The SSD is definitely worth it and the computer will be noticeably faster. The computers sleep and boot super quick with it. For 1500 you can get an i5 13" pro retina that would be more than enough for what you want. If you or someone you know is in the military or student(I think) you can get 100-150 off the price of a new macbook pro retina.
Like I said, I know someone who works there and can get me a better discount and I also wanted to keep it below 15" mbp prices.
I’m thinking now that I might get a mac mini to use with my monitor… I’ll save a few hundred bucks, take some of that and invest in a ram upgrade for my current macbook and do a clean install. If Elliot is having no trouble with his there is no reason mine can’t do the same. Then I’ll still come out a couple hundred cheaper and I’ll have a pretty hoss desktop and a decent portable laptop.
hard drive being full is the difference between us, i have an external 1tb that i keep files on and apps stay on my computer. only thing i have issues with is i can’t play 1080p vids on my tv bc it just locks up. gonna get a new laptop or imac before school starts though depending on what the school recommends me to do.
Two updates, if anyone cares. I deleted a bunch of movies from my laptop and it made a noticeable difference when it was able to use virtual memory again. I went ahead and ordered a mac mini, got the discount, paid under 1k and still got a 2.6 i7 plus a magic mouse and wireless keyboard. I stuck with a regular hard drive to save money but I can always upgrade that in the future if I want, and I also went with 4gb of ram but I plan on upgrading that in the next couple of weeks. It got delivered today and so far it rules. Thanks for the advice guys
On the virtual memory tidbit- I seem to recall the minimum free disk space being more than 15-20% in order to let the OS function and manage the swap files/virtual memory. Otherwise, you’ll really see a performance hit.
I usually leave Activity Monitor minimized and switch the dock icon to graph view and have it show disk activity. You can basically watch the icon for high disk utilization and see when you’re running low of physical memory/swapping out alot of virtual memory-> very high disk utilization.
Yup i have something like 30gb of 120 free now and i can see it using virtual memory and it is much more usable now. I know when i upgrade from 2 to 4 gb of ram it’ll help a ton.
sounds good man, i want to get my mom a mac mini when her’s crap out…student loans gonna buy me a new 13" macbook for school, can’t fucking wait. want to get a network external hard drive too but we will see if i can get the cash for that.