Wanting a Mac

Here's a little background for me.

I just recently purchased a HP pavilion 17" laptop. It's very nice and pretty powerful once I got it all tidied up.

I've been building PC's for years. I have a Core 2 Duo @ 3.0GHz with 2gb nice ram and almost a terabyte of storage with a 7900GTX. So i have the gaming PC kinda covered.

Both my PC's use Vista which i'm happy with. I don't need to hear complaints about it . I know how to use windows and I game way to often to have anything else on my desktop. I've played with Linux here and there but never really got into the mac world. I absolutely HATE the friggin mac vs pc commercials and the general pretentious mac artist guy stereotype.

I just purchased an iPhone recently and it's killing me how bad i want a mac to play with. I have no need for one obviously. I just want one.

I've been thinking about a macbook or a macbook pro. Portability and such is nice I guess, the iMac doesn't do much for me. I won't use anything other than my desktop if I'm at the desk.

I guess I just want some opinions. It basically comes down to a mac or upgrading my gaming pc (4gigs and a 8800gtx and MAYBE a quad core ). I really want to play crysis haha.

Just kinda want some opinions, Thanks guys, and hello!

 

Looks like you've latched onto the Mac . Its a good thing, the Mac is awesome. Really, the iPhone and the iPod is creating a "halo effect" over the Mac; its giving lots of potential switchers a feel of what Apple's products are like (one word: awesome ).

It looks like you have money to spare , so I'd get the 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro. It has the 8600GT for gaming (not as good as your gaming desktop though ), and its got a sleek design. Although if you want the best computer for extreme gaming, upgrade your desktop. The Macs have improved power (for example, the 8600GT in the MBP), but its still not as customizable or upgradeable as a PC (especially a desktop).

 

Of course it's not as upgradeable. Thats why the choice is so hard. I can't do both (gotta pay for school ).

I would get the 2.4ghz MBP i already have a 17" multimedia powerhouse in the HP. I found one on craigslist BNIB (Brand new in box) for 1500 of a macbook, i think i might check that out. WISH i had money to spare i'd just go to the store and buy one tomorrow. I'm trying to save a little cash as I COMPLETELY don't need this at all.

(Fyi i love my iPhone it's the best phone i've ever used, and this is coming from a long time Symbian (Nokia) user!).

Also, should I wait for leopard for any reason? Leopard is a big part of why i want a mac, i've been watching the videos and such. Or will there be a new refresh or anything?

 

Well, Leopard is going to be awesome, but you don't have to wait for it. The MacBook may possibly get an update in October with leopard, but there's no MacBook Pro update expected from now until probably January. The 17-inch may get LED-backlit screens but you'd be getting a 15.4-inch anyways.

So get it now; Leopard only costs $129 US and even less (expected to be $69 US) with Student Discount.

 

I read this and had to ask...why? Why doesn't Macbooks and MBPs just come with a free upgrade for those purchased this fall? Apple claims to be in tune with its customers, then why wouldn't they offer at least a free upgrade? Even old ironsides Microsoft was willing to let retailers do that for pcs bought a few monts pre-vista. It just seems like good PR.

 

I agree with you, offering a free upgrade to Leopard for all Macs bought from a certain date would be nice. And it would entice more people to buy their Macs now (although a lot are buying them now anyways - back to school).

You never know what's up Steve's sleeve though, its always possible he announces at last minute all Macs from June on (or whatever) get a free upgrade to Leopard.

 

Very true...Sneaky Steve Jobs. Stealing all the glory and leaving poor Steve Wozniak nothing. Lets not forget the father of the Apple I.

 

So January huh?


Thats not such a long wait for a toy. How long has the MBP been in its current iteration?

I guess if i can get one cheap (1400ish) used i will bite the bullet and get it now.

I have an itch to get one bad. I mean REALLY bad right now.

 

The MacBook Pro was last updated in June, with Santa Rosa, LED-backlighting, NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT as the major parts of the update. I would say January is the soonest for the next MBP update, not January for sure.

There are some SR MBPs for about $1700-ish, but I don't think you'll find a $1400 new MBP , that'd be an awesome deal.

 

I am hungry for OSX myself, even to the point of paying a lot for a Mac. But you have to resist a bit man. At its core the MBP is not a very good value hardware wise. Its OSX that you really want. Just go to Bestbuy and play with a MBP for an hour or so to get your fix. Then pray that one day they will release that wonderful Operating System for PC. One beautiful day.

