[Kim Jong Un]

so i'm thinking of getting a new laptop, and i already thought about getting a macbook pro, but i'm getting a lot of mixed reviews from other ppl, websites and i'm a little bit overwhelmed...

so RS tell me what you think :)

pros?
cons?
it is really worth the price tag?
is 2gb of ram a little bit hefty for the price i'm paying?

[TOPEC]

do u actually use the features that a mac offers? if not, then ur solely jumping onto the mackbook band wagon which i believe 90% of the users out there that has a macbook r.
it really depends on what ur using it for, if ur using it for basic stuff, i would save the money and get a decent windows laptop.

[Kim Jong Un]

do u actually use the features that a mac offers? if not, then ur solely jumping onto the mackbook band wagon which i believe 90% of the users out there that has a macbook r.
it really depends on what ur using it for, if ur using it for basic stuff, i would save the money and get a decent windows laptop.

photo editing, music editing, gaming, music, movies... you name it
and i want a computer that actually last me for a long period of time unlike laptops i had in the past, which lasted me a year and half or less (craigslist)

edit: wow i realized that now i'm actually getting a first brand new laptop xD

[Spectre_Cdn]

I dunno... a laptop with a 13 foot screen doesn't sound very portable :p
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[Kim Jong Un]

oh fuck.... mod! can you change the title please :o

[trancehead]

I dunno... a laptop with a 13 foot screen doesn't sound very portable :p
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

LOL nor affordable:haha:

[Kim Jong Un]

ok let's get back on topic shall we?

[.Renn.Sport]

u need 4GB ram on a Mac

[Kim Jong Un]

u need 4GB ram on a Mac

no you don't the lowest model is 2gb and it runs fine, 4gb is just extra speed

[.Renn.Sport]

no you don't the lowest model is 2gb and it runs fine, 4gb is just extra speed

^ and this is coming from someone that doesnt EVEN have a mac
:haha:

[bcedhk]

no you don't the lowest model is 2gb and it runs fine, 4gb is just extra speed

you just said it urself, extra speed. if u r doing raw converting n ps, u neeed 4gb for smooth process.

[willystyle]

no you don't the lowest model is 2gb and it runs fine, 4gb is just extra speed
If you're such a computer expert, why are you asking RS for advice? Go with a Macbook then.

[Kim Jong Un]

^ and this is coming from someone that doesnt EVEN have a mac
:haha:

coming from the "oh i own a ferrari!" douche bag

you just said it urself, extra speed. if u r doing raw converting n ps, u neeed 4gb for smooth process.

but for photo editing yes that 4gb is required, for running osx, 2gb is totally fine
i am no computer expert... yes, that's why i'm asking for your opinion

pros?
cons?
how long does apple computers usually last?

[Tim Budong]

what type of gaming are u looking to do

anything hardcore will not run, although COD2 and SC2 run fine on the current one if booted by bootcamp

Photo and Music
if photo, the photoshop will need the 4gb of ram to process things, and with shit like content aware for CS5, 4gb is needed to run smooth

Music
if recording, than the SOFTWARE support for such task is better on a mac due to certain programs being written for mac, ie: protools8

regardless, music recording would require additional hardware anyways

if your just trimming and mashing shit together like mp3s, a windows laptop does just fine

Im on a 4yr old mac, no complaints, and I can play l4d, SC2, run the photoshop, and record stuff, as i do hook up a mini board and preamp to the mac

if you were to buy a mac, wait for the icore ones, which according to mananetwork, who sent me a link to www.macrumors.com saying the new ones could be out as soon as tuesday

[Kim Jong Un]

what type of gaming are u looking to do

anything hardcore will not run, although COD2 and SC2 run fine on the current one if booted by bootcamp

Photo and Music
if photo, the photoshop will need the 4gb of ram to process things, and with shit like content aware for CS5, 4gb is needed to run smooth

Music
if recording, than the SOFTWARE support for such task is better on a mac due to certain programs being written for mac, ie: protools8

regardless, music recording would require additional hardware anyways

if your just trimming and mashing shit together like mp3s, a windows laptop does just fine

Im on a 4yr old mac, no complaints, and I can play l4d, SC2, run the photoshop, and record stuff, as i do hook up a mini board and preamp to the mac

if you were to buy a mac, wait for the icore ones, which according to mananetwork, who sent me a link to www.macrumors.com saying the new ones could be out as soon as tuesday

i'll probably install cod4 , mw2 or gta4
how do you think it'll run?
and as for photoshop i'm getting that extra ram
does your mac match the spec of the current mac now?

