Concerning MBP, Leopard, Vista, Octoberish?

After watching Steve Jobs talk for an hour about Leopard, I was like hey, this is kind of neat.

So I think for my dilemma of school/play the MBP is going to be the best for me.

But theres a good chance I might run into some windows only programs in my course of study.

My question is, what is the order of purchasing required. Lets say I know I will not need windows until at least January.

Do I buy my new MBP, and then when Leopard comes out, buy Leopard and Vista and install both? Do I have to install XP then update? I don't think I am asking all the questions I should be asking, but this is a start, and I am sure I am not the only one with similar concerns.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Considering that Santa Rosa for MBP is already out, you might as well get it now. Upgrade to leopard when it comes out. If you want to run XP or Vista, just installed them as a virtual machine

 

I guess I am worried about buying now, because in 2 Months could there be any small increases in technology, and drop in price. I don't need it till the beginning of August, should I just wait in case?

 

I highly doubt we see any sort of update to the MBP line for at least 8-12 months. The last update was very significant, and Apple should have its hands revamping some of the other products (iMac please?) along side launching Leopard. You should be safe to purchase now, or wait, whatever suits you.

 

well you should wait until leopard is released s you don't have to pay extra for the os.

 

If you can wait then do so, Leopard will be the only upgrade for the Macbook Pros anytime soon, and ofcourse will be in October.

It's doubtful that the prices will even drop so it's buy now and get Leopard for $130 when it's released or wait.

 

Do you guys think there will be any upgrades to the macbook between now and like the end of July? All I'm hoping for is that Apple gives it santa rosa and a LED screen.

 

I doubt they would upgrade the macbook, maybe the screen but probably not santa rosa, has anyone seen it in a 13" laptop?

Also, is 129 the world wide price for leopard? It would probably be like 160+ here but I'll get it under student discount..

 

I would like Apple to sell Leopard online like MS does with Vista. I would be able to avoid taxes and get it sooner

 

The Dell XPS 13.3" has an LED screen option, and has Santa Rosa. I've been close to pulling the trigger on a macbook, and if they were to include these 2 things on the next update, I will be 1st in line to purchase.

 

End of July will be too soon. The MacBooks were last "updated" in May (not really an update, more like a form of a price drop).

There's a possibility Apple will update the MacBooks in October with the Leopard launch, but I wouldn't expect any update sooner than October. Apple has stated that they will have all computers with LED screens by the end of 2007, so if there is an October update I'd expect LED screens by then, unless Apple misses its target.

To PRODiGY, the price of Leopard is $129 US. Student pricing is $69 US. So that's not a worldwide price, its the US price and the price will vary depending on the exchange rate compared to the US dollar. For example, in Canada Mac OS X Tiger costs $149 CDN, whereas in US Tiger currently costs $129 US.

To Nicholie, rumour sites are expecting iMac updates in a Special Event in August.

 

Students can get Leopard for 70 USD I hear.

 

I doubt we'll be seeing a 12-inch, SR MacBook... but that's just my speculation. Even if a 12-inch SR MacBook does come out in October I'm not stupid enought to purchase first gen. products.

 

The price difference isn't just because of exchange rates. Almost all Apple products (and other stuff as well) here in Sweden carry a price premium compared to their US counterparts even after you take exchange rates and different sales taxe into consideration.

A nice example: Apple Care for the MBP is $349 in the US, here we pay SEK 4195.

No sales tax included in the US price and 25% sales tax here makes it $349 vs. SEK 3356 without tax. The current SEK/USD exchange rate is 6,65 (USD are cheap atm, yay!). This makes the comparable prices $349 vs. $504.

Paying $150 extra for... living in Sweden? (Yeah ok, we might have higher salaries in general as well )

To get back on topic: If you are interested in how much Leopard will cost, I'd say the safest bet is to see how much Tiger costs in your country right now. Leopard will most likely carry the same price when it gets released.

 

Golden rule: Buy a new computer when you need it and not before.

That said, they are not going to come out with a new MBP in August. well except maybe a 12" subnotebook but the current MBPs are not going to get better.

That's clear from the Intel roadmap which doesn't show any new processors and / or chipsets for the near future. Without new chipsets or chips, Apple can't really speed-bump the current generation, which, in any case, has just been released in June.
There are some websites that track the average time between releases of new hardware, example here:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Pro