If people are still curious as to why I decided to get a Macbook Pro though, here are the top reasons: + Show Spoiler +
Love the Leopard OSX Ability to run both OSX and Windows on one computer Spectacular customer support Stability and Endurance
Hello everyone else! I'm currently trying to figure out which MBP to get for next year. The computer definitely needs to be able to play StarCraft 2, but I want it set up in such a way that it will last well for the next few years. I already have some base decisions made:
Macbook Pro 15' 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 Processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB
(Asterisks will denote the standard option)
Now the first matter, Memory. Aka RAM. How important is this aspect? Here are the two options. *4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
Hard Drive. They give you a lot of options for your hard drive, but I've pretty much decided on the 500GB @ 7200 rpm. Here are all the options: *500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm 128GB Solid State Drive 256GB Solid State Drive 512GB Solid State Drive
The SSDs seem really great, but they're super expensive and have a limited writing lifespan.
Display. Alright so here's the classic battle between glossy and matte. I don't really see a lot of plus sides to the glossy besides having richer colors and depth. That sounds great for SC2, I'm sure the game would look great, but glossy is horrible outdoors and causes more eye strain according to a few people I've heard from. Matte also give you more accurate colors and the ability to use it virtually anywhere. Glossy would make SC2 look really nice, but I don't really think it would be worth it in the long run. Standard comes with a 1440x900 pixel glossy display, Hi-Res have 1680x1050 pixel display. *MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display
So these are the main points in which I am currently concerned about. Don't worry too much about cost, I'm just trying to get some information on these points, especially memory. How much difference would 4MB and 8MB be?
Thank you very much to everyone in advance. I really appreciate your input.
I have a MBP that is about 1.5 years old and it can run SCII decently. I am sure it will run it better when they release the mac client, because windows xp is fail on a mac. Any of the newer ones should last you a while, especially with the i7 processor.
I'm also specing out a MBP build for my next work computer (I'm a graphic designer) so I've been hashing through similar questions.
For me I have to go max RAM, if only because I need it for design. For SC2, I'd think 4GB is enough. That said, RAM can be had much cheaper if you don't get it from Apple. Apple is notorious for overcharging for BTO options.
I would totally go for SSD if you can afford it. The speed on those things is amazing. Pair it with a large FW800 external drive for backup and you're golden. You may be able to get better deals on SSD outside of Apple but cracking open a MBP to install an SSD drive is not as trivial as upgrading the RAM (which is easy).
Now the display...This is where I'm stuck. I HATE glossy. As a designer it's like the devil. At the same time, the hi-res display doesn't do much for me because I design on a 2nd monitor. However, for gaming, especially SC2 i'd almost prefer the non-hires display? Why? Because less res means less GPU needed. It's not like you gain a ton by having higher res in SC2 anyway, but you have to push to those pixels regardless. To me this is Apple's dumbest move, not allowing matte on the standard res display. On this one I'm still deciding, and most likely will have to go to the Apple store to compare before I finalize my decision (it's also a matter of text being smaller on hi-res, and I'm not getting any younger .
Usually when I buy my Macs (as I have been for 20 years now) I just pimp it out and get the best thing I can. Macs tend to hold their resale value really well, and upgraded ones tend to sell at a premium even 5 years later. Don't ask me why this is, it just is. So I'd go all out unless you're strapped for cash, personally. Also, make sure you get Apple Care if you get a laptop. It's pricey, but if literally anything goes wrong w/ your MBP in the next 3 years, Apple fixes it for free. I hate extended warranties but this is one that's saved me thousands of dollars over the years. That said you don't have to buy it until your original warranty is up (1 year), so you can play the wait and see game if you want.
I'm assuming you're not video editing, so there is basically no reason you would need to go for 8GB of ram. 4 will probably be more than enough for your needs.
I don't think the new Intel SSDs have a shorter lifespan. In fact, it's probably longer than what mechanical HDs can do now.
If it were me, I'd go for the 1680 resolution in matte.
well I did have a nice detailed post written out but then Flash crashed Safari while I was trying to watch a YouTube video, and I lost the whole thing.
