15" MBP comparison

Hey, I'm looking into getting a 15" macbook pro for school. i was debating between the lower and mid grade end of those machines. The main difference thats making the decision hard is the graphics card. How big of a difference is the 9400 vs the 9600? I plan on using it for programs like iphoto, HD movies, photoshop cs4. I plan on using windows xp/vista on bootcamp to play older games like Counterstrike Source and Warcraft 3. I don't plan on any brand new games for now. So any suggestions? is it worth the 300 extra for the graphics card when i plan on using it for not hardcore gaming?

Thanks!

If you can't decide based on current use, think about how it might up your resale value down the road. The newer card will fetch more later.

Personally I would recommend you get the lower range, I have an older MBP with the X1600 and use those programs regularly and notice no problems, and the graphics cards in the new MBPs are much better, even at the low end. So save yourself the extra cash.

The 9400 uses system memory. The 9600 does not. If you don't plan on using the higher end graphics card, then think about the 13" MBP.

Let me show you a brief comparison of Macbook Pro, and a laptop from ibuypower.com (do not intend to advertise them, a moderator may remove it if they wish), which comes with windows.

Macbook pro
2.8 ghz dual core
500gig 7200 rpm hard drive
15 inch display
512mb 9600m GT Nvidia
4gigs of RAM

Ibuypower Laptop
2.8 ghz dual core
500gig 7200 rpm hard drive
15 inch display
512mb 9600m GT Nvidia
4gigs of RAM


Why, they're pretty much identical (the Ibuypower came with a free game and some peripherals, but I'll ignore them for the sake of comparison.) The only major difference? The price tag.
Ibuypower - $1100 Mabook Pro- $2,299.00


I ask again, why pick a mac when you can get a laptop, which is basically the same, for $1200 dollars cheaper?

WoM said:

I ask again, why pick a mac when you can get a laptop, which is basically the same, for $1200 dollars cheaper?

Click to expand...

Because he wants to use Mac programs as stated in his first post. He's only using the bootcamp Vista load for the games, everything else is done on OSX.

WoM said:

Why, they're pretty much identical (the Ibuypower came with a free game and some peripherals, but I'll ignore them for the sake of comparison.) The only major difference? The price tag.
Ibuypower - $1100 Mabook Pro- $2,299.00


I ask again, why pick a mac when you can get a laptop, which is basically the same, for $1200 dollars cheaper?

Click to expand...

Can someone explain this to me?
Why is an MBP so so costly? I don't think it's just the OS...

WoM said:

Why, they're pretty much identical (the Ibuypower came with a free game and some peripherals, but I'll ignore them for the sake of comparison.) The only major difference? The price tag.
Ibuypower - $1100 Mabook Pro- $2,299.00


I ask again, why pick a mac when you can get a laptop, which is basically the same, for $1200 dollars cheaper?

Click to expand...

psaxena said:

Can someone explain this to me?
Why is an MBP so so costly? I don't think it's just the OS...

Click to expand...

Well, he left out some key points/specs/features to make his Windows machine match the specs of the MBP.
It should look more like this in price:

Mabook Pro- $2,299.00
Ibuypower - $1912.00

That's only a difference of $387.

What the ibuypower site won't let you add are apps to match/compete with iLife. iLife sells for about $80, so that takes your pricing difference down to only ~$300.

The MBP also has a backlit keyboard, and LED backlit display, A firewire port and a Multi-Touch trackpad.

I would say that those features are worth the extra ~$300.

..plus, you get OS X!