It's really up to personal preference. I bought Applecare with mine and It came in handy when I had some cosmetic issues. Seems like the new unibody Macbooks are pretty good in terms of build quality. I won't get education discount on my next purchase. :cry: I should go back to school :lol

...unless you work at an authorized Apple dealer, and can buy it at cost. :)

Or, wait a little until refurbished ones start showing up on the Apple store.

I heard from a friend who's an Apple employee that the ones that people return are marked as "Refurbished". Even though they are brand spanking new after they return it, it's considered a "Refurb" unit.

Yeah, because they can't sell it as a new product. The computer may have been returned simply because the person changed their mind after they bought it, or maybe some part failed, and Apple gave them a new one. I bought mine as a refurb, and my battery had 15 charge cycles on it. I have no idea why it is a refurb though. I have heard from an Apple tech that the refub ones can be more reliable because whatever part failed has been replaced, and the units are given a full inspection before it's sold again.

^ Yea seems like a good idea to buy a refurb if you dont care about the "omg im the first one to open and use it" mentality.

How much faster is the new 2.66 GHz i7 vs. the dual core 3.06 GHz?

From Passmark:
Intel Core i7 M 620 @ 2.67GHz
Passmark CPU Mark: 2871
Rank: 114

Intel Core2 Duo T9900 @ 3.06GHz
Passmark CPU Mark: 2328
Rank: 145

I like tom's hardware mobile cpu charts to compare, as it has a more diverse set of real world tests. But it doesn't seem too up to date with the mobile processors.

According to Ars Technica, their innovative graphics switch technology also turns on the discrete graphics when you run something like LR or FCpro. Therefore, I think you should also factor in the GPU difference if you're contemplating an upgrade.

to be honest, I didn't know LR or PS utilized the GPU much.

More and more apps utilize the GPU for Rendering purposes. It's faster and puts less load on the CPU. The new i7/i5s run cooler and is less power consuming.

is there any literature that describes how LR or PS utilizes the GPU? Could this be an OSX only thing?

I don't game on my PC at all. the only reason I have discrete graphics is just enough to pump out hdmi. if a GPU helps, it could change my upgrade routes. i just bought a i7-860. I wonder if a i5-750 (cheaper) + beefier gpu can compare.

If you are looking at the current Macbook Pro they use Mini Displayport.
They sell the Logiix Mini Displayport to HDMI at London Drugs for $34.99... Apple doesn't make a connector for HDMI.

Here's one $10.82 shipped to Vancouver

There's several more that even takes care of audio

so how much cheaper are refurb units?

I believe that the current PSCS4 utilize the GPU for some of its rendering.

See for yourself at the Apple Canada site.

engadget put up a review
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/14/m...ore-i7-review/

of the i7 model

benchmarks look good!

even better for me

holy battery life, batman

Still no BluRay... :mad:

You can always plug in an External Unit. :lol

my 15" mbp is a refurb off the Apple website, haven't had any problems with it. Only concern I have is that it runs a bit hot

How much did it cost compared to a BNIB 15'' mbp?

I believe back then I saved about $3-400 bux, and then a few weeks later.. the new ones came out.

http://www.grapesofrad.com/wp-conten.../03/FUUUU.jpeg

http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/hom...mco=OTY2ODY3Nw

link on refurbs...bought my imac then and just grabbed another 1gig ram a couple of weeks ago (so i have two in total) and its running faster than the day i got this computer..haha..