Dual core/quad core.. it really comes down to what you are going to be doing with it. I did a quick review of this thread and didn't' see that list... so I guess the questions that I have are:
- What will you be using this computer for? If we’re talking about web surfing, school papers, email and similar, the dual core i5 is plenty. But if you are going to be rendering high def video, that’s a completely different matter.
- Also, how long to you plan to keep/use this computer? I would suspect that this is a long-term proposition... and as such, I would suggest beefing the system up as much as you can reasonably and comfortably afford. I have a 2009 MacBook that still runs fine - even with OS X Mavericks, it’s fine for day to day stuff - light photo editing, web surfing, email, etc... but again, it pretty much chokes out with iMovie rendering 1080p video.
The Mac hardware will serve you well, and the evolution of OS X is still in process, so I can say with confidence that either machine that you have spec'ed out will be a good investment. But think about the future. If you can spend an extra $200 today and get something that will still handle the taxing tasks in 3-4 years, that, to me, would seem like a wise investment.
Take a good look at your financial position, and decide whether it makes enough sense to you to kick in a bit extra to protect you down the road. And either answer ('yes' or 'no') is fine, based on your situation... but at least consider it.
Most of my computing will be web surfing, storing and printing pictures, storing videos of the kids, and emailing. I think that's about it. I do watch YouTube videos, but I don't save any of them. I do plan on keeping my computer long term. I have always kept my Dells for as long as they were trouble free which is about 6 years for 3 of them so far. I would hope that a MBP costing over half the amount of money that I paid for my Dell's would last as least that long..... You mentioned that you would suggest "beefing the system up" as much as you can . Would you add something to that 15" MBP that I have in that screenshot, or are the specs that I listed above good enough for long term use?
Thanks for your continued help and answering my questions.