Pro 2.5Ghz,4GB Ram,250GB HD,512MB VIDEO] [16GB iPhone]
Alright let me start off by saying ive never owned a mac and know next to nothing about them or Leopard. I would however like to change that.

Currently I am a senior in high school and have begun looking around at laptops for college. I have attained a full ride scholarship to the school i wanted to go to and as a reward, my parents have offered to buy me any Macbook i want. So ive been looking around on Apple's website, building different laptops and what not, and have stumbled upon a dilema. Should i get a highly upgraded macbook, which my parents would pay for, the lowest end mbp, which my parents would also pay for, or add in some money of my own and get the mid end mbp.

So i guess this thread comes down to this:
- Mb, 2.4ghz, 4 gigs ram, 250 gig hd
or
- Mbp 2.4ghz, 2 gigs ram, 200 gig hd, 256 dedicated graphics

- and why

or is it worth it to spend the extra cash to get the mid end mbp?
-Mbp 2.5ghz, 2 gigs ram, 250 gig hd, 512 dedicated graphics

Im going to be majoring in mechanical engineering, if that helps. And i plan on using it for everyday tasks, a little gaming, a little photo/video editing, and designing stuff down the road.

And please dont post this or that, give a reason why.
Thanks in advance,
Jake

i think the question is at which point and price will you be most comfortable with, if getting the mid mbp wont hurt your budget, then it is your best choice by far, however if spending 2,400 is out of the way for you, the low end mbp is fine.

p.s if its all the same to your parents, meaning they are willing to spend 2,400 then why not, hey u deserve it for getting a full scholarship lol
 
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Answer

Ah I just sent you a huge long explantation about this whole thing but it made me log in again and I lost it all. After alot of research I will be buying the midrange MAcbook pro.

After alot of reserach I found that the Nvedia 8600m Vid Graphics card in the midrange macbook pro cant really utilize the whole 512mb but may still utilize more than 256mb that is in the lower end macbook pro (I really dont know why but this is what alot of people are saying). BUT The thing that needs to stand out is the L2 Cache. The lower end macbook pro has 3mb of L2 cache which is actually a downgrade to the last macbookbook pro's which was at 4gb. The midrange macbook pro has 6mb which is a pretty big upgrade. The L2 Cache is basically smaller faster memory that allows the latency of opening your most used programs and running them to be lower. Basically it allows your most used programs to run and open faster.

One of the other things you need to think of though is the drive difference. When you video edit will you be using a external? I would suggest this because if you go with the 5400rpm drive then rendering video and other things will take more time. While the 7200 rpm drive will dominate in rendering it heats up your computer more and eats more of your battery life and doesn't have enough space to really be a good video editing drive. If you go with the 250gb 5400 rpm drive (which is what I am doing) I would recommend getting at least a 500gb 7200 rpm Firewire external because it will open up your hard drive on your computer and you can move the footage around easier. Most video editors edit on externals (not all though).

Also check out this site..
http://www.macworld.com/article/132407/2008/03/macbookprocore2duo.html?t=204

You know what your needs are for your computer. Software is always upgrading and becoming more demanding so be cautious about buying the lower end notebooks because in three or four years that computer may not be very dependable running your most important editing software.

BUT you may be better off buying the lower end macbook pro.. Just depends on what your demands are. Hopefully that website I gave you will help you decide better. GOOD LUCK!
 
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d.schwartz- my rents have decided to pay roughly 1800 for my laptop, so if i end up getting the midrange mbp i would be paying the difference. but im looking to see if the upgraded performance of the midrange mbp is worth the cost.

mabortdrummer- thx alot, the memory cache was something i meant to ask about but forgot. I was also planning on running all the video editing w/ an external drive to save space, battery, etc.

thanks for the responses, keep em coming
 
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This or That

Looking at purchasing a laptop in the near future for college. Im looking at either a:

2.4 ghz Macbook 2gb ram 250 gb hd
or
2.4 ghz Macbook Pro 2gb ram 200 gb hd

Which would you choose and why.

Also ive seen in several places that apple may be updating their notebooks in June, if the new ones are released in June when do you think the earliest time i could get one would be? Just wondering cause i have to be at school June 27th
 
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 15" 2.4 MBP  iPod Classic 80 GB, Silver
I personally am getting the exact same one as the second one listed, the MBP. I am choosing this for the bigger screen, trackpad, backlit keyboard, and graphics card. Depending on what you are using it for really. Any gaming at all, any possibility get the MBP.

As for the new update, chances are June-August... I would count on it being later though, as there usually are delays in most companies releasing something new. I wouldn't risk it. Also, if they do happen to revamp design and such as things I've been hearing, there may be a lot of errors with the rev a version of it, which would leave you with a bunch of troubles.

I'd suggest getting the MBP if you do anything that req's a vid card

If all you are doing is surfing/email/chatting/slight photoshop/music, get the MB, works perfect, smaller, and less expensive. (its not cheap, that has a negative connotation ;) just less expensive)
 
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D3v1L80Y- lol thanks, it appears mods in this forum are actually pay attention and seem to be on top of things.

ogacon- im thinkin ill go ahead and buy. Ill probably end up getting the mbp. thx for ur input
 
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For sure! Glad to help :) Welcome to M-F! Feel free to stick around, browse and just chat with the Web's most friendly people.
 
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Black MacBook- 2.2GHz, 1gb RAM, 160GB, Double-Layer Superdrive.
Another one to back up ogacon, the normal MBP seems to be the best choice for you with price and specs coming into account, I think you'll be very happy with it :D
 
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One thing to check out is the size difference. College class desks can be rather small and the MacBook's battery life definitely a plus. If you don't need the graphics of the MBP, give the MacBook strong consideration.

Congrats on the full scholarship. Best of luck in your future.
 

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