I'm trying to decide between Macbook Pros. I've been told the processor difference between 2.53Ghz and 2.66GHz isn't worth writing home about, but that the "+ 9600M GT with 256MB" difference on the video card is more marked. Does anyone know what that nets out to, visually? I never hooked my Powerbook up to an external monitor and wasn't even sure if I was going to bother getting, at least initially, the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter.

I'll get the 320MB HD no matter which model I get.

If you don't need 3D performance I doubt it'll make much difference. Pretty much anything can drive a high resolution monitor these days.

I have the dual mode video system in a few of my machines. It makes a difference in some video playback and rendering duties.

The fanciest I get is watching downloaded HD video. Is it worth considering the upgrade?

I'd take the video upgrade over the processor upgrade. I'm not sure that you'll see a huge difference in current downloaded HD video, but who knows what new video codecs are around the corner that may be helped.

They both come together. I'm wondering if it's worth paying the extra $250 for it or not.

Oh god, I'm dropping off my laptop to go to the Computer Hospital today. I'm going to die from the withdrawal.

If you can imagine ever doing any video editing, you'll want the video upgrade.

What is the video upgrade from? If the GPU doesn't add any extra hardware for decoding HD video, then I don't know what it'll get you for what you're doing.

Can video editing use the dedicated video memory for anything? For 3D rendering, sure, but for basic video editing would it add anything? Maybe it can use it in some way I don't know about. If you don't use the memory for anything but frame buffering, I don't see it making a huge difference for regular usage.

Can video editing use the dedicated video memory for anything?

I know Final Cut Studio won't even install unless you have at least 128MB of VRAM, and certain types of rendering require 512MB of VRAM.

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