Computer help. Which mac?

J

jreilly

Active member
Im looking into buying a new computer in a couple of days and I was wondering if i should get the

13inch 2.4ghz Macbook pro

13inch 2.8ghz Macbook pro

15inch 2.2ghz Macbook pro

I would mainly be using the computer for photoshop, illustrator, final cut, web browsing, watching videos and typing papers.

 
I have the 2.8ghz, and it works great for editing and school work. I torrent a lot on it, and it still runs as fast as it did on the day I bought it.
 
For running video editing programs, you want as much ram as possible and a quad-core processor. The screen size isnt an essential b/c you can always just buy a monitor for editing and watching videos.

That's about as far as my knowledge of hardware extends haha
 
Get as much processing power as possible in the 13 inch macbook, then swap out apple's ram for some that you bought online (you can get 16gbs ram for like $80 on CNET... way better than apple's stupidly overpriced ram). That way you can take the money you would have spent on the bigger 15 inch screen and you can buy yourself a cheap external monitor that will be way nicer than your little 13 inch screen. And get a big hard drive too. At least 500 gb.
 
The 13" comps are dual core. They will work, but you'll like the 15" 2.2ghz quad core better. You don't need 16gbs of ram, just 8gb and buy crucial (www.crucial.com) costs like 45 bucks for an 8gb kit.

Both 13" or 15" will work, but if you can afford the 15" id get that.
 
I have the 15" 2.2 i7 with the 1gb graphics card, and I bought ram separately. it runs great, and I shoot avc-intra (176mb/s) and edit while multitasking etc. I also have the antiglare display, and while I do miss my iMac, this computer is perfect for college/edits/etc.

also, i think apple just updated the mbp's with new processors around october, but they used to always upgrade them in january, so it may be worth browsing a rumors site. not suggesting that the current ones aren't good enough, but if new ones come out soon you could save a few hundred by waiting a few weeks
 
yeah im headed to college next year so im pusin towards the 13inch 2.8ghz. 15 seems to big for travel.

what will the extra ram do? i dont even understand RAM at all.
 
i'm bad at explaining it, but the more ram, the more "stuff" you can do at once, or it takes less time to do certain things. if you have a mac now, open up activity monitor, and it will show you how much ram you are using when you open various applications. Also, I think the 15 is a good compromise between screen size and portability. I have some friends with 17" ones, but they need a huge backpack. mine even fits in the laptop sleeve of my little camelbak. It can be helpful to go to the store and look at them
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top