The new Mac Book pro is now out!! - Page 2

Followed immediatly by...

Sorry to pick on you, but I do find that timing very ironic

Don't get me wrong, the machines are still good general purpose machines for many people, but in as far as professional machines for the A/V market, where they had a good standing, they took a serious step down.

Seablade

When dealing with something like that you are getting into an area where it comes down to personal preference and situation. Is 2.8GHz better than 2.53? It is faster, and so long as the thermal considerations have been addressed, which they likely have, then yes it is typically better. But is it worth $300? That is a question that depends on your financial situationa nd what you are going to do with it. It will be slightly faster, but not amazingly so.

Likewise with the HD do you NEED the high speed? Or would you rather the space? Or are you willing to spend more to get both? Again depends on the use and your situation and preferences. We really can't answer that one for you.

I would say though, to get the Applecare, especially on models right after a redesign, but on the laptops in general it is a good idea.

Seablade

It is not just that they are moving to glass, but that on the first revision of any new hardware design, Apple tends to have more problems than they do on subsequent revisions, so it is well worth it to get a full 3 years of coverage to last you through any problems that may, though hopefully won't, come up.

For reference to put its price in perspective, my keyboard and trackpad went belly up not to long ago and had to be replaced. The parts alone cost I think it was between $120 and $150. Thankfully I was still in warranty, but that is a decent chunk of change by itself, and if I needed more repairs then it would have paid for itself. Likewise I think the last time I looked at it, the price to replace a dead DVD drive on an old iMac that I bought(Was a display before I bought it so don't assume Apple's have significant problems ) by itself paid for an applecare plan at the time I was looking at it. I had a choice of either buy the drive, or buy the applecare extension for the same amount and get another year of coverage.

Of course I chose option C. I am to dang poor and can't afford either Haven't really missed it, though I specifically got that computer at a good price and for an express purpose of using as a dedicated playback machine for shows I design, so the drive wasn't a huge issue.

Seablade

I'm getting me one no matter what are the negatives about this machine, I've always wanted to own a MBP and now it's the time to own a Mac for the 1st time..the only thing irritating me is the Glossy screen!!!!! I hope it's better than the previous ones...

Well there are two things worth a look.

First and foremost is to look at Amazon and see what the price is there. Secondly if you are a student make sure you look at the educational pricing.

As other side comments, I personally would not order memory through Apple. In fact I might check on Hard Drive pricing as well and see if you can't either save money, or at least not spend money, and get a second HD for it if you are planning on upgrading that. Apple severely overcharges for its upgrades, so short of the processor upgrade or screen upgrades, for things like Memory or Hard Drives I would look elsewhere and see if you can't save some money there.

Seablade

FWIW, Amazon usually doesn't start carrying the new models until they've burnt through their remaining stock of the "old" models. It's usually not too long, maybe a few days to a week.

Yep. The first release of the 15" MBP actually lacked the FW800 port. Perhaps there is hope? Having looked at the internals of the MBs, it doesn't look promising. :-(

I sympathize with those who need Firewire. I found I haven't used it for quite a while, so not too concerned.

Am not a serious photographer, but have been doing quite a bit lately, and USB works fine for transferring photos from a DSLR - either through the cable or with a card reader. Lack of firewire shouldn't impact the average photographer.

Have seen lots of complaints re the glossy screen option only, especially from photographers. Again, this will be an issue for those who are serious about color calibration, but won't be a major issue for most of us.

What I like about the new MacBook Pro - available 2.8GHz CPU, better graphics card (not the absolute best, but good), DDR3 memory, 1066MHz frontside bus, 320GB 7200 RPM HD upgrade at a reasonable price. None of these are groundbreaking on their own, but should make for a nice package.

And, of course there are the aesthetic changes ... looking forward to checking one out in person.

Went to the local Apple store today to check out the new lappies. Very slick in appearance. Oddly, the MB felt as if it were heavier in my hand than my pMB (plastic MB). Probably psychological. Track pad takes some getting used to, but nice implementation overall. The indent in the front for lifting the lid felt a little more sharp than I would have expected. The curvature of the groove looks a bit shorter than it does on the pMBs and creates a bit of a sharper edge/corner. The unibody construction fixes the lingering problem of cracked palmrests on the plastic ones. Still wondering how the glass will hold up over time. Makes me wonder if they're doing any special kind of tempering to give it some strength. The placement of the microphone is also interesting. You'll see a circle of tiny lasered holes at the top left side of the KB. I'll be interested in seeing/hearing/reading about the effectiveness of the placement under the metal of the palmrest/KB area as well as the fact that the mic is now placed in perhaps a less than opportune location with it being more parallel to the direction one is speaking towards, compared to the mic basically facing the user when it's located in the screen bezel. Assuming that most people look down at their laptops when they are using it, this might be a moot point as the differences in angles between the palmrest and screen, relative to the user, might be negligible. I would expect, however, for these potential issues to be non-issues gives Apple's usual attention to detail. <end ramble>

Interesting, triadone. Looks like you focused on the MacBook. I should have an upclose and personal view of the new MacBook Pro later this week

I was dead set on getting a new MacBook until I discovered the lack of firewire. Seriously everything is damn near perfect about it except for that. And since I use my Mac mostly for music I need firewire.

You can still order the older white Macbook apparently, which obviously does have firewire. I think this is going to have to be my suggestion for some time until they fix the missing firewire port.

Seablade

A few comments here: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread222205.html

I just sold my super wonderful 17 inch Penryn Macbook Pro and ordered my new 15 inch unibody MBP. I can't wait!! And when the 17's come out and are all working right, I will sell my 15 and buy a 17