Macbook Pro non-unibody purchase

i'm looking to buy a new computer and i can only afford couple Macbook models... ($900 max budget)

macbook pro 13"
macbook pro 15" non-unibody
macbook air
and the PC is a Studio 1558 which has i7 740qm, 6gb ram, ati 5470 (but i am guessing it wil lhave terrible battery life) with a 1920x1080 LED Backlit Screen with bluetooth and backlit keyboard.

i'm using Adobe CS4 (soon CS5) as my primary apps. I will be handling very high DPI images in Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop and Fireworks. I am considering the 15" non-unibody because of the 1440x900 screen. 1280x800 is kind of small for me, that's why I want to avoid the Pro 13" and Air... (Not to mention the Air's CPU power will cripple me from the apps I will be running).

Does anyone know the real-world battery usage on these Non-unibody macbook pros? (8600M GT, LED Backlit Display)

Do you think it will suffice?

 

I wouldn't get any Macbook with the 8600m GPU in it, those fail frequently.

I'd go for the Macbook Pro 13. You can find it on eBay NIB for $900.

 

really? can you help me find any?

 

1: if it has the 8600m .... dont get it. that chip has had so many issues Nvidia is paying millions out in a lawsuit. its a ticking timebomb.

2 how large of images, CS5 LOVES CPU and GPU cycles

 

you're going to say just get the dell studio because of this....
i wil lbe handling multiple images that has DPI of 300 and size that exceeds letter paper... lol.
i found another notebook model although non-apple, latitude e6510 i7 with nvs3100...

as for photo, it will be around 6-7mp RAW NEF format.

but i am guessing the battery life would be non existant in these I7 quad models..

is there a point of diminishing return for processing power? or a bell curve haha

 

yep its a tricky balance between power and battery life as the 2 oppose each other badly in most cases. and not all i7's are bad for battery life. for example I get 3 hours on an i7 840QM with a FirePro m7820 in a 17" with way too many active goodies.

there are i5 units that easily get 5.5hrs real world it all depends on if battery life is more important or the abilit to not wait as long between redraws, renders and such.

 

Actually, the MBP 13 is around $1050 new, but the MB 13 is only $940 new: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-MC516LL-A...le_Laptops&hash=item415699d14f#ht_1418wt_1139
Its basically the same as the Pro, just doesn't have a backlit keyboard, SD card slot, and 2GB less memory. You can upgrade the memory for $40.

 

i had the unibody mb before and the battery life was a lot worse than the unibody mbp

edit* nvm its the polycarbo unibody.
im going to see if there are refurbs for better prices

 

I can tell you that the studio 1558 has been a very good laptop for us. It is not built as well as a macbook Pro (the studio's screen bezel and hinge area are plastic and cracked but was replaced within a couple days by tech support who came to our home) and it has a 16:9 screen (16:10 is preferred). But the high res 1080p screen with the ATI Radeon 5470 1GB on the Studio 15 is very nice. Ours is equipped with an i5 520M, 500GB 7200 rpm drive and 6GB of memory and it was affordable.

If you are considering the i7 processor for the studio then be sure to read up in the Dell studio 1558 threads about that processor. Some of the earlier i7 1558's were having issues with BSOD because the BIOS wouldn't have the fans kick in enough to keep it cool... or something like that...but that may have just been coincidental or may have been resolved by Dell by now.

 

thanks for all the info.
sigh, gotta look at more alternatives...

i wish the envy 15 or 13 had a backlit keyboard then i would have bought it in an instant.

 

what about the 14? it has a backlit keyboard. also the 13 and 15 arent even options anymore at hp.

 

i'd need a radiance screen if im getting that, and that's not offered. and ones that are equipped with that are over $1000

 

I have three non-unibody MBPs. Two 15 inch and one 17 inch. One of the 15 inch models has had the motherboard replaced twice. The other had it replaced once. I think that the nVidia problem has been fixed as it hasn't returned in quite some time.

I have the 17 inch with the Penryn processor and it has never had the nVidia problem.

Battery life on all three isn't very good. It's more than 2 hours on my system but less than 2.5 hours. Not having switchable graphics kills battery life.

 

I got a MBP 15 Unibody so all problems are solved for me haha thanks for everybody's help!

 

Don't forget to put it in your sig

 

The Envy 14 does have a bl kb. You can find some on eBay in your range I think.

But the battery life is only 3.5 hours. The case is a dent magnet. The standard screen is terrible compared to teh 500:1 contrast and 250 nit screen in the 13" MB or MBP and you are stuck with Windows 7's strange interferenceface.

That said, the i5 and RADEON 5650 kill what's inside the current 13" MB and MBP.

 

Good choice. I'll be getting one soon too.