[DJShadow]

I would get a Macbook Pro but I would never get one brand new from the Apple Store. £1399 for the base model-you can get far superior equipment with that kind of money. The UK Apple Store currently has no refurbished units otherwise that would have been a very attractive option

What kind of blunts the deal is:

1) Buying from eBay US so I can get competitive price (i.e £1200 for the old 2.0Ghz model with 100Gb and 256GDDR3). This means that it'll be American spec and will have issues like no £ sign and certain power requirements (although I think that its not a problem). There'll also be the issue of how problems will be resolved due to this.

2) Heat and whining which seems to be hit and miss. Luck of the draw it seems

3) Underclocked GPU. This really kills it for me. I understand that they had to make compromises to cater for a 1 inch profile (ditching the 8x dual layer drive for a 4x) but I expect a £1399 machine to peform comparably to those of similar spec. Its underclocked by a massive 25%! I know that this is true for 15.4 inch models and still is for the current ones I'm assuming. Not sure about the 17 inchers though

It is however one of the sexiest beasts on the market right now-it is a pleasure to behold. Owning one makes you feel just a touch more unique than the denizens of generic Dell/Packard Bell etc weilding consumers out there. It is notebook computer and at the same time it is a piece of high art. And it'll hold its resale value better with innovations like Magsafe.

Great now I want one again

 

[bangraman]

Have to say from the support point of view it works out nicely for me as well. I've taken out the Procare thing since the apartment I stay in while in London is a stone's throw from the Apple flagship store. I've been once for the Garageband intro and I found it helpful. The Genius Bar guys are if not geniuses then very helpful

Oh yeah, if I pay attention the MBP is whining a bit. I think I only notice it because the rest of it is so deathly silent. Cranking up the VAIO's or the Dell for example, the fan noise would easily overwhelm the sort of whine that the MBP projects.

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJShadow 1) Buying from eBay US so I can get competitive price (i.e £1200 for the old 2.0Ghz model with 100Gb and 256GDDR3). This means that it'll be American spec and will have issues like no £ sign and certain power requirements (although I think that its not a problem). There'll also be the issue of how problems will be resolved due to this.

You do realize that the base model MacBook Pro is only £1190 pre-VAT from the UK Apple store? That's cheaper than your imagined eBay US deal, and unless you find some way to smuggle it into the UK, you'll end up paying the VAT one way or the other.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaGWiRE So they include an 1/8" to optical adapter?

No, you buy either a Toslink -> Mini toslink cable, or get a miniToslink -> Toslink converter like shown here

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman No, you buy either a Toslink -> Mini toslink cable, or get a miniToslink -> Toslink converter like shown here

Yeah, but I am confused. The audio out is originally a 1/8" output, correct? Like most standard computer headphone / audio jacks. So your converting that into toslink, by using a 1/8" to toslink adapter? If not, do you have a picture of what mini toslink looks like?

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaGWiRE Yeah, but I am confused. The audio out is originally a 1/8" output, correct? Like most standard computer headphone / audio jacks. So your converting that into toslink, by using a 1/8" to toslink adapter? If not, do you have a picture of what mini toslink looks like?

The jack looks like a regular 1/8" headphone/audio jack, but at the very bottom of the jack (down as deep as the jack goes) is an optical LED, rather than just a plastic end cap.

The mini toslink plug looks like a long plastic 1/8" headphone plug, with a clear plastic bit at the bottom to pass along the light.

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanY The jack looks like a regular 1/8" headphone/audio jack, but at the very bottom of the jack (down as deep as the jack goes) is an optical LED, rather than just a plastic end cap. The mini toslink plug looks like a long plastic 1/8" headphone plug, with a clear plastic bit at the bottom to pass along the light.

Makes much more sense to me, thanks, was kind of confused before. It's like a hybrid jack

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