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Laptop Buying Advice

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kellert

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I'm getting a laptop, but I'm not sure which one.

Laptop is to be used for mobile purposes, backup and for wife to access Internet (wireless) around the house. It will run CS2 and might be used to dump and sort images on vacation or when I don't want to start up desktop. Mostly, it will be used by wife. She wants to be able to check her E-mail, surf Internet and browse our photos in bed after winding down from a hectic day. I might use it at that time to edit certain images in CS2.

I already have an iMac G5 desk top (1.5 years old) specd as follows:
10.4.8
2GHz Power PC G5
2 GB DDR SDRAM
233 GB Hard Drive
61 GB Used

Aside from the latest offerings of Mac Book and MB Pro, I can get last years model (supposedly new) for $1889.00 speced (I think) as follows:

MacBook Pro, 17-inch, 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
17-inch widescreen display (1680x1050 resolution)
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
120GB 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

So my questions:

1-
Is this $1889.00 machine really a deal?

It would appear so as it's listed at $2499.00 at apple.com. Or maybe the one offered at my local store is speced in a slightly different manner? This I know for sure, the one offered to me locally for $1889.00 is a 17-inch, 2.16GHz, 1GB Ram, 120GB hard drive.

2-

Is the MacBook Pro above more laptop than I need, given my criteria and my current G5 desktop? Would one of the latest 13" MacBooks work just fine for the purposes stated.

Naturally, the sales person was touting the $1889.00 machine, stating that it would not consume all of my RAM (as opposed to the 13" models) when running CS2.

Whatever machine I get, I will upgrade to 2GB of RAM.

Additional advice?
 
With limited requirements the MacBook would surely do. Seems strange you are weighing up the 13" MB with 17" MBP. These are very different beasts, you get a serious amount of screen realestate on the 17" compared to 13" not to mention the boost in graphics card [important for photoshop, aperture etc.]. 17" CD and 17" C2D are very similar specs, the 15" improved far more in the last update. If you are tempted it sounds a good deal.

What about the 15" MBP? Not sure if there are deals around?

If you go for the MBP and 2GB RAM (CS2 needs it!) you will find yourself editing on the laptop rather than the desktop because these babies fly under 10.4.8!
 
the $1890.00 machine in last years MBP model, not the most recent. are you suggesting that IT would "fly" as compared to my current desktop?

the newest 15" MBP 2.16gHz starts at $2000.00. this is really my cutoff point.

given a $2000.00 budget (subtotal, excluding wireless device, card reader, taxes) which of the machines would represent best value given my criteria?

the latest 15" MBP or last years 17" MBP?
lozgrigg said:
With limited requirements the MacBook would surely do. Seems
strange you are weighing up the 13" MB with 17" MBP. These are very
different beasts, you get a serious amount of screen realestate on
the 17" compared to 13" not to mention the boost in graphics card
[important for photoshop, aperture etc.]. 17" CD and 17" C2D are
very similar specs, the 15" improved far more in the last update.
If you are tempted it sounds a good deal.

What about the 15" MBP? Not sure if there are deals around?

If you go for the MBP and 2GB RAM (CS2 needs it!) you will find
yourself editing on the laptop rather than the desktop because
these babies fly under 10.4.8!
Click to expand...
 
If you hurry, there is currently a 15" Core Duo MacBook Pro on the Apple refurb store for $1599.
--
Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}
 
If you are using this as a travel laptop, I'd stick with the 15" MacBook Pro. I've been using Mac laptops for years, starting with the original WallStreet. I've used almost every screen from a 12" iBook to a 17" G4 PowerBook. I currently am using a 15" MacBook and it is more that ample for a travel computer/home surfer. The 17" is a very large computer to carry around.

CS2 runs fine, still waiting to test CS3. File transfers from from my D80 are slow, but I'm shooting raw and it is a USB connection.

Stick with a new machine and put AppleCare on it right away.
 
ok, but file transfers? why not card reader?

also, isn't this a pretty good deal, especially considering no sales tax?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=11932&A=details&Q=&sku=465502&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

and why is this one the same price w/ less RAM?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=11932&A=details&Q=&sku=448686&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation
rhansen_x said:
If you are using this as a travel laptop, I'd stick with the 15"
MacBook Pro. I've been using Mac laptops for years, starting with
the original WallStreet. I've used almost every screen from a 12"
iBook to a 17" G4 PowerBook. I currently am using a 15" MacBook and
it is more that ample for a travel computer/home surfer. The 17" is
a very large computer to carry around.

CS2 runs fine, still waiting to test CS3. File transfers from from
my D80 are slow, but I'm shooting raw and it is a USB connection.

Stick with a new machine and put AppleCare on it right away.
Click to expand...
 
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