Late 2007 Macbook vs. current Macbook Pro

[tomster2300]

Hey guys. This may sound like a dumb question, but I'm hoping that an owner of the newest Macbook Pro can chime in.

I have a late 2007 white Macbook, and I've loved it. The machine is going strong, but its outer case is falling apart. It's scratched up, the flashing hibernation light no longer works, and the plastic has ripped on the seams where you lay your wrists while typing, as well as along the corners and to the right and left. The last issue is an Apple acknowledged defect where the lid magnets rip up the plastic. I just never got it fixed in time for them to cover it.

The Macbook has served me well and is still going strong. The original battery still holds a strong charge, nothing internally is busted, and it's actually pretty snappy again after formatting and reinstalling Snow Leopard last week.

Here are the specs - http://support.apple.com/kb/sp12

Basically it's a 2.0ghz Intel Macbook with a x3100 video chip and 4 gigs of ram (I upgraded a couple of years ago). HD is 80 gigs and it has a dvd reader / cd burner.

Long story short, I've got the upgrade itch, but can't seem to justify it. I have the Win 7 gaming rig in my sig, this laptop and an iPad, and that's it. The gaming rig is more than enough computer for anyone, but the Mac is my production machine. When I want to get something done, I grab my Macbook and get to work.

I'd love to scoop up one of the new 15" i7 Macbook Pros, but their price tags are rather ridiculous. $2,000+ for a dual core i7 laptop when I built my quad core i7 desktop rig for $1k ish is just crazy.

Do you think there is any benefits to upgrading? Will I notice a huge performance difference?

Usage: Mainly coding and some graphic design. Probably not gaming because of the gaming rig. I no longer do much video work like I did in college, but thanks to my new job, I may pick it back up.

Thanks guys!

[inflames988]

I have the unibody 13" Pro and i kinda doubt you will see a difference. The i5 or i7 would help if you use the thing for heavy video encoding or something, but to be quite honest for a laptop I don't see it being necessasry. The new machines do have very nice hardware though - screens are great, touchpads are fantastic, and they are built incredibly well (coming from someone who has torn the whole thing apart ). I've also used the brand new 15" i5 (with solid state drive, and high-res matte screen) and that thing was incredibly nice but again, unless you are really doing alot of intense computing with your laptop I think the macbook you have will suffice.