Opinions - MBP w/2.8 Ghz and 320 gig 7200 rpm

shapirob@ucla.edu[email protected]
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Well... After holding out for years (yes - I am still using a Powerbook G4 1.5 Ghz with several broken keys and a split case) I am happy to see apple has finally upgraded the MPB line. Unlike some, I find the aesthetics of the Alu PBG4/past MBP very laking and think they have made a significant step.



Anyway... on to my question. As I don't seem to buy a new laptop other than every 3 or so years, I am thinking of maxing out the power/capacity of my new purchase. Any opinions as to how the 2.8Ghz / 320 gig @7200 will affect battery life and if it is worth upgrading the HD from 5400? Are there other negatives I may not be considering other than battery life with this upgrade (other than price)?



My original plan was not to buy a new laptop until the processing speed doubled my old one (I know there is no logic to this - just a personal threshold) - however that seems about 3-6 months off.



Also - my plan is to wait 1-2 months before purchasing so that the typical first gen bugs get worked out a bit - my guess is the trackpad will have some. Any thoughts?



Any chance they will quickly upgrade to a faster processor? Is this essentially the montevina processor without the graphic processor?



thanks



b

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    homelessfroghomelessfrog Posts: 14member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by [email protected] View Post


    Well... After holding out for years (yes - I am still using a Powerbook G4 1.5 Ghz with several broken keys and a split case) I am happy to see apple has finally upgraded the MPB line. Unlike some, I find the aesthetics of the Alu PBG4/past MBP very laking and think they have made a significant step.



    Anyway... on to my question. As I don't seem to buy a new laptop other than every 3 or so years, I am thinking of maxing out the power/capacity of my new purchase. Any opinions as to how the 2.8Ghz / 320 gig @7200 will affect battery life and if it is worth upgrading the HD from 5400? Are there other negatives I may not be considering other than battery life with this upgrade (other than price)?



    My original plan was not to buy a new laptop until the processing speed doubled my old one (I know there is no logic to this - just a personal threshold) - however that seems about 3-6 months off.



    Also - my plan is to wait 1-2 months before purchasing so that the typical first gen bugs get worked out a bit - my guess is the trackpad will have some. Any thoughts?



    Any chance they will quickly upgrade to a faster processor? Is this essentially the montevina processor without the graphic processor?



    thanks



    b





    Faster hard drives sometimes run a bit louder, and a bit hotter. I doubt they will release anything faster than 2.8 ghz anytime soon. If anything, it'd be an option on the new 17-in MBP model whenever that is released. Since your waiting out whatever bugs there may be, might as well wait and see what the 17-incher provides...that is if you don't mind shelling out more cash for a less portable machine.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    jpenningtonjpennington Posts: 476member
    I purchased the new 15" MBP yesterday and love it. I pulled the 7200RPM 320GB from the last MBP out and put it in this when when I got it, so other than the processor I have the same laptop you are considering. I only used the 7200 RPM in this but I had a 2.4Ghz MBP and upgraded the HD to a 7200RPM just a couple months ago ... it was a significant different in performance, much much faster ... I suggest you go with the 7200RPM.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    jpenningtonjpennington Posts: 476member
    The trackpad took a couple hours to get right, but is perfect now, I don't really notice a difference. While I went from a 1 year old battery to a new one, the battery life on the new machine seems better ... certainly not worse. I am running in the better battery life mode though (9400 vs. 9600).
  • Reply 4 of 6
    shapirob@ucla.edu[email protected] Posts: 6member
    Thanks for the input - good to hear the 7200 rpm is a step up in performance without much change in battery life. I think I will go with it. BTW - how does the new MPB compare to your old MP 2.4Ghx in performance?
  • Reply 5 of 6
    anaahlawyanaahlawy Posts: 20member
    What about the 7200rpm noise and heat? Since you had it on an older MBP, how does it compare (regarding heat/noise) in the new MBP?
  • Reply 6 of 6
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    I think you'll be in for a surprise maxing out a top of the line MBP coming from an old 1.5GHz powerbook. It's dual 2.8GHz vs single 1.5GHz. Given that Intel's chips are about double the speed for the same clock, this will already be about 8 times faster than your old machine.



    I don't think they will get much higher than 2.8GHz for a while but they might move to quad cores. Quad cores are more expensive though and the ones they have are clocked lower.



    Concerning the drive, I would go for the 7200rpm. If storage isn't an issue (check what you have now and whether or not you are running out of space) you may want to consider SSD. It is about twice the speed of a 7200rpm drive. No mechanical parts so it's silent. They should run a little cooler too.



    You can get a 3rd party SSD cheaper than Apple offer. Search for OCZ 128GB.
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