The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Upgrade Question

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by arvean, Apr 15, 2011.

  1. arvean

    arvean Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    164
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hey All,

    I have a nice mbp13, but I feel that I'd appreciate a little more power and screen estate. I'm debating between getting a 15 and 17.

    I'm leaning more towards the 17, and here's the question. Do you think it's worth to pay $2,499+ for 2011 model, or would 2010 be a better buy? Would you pay the premium? I know it has Sandy bridge and stronger graphics...
     
  2. Kaistrous

    Kaistrous Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    82
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Well what would you be doing with it?
     
  3. arvean

    arvean Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    164
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I'm in charge of graphic design/marketing for a real estate firm, so I guess a little of work, and then there's also some light gaming/HD movies...
     
  4. ClearSkies

    ClearSkies Well no, I'm still here..

    Reputations:
    1,059
    Messages:
    2,633
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    The new 2nd gen Core cpu (Sandy Bridge) is the item you're going to want, as it should greatly improve your design renders etc. GPU performance between the 15 and 17 models is somewhat slight, and shouldn't be a dealbreaker for you unless you tend toward bleeding edge contemporary titles.

    Whether you put a SBridge cpu into a 15 or 17 inch shell is up to your personal choice. The performance difference between the quad-core BTO options is fairly minimal.
     
  5. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    The 17" 2011 just totally rocks! It might be expensive, but was worth every penny to me.
     
  6. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Well, the 17" is nice (more screen), but it's also a bit unwieldly to carry around (and slightly more expensive). Outside of the screen, the 15" and 17" can be customized to have nearly identical specs, so if you have an external monitor already, you wouldn't lose much by just getting a 15".
     
  7. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    The 17 is easy to carry around, it actually has a smaller volume than some other brand 15s
     
  8. arvean

    arvean Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    164
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yeah, I was leaning towards the 17 from the beginning for its screen estate.
    I guess it's worth few extra bucks to get SB.

    Thanks all!