Which model Macbook Pro would you buy?

Comments

• Reply 1 of 4

  cbperry Posts: 5member

  April 8, 2009 10:22AM

  Well since I work at a mac specialist store and work with all the models I would suggest the 17" but seeing as thats not one of your listed options, go for the more expensive 15.4". Beautiful machines, dual video-cards a big plus for graphic design, plus the more memory in your ram obviously the faster your cs3 will run. I also suggest upgrading to the highest amount of ram possible not just what they come with.
• Reply 2 of 4

  infinitespecter Posts: 284member

  April 8, 2009 11:05PM

  Quote:
  

  Originally Posted by CBPerry
  
  
  Beautiful machines, dual video-cards a big plus for graphic design,
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  To my knowledge, CS3 doesn't take advantage of the graphics card at all, so having the 9600 won't make much of a difference. CS4 uses the graphics card, and it's the only "graphic design" suite I can think of that would benefit from a faster graphics card.
• Reply 3 of 4

  messiah Posts: 1,689member

  April 11, 2009 2:13PM

  Quote:
  

  Originally Posted by infinitespecter
  
  
  To my knowledge, CS3 doesn't take advantage of the graphics card at all, so having the 9600 won't make much of a difference.
  

  
  

  
  
  That's my understanding as well.
  
  
  
  I had a couple of interesting chats with the staff at the local Apple Store.
  
  
  
  The guys on the sales floor simply equated "graphic designer" with "MacBook Pro". I got the distinct impression that they had been instructed to sell MacBook Pros to creative professionals, without any real explanation as to the technicalities. When I explained that CS3 didn't really take advantage of the discreet graphics card, they had a look on their faces like they were dogs that had just been shown a card trick.
  
  
  
  The Genius that I spoke to on the other hand, recommended the MacBook. He understood where I was coming from, and reckoned that the MacBook Pro was a waste of money.
  
  
  
  I actually went with the MacBook Pro that day, because I wanted to be able to evaluate the machines performance when switching back and forth between the 9400 & 9600. As it turns out, the 9600 offers no benefit at all.
  
  
  
  So I returned the MacBook Pro and went with the unibody MacBook. It's essentially the same machine – same 2.4GHz processor, 1066MHz RAM and SATA hard disk technology. The only things you lose are the 9600M which is ineffectual, the FireWire port (not a deal breaker for me) and off course the 15.4" screen.
  
  
  
  I personally found that the increased pixel count of the 15.4" screen didn't make up for the physical size of the screen itself. The 17" yes, but the 15.4" screen is a bit of a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. The 15.4" screen simply isn't big enough to work on for any length of time (in my opinion at least), so I went for an external Cinema Display.
  
  
  
  Now I have what I consider to be the best mobile solution – the best of both worlds – a small laptop that I take everywhere with me and a big external screen for when I have to get some serious work done. With a 4GB RAM upgrade and a 7200rpm hard disk drive, CS3 runs like a dream. It even made short work of some .psb files the other day, which was rather impressive!
  
  
  
  So my recommendation would be:
  
  
  
  17" MacBook Pro
  
  
  
  or
  
  
  
  13.3" MacBook
  
  4GB RAM upgrade
  
  320GB/7200rpm WD Scorpio Black HDD
  
  Cinema Display
• Reply 4 of 4

  macxpress Posts: 5,808member

  April 13, 2009 9:12AM

  I would buy what Lauren bought!