[asian_XL]

I have been using my co-worker's macbook to do photoeditting, video editting, music editting, graphic design in the past 4 months at work.

to be honest....FUCKING GET A PC LAPTOP FOR GOD SAKE, I love the design, but no reason for me spending 2x as much for a mac.

btw...2gb is good enough, unless you are a heavy multitasking user. I can wait that 1
sec difference when loading a program.

[TOS'd]

Would I be considered a fan boy if I bought a macbook pro mainly because of the abuild quality of the aluminum unibody? With my experience of several HP laptops, I absolutely hate the plastic pieces on it, body. Maybe it's just how it gets treated but I always have it in and out of bags and in a rush to go places etc. Or is it even a valid reason to buy one?

[Kim Jong Un]

yea another good point there i love the design and the aluminum unibody housing

[Manic!]

If you want a 13 inch laptop get the new Asus U30Jc-A1‎. Can be had for under $1000, has up 10 hour battery life, you can game on it, and yes it has Turbo.


The ASUS U30Jc is the first to combine a Core i3 processor with NVIDIA’s Optimus graphics switching and theoretically provides both performance and battery life at once. The ASUS U30Jc is powered by 2.26GHz Intel Core i3 processor, an nVidia GeForce 310M chipset, Altec Lansing speakers, a 4GB RAM, a 320GB hard drive.

[TOPEC]

Would I be considered a fan boy if I bought a macbook pro mainly because of the abuild quality of the aluminum unibody? With my experience of several HP laptops, I absolutely hate the plastic pieces on it, body. Maybe it's just how it gets treated but I always have it in and out of bags and in a rush to go places etc. Or is it even a valid reason to buy one?

i dont get how u guys can break laptops, or i just have really really good luck with them. i've used samsung, toshiba, hp and did own a macbook before, and guess what, the mac was the one that had a broken case cover, and the mac was the one that i used the LEAST.

[Kim Jong Un]

i've had bad experiences with laptop : ( i'm such a klutz

[DuhDang]

if u want a long lasting laptop get a vaio or a windows computer. All my friends mac once they drop it once its dead. And if there is a problem with the mac u have to go to the apple store and get owned up the ass.
Windows on the other hand you can google and DIY

[Hehe]

I'd say wait until 13th... supposedly apple is announcing MBP refreshes... then grab a current gen for cheap on CL. :D

[Kim Jong Un]

man i'm so damn confused :confused:
so what's so special about this new line of macbook pro?

[goo3]

They're both comparable, just different. I think they did a really nice job on the MacBook Pro. They have some nice features you wish PCs thought of first and OSX is surprisingly light and stable.. well, maybe not a surprise if you know it's built on top of UNIX. I go for months on end without shutting it down with usually 4 spaces full of apps running

Go to the Mac store and try it out for awhile. If you like it that much better, then buy it, preferably with a student discount. I think it comes down to what you like using better day to day.

[Kim Jong Un]

i think i'll wait for the 13th let's see what they're coming up with
i don't wanna get rip off again.. like the time when i bought my ipod touch 2g and then a week later they released the ipod touch 3g

[Farfetched]

If you're going the mac route. Don't spend more for ram or hd size. You can upgrade those cheaper non-oem. Refurbished laptops are even better deals; add warranty and theres really no difference.

[SchoolGlue]

dont get current gen 13" mbp, i have one with mw2 on fusionware

runs rather choppy cause of the 9400m integrated graphics lolol

[Kim Jong Un]

dont get current gen 13" mbp, i have one with mw2 on fusionware

runs rather choppy cause of the 9400m integrated graphics lolol

:cry: apple is so difficult!
so if i want a real macbook pro i'd have to buy top of the line 15"... fuck

[Senna4ever]

If you truly want a Mac, I'd wait a bit, as the new lineup is rumoured to be announced in a few days. For what you want to do, I'd actually go for the 15" Mac, as it has (apparently) a higher gamut screen which will help you with your photo editing, but the current model's glossy screen while beautiful are too shiny for photo editing. The new models might have an option for a matte screen. I myself bought a 17" Macbook Pro with a matte screen because it was the only laptop that fit my needs of a big screen, high colour gamut, high resolution (1920x1200), power & portability. It's a dream to use for photo & video editing, and the thin & light form factor was what sealed the deal for me - no other 17" laptop came close to the 1" thickness & 6.6 lbs weight. I do not miss Windows at all. It's not perfect by any means, but it's an impressive machine. Also, poke around in the refurbished section of the Apple Canada store. There are good deals to be had there.

