[DJShadow]

I've decided that its time for a new computer and after 4 years of (mediocre) service from my brilliant 1.6Ghz athlon XP1900+, a whopping 240 RAM, 40 gigs and awesome S3 integrated graphics card, i'm planning on getting a Macbook Pro.

I'm interested in anyone who owns one, particularly those of you in the UK with the updated 2.0Ghz base model and feedback i.e whine, mooing, heat issues etc and where bought and for how much.

I'm also considering buying it from Amazon.com (NOT UK) as it is very price competitive but is yet to be released for some reason.

Cheers

 

[enjoi_rootbeer]

my girlfriend owns one, and she lets me use it when by her place. she got it within the first month of release. it does whine sometimes, but loading up photobooth stops it

. it really gets hot though, like almost too hot touch. she loves it though, and so do i (future switcher). thinking about getting a cable to try that optical out

with student discount and a mighty mouse it was about 1900$ pretty sure.

 

[imported_Echo_]

i played with one at a store

it was incredibly then but also inredibily warm to the touch

 

[DJShadow]

I absolutely cannot deal with any kind of whine or background noise as my TV and PC so excellently demonstrate.

I thought that I should wait until September/October, a few months after Intel's Core 2 Duo release. But I'm so damn impatient!

 

[viviorunitia4]

I have a 17" MacBook Pro, and there are no major whine issues or anything. It does get kinda warm to the touch on the bottom and near the LCD hinge. Battery life is definitely not the 5.5 hours that apple says it is, probably closer to 2.5-3 hours. But besides the short battery life and minor heat issue, it's a great laptop.

 

[DJShadow]

Yes I've read that the 17 incher doesn't seem to be subjected to quite the same extent of the problems encoutered on the 15.4 inchers.

What really does stop me from buying one now, regardless of any such issues, is that I want it to last at least 4 years, and in that time, 64 bit will probably become the market standard leaving 32 bit and its respective processors behind.
Macbook Pro's have their processor soldered in making a transplant practically impossible. Is it possible to just get a new motherboard with Core 2 Duo when it comes out and then replace the old chipset?

Does anyone actually know when new laptops with Core 2 Duo will come out?

Thanks for reading

 

[rx7_fan]

With Electronics, there's always something new on the horizon, that shouldn't stop you from getting the newly released Macbook Pro or Macbook. If you waitl until Dou Core 2, you'll see that Dou Core 3 is just around the corner, and you'll be playing the waiting game again.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx7_fan With Electronics, there's always something new on the horizon, that shouldn't stop you from getting the newly released Macbook Pro or Macbook. If you waitl until Dou Core 2, you'll see that Dou Core 3 is just around the corner, and you'll be playing the waiting game again.

agreed. moreover, the core duo 2 will probably become available this fall but i doubt apple will start using them until after MW2007 in january...so, it's at least half a year wait...also, apple will not leave 32-bit people behind...apple's been really good about supporting older machines...heck, i have friends who use tiger on the original bondi blue imac, and that's 8 years old!!

 

[grawk]

The trick with computers is to buy a computer that does what you need it to do. I don't feel like my 3+ year old g4 tower is holding me back with photoshop, opera, terminal, itunes, and mail.app...

 

[DJShadow]

I'm sure that Core 2 Duo will have a greater lifespan than Core Duo, but it'll probably be another 6 months AFTER its release until it appears in laptops.

So the decision is made. Macbook Pro now!

Now I have to wait another 2 weeks until my exams are over...

 

[bangraman]

I ordered one today (17" to be used as a transportable desktop replacement + 23" cinema display). I'm very sensitive to any noise out of my PC's. I'm sure I'll whine louder than the MBP if it does make any extraneous noise.

 

[Czilla9000]

I bought the 13.3" Macbook. It is pretty cool.

 

[slick]

I bought a 17" MBP a couple weeks back and love it. I upgraded from a 15.2" PowerBook G4 and I can tell you that this new MBP is just as quite (I haven't heard the fans yet, and I use it for 8-10 hours a day when at work). It runs just as hot as my old PB, gets hot at the vents and at the bottom, but depends on what you are doing with it. The use of the DVD drive definately makes it hot, but that aluminum case attracts heat, expect that.
I get about 3:45-4:15 battery life (brightness set low, atleast half or a couple bars less, wifi (Airport) on, and iTunes playing (through headphones of course

).
The only problem I have with my 17" MBP is that the latch isn't secure. It has a double latch and the latch on the left side comes undone easily (basically, all I have to do is press down on the lid a little when closed and that one latch will become undone). It doesn't open up or anything since the other latch is still doing its job, but still, its a little cheesy. I am going to get it fixed at my next convenience.

 

[bangraman]

That's good to hear about the noise, although it remains to be seen how it performs in the relative hush of my home & offices. PC's which never bothered me while working in a shared office bugged me once I moved back to being on my own. A bit of hotness I can live with. All vaio's I've used get hot.

 

[DJShadow]

Bangraman: Where did you purchase your Mac and how much for if you don't mind?

I'm probably going to get mine from eBay. How does the warranty work? And will purchasing an Applecare plan here in the UK work for an machine bought off eBay from the States?