macbook pro

[JimStynes]

I want the Retina display so much but they dont have dvd drive anymore, the 13" hasnt been released yet and it's bloody expensive.

My own laptop is 4 year old so I am looking to upgrade. I need a laptop for general use (Internet, downloading, watching DVDs) a little bit of CAD and my teaching resources/plans etc.  So would I be safer with the 2012 Non retina display MBP or should I hold out for the 13" Retina Display whenever it comes out?  I hear you can buy the standard i7 laptop and then upgrade to 8GB and then change the hard drive to SSD. I would rather have the SSD version rather than the normal hard drive but I dont think I would know how to upgrade it myself but dont want to pay the ridiculous price that apple are charging. 

Also I dont know what thunderbolt is and what it does. Could someone explain it to me in non-computer geek language.

If I was to buy the retina display can I buy a external dvd drive that I can plug into the computer?

Im sure I will have more questions. Cheers lads.

[Main Street]

I want the Retina display so much but they dont have dvd drive anymore, the 13" hasnt been released yet and it's bloody expensive.

My own laptop is 4 year old so I am looking to upgrade. I need a laptop for general use (Internet, downloading, watching DVDs) a little bit of CAD and my teaching resources/plans etc.  So would I be safer with the 2012 Non retina display MBP or should I hold out for the 13" Retina Display whenever it comes out?  I hear you can buy the standard i7 laptop and then upgrade to 8GB and then change the hard drive to SSD. I would rather have the SSD version rather than the normal hard drive but I dont think I would know how to upgrade it myself but dont want to pay the ridiculous price that apple are charging. 

Also I dont know what thunderbolt is and what it does. Could someone explain it to me in non-computer geek language.

If I was to buy the retina display can I buy a external dvd drive that I can plug into the computer?

Im sure I will have more questions. Cheers lads.

Thunderbolt is a port (like USB)  through which you can connect external devices.

Upgrading to a SSD,  with some Macbooks it's a simple process, remove battery,  remove 3 screws, pull out HD and slot in SSD.
With other Macbooks, you have to use an appropriately sized torx screwdriver to remove the case screws, store screws carefully , remove case and find your way to the HD.
Unless you have the shakes, this is doable, following  step by step instructions which you can find online. First time demands cautious approach but 2nd time opening up the macbook is a piece of cake. Then you can uses the HD as  external storage/back up/bootable drive.

Seeing as you have your heart set on a retina display, then why not go for it? you are only going to be wondering why you didn't chose one.
I don't use DVD any more, at least not a laptop. Flash USB storage is cheap, minuscule and more abusable. If I ever have to use a dvd drive, I just use another computer.
The retina MBP already has a 256gb SSD and 8gb ram

[JimStynes]

I went and had a look at the retina display MBP today and I have made the decision that I cant justify spending that money when the MBP 13" comes out so I will just get the 2012 MBP 13".

For me I cant notice a big enough difference in the quality of screen to make me go 'wow this is a amazing'. I have a basic laptop so the 2012 MBP 13" even looks like unbelievable quality to me.

Also although I am probably talking crap i think the retina display MB dont look or feel as sturdy as an older MBP. The rMBP is quite thin and light but it just feels a little fragile compared to the other one.

I will be updating the 13" MacBook to an SSD drive and probably upgrade the Ram. What does everyone recommend? 8gb and 256gb SSD? The basic model has intel i5 and the next model up has intel i7. Is it worth the extra couple hundred for the better processor?

I will be getting student discount. Any other ways to save money on this?

[Main Street]

Samsung 830 is a sound SSD. Probably the best SSD for the price.
4GB ram is more than enough to run Lion, If you want to upgrade after purchase then you discard the 2 x2gb ram
You can work out if it's cheaper to buy it with 8gb ram or upgrade later.
The i7 mobile processor in the 2012 MBP  is the best dual core i7 going for laptops, it performs about 20% faster than the i5 in processor tasks.
You just have to figure out if you do stuff which is processor intensive, eg video, music.  Decoding music hogs  a lot of your processor usage,  decoding a FLAC file to Apple Lossless is about x100 speed on the i5 and x120 on the i7
With decoding 70 mins of music,  you can compute the difference you would notice,  a few seconds?

It's €300 more for the MBP with the i7, 8gb ram and a larger HD