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Question

Do you buy a cRMP june 12, refurbished cRMP oct 11, or rMBP?

Aug 21, 2012 5:18PM PDT

I am looking at getting a MBP for school, and personal life. I currently use an old White MacBook, and it is very slow, it is 2.4ghz, and around 250gb storage, with a 2gb memory.

I use my current MacBook for mainly music, photos, and the internet. I use Lightroom for my photos, and am also going to purchase Photoshop soon. I shoot around 1k to 2k photos a month, which ends up being around 12k-24k photos a year, and I shoot in RAW. I edit a lot of photos and keep an external hard drive for backup. I like to keep storing my photos on my computer so I do not have to carry around any other devices like an external hard drive. While I edit pictures I like to run Safari and Itunes so I can either look at other things online or listen to music either on Itunes or Youtube, but on my MacBook it goes into overdrive and it sound like an airplane is about to take off and I can't even hear my music! But when I get Photoshop, I will assume I will run Lightroom alone side of Photoshop and another program for music and/or Safari too.

I am looking at 15 inch MBP's all around $2k + or - $200 with student discount:
Refurbished MBP (classic) from Oct 2011. It is 2.4ghz, quad core i7 with 750gb storage, and I would upgrade the RAM to 16gb. Also Anti-glare Hi-Res screen.

The new (old) (classic) MBP from June 2012. It is 2.6ghz quad core i7 with 750gb storage, and I would 8gb RAM and possibly upgrade later down the line. Also Anti-Glare Hi-Res screen.

Retina MBP but the base line one which would be 2.3ghz quad core i7 with 256gb flash storage, and I would have 16gb RAM in it.

I am looking to use this computer for the next 4 years without getting a new one. My current MacBook has lasted my the past 4 years, and I do not necessarily need to upgrade but this computer is extremely slow, and there is no memory on it and I am looking forward to getting a 15 inch screen. I want to get a computer that is going to last me a four years, minimum and not have to worry about it being too slow. I do not care about the weight of the computer or the size, that does not affect me due to the fact when I use it the majority of the time it will be on a desk and if its on my lap no worries it doesn't bother me.

If I was to purchase a (classic) MBP I would be able to upgrade to a flash storage later down the line when the lower their price and then it would be able to speed things up. But if I get the Retina there will be no choice of upgrades, which is fine because I have not upgraded my current MacBook, but the flash storage is so much faster its incredible.

Also I was wondering, since I was talking to some PC guys about this dilemma I have on which MBP to get... They said Retina is not realistic, the next upgrade for screens would be 4k not Retina in other companies computers. So is Retina something that will just die out quickly?


I am interested in all opinions so please leave me as much feedback as you can. I am interested in making a decision in the next week or two. If you have any other options, ideas, or thoughts on my situation just leave some feedback!

Thanks for any feedback!!

Discussion is locked