Hmmmm - Upgrade to the new Macbook?

[aphex]

Late at night, can't sleep, tossing around the idea of upgrading/crossgrading to the new macbook.

Currently have a 2.2ghz Macbook (Santa Rosa) w/ 4gb of RAM and a 200gb 7200rpm HD. Its plenty fast except when using iMovie where the effects really make it slow to a crawl, especially when outputting to my 24" LCD. I don't use iMovie all too much right now (just some honeymoon videos), but plan to use it considerably more in the spring when I get a new D90.

I think I can work it where it would basically be a wash price wise, give or take $100. As much as I love my Macbook, some small things bother me about it that make me want to upgrade (slow iMovie, discolored palm rest - though an easy fix, etc)

I like the new aluminum finish considerably more, LED backlit LCD, faster video, multitouch trackpad, etc. Only downside are the two things i'll lose, firewire and 200mhz in the CPU.

What do you think? If all else was equal, should I upgrade?

 

[clarkey01]

For the price you paid for your Macbook you could of built a rig like mine (here in the UK)

I suppose for me its power over aesthetics.

I dont believe upgrading to the latest macbook or MBP will yield any significantly better results.

I usually upgrade in a two year cycle, that way I usually get a decent performance boost.

 

[TheStu]

Aside from Clarkey's snarky comments, he does make the valid point that the newest MBs or MBPs will not yield you significant gains.

You might want to consider a hackintosh, or iMac if hackintoshing fails to appeal to you.

And Clarkey, as an aside, why can't the English teach their children how to speak? It is 'you could have built' not could of.

 

[clarkey01]

Originally posted by: TheStu
Aside from Clarkey's snarky comments, he does make the valid point that the newest MBs or MBPs will not yield you significant gains.

You might want to consider a hackintosh, or iMac if hackintoshing fails to appeal to you.

And Clarkey, as an aside, why can't the English teach their children how to speak? It is 'you could have built' not could of.

It was early here when I posted, maybe it should of been " you should have "

The small clock speed bumps will not improve things for you, more cores and more speed are needed.

On another note I was thinking about running OSX10 in Vmware....

 

[Kaido]

Lack of Firewire is a show-stopper for me. Apple always seems to give me 99% of what I want, then ruin it with that last 1% For me the big upgrade was the LED screen. I had a 15" MBP with LED and currently have a 13" White MB without LED and the difference is incredible...the LED screen looks amazing. Then again I'm a visual quality freak, so image quality is a big deal for me. There are a lot of pros with the new Macbooks:

1. LED screen
2. DisplayPort (esp. with Apple's new 24" LCD)
3. More durable metal design
4. Way better video card
5. Awesome trackpad

So aside from some spec bumps, you'd basically be getting the same machine, but you'll have to go through the hassle of selling your machine and shelling out a few hundred more for the newer model. It might be worth waiting for Rev2 when they upgrade the CPU and whatnot, and hopefully start supporting more RAM like the Dells do (8-16 gigs).

Personally I'm going to be saving up for a 15" due to Firewire. I wanted the 13", but I just can't live without Firewire right now. So I won't be upgrading until next year, so I'll probably be looking at Rev2 as well