Please HELP! Deciding on macbooks - GIFT for Accounting & Finance Major

[kaetdesigns]

Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-Inch Laptop Intel Core i5 2.3GHz / 8GB DDR3 Memory / 500GB SSHD (Solid State Hybrid) Drive / OS X 10.10 Yosemite / ThunderBolt / DVD Burner
Screen Size 13.3 inches
Max Screen Resolution 1280 x 800
Processor 2.30 GHz Intel Core i5
RAM 8 GB SO-DIMM DDR3
Hard Drive 500 GB
Graphics Coprocessor HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor
Chipset Brand Intel
Graphics Card Ram Size 512 MB
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 2

OR

Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-Inch Laptop Intel Core i5 2.3GHz / 16GB DDR3 Memory / 1TB SSHD (Solid State Hybrid) Drive / OS X 10.10 Yosemite / ThunderBolt / DVD Burner
Screen Size 13.3 inches
Max Screen Resolution 1280 x 800
Processor 2.30 GHz Intel Core i5
RAM 16 GB SO-DIMM DDR3
Hard Drive 1 TB
Graphics Coprocessor HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor
Chipset Brand Intel
Graphics Card Ram Size 512 MB
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 2

I am new to Macbooks and I have basic computer knowledge, but other than the drive size, I see these two are basically the same with an Intel i5 Processor.....

are these considerably better than this one??


Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-Inch Laptop 2.53GHz / 8GB DDR3 Memory / 500GB SSHD (Solid State Hybrid) Drive / OS X 10.10 Yosemite / DVD Burner
Screen Size 13.3 inches
Screen Resolution 1280x800
Processor 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM 8 GB SO-DIMM DDR3
Hard Drive 500 GB
Graphics Coprocessor GeForce 9400M graphics processor
Chipset Brand NVIDIA
Graphics Card Ram Size 256 MB
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 2
Average Battery Life (in hours) 7 hours

 

[luna74]

First off, are you aware that you'll be purchasing older macbooks?

Secondly, between the 3 of these choices, I'd go with the i5 processor 8gb of ram, and 500gb solid state hybrid drive FOR SURE! My reasoning behind this choice is that the 2011 Macbook Pro (which I'm assuming this is) was a really solid computer and I'm assuming the 8gb version w/ 500gb ssd hybrid is cheaper than the other version which would be an important decision making factor for me personally because I would use the extra money to pay for a standard ssd to replace the hybrid with (that's just me personally). Anyway, this computer should be more than adequate for the every day user, and I would personally recommend it to a friend.

Just out of curiosity though, what's going on here? Do you know someone that is buying up old Macbook pros, throwing SSD hybrids into them, and then flipping them for a profit?

P.S. A comparable computer BRAND NEW (as far as computational power and memory goes) would cost around 400-500$ but wouldn't be a macintosh, just fyi