Cnet has a very favourable review on the Asus U30Jc-A1 here: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-u30jc-a1/4505-3121_7-34043767.html?tag=mncol;lst They did complain about the weight of the Asus, which I thought was excessively heavy.

In my opinion, a 13" screen is too small for photo & HD video editing though.

[Zyzz]

no, at least wait until the new MBP starts selling

because the current MBP is at the end of its lifetime

and because the graphics card on the 13" MBP is so old and shitty, it will not play current games anywhere near normal graphics setting.

Not to mention core2duo is currently being replaced by quad cores. And 160/250 gb is even smaller than the 250gb MB, it is such a obvious sign that apple is releasing new MBP very soon

Oh and the 13" is really small for photo editing and movies.

[Kim Jong Un]

thanks for the feedback you guys, yea i've been thinking about getting the 15" instead of the 13" since the 13" is kinda small.
i'm definitely wait around for a bit and see what apple might come up next.

[keitaro]

If you truly want a Mac, I'd wait a bit, as the new lineup is rumoured to be announced in a few days. For what you want to do, I'd actually go for the 15" Mac, as it has (apparently) a higher gamut screen which will help you with your photo editing, but the current model's glossy screen while beautiful are too shiny for photo editing. The new models might have an option for a matte screen. I myself bought a 17" Macbook Pro with a matte screen because it was the only laptop that fit my needs of a big screen, high colour gamut, high resolution (1920x1200), power & portability. It's a dream to use for photo & video editing, and the thin & light form factor was what sealed the deal for me - no other 17" laptop came close to the 1" thickness & 6.6 lbs weight. I do not miss Windows at all. It's not perfect by any means, but it's an impressive machine. Also, poke around in the refurbished section of the Apple Canada store. There are good deals to be had there.

Cnet has a very favourable review on the Asus U30Jc-A1 here: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-u30jc-a1/4505-3121_7-34043767.html?tag=mncol;lst They did complain about the weight of the Asus, which I thought was excessively heavy.

In my opinion, a 13" screen is too small for photo & HD video editing though.

current 15" mbp have a matte screen option.

[ddr]

Cnet has a very favourable review on the Asus U30Jc-A1 here: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-u30jc-a1/4505-3121_7-34043767.html?tag=mncol;lst They did complain about the weight of the Asus, which I thought was excessively heavy.

In my opinion, a 13" screen is too small for photo & HD video editing though.

+1 for optimus. spending a grand on i3 is just too much tho. get at least an i7. and there are different models of i7 fyi, look up a mobile cpu chart.

[NimbeeTT]

I recently bought the 13 inch MBP with the higher features and i must say, it's def a great upgrade from my 17 inch Acer laptop. Yea, it's smaller but considering the fact that i have to carry it around nearly 5 days a week for school and such, it's def a upgrade for the better.

Battery life on Macs are SO much better than Windows, and also the charger is like 5 times smaller and lighter than that of a windows laptop
size-wise, mbp is so much lighter.
I had win7 before this and i loved that, but mac is def user-friendly as well, considering this is my first mac since using it back in high school nearly 5 years ago...
And considering I had a 17inch before, i dont think 13inch is that small at all, sometimes i barely even notice the differences. But I personally prefer this size rather than my 17 inch because its just more convenient to carry around and stuff.

I could've gotten the 15 inch, but it was too big for my liking considering how often i need to carry it in my bag with books.

[Tim Budong]

nwen
if you are seriously considering a mac, just hold out, again, due to c2d being close to obsolete. Its rare for Apple to "fall behind", but if you are set on a mac, in which i believe you are, then wait

if not, pick up an i-core PC laptop and you will be just as happy.

