Late 2008 Unibody 15 inch MBP vs Mid 2010 Equivalent

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted people's opinions on how they compare the two model lines, and whether or not they would make the upgrade. The specs of my MBP are:

C2D 2.53 Ghz
500GB 7200RPM HDD
4GB DDR3 1066 MHZ RAM
512MB 9600mGT w/ 9400m Integrated Graphics

Performance wise, I havent been disappointed with the laptop, but one of the main drawbacks I see in the machine is its battery life - Apple has taken strides in improving battery life over 2009-2010, and its kinda annoys me that I'm stuck with the battery I have now.

I commute a lot to/from school, work on the bus/train, and have to use my laptop in places where power outlets are not readily available (some lecture rooms). Realistically, I get about 3-3.5 Hours with screen brightness on minimum, wifi and bluetooth turned of, and doing some basic word processing, as well as reading pdf's.

I was wondering:

1) How much my MBP would retail for now (given the specs, and that the aesthetic condition is quite good (not like new)). I also purchased this in May 2009, several months after the model was released, and the new 2009 models came out (I got a good deal - $1550 new).

2) Whether all of you personally think that apart from battery life, the new 2010 MBP's offer something unique that the late 2008 model does not have/severely lacks in.

The i7 15 inch model seems to correspond well (better) with the model that I purchased, so I would probably eye for that. I would have gone for the 13 inches, but the Core 2 duo processors arent compelling enough for me to switch.

Also, forgot to mention I use my Express34 Card slot for eSata interfacing with my external HDD. I hear the new models have an SD slot....is there any way to get around this?

 

The only differences really between the newer model and the old one are:

1) The Processor (which, in this case, is a fairly important aspect considering C2D's are 4 year old technology, and the i Core series are what, 4 months old?)

2) The difference GPU's (this mostly affects battery life, and unless you are doing some high level gaming or advanced design work you wouldn't notice the difference between them probably)

and 3) As you mentioned, battery life.

The battery life comes in part with the changes that were mentioned in 1 and 2. You can also consider what type of screen you have, whether glossy/antiglare, and whether or not you'd like to switch to the other side based on your experience with it (glare, dull colors, whichever).

Other than that,... unless you *need* the power/battery life, probably not worth it.

I reckon you could get about $1000 for your old 15".

 

If you are realistically getting about 3.5 hours from a battery rated as 5 hour. Then you will most likely get about 5 to 5.5 on the refresh.

I'm not sure the blow to the bank account for the upgrade would be worth it considering the B.S. GPU "upgrade" on the refresh.

Why not just carry a spare battery? It would be substantially cheaper and your battery life would be comparable, if not better than the refresh.

 

I have the exact same 2008 model as you, except I bought mine when it first came out at the retail (at the time) price of 2699.

Needless to say I'd rather keep it than sell for 1000...

Anyway I got my custom i7 15 incher today, with the high res screen. The performance is noticable only in certain applications. But overall, I usually cannot tell it is faster unless I'm rendering a video or something.

The T9400 in the old 2008 is a pretty powerful CPU still...far from being obsolete, even if the technology is.

I don't think the upgrade is worth it for you. I only bought one because I got a bonus at my work that covered it. Otherwise I wouldn't have boughten it.

 

What do you do with your computer? I don't think you do many things that would warrany your need for the upgraded power, so if anything I would say you should go for the 13" MBP which rates the highest in battery life.

But honestly don't upgrade unless you really need to. If you find the battery life of your current machine terribly limiting then go for an upgrade. Otherwise don't bother.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback...seems like I should probably stick with what I have.

 

I have pretty much the exact same 15" ... i rarely ever use the 9600...

I'm thinking that.. if I can sell this thing for around $1000, I might replace with with one of the new MBP 13" since I like that size MUCH better.

 

You know, we are only providing suggestions, you don't have to follow anything we say.

If you can swing the new model financially, and you know you want to have the new one, and it will make you happy....by all means go for it. Nobody here will say it's a bad decision...everybody will congratulate you.

 

I doubt it... theres always a few in the crowd...

 

Right...and you're one of them.

 

unlikely, since it would be a decent upgrade. The "few" would be the ones that have to try to spin everything and every decision in a bad way no matter what...

 

Well, like doh123 I also barely use the 9600 - at least in OSX. I use it on my Windows partition when gaming. And yeah, the only way I could financially afford getting a new MBP now is if I got more than a $1000 - which is probably unlikely, considering how everyone is up for getting the newer models

 

I would really consider waiting one more revision. With this rumors of a possible swap to AMD (which would come with new ATI cards if it pans out) and the fact that you would only gain like two additional hours.

It's not a big enough of a upgrade. There are people who are still using their powerbooks and black macbooks around for crying out loud.

 

If your happy with the performance there is no need to upgrade. If your not thinking things like "boy I wish Video encoding was faster" or "I think Aperture is just too slow" you probably don't need the i5/i7. Battery life is always an advantage you just have to judge weather its worth the cost of an upgrade.

 

Yeah agreed Xhibit. Also, I'd probably be more justified in upgrading once USB3.0 comes on these laptops, and *possibly* blu-ray. Dont know about the latter though.

 

I saw a the same model as the OP sell pretty fast here in Calgary for $1350 recently.

The extra battery life would be nice to have and the 330m has at least twice the shader power (32 vs 48 and faster speed). But I've yet to see credible benchmark scores.

 

Yeah, Im probably going to wait for the AMD switch (if it will happen), or at least see what Apple comes up this late 2010, in terms of addressing power consumption of the Arrandales.

Also, AnandTech's review said the 2010 models were warmer than the previous models, hence accounting for the larger battery to combat the more powerful proc. Battery life wasnt better in all aspects (compared to the 09 models), especially in multi-tasking.

Also, the questionable auto-switching graphics by Apple has already raised some issues (at least from what I saw in the Engadget posts - also brought up here in NBR)

Couple these things together, I think it might be worth waiting a bit longer before warranting an upgrade - think there are some kinks to be ironed out

 

Good choice. I also think that how the 9400M is the "backup" GPU is much better than the intel HD on the newer ones, which is one of the reasons I decided to keep it.