practical advatages of C2D over CD?

Comments

• Reply 1 of 6

  blackwave Posts: 84member

  October 29, 2006 11:44AM

  I'll let someone else answer the questions regarding C2D's potential thermal/power advantages or dissadvantages, but from the perspective of someone who just bought a C2D MBP, I'd argue in favour of the newest model.
  
  
  
  My reasons for this are simple: Longevity and accompanyment. The C2D is 64 bit, and although that may not be signifigant right now or over the next year, it will start yielding huge advantages over the CD shortly thereafter as more programs become apt to take advantage of it. Also, as far as accompanyment, consider that the C2D MBP (or MB, presumably) will provide much higher specs overall than their CD (current) counterparts; upgrades that're likely worth more than the savings you'd get from buying an outdated model.
  
  
  
  Personally, where Apple is concerned, I feel it's always best to order RIGHT AFTER a product launch. That way you aren't waiting forever, and that way you get eight-or-so months to know yours is the best product out there.
• Reply 2 of 6

  kishan Posts: 732member

  October 29, 2006 1:32PM

  Also, with leopard coming out sometime early next year, you probably want to buy the highest end hardware that you can reasonably afford.
• Reply 3 of 6

  ecking Posts: 1,588member

  October 29, 2006 3:01PM

  I don't agree because of all the machines out there without C2D it's gonna be a long time before the current stuff is rendered useless. Apple can't just suddenly make the majority of machines out there useless that'd be crazy the CD MBP will be supported for at least 3-4 years and by then you'll be looking for a new machine anyways.
  
  
  
  My advice?
  
  
  
  Get this:
  
  1499
  
  Refurbished MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
  
  15.4-inch widescreen display (1440x900 resolution)
  
  1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
  
  100GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
  
  Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
  
  ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
  
  Built-in iSight Camera
  
  Front Row and Apple Remote
  
  
  
  And this:
  
  599
  
  Refurbished Apple Cinema Display (20-inch flat panel w/ aluminum enclosure)
  
  20-inch (viewable), 1680 x 1050 optimal resolution, 16.7 million colors, DVI Display Connector, 2 port USB 2.0 Hub, 2 FireWire 400 ports, VESA mount compatible
  
  
  
  That comes to 2098 and you'd have a sick setup that cost only $99 more than the current baseline mbp
  
  
  
  Or an extra 100 on top of that gets you the 2.16ghz CD with the same specs.
  
  
  
  I wish the Canadian apple store had deals that good.
• Reply 4 of 6

  dfiler Posts: 3,420member

  October 30, 2006 11:02AM

  CD vs C2D is rather trivial for most users in my opinion.
  
  
  
  Of greater interest would be if the GPU is upgraded in the next macbook release. This would likely have more of an affect on your day to day use than the inclusion of a C2D. 64-bit computing might be alluring but is of little use currently and for the foreseeable future. (for most people)
  
  
  
  I figure if you can live without the extra 15% performance, core duo machines are just fine. There effectively is no other difference for the vast majority of users.
• Reply 5 of 6

  Marvin Posts: 15,320moderator

  October 30, 2006 3:41PM

  Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo is not significant IMO. I benchmarked a Core 2 Duo iMac against a Core Duo Mini and the difference wasn't much different from the clock speed difference.
  
  
  
  I would get a matte refurb Core Duo MBP if I were you.
  
  
  
  You don't need to worry about 64-bit. You won't see advantages for another year or more.
• Reply 6 of 6

  bizzaro roger Posts: 6member

  October 30, 2006 5:00PM

  Thanks a lot for the input folks. I'd pretty much figured the same thing as the last three posts, i just wanted to see what other people thought. I just put in an order for the same configuration that ecking suggested. I can't wait.