As for apple genius bar service, I had my laptop repaired no problem 3yrs out of warranty, I got a HDD replaced...and backed up data for free...they treated me very well.

Im gonna buy the new macs when they come out, its time to retire my ancient one

[Senna4ever]

current 15" mbp have a matte screen option.
Hmm...didn't know about that...for a while, the 15" MBP didn't.

[Kim Jong Un]

nwen
if you are seriously considering a mac, just hold out, again, due to c2d being close to obsolete. Its rare for Apple to "fall behind", but if you are set on a mac, in which i believe you are, then wait

if not, pick up an i-core PC laptop and you will be just as happy.

As for apple genius bar service, I had my laptop repaired no problem 3yrs out of warranty, I got a HDD replaced...and backed up data for free...they treated me very well.

Im gonna buy the new macs when they come out, its time to retire my ancient one

i'm gonna wait it out, beside i wanna research before i get my first mac

[hi-revs]

ive got the 13" 4gb MBP. Honestly i love it. OSX is way better than Windows in my honest opinion.
but like others have said, most computers are coming out with quadCore, so you can wait and see when Apple will do the same with the MBP.
All in all i dont regret dropping nearly $2k for mine. and since using the OSX i actually hate going on Windows operated cpu's.

[TOS'd]

I'm waiting for i-core 15'' mbp

[SchoolGlue]

ive got the 13" 4gb MBP. Honestly i love it. OSX is way better than Windows in my honest opinion.
but like others have said, most computers are coming out with quadCore, so you can wait and see when Apple will do the same with the MBP.
All in all i dont regret dropping nearly $2k for mine. and since using the OSX i actually hate going on Windows operated cpu's.

QFT
though i started out with a macbook in 2007 after my windows POS melted on me. Never looked back

simply the reliability is enough for the apple tax, 1 mbp>3 shitty laptops

[goo3]

If you're gonna carry it around a lot, you can also buy the 13" and plug it into an external monitor at home for video editing, etc.

The vid out cable costs a lot from Apple, though, but I think there's cheaper no-name brand ones.

[Senna4ever]

QFT
though i started out with a macbook in 2007 after my windows POS melted on me. Never looked back

simply the reliability is enough for the apple tax, 1 mbp>3 shitty laptops
I would agree with you if not for my HD dying after 3 months. Gotta say Apple Care service is really efficient - they had my MBP ready in an hour! Luckily, I have double redundancy backups so it wasn't a big deal.

[Ronin]

if u want a long lasting laptop get a vaio or a windows computer. All my friends mac once they drop it once its dead. And if there is a problem with the mac u have to go to the apple store and get owned up the ass.
Windows on the other hand you can google and DIY

That's just a stupid thing to say. You'd bust any laptop if you drop it on the ground. DIY? How many different Windows laptops are there on the market? A few hundred? How big of a community is there for each individual one that can teach you how to replace parts and such?

How many Apple laptops are there? Five? The community is massive. I took mine apart and installed a new HD with ease.

I've owned several Sony laptops and they're all crap. Sure, they look great but you always get the sense that they're not quite working right...plus they come with all kinds of garbage installed that if you remove, it works even worse.

[Hondaracer]

^ Vaio's have the least software of any notebook ive used, ive owned 2 Vaio's now and recomended them to all my friends and not one has used anything since

My 3 year old Vaio runs better than both Macbooks i've used recently

[Hehe]

^

Not exactly sure I can say that to all VAIO, but all high-end VAIOs are fucking awesome. I had the Z serie and it's hands down the best lappy to travel around I've ever owned.

The VAIO P is also the only netbook that makes sense to me. With SSD, that thing eats any netbook you can mention.

[Tim Budong]

ive got the 13" 4gb MBP. Honestly i love it. OSX is way better than Windows in my honest opinion.
but like others have said, most computers are coming out with quadCore, so you can wait and see when Apple will do the same with the MBP.
All in all i dont regret dropping nearly $2k for mine. and since using the OSX i actually hate going on Windows operated cpu's.

I dropped nearly 3gs for my 15 4yrs ago, the fact it still runs is great!
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[Senna4ever]

if u want a long lasting laptop get a vaio or a windows computer. All my friends mac once they drop it once its dead. And if there is a problem with the mac u have to go to the apple store and get owned up the ass.
Windows on the other hand you can google and DIY
The new unibody Macbook Pro's are pretty tough. They can withstand a drop off a table no problem. I know of at least 2 clients that did it, and they were fine. Apple also takes good care of you as long as you're within the warranty period.

