First Mac, MBP

[dixiehacker]

Hey all, I just got my first Mac yesterday. The CompUSA near me was having a sale. I picked up a Macbook Pro Core Duo 2.16 15" with 1 gig ram, 100Gb 5400 hard drive, and 256 Meg video card. I got the thing for $1320. So far I am pretty happy with it. I just can't help but wonder if I should have spent the extra $700 for the C2D. Anyway, while it is still in the return period, I thought I would ask what you all thought.
BTW, reading these forums over the past couple weeks has been very useful.

 

[mkrishnan]

As long as you don't have any problems with it (excessive heat, mooing -- which was never an MBP problem anyway, I think?, grainy or banded screen, etc, etc) then I'd say, stick with it! It's a great machine... and unless you have specific needs for the newer video card or C2D... $700 is a HUGE price difference!

 

[aristobrat]

It's a great machine... and unless you have specific needs for the newer video card or C2D... $700 is a HUGE price difference!

My thoughts exactly. OP got an *excellent* deal.

Welcome to the forums (and Mac OS X), dixiehacker!

 

[dixiehacker]

As long as you don't have any problems with it (excessive heat, mooing -- which was never an MBP problem anyway, I think?, grainy or banded screen, etc, etc) then I'd say, stick with it! It's a great machine... and unless you have specific needs for the newer video card or C2D... $700 is a HUGE price difference!

Speaking of Banding, when I look at this picture http://home.freeuk.com/jackdodds/banding/granger_MBP_C2D_test.jpg . I see jagged lines going up and down between colors in the middle. Does that indicate a banding problem, or is the image susposed to look like that?

 

[mkrishnan]

Speaking of Banding, when I look at this picture http://home.freeuk.com/jackdodds/banding/granger_MBP_C2D_test.jpg . I see jagged lines going up and down between colors in the middle. Does that indicate a banding problem, or is the image susposed to look like that?

No, that should be fine. I see them on a G5 iMac also (which I'm pretty sure has no banding issue).

Look at this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/256248/

The first post has a simulation of what you would see if you had the banding problem... there would be multiple bands running parallel to the jagged line.

 

[dixiehacker]

No, that should be fine. I see them on a G5 iMac also (which I'm pretty sure has no banding issue).

Look at this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/256248/

The first post has a simulation of what you would see if you had the banding problem... there would be multiple bands running parallel to the jagged line.

Awesome, thanks. Looks like I am ok.