Please help me decide on a 15" Macbook Pro

[dingster]

Hi,

I am buying my first Mac and I am deciding between the 2.2 and 2.4 15" Macbook pro. I will use it mostly for heavy photo editing/work flow stuff using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

I will need it to drive the 30" display and I was wondering if the 2.2 and 2.4 ghz models will make a significant difference. Also the Video ram on is 128 and 256 on the 2.2 and 2.4ghz models respectively. Will this make a difference for my type of work on the 30"?

Onto hard drives, I heard the apple drives have some sort of double writing capability therefor are faster than normal drives. Is that true for both the 5400 and 7200 rpm models? What are the pros and cons of both in terms of battery consumption, and reliability?

Thanks in advance for helping me out with some many questions.

- Daniel

 

[Cybergypsy]

I just bought the 2.2 and love it, It fast for everything i do.........

 

[techlover828]

Ya, I too got a 2.2 GHz MBP and I love it. If I were you I would probably go for a 2.4 GHz one simply for the video card. Running a 30" display might require the higher graphics card to run smoothly, although I could be wrong.

 

[James L]

Check out BareFeats, and search the MBP forums for threads from June when the latest revisions came out.

One word of caution. Many people said "The 2.4 with 256MB is not worth the extra $$$. The speed improvements are very negligible, and the extra VRAM doesn't make a significant difference".

I agree that the 2.2 vs 2.4 processor speed difference is fairly insignificant.

But, when you look at the testing methods used in regards to the VRAM you will see they tested them on old game engines (including the Q3 engine and the D3 engine). Of course these games aren't going to notice a difference between 128MB VRAM and 256MB VRAM... they are old engines. The results would be more varied with modern 3D game engines, etc.

Lots of info there... just take each test for what it is. Testing the effects of different levels of VRAM on 2-4 year old games is a bit pointless imho.

Personally, for what you want to do I would go with the 2.4 with the 256MB VRAM (to drive the 30" more efficiently), and I would also spring for max RAM and the 7200rpm Hard drive to improve access times for your large PhotoShop files.

Good luck!

 

[triddent222]

If you are able to afford the 2.4 model, go for it. YOU will benefit from the extra VRAM when driving a 30", more if you plan to use heavy photo applications etc. IF you have the money, you should also max out the ram. As for the drives, I really have no idea what you're talking about. I have the stock 5400 rpms hdd, and it works amazingly well (I use a WD Raptor on my desktop, and really, you DO notice a difference, but for a laptop, this one works remarkably well).

In my opinion, the 2.2 model should be sufficient for most tasks. BUT, if youre using the 30" (which itself should force the GPU quite a bit) + using intensive photo apps, I would advise you to get the 2.4.

But dont listen to me. Im nuts.

 

[Zel]

My rationale was that if you can afford the better one, go for it, because it will last longer and have higher resale five or eight years down the road.

 

[James L]

As for the drives, I really have no idea what you're talking about. I have the stock 5400 rpms hdd, and it works amazingly well

Yup... it does. And a faster HD that reduces disc access time is even more amazingly better!

Simple really.