Having said that, I have an old 10 year old VAIO that is still going strong after numerous bumps and abuse, so it seems the Sony's are built well too. My 4 year old 17" HP laptop while still working is suffering from a dimming screen and does not seem as well built as my other laptops.

[Ronin]

^

Not exactly sure I can say that to all VAIO, but all high-end VAIOs are fucking awesome. I had the Z serie and it's hands down the best lappy to travel around I've ever owned.

The VAIO P is also the only netbook that makes sense to me. With SSD, that thing eats any netbook you can mention.

I had a Z650 and although the extremely thin screen was very cool, it felt very flimsy. Plus there's all sorts of garbage regarding the wireless utilities on Sony laptops. You can get a completely clean install going but you never get everything working like it should.

MacBooks are incredibly well built, especially the current unibody models. If you've ever held one, you can attest to the build quality.

[Iceman_2K]

I'm using the 13 inch after selling my black macbook. Having used various Vaios, Thinkpads, Toshiba, Compaq and HP laptops, 3 Dells and 2 Asus laptops, i definately have to say that the Macbook Pro 13 inch is probably the best constructed one I've used.
The worst in construction that I've used are the Vaios, the Compaq and HP laptops.

[nabs]

yes.

[keitaro]

If you truly want a Mac, I'd wait a bit, as the new lineup is rumoured to be announced in a few days. For what you want to do, I'd actually go for the 15" Mac, as it has (apparently) a higher gamut screen which will help you with your photo editing, but the current model's glossy screen while beautiful are too shiny for photo editing. The new models might have an option for a matte screen. I myself bought a 17" Macbook Pro with a matte screen because it was the only laptop that fit my needs of a big screen, high colour gamut, high resolution (1920x1200), power & portability. It's a dream to use for photo & video editing, and the thin & light form factor was what sealed the deal for me - no other 17" laptop came close to the 1" thickness & 6.6 lbs weight. I do not miss Windows at all. It's not perfect by any means, but it's an impressive machine. Also, poke around in the refurbished section of the Apple Canada store. There are good deals to be had there.

Cnet has a very favourable review on the Asus U30Jc-A1 here: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-u30jc-a1/4505-3121_7-34043767.html?tag=mncol;lst They did complain about the weight of the Asus, which I thought was excessively heavy.

In my opinion, a 13" screen is too small for photo & HD video editing though.

Senna, what is the processor speed on your 17" mbp?

[DuhDang]

I had a Z650 and although the extremely thin screen was very cool, it felt very flimsy. Plus there's all sorts of garbage regarding the wireless utilities on Sony laptops. You can get a completely clean install going but you never get everything working like it should.

MacBooks are incredibly well built, especially the current unibody models. If you've ever held one, you can attest to the build quality.


The first thing you do when you get a windows laptop regardless brand is put in a blank disc and hit the backup button......
Those drivers n shit get saved on the disc...so ur shit works like everything should work...

[DuhDang]

The new unibody Macbook Pro's are pretty tough. They can withstand a drop off a table no problem. I know of at least 2 clients that did it, and they were fine. Apple also takes good care of you as long as you're within the warranty period.

Having said that, I have an old 10 year old VAIO that is still going strong after numerous bumps and abuse, so it seems the Sony's are built well too. My 4 year old 17" HP laptop while still working is suffering from a dimming screen and does not seem as well built as my other laptops.

I dropped my vaio down a flight of stairs at SFU.
Nothing broke, the only thing that happend was the SD card fell out.

[Senna4ever]

Senna, what is the processor speed on your 17" mbp?

3.06 Ghz.

[keitaro]

3.06 Ghz.

it does your 5d2 files just fine?

[Manic!]

The first thing you do when you get a windows laptop regardless brand is put in a blank disc and hit the backup button......
Those drivers n shit get saved on the disc...so ur shit works like everything should work...

Were's the backup button???

Why not just got to the manufactures web page and download the latest ones?

[Hehe]

^ usually F2 should lead you to a backup/restore option.

Sometimes F11 for some 15"+ models.