FUCK FLASH SO HARD I HATE IT WHAT A PIECE OF UTTER SHIT FUFKCKFDKSAFKJDSAFJDSALFHDSKAHDASHFJKDSJAKFLDSAFL
here's the gist: - 8GB vs 4GB RAM will make no difference unless you want to run virtual machines - if you do get any extra RAM do NOT buy it from Apple, instead buy from newegg and install yourself (it's real real easy) and you will save up to a couple hundred bucks - glossy > matte imo, the colors really pop and the screen is brighter. How often are you going to use your computer outside in direct sun anyway (and matte won't really help you here, since neither finish will make your screen bright enough to compete with sunlight) - seriously consider SSD drives, they will outperform 7200 HD and are much more reliable (I've already had a HD failure in my laptop, about 3 years old, if you haul a laptop around everywhere I feel a HD failure is almost to be expected at least once in its lifetime — that is unless you have SSD)
disclaimer: I'm not super familiar with newer MBPs, my Mac nerd-dom peaked a while ago
On April 26 2010 13:54 FragKrag wrote: JWD that is what you get for using inferior browser
doesn't matter what browser I use, trust me. Firefox, Chrome, Camino, I've tried them all. The problem is the Flash video plugin which is a giant turd. Switching browsers is just: do you want your turd covered in aluminum foil or saran wrap or wax paper?
Answer: it doesn't matter, it's still a fucking turd.
I stick with Safari because at least then I can use ClickToFlash to block Flash by default and save me CPU and headaches.
Though you do have a point in that I think that Chrome can't be crashed by a plugin crash, so I wouldn't have lost my post if I was using it.
On April 26 2010 13:57 FragKrag wrote: JWD that is what you get for using inferior browser
I think you mean an inferior plugin (Flash). Safari (ala Webkit) is by far the fastest and most accurate HTML rendering engine there is. There is no contest.
On April 26 2010 14:01 FragKrag wrote: Safari is like smearing the turd over your face
Chrome is isolating the turd
I'd love to use Chrome but it's missing some features I use a lot in Safari, like option-click to download a file and especially the activity window. Also I hate that Chrome has to be a douche and foist an un-Mac-like interface on me. Oh and also, why does Chrome come with a "Google Updater" application that installs by default, boots automatically at login, and sits in the background eating my CPU and RAM just so that it can check for Chrome updates every so often? Screw that yo.
I've pretty much figured everything out except for the HD vs SSD drive matter. I don't really know how much I'd be willing to pay extra to match the capacity of the HD drives. 512GB SSD drive would be an additional $1,300. I don't think I have the money for that. I would probably be willing to upgrade to a 128GB SSD, but going from 500GB capacity to 128GB capacity seems like a big drop. Do you think it would be worth it?
I might just use an external hard drive to back up a lot of my files anyway, so maybe going for 128GB SSD wouldn't be too bad of an idea.
Penguin you're right on thinking that you do not need a high-capacity drive in your laptop. HD size is one of the dumbest things to consider when buying a laptop, because you're going to be relying on externals no matter what. You only need enough drive space for what you absolutely must carry with you everywhere, and that's not a whole lot.
Since you're undecided on this issue I'll try to pull up the YT video I wanted to show you…it's a pretty big sell for SSDs…
there you go, the part you really want to see is at about 3:40. He does a side-by-side comparison of SSD vs HD, launching a bunch of apps at once.
I'm going to tell you that you do not want an SSD that Apple will sell you.
You're buying old tech, and SSDs fade after usage. Since OS X does not support trim, an inferior controller (THE ONE ON THE SAMSUNG THAT APPLE SELLS YOU HINT HINT), will cause the performance to decay massively overtime.
Get the glossy display, preferably high res. Glossy is super sick. I used to prefer matte, but then I got a nice glossy NEC monitor and it's way better.
I also use mostly glossy photographic paper after trying enough of both, FWIW. Appears sharper, and blacks are way deeper.
EPT
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