Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

ThMooner · Oct 29, 2006, 08:24 AM

I currently have a 2.16 MacBook Pro Core Duo. I have been watching and reading about the new C2D MacBook Pro. For those of you that may have one or even if you don;t is there any compelling reason to switch from my current MacBook Pro to the C2D? Is there less heat or maybe something else I'm missing? Thanks

CatOne · Oct 29, 2006, 07:26 PM

I'm an aggressive upgrader, and I generally skip a generation, which means I upgrade every 14-20 months. The new MBP can be "up to 39% faster" than your machine, but in practical use it's probalby 15% to 20%. That's not that much, really.

I try to upgrade when my new machine will be 2x as fast as my old machine. Unless you're working on your machine and ALWAYS rendering stuff and maxing out the CPU, I'd say it's probably economically best if you wait out a round. Unless you can upgrade for less than $150 or so.

ThMooner · Oct 29, 2006, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by CatOne

I'm an aggressive upgrader, and I generally skip a generation, which means I upgrade every 14-20 months. The new MBP can be "up to 39% faster" than your machine, but in practical use it's probalby 15% to 20%. That's not that much, really.

I try to upgrade when my new machine will be 2x as fast as my old machine. Unless you're working on your machine and ALWAYS rendering stuff and maxing out the CPU, I'd say it's probably economically best if you wait out a round. Unless you can upgrade for less than $150 or so.

Thanks for the information. I have pretty well decided to wait until Leopard to switch. The dramatic price reductions in Core Duo MacBook Pros doesn't make selling mine a good idea. It's a great machine but as much as I like the upgrade to C2D I'm going to stay put. Can't always have the latest and greatest?

Besides mine is pretty fast anyways...

volcano · Oct 29, 2006, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by ThMooner

Thanks for the information. I have pretty well decided to wait until Leopard to switch. The dramatic price reductions in Core Duo MacBook Pros doesn't make selling mine a good idea. It's a great machine but as much as I like the upgrade to C2D I'm going to stay put. Can't always have the latest and greatest?

Besides mine is pretty fast anyways...

Exactly. Your machine will definitely last you a while. I would've kept my 2GHz Core Duo MBP, but I was still within the 14 day return timeframe so I couldn't help myself.

Do you have the 15" model? If so, the only advantages would be:
6X Dual-layer Superdrive
FW800 Port
And well, the processor.

Then again, if you don't use FW800 and don't need a DL Superdrive, then it would be pointless to upgrade. I keep 90% of my files on my 500GB external hard-drive, and so I really wanted my FW800 port back. And since this is my only machine, I wanted a DL Superdrive when I burn them once in a blue moon. If this were my secondary machine I wouldn't have cared.

In my case I got a little more, since they beefed up the stock models: 120GB instead of 80GB HDD, 1GB of RAM instead of 512MB... which sealed the deal for me.

You get a little more bang for your buck these days, but overall, it's just a modest upgrade. Nothing earth shattering.

ThMooner · Oct 29, 2006, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by volcano

Exactly. Your machine will definitely last you a while. I would've kept my 2GHz Core Duo MBP, but I was still within the 14 day return timeframe so I couldn't help myself.

Do you have the 15" model? If so, the only advantages would be:
6X Dual-layer Superdrive
FW800 Port
And well, the processor.

Then again, if you don't use FW800 and don't need a DL Superdrive, then it would be pointless to upgrade. I keep 90% of my files on my 500GB external hard-drive, and so I really wanted my FW800 port back. And since this is my only machine, I wanted a DL Superdrive when I burn them once in a blue moon. If this were my secondary machine I wouldn't have cared.

In my case I got a little more, since they beefed up the stock models: 120GB instead of 80GB HDD, 1GB of RAM instead of 512MB... which sealed the deal for me.

You get a little more bang for your buck these days, but overall, it's just a modest upgrade. Nothing earth shattering.

I agree. I don't do much more these days than sufr, email, iphoto and an occasional video rendering. I would never notice the difference. Think I'll wait until the spring and see if I can get my money's worth out of this one.

SierraDragon · Oct 29, 2006, 08:43 PM

No reason to switch unless you are a heavy pro graphics user with lots of money.

-Allen Wicks

ThMooner · Oct 29, 2006, 08:52 PM

Originally Posted by SierraDragon

No reason to switch unless you are a heavy pro graphics user with lots of money.

-Allen Wicks

no on both counts Thanks

Mack · Nov 4, 2006, 04:32 PM

I tend to be a serial upgrader and thought hard about replacing my 2.16 MBP, but finally decided it's not worth it to me.

First, my MBP is perfect - no whines, moos, dead pixels. Heat no big deal (in the high 40s-low 50s during normal use). So I got a good one.

Second, the upgrades with the C2D aren't that compelling. The one I like most, the 3GB RAM max, is great but would cost me $500 or so to take advantage of (since I'd have to spring for a 2GB stick). So that makes it a pretty expensive upgrade. Plus, I could end up with a C2D that whines, moos, has a dead pixel or runs hot.

It's always a bit of a crapshoot. and I did well with my MBP. So I'm standing pat for now.

NightEyes · Nov 4, 2006, 05:04 PM

Macworld just completed their initial tests on the new MBP and the speed increase is about 10% between the CD 2.16 GHz vs. the C2D running at the same clock speed. The new C2D MBP got 4 fps faster in UT 2K4. Not enough for me to upgrade on any account. My 2.16 MBP has been flawless since day one. Of course, if I were still using a G4 based Mac laptop, I'd upgrade no question.

ThMooner · Nov 4, 2006, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by NightEyes

Macworld just completed their initial tests on the new MBP and the speed increase is about 10% between the CD 2.16 GHz vs. the C2D running at the same clock speed. The new C2D MBP got 4 fps faster in UT 2K4. Not enough for me to upgrade on any account. My 2.16 MBP has been flawless since day one. Of course, if I were still using a G4 based Mac laptop, I'd upgrade no question.

I read the article and i made the decision to stay with my core duo. Ut runs fast and doesn't get hot and the difference between the two and the loss i would take selling mine isn't worth it, Think I'lol wait till the next round ofm updates.

mduell · Nov 4, 2006, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by NightEyes

Macworld just completed their initial tests on the new MBP and the speed increase is about 10% between the CD 2.16 GHz vs. the C2D running at the same clock speed. The new C2D MBP got 4 fps faster in UT 2K4. Not enough for me to upgrade on any account. My 2.16 MBP has been flawless since day one. Of course, if I were still using a G4 based Mac laptop, I'd upgrade no question.

As Apple shows on their website, the performance bump depends on the application. I'd add that it also depends on the specific task; disk-bound benchmarks in any application aren't going to see any speedup.