Check your manual.

[Senna4ever]

it does your 5d2 files just fine?
Can you be more specific? What do you mean by "it does your 5d2 files just fine?" Do you mean rendering the RAW files in Lightroom or similar? It works just fine even with 65MP Phase One files.

[keitaro]

Can you be more specific? What do you mean by "it does your 5d2 files just fine?" Do you mean rendering the RAW files in Lightroom or similar? It works just fine even with 65MP Phase One files.

haha yea.

[ra1nn]

apple's customer service is pretty good, i must say. After 3 repairs, they will trade your computer for a new one, even have a possibility for upgrades with no cost. But theres a lot of rumors about a new macbook pro coming out.. more "lighter" like the macbook air but im not quite sure haha but i love my macbook air/imac, so i reccommend it imo.

[Levitron]

apple's customer service is pretty good, i must say. After 3 repairs, they will trade your computer for a new one, even have a possibility for upgrades with no cost. But theres a lot of rumors about a new macbook pro coming out.. more "lighter" like the macbook air but im not quite sure haha but i love my macbook air/imac, so i reccommend it imo.

New MBP's came out today.

Basically just a spec bump.

[TOS'd]

Mmmmm 15-inch: 2.66GHz

but its $2,249.00 =[

[Tim Budong]

I think the pricing is fair compared to the C2D line.
the top end c2d 15in was $2700

im ordering mine soon...the i7 15
unless something for 13 comes out, then no

2250 for i7 with the 330GT nvidia 512mb isnt bad...i guess..in mac standards
but if your like me, who wants teh best, gotta add $160 for hi res screen with antiglare

[TOS'd]

yea $2250 is a reasonable price. but its just a bit too much for me to spend at the moment. if i had the money id get exactly what you said.
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[ddr]

I think the pricing is fair compared to the C2D line.
the top end c2d 15in was $2700

im ordering mine soon...the i7 15
unless something for 13 comes out, then no

2250 for i7 with the 330GT nvidia 512mb isnt bad...i guess..in mac standards
but if your like me, who wants teh best, gotta add $160 for hi res screen with antiglare

must... get... that screen

[Ronin]

I think the pricing is fair compared to the C2D line.
the top end c2d 15in was $2700

im ordering mine soon...the i7 15
unless something for 13 comes out, then no

2250 for i7 with the 330GT nvidia 512mb isnt bad...i guess..in mac standards
but if your like me, who wants teh best, gotta add $160 for hi res screen with antiglare

Yep, it's going to be $2399 for a new one for me. With an education discount, it's $2191 so it's just under $2500 after taxes.

[skyxx]

The new 17 inch model is tempting. Should be awesome with FCP. :)

I think I should stick with the 15 inch. More portable for me to bring around and do some Post work.

[TOS'd]

^ 17in is i5, highest end 15in is i7.

i wonder how much the mcd employee discount is compared to an education discount.

[Tim Budong]

nope the 17in is build to order on site, can be had with i7

[skyxx]

I believe Education discount is by far the "best" discount you can get on a mac. It's even cheaper than what employees get at FS/BBY. ;)

[TOS'd]

How do you get/show proof for the education discount?

[Kim Jong Un]

is there a such thing as a mini dvi to hdmi adapter? i might hook it up to my HDTV

[skyxx]

How do you get/show proof for the education discount?

Well, are you a student? If you are then just head on to the apple site and click on the education link at the bottom of the site. Interestingly, they don't make you enter your Id # anymore. I assume they do a double check to make sure your name and address registered is the same one that you've set up with the online store. (That's what I assume)

Here's the link:
http://canadaedu.apple.com/routing/index.php?lang=eng

[TOS'd]

Do you guys buy applecare? or is the normal warranty with the product enough.

[skyxx]

It's really up to personal preference. I bought Applecare with mine and It came in handy when I had some cosmetic issues. Seems like the new unibody Macbooks are pretty good in terms of build quality. I won't get education discount on my next purchase. :cry: I should go back to school :lol

[Senna4ever]

I believe Education discount is by far the "best" discount you can get on a mac. It's even cheaper than what employees get at FS/BBY. ;)


...unless you work at an authorized Apple dealer, and can buy it at cost. :)

Or, wait a little until refurbished ones start showing up on the Apple store.

