Which Macbook Pro?

[Durbs]

As much as it upsets me to pay the kind of silly prices they charge, i need to buy a Macbook Pro for dev purposes. Been looking at used ones on eBay but they are still stupid money for the spec and it seems from reading around that the newer i5/i7's are much better performers anyway.

therefore gotta grit my teeth and go for one of the below:

a: 15-inch: 2.4GHz, Intel Core i5, 4-GB Memory, 320-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256MB £1,499.00

b: 15-inch: 2.53GHz, Intel Core i5, 4-GB Memory, 500-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256MB £1,649.00

c: 15-inch: 2.66GHz, Intel Core i7, 4-GB Memory, 500-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512MB £1,799.00

d: 17-inch: 2.53GHz, Intel Core i5, 4-GB Memory, 500-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512MB £1,899.00


Given the specs, what is my best bet? Obviously want to spend as little as possible but get the best bang per buck. Discounted the 17", would be nice but too expensive.

Will i really notice the difference between an i5 running 0.13GHz faster and is the gap between the i7 and i5 noticable useability-wise (outside of benchmarks)?

Also, when speccing it, i'm given the following upgrade options:

MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display [+ £80.01]
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display [+ £120.00]

Are either of these upgrades worth getting? Is '320GB + Hi-Res' better than '500GB + Normal Res'?

Ta

[xchaotic]

You really should do a better research if you want to part with that kind of money.
If it's for dev, you really want the "MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display [+ £120.00]".
Other than that go for the cheapest one and do your own upgrades:
max out on RAM (8GB is possible, but not very cheap yet)
buy a sandforce based SSD (corsair C300 seems like a good choice).
Optionally: replace the now useless DVD with the stock HDD for bulk / slow storage, if you buy MCEbay, you can use your DVD via USB on the occasional case that you still need the DVD.

[FiveTimes]

Have you looked at the refurb section on the Apple Store (uk) ? I would rather buy a refurb than one off ebay

[Durbs]

Ta

You really should do a better research if you want to part with that kind of money.

Better research than what? I am researching.

If it's for dev, you really want the "MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display [+ £120.00]".

So is the Antiglare good? Been to PC World a good few times looking at them but only got stock ones on display and not got an Apple store near me to see the difference.

Have you looked at the refurb section on the Apple Store (uk) ? I would rather buy a refurb than one off ebay

Yeah, been keeping my eye on it, theres a few likely ones there. Just need to check whether they do the finance on those ones (guess they do).

Also need to check with them whether these things are mint, if i'm spending £1200+ I dont want the remotest scratch or scuff! Anyone got a refurb one?

[d000hg]

What are you developing that a regular MacBook isn't good enough?

[StopTheEarthIwantToGetOff]

What are you developing that a regular MacBook isn't good enough?

Indeed! I smell an apple fanboy!

One can imagine him taking out his shiny Macbook Pro on the train and discreetly observing the occupiers of the nearby seats; noting and liking their covetous and Magpie like glances.

I say Magpie like cos only a bird brain would actually want one.

Use a VM to develop your next killer I-Tat application.

[Durbs]

What are you developing that a regular MacBook isn't good enough?

The other one only comes in 13" AFAIK , not big enough to develop on really.

Indeed! I smell an apple fanboy!

One can imagine him taking out his shiny Macbook Pro on the train and discreetly observing the occupiers of the nearby seats; noting and liking their covetous and Magpie like glances.

I say Magpie like cos only a bird brain would actually want one.

Use a VM to develop your next killer I-Tat application.

Sigh, yup, that'd be it. Now f uck off back to General.

[Spacecadet]

option c

get the best one your budget can stretch to, applications always get more resource hungry and the difference might let you get another year or two out of it.
Only other recommendation I'd make is to get a 15" over a 17"

All this assumes that you're buying a tool to do a job and not a fashion statement.
If you just want an apple cause they look nice then chances are you'll be upgrading before it's reached the end of it's useful life, in which case save yourself some money and get the cheaper one.

[bogeyman]

As much as it upsets me to pay the kind of silly prices they charge, i need to buy a Macbook Pro for dev purposes. Been looking at used ones on eBay but they are still stupid money for the spec and it seems from reading around that the newer i5/i7's are much better performers anyway.

therefore gotta grit my teeth and go for one of the below:

a: 15-inch: 2.4GHz, Intel Core i5, 4-GB Memory, 320-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256MB £1,499.00

b: 15-inch: 2.53GHz, Intel Core i5, 4-GB Memory, 500-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256MB £1,649.00

c: 15-inch: 2.66GHz, Intel Core i7, 4-GB Memory, 500-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512MB £1,799.00

d: 17-inch: 2.53GHz, Intel Core i5, 4-GB Memory, 500-GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512MB £1,899.00


Given the specs, what is my best bet? Obviously want to spend as little as possible but get the best bang per buck. Discounted the 17", would be nice but too expensive.

Will i really notice the difference between an i5 running 0.13GHz faster and is the gap between the i7 and i5 noticable useability-wise (outside of benchmarks)?

Also, when speccing it, i'm given the following upgrade options:

MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display [+ £80.01]
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display [+ £120.00]

Are either of these upgrades worth getting? Is '320GB + Hi-Res' better than '500GB + Normal Res'?

Ta

What sort of dev are you doing Durbs and what software do you want to use on it?

If it's plain coding-type development, then a) or b) should do it easily.

I would avoid d) unless you've seen and handled one. Too big and unwieldy (and flexy) for me.

I must admit, for any serious and lengthy development projects, I prefer not to use a laptop at all if I have a desk to go to. The iMac 27 i7 is my current platform and I use your option a) for work on the move (but take iPad instead when I don't have to code).

[eek]

Go for the cheapest 15" i5 core but max the memory and max the screen resolution.

Unless you are encoding video you don't need the i7 cores and would you really notice the difference between 2.4 and 2.53GHz.

If you can go for an imac as personally screen resolution is everything.