buying a mac (yes again)

[sourceninja]

Ok so here is the deal.

A few months back I placed a order for a 24inch imac and canceled it due to the video card options. Now I have some new cash to spend and apple has updated their lineup I'm looking at it again. Of course now I have more saved up so I have more options, and I still qualify for a edu discount, so this is what I'm looking at.

First, my online options:
$2263.00
* Accessory Kit
* MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
* 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
* SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
* AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

$2928.00
* 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Accessory Kit
* 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution LED Widescreen Display
* Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
* AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

$2358.00
# 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
# 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB GDDR3
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive
# Apple Mighty Mouse
# Apple Keyboard (English) + User's Guide
# Accessory kit
# AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac - Auto-enroll
# SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
# 24-inch glossy widescreen LCD
# AirPort Extreme
# Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

or, I can go to best buy and pick this up (or any other base model)

$2538.00
* 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* SuperDrive 8X (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
* Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
* AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll

Of course with all macs I can always upgrade the ram later as needed.

I plan to use this mac for web development (php and java) and hope to get into application programing with cocco. At some point I plan to use it with garage band to record some of my stuff. I also take videos of my competitions and would like to make dvds of them for archives. I also want to play games on it, but that is not a high priority (I still have a workable gaming system and a xbox 360).

Other things to consider, I currently have a 500gig usb drive I plan to use with time machine, and a dell 2001fp monitor I can attach any notebook to that will support the 1600x1200 resolution. I am not 100% sure I really need the portability, but it would be nice.

Finally, i'm not sure if it is worth upgrading to 7200rpm drives. I know in windows notebooks that is a nice speed improvement, but I don't know how aggressively the mac caches ram, so it may not really matter. I am also not sure if the 17inch macbook pro is really worth the cost increase.

Anyways, any feed back would be great. I have cash burning a hole in my pocket and toys to buy

 

[aphex]

I would go for the 1st one, the 15" MBP

But if you're not in an immediate rush, DEFINITELY wait until June 9th (WWDC).

 

[sourceninja]

I was thinking about that, but I wasn't able to find anything even speculating about what they might have planed. Plus I really want to get working. If there were huge rumors about some huge change though, I'd be willing to wait and see.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I was thinking about that, but I wasn't able to find anything even speculating about what they might have planed. Plus I really want to get working. If there were huge rumors about some huge change though, I'd be willing to wait and see.

Well the Macbook is slated for a major overhaul, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the MBP upgraded as well.

Macrumors buyers guide is neutral, but I did come across this from a month ago

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/...-major-design-changes/

 

[TheStu]

Man, I would love to see the return of the colored iBooks, but this time as done in anodized aluminum for the MacBooks. Imagine a Product(Red) MacBook... mmm.... Anodized Aluminum.... so scratch-magnety, so easy to dent... so sexy!

 

[sourceninja]

Interesting, I'll have to sleep on it.

Thanks!

 

[ubercaffeinated]

i didn't realize how prone to scratches these anodized al notebooks were. SEXY YES. stress causing... yes...

 

[sourceninja]

I'm starting to lean to the 2.5ghz 15 inch imac. I figure I can upgrade the ram myself later for cheap, and it has the 512 meg video, which might be useful at some point. (starcraft 2?)

 

[Megatomic]

The anodized aluminum would be pretty, but I like the composite case of my blackbook. Aesthetically it's good looking and it sure is damage resistant. And easy to clean with windex wipes.

OP, would the dedicated GPU in the MBP help you with the usage you have listed? To me it doesn't look like it. Maybe a high end macbook would serve your purposes and save you some money. Just a thought.

 

[Ultima200]

Well if you want to play games, a top of the line iMac is your best option. Even with that don't expect mind-blowing gaming experiences because as your probably know, Macs are not gaming machines. While the 17inch MBP is great, for most the extra size is not worth is considering how is is not as portable and will not fit into many bags. The 15 inch MBP is IMO the best option but considering you arent going to be doing any intensive graphics works a MB would most likely be fine. If you are like me, the extra power is a must. Dont pay for the extra ram from Apple, you can order it online for a third of the price. I also would not be concerned about holding off until WWDC as there really is not much anticipated regarding the Mac line up expected for the event.


I guess what it comes down to is whether you need the machine to be portable. If so, the MBpro is a no brainer. If you do not need portability, definitely get an iMac.

 

[dmw16]

Im a little confused...

You have laptops and desktops on your list? It seems to me you need to decide which of those two you want first and then down select from there.

I prefer laptops since I spend a lot of time out of my apartment, so I like to be mobile. But if you aren't going to be doing any moving around then why spend the premium on the laptop?

On the subject of memory, I'd get as little as possible and upgrade it yourself. I picked up 2GB of RAM for my macbook for $40 on ebay..

 

[sourceninja]

I ended up going with the 2.5ghz macbook pro. I went stock. Using it right now and loving it. So far I've only installed Adium, but its going good so far. I'm going to try to dig up that old post on switching to mac that used to be in this forum.