[skyxx]

I heard from a friend who's an Apple employee that the ones that people return are marked as "Refurbished". Even though they are brand spanking new after they return it, it's considered a "Refurb" unit.

[Senna4ever]

I heard from a friend who's an Apple employee that the ones that people return are marked as "Refurbished". Even though they are brand spanking new after they return it, it's considered a "Refurb" unit.
Yeah, because they can't sell it as a new product. The computer may have been returned simply because the person changed their mind after they bought it, or maybe some part failed, and Apple gave them a new one. I bought mine as a refurb, and my battery had 15 charge cycles on it. I have no idea why it is a refurb though. I have heard from an Apple tech that the refub ones can be more reliable because whatever part failed has been replaced, and the units are given a full inspection before it's sold again.

[TOS'd]

^ Yea seems like a good idea to buy a refurb if you dont care about the "omg im the first one to open and use it" mentality.

[Senna4ever]

How much faster is the new 2.66 GHz i7 vs. the dual core 3.06 GHz?

[ddr]

From Passmark (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php):
Intel Core i7 M 620 @ 2.67GHz
Passmark CPU Mark: 2871
Rank: 114

Intel Core2 Duo T9900 @ 3.06GHz
Passmark CPU Mark: 2328
Rank: 145

I like tom's hardware mobile cpu charts (http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/mobile-cpu-charts/benchmarks,19.html) to compare, as it has a more diverse set of real world tests. But it doesn't seem too up to date with the mobile processors.

According to Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/inside-apples-automatic-gpu-switching.ars), their innovative graphics switch technology also turns on the discrete graphics when you run something like LR or FCpro. Therefore, I think you should also factor in the GPU difference if you're contemplating an upgrade.

to be honest, I didn't know LR or PS utilized the GPU much.

[skyxx]

More and more apps utilize the GPU for Rendering purposes. It's faster and puts less load on the CPU. The new i7/i5s run cooler and is less power consuming.

[ddr]

is there any literature that describes how LR or PS utilizes the GPU? Could this be an OSX only thing?

I don't game on my PC at all. the only reason I have discrete graphics is just enough to pump out hdmi. if a GPU helps, it could change my upgrade routes. i just bought a i7-860. I wonder if a i5-750 (cheaper) + beefier gpu can compare.

[smk]

is there a such thing as a mini dvi to hdmi adapter? i might hook it up to my HDTV

If you are looking at the current Macbook Pro they use Mini Displayport.
They sell the Logiix Mini Displayport to HDMI at London Drugs for $34.99... Apple doesn't make a connector for HDMI.

[ddr]

Here's one $10.82 shipped to Vancouver (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2)

There's several more (http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428) that even takes care of audio

[jeff19]

^ Yea seems like a good idea to buy a refurb if you dont care about the "omg im the first one to open and use it" mentality.

so how much cheaper are refurb units?

[keitaro]

I believe that the current PSCS4 utilize the GPU for some of its rendering.

[Senna4ever]

so how much cheaper are refurb units?
See for yourself at the Apple Canada site.

[Tim Budong]

engadget put up a review
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/14/macbook-pro-core-i7-review/

of the i7 model

benchmarks look good!

even better for me

[goo3]

holy battery life, batman

[Senna4ever]

Still no BluRay... :mad:

[skyxx]

You can always plug in an External Unit. :lol

[Matsuda]

I heard from a friend who's an Apple employee that the ones that people return are marked as "Refurbished". Even though they are brand spanking new after they return it, it's considered a "Refurb" unit.

my 15" mbp is a refurb off the Apple website, haven't had any problems with it. Only concern I have is that it runs a bit hot

[TOS'd]

my 15" mbp is a refurb off the Apple website, haven't had any problems with it. Only concern I have is that it runs a bit hot

How much did it cost compared to a BNIB 15'' mbp?

[Matsuda]

How much did it cost compared to a BNIB 15'' mbp?

I believe back then I saved about $3-400 bux, and then a few weeks later.. the new ones came out.

http://www.grapesofrad.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/FUUUU.jpeg

[JesseBlue]

http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY3Nw

link on refurbs...bought my imac then and just grabbed another 1gig ram a couple of weeks ago (so i have two in total) and its running faster than the day i got this computer..haha..