[joesporleder]

My current laptop is a 15" MacBook Pro Core Duo that I bought refurbished a couple of years ago from Apple.com. I'm the tech manager for a small Kansas publishing co, and I've been slowly replacing our old PowerMacs with Intel Macs that support at least 4GB of RAM through a mixture of Intel Mac minis and iMacs, to prepare for deployment of Snow Leopard sometime early next year. I'm looking to upgrade my laptop to meet my new minimum requirements, as my current Book only goes to 2GB of RAM, and has a measly 100GB HD, which now that we are using Youtube and other video to supplement our website editorial offerings, 100GB is puny.

I've had a regular MacBook before, so don't mind the glossy screen, because when I need to process photos for production, I'm at the main office using extended desktop on a nice, bug external monitor with a matte finish. However, I'm not sure if I can go back to a 13" display, now that I've used a 15" one for a couple of years. There's been some refurbished last generation 15" MacBook Pros in the $1400-$1500 range at the Online Apple Store that support at least 4GB of RAM, and have 250-320GB HDs, or would it be worthwhile to spend an extra 200-300 or so for the just released ones? Most of our digital cameras are lower end Olympus that use the xD picture card, so i don't have much that would utilize the SD card slot on the new ones.

Joe

[kylef]

On the assumption that you'll probably hold onto this machine for a while, I'd opt for the newer one. Not only will you have the new features and ability to buy applecare, but it'll depreciate less and you'll have a bit more power (better processor architecture, graphics etc).

[joesporleder]

I'm seriously considering going with the entry level 13" MacBook Pro, and going with 4GB of RAM and a 320 or 500GB HD. I've upgraded a lot of memory - MacBooks, iMacs, Mac minis, so I'm fairly comfortable installing my own memory, or should I just get it with the bigger drive and extra memory straight from Apple?

The 13" is a little smaller than the older 15" MacBook Pro that I'm using now, but I think I'll appreciate the extra portability. My current 15" Book will go to someone else in the company that has less RAM and storage needs.

[SSharon]

Originally Posted by joesporleder 

I'm seriously considering going with the entry level 13" MacBook Pro, and going with 4GB of RAM and a 320 or 500GB HD. I've upgraded a lot of memory - MacBooks, iMacs, Mac minis, so I'm fairly comfortable installing my own memory, or should I just get it with the bigger drive and extra memory straight from Apple?

The 13" is a little smaller than the older 15" MacBook Pro that I'm using now, but I think I'll appreciate the extra portability. My current 15" Book will go to someone else in the company that has less RAM and storage needs.

I would get it stock from apple and do the upgrades yourself. I upgraded to 4gb of ram and a 500gb hard drive two weeks ago and it was simple and straightforward. The combined price of the ram and HD was $130 shipped and then I put the stock 160gb drive in a case.

You will love the portability. 4.5lbs of heaven.

[Simon]

Yes, get the base RAM from Apple. Buy your own RAM at an inexpensive place like Newegg, and install it yourself. It's very easy and you'll save money.
4 GB Crucial DDR3 from Newegg for $58 shipped.

You can also upgrade the disk yourself. It's a bit more involved (about four extra screws), but it's still really easy to do. You can get very fast high-capacity notebook drives for less than Apple charges to upgrade the drive to something smaller. My favorite is the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 If you're gonna stick with HDDs over SSDs this is the best you can buy. It's the fastest and the largest notebook HDD around. And although it's more expensive than the 5400 rpm drives, it's doesn't cost a lot.
Seagate Momentus 7200.4 (2.5", 500 GB, 7200 rpm, 16 MB cache, SATA) from Newegg for $130 shipped.

Regarding which Mac to buy, I'd give you the following advice.

- Since this Mac is supposed to last for 2-3 years make sure to be not too skimpy. Personally I find the integrated battery and the great battery life a huge plus on the new models. But performance-wise there is no big gap between last and current generation.

- If a 13" MBP offers enough performance, but you're worried about the screen size, you might want to consider the new low-end 15" MBP. It's pretty much identical to a 13" MBP but with a 15" screen. Surprisingly it doesn't feel that much heavier (1lb) or bigger (at least to me).

- Make sure to check the refurb store for great offers on 'as good as new' Apple hardware.
Low-end 15" MBP, 2.53 GHz, 4/250, $1699 new
High-end 13" MBP, 2.53 GHz, 4/250, $1499 new
Low-end 13" MB white, 2.13 GHz, 2/160, $999 new
Last-gen 15" MBP, 2.4 GHz, 2/250, $1349 refurb
Last-gen high-end 13" MB Aluminum, 2.4 GHz, 2/250, $1099 refurb
Last-gen 13" MB Aluminum, 2.0 GHz, 2/160, $949 refurb
MacBook Pro - Apple Store (U.S.)

Maybe that $1099 2.4 GHz Aluminum MB would be a good deal for you.

[amazing]

Anything you get now will qualify for the $29 upgrade to Snow Leopard. No sense waiting till September to buy.

OTOH, it's not all that hard to put a 500 GB HD in your present MBP, if that's your main bottleneck for the next 2 months. You can always take it back out when you pass it on to the staffer who doesn't need loads of storage.

In any case, you have to clarify what's important to you: portability vs screen size? I agree with Simon that the 1 pound weight difference isn't hugely important--unless you're carrying it around a whole bunch, at which point it becomes very heavy. Next important question is the battery--are you mostly tethered or is the new hugely better battery important to you?

[joesporleder]

I went ahead and purchased the base model 2.26Ghz 13" MacBook Pro and doubled the HD and RAM. This is a great machine! It is noticeably quicker than the 2.0Ghz Core Duo it is replacing. I realize that the extra memory and the faster system bus help the speed too. For my personal preferences, the 13" MacBook Pro is a good balance between the compactness of a netbook and a full fledged pro notebook. When I need to do production work at the office, I'm hooked up to a 24" widescreen LCD in extended desktop mode. When I'm on the road, I still have all of my digital life with me in a nice, convenient package to communicate back with the home office. I had a look at some netbooks at my local Sam's Club recently and even for their intended use of Internet access, I found their lack of screen real estate annoying. Plus the fact they don't run MacOS X!