Macbook Pro Dilemma!

So I'm returning the current MBP in my signature. It's brand new (got it last Monday) and I've been loving the gestures, especially the two finger scroll, and the four finger expose. The screen is indeed beautiful and the design is extremely sturdy and well-thought of. My battery life is another thing. I can only max 2:30 with only the first level of backlight, with the "Better Battery Life" setting on. I called Apple and they told me I'd have to go to the Apple Store to get that checked out, but I refused as it was brand new, and I do not want to have to deal with any of that when I just got the laptop.

I'm returning it, and once I get my money back, I decided I'm better off purchasing a refurbished model from the US store, as I have family that lives in Cleveland, and the ~7% sales tax there is a LOT better than the 13% tax up here in Ontario, so I'll be saving some money, which makes me happy as I got into University last minute, and bought a hefty gaming rig before I realized I'd be going to Uni.


My laptop was $1499 CAD, with 13% sales tax = 1 693.87.

Now, I can either get the same model from the US (with the user-replaceable battery and 9600 gt) for $1299 USD = $1501 with taxes and changed into CAD.

OR

I can get the newer model with SD slot, and the longer non replaceable battery for $1449 + sales tax, converted to CAD is $1,674.34 which has:

2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Illuminated keyboard


Either way, I'm gonna be saving money and receiving a new model so I'm happy

Which one should I get??

 

If you're not planning on gaming much I'd go for the newer model. The battery life is much better, if that's one of your concerns. It doesn't have the 9600M GT graphics, but besides that, it should be a great machine.

 

Is the extra battery life and an additional 2 gigs of ram worth the $173 difference though?

 

that is very peculiar..

definitely something wrong.

even on high load it shouldn't do that. at least you'll get 4 hour easy. unless you like gaming on battery, that i dont know.

1)so... you calibrated the battery? top it up, run it down, then top it up again?

2)you install anything recently that consumes background resources? check activity monitor.

3)when you first get you notebook, it will do an index of all the things in your computer.

 

the 9600m gt is only useful for:

1) games in os x or windows

2) open cl in os x

open cl can make some really intensive parallel type algorithms run VERY fast (for users, most things related to video such as playback and encoding can be accelerated, as one example)

if you aren't planning on gaming or encoding video, you don't need a 9600m GT, and you should probably get the other machine for the battery life, unless you *really* want a user replaceable battery.

 

I think it's a waste of everybody's time for you to go through all this drama without ever calibrating the battery on the MacBook you have right now, which may be fine: you just don't know.

Also if you called Apple I'm amazed they didn't suggest a SMC reset, detailed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411

 

The mac isn't really made for games. However any chance to get a newer more updated model is worth it if it doesn't cost you. I'll be going with a new Macbook PRO once blu-ray is standard, etc. Once the warranty is out, I'm out! No out of warranty laptops for me, desktops fine, but I'd rather get cash for this and start a new 3 year on a new system

 

I don't think you can get 4 hours easily on macbook pro with the user replaceable battery. I can get 2:30-3 hrs usually with the 9400 and lowest brightness.

 

on my Macbook Pro 15" that has the replaceable battery.... when using the 9400m, depending what I'm doing, I can pull 4 to 5 hours.

 

I've calibrated the battery twice since I've got it... when I first got it, and last night.

It's at 98% right now, microsoft word open, littlesnitch, and one safari window. I'm at 4:26 right now, and now its at 4:03.I guess the calibration worked. Only problem now is the unexplainable heat while only Microsoft Word is open. Apple said for that reason alone to either return it or go to a nearby Apple store. With the nearest one being 40 minutes without traffic, I'd rather not have to go through that. I'd rather just return it and save money.

96% showing 4:24, does this seem correct?

Now, as for this thread, I'm wondering if it's worth getting the same model. I'm getting the 9600 gt included, but 2 gigs less of ram, which would increase my battery life by a substantial amount.


edit: 95% and its estimated time is 4:04. I really hate how long it takes to charge a mac
But, with $173, I could buy more RAM, sell the RAM I have, and haves some money left over. But what's really bothering me is the additional battery life. I don't care about the user replaceable battery.

 

I never go by its estimates... I just try it a few times and really time it until its dead

 

It's funny that you experience increased heat when running Word in OS X. I had the same thing happen to me when I was running Word on my Hackintoshed Dell. It would heat up tremendously whenever I would type documents in it.

It was really weird. Maybe MS is trying to kill Macs.

 

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mac/office-2008-mac-reworked-079

I guess there does seem to be a problem, but in WC3, which I can't imagine to be too taxing, it heats up to 75 C