 

Its not going to happen, at least not in the near future. As long as Macs are selling well Apple will not release OS X for the PC (or they may never, even if Mac sales plummet).

The MacBook Pro has a lot of value hardware wise. There's only a handful of other 15.4-inch laptops that have the 8600GT, and out of those the MBP has an excellent design, great build quality and awesome little features. Double-finger trackpad, backlit keyboard, LED-backlit screen, magnetic power cord. Those innovations and features cost extra, y'know.

But I agree, if you don't want OS X don't get a Mac. Get a PC to run Windows. But if you love the MacBook Pro's hardware and you love OS X, its the MBP, obviously.

 

Wait, is leopard not going to be available for the MBP until January?

 

Whoa whoa, no, Sara!

I said my prediction for the next MBP update won't be until January. Leopard is still scheduled for release in October and all Macs bought after the release will have Leopard pre-installed.

 

If it was just hardware and no operating system involved then the Inspiron 1520 is going to be the better value in a very solid attractive notebook. If the MBP had a 7200 RPM HD and a processor with a 800mhz FSB at its current price then I think the 1.08 inches in thickness and smooth design might be enough to say it worth around $500 more than the 1520. That may sound sarcastic, but its true it is a very attractive design. But you can get so much more power out of the 1520 for so much less.

 

I have to disagree. The Inspiron 1520 is in no way a comparison to the MacBook Pro. In terms of features, materials used, design-wise, the MacBook Pro one-ups the Inspiron in all of them.

The Santa Rosa MacBook Pro does have an 800-MHz Front Side Bus...

If you're looking for the most powerful notebook at the lowest price, then the Inspiron 1520 is the way to go, but if you're looking for the best all-round notebook, with design, quality, power, features and price rounded together I'd say the MacBook Pro totally blows away the Inspiron 1520.

By the way, if you want to continue this discussion, please create a new thread. I'm pretty sure Eallan would like his thread back .

 

Well used would be fine with me. I will have to look around I guess.

 

My apologies the 667mhz FSB is on the macbooks not the MBP.

It does come down to art and what you are willing to pay. I never understood why people pay so much for say a fine painting or sculpture and I don't think I am alone in thinking that way. The new inspirons are far from ugly and weight the same as the MBP and are only a little thicker. To me the art and design is not worth the $500+ dollars difference.

That said that MBP is a beautiful design, and it is more beautiful than the new insprion, but I don't think that it's worth the price difference.

Sorry again, didn't see your comment on a new thread till after my post. Will do.

 

I see your point, thats why i picked the HP i bought. Great bang-for-buck.

The macbook pro would just be a way for me to get into the mac world and not have to suffer with a slow performer

Mac mini is out the window, not my style. iMac I don't really have a place for nor do i want another desktop (mine is way nicer ). Macbook has integrated graphics (ewww), Mac Pro is UNGODLY expensive. iPhone rules (had to say it again).

 

Well, to be quite frank about it Microsoft only offered that extended offer to the Vista upgrade to satisfy it's partners HP, Sony, Dell and so on. Vista was slated for January 30th 2007 and since this was right after xmas those companies didn't want to lose money for lack of xmas sales. Offering the Vista upgrade early was to increase xmas sales.
Since Leopard is being released in October Apple doesn't have reason to extend the upgrade.

 

For a first timer, who already has a larger notebook, I'd get a refurb Macbook from the Apple refurb store.

If you don't like it, at least you aren't blowing a ton of cash.

 

Macmall is clearancing the old MBP's for like 1550 or so (which in my opinion is a great deal) especially since you plan on using it for the "mac effect"

I was going to sell my mac but it didnt make sense to downgrade to a dell...

GOOD LUCK

btw i want an iphone but im sold on sprint prices

 

Love the iPhone, cheap data for it at 20 bucks, whats sprint charge?


The old non-Santa Rosa MBPs?

I'll have to look into that, i'm kinda pro lcd backlit

 

If I were you, I'd go for the Macbook Pro. The size difference vs the Macbook isn't that big, and the extra resolution and graphics power is worth it. I constantly feel more like my Macbook is a toy or a PDA or something than a computer. I'm convinced this feeling is a response to the low (though standard) resolution. The MBP is a step up, at least.

Definately try out the Mac. Macbook to Compal, in my case, is not the iPod to generic mp3 player relationship, but it's a nice piece of hardware, and an interesting OS.

 

The OSX on the iPhone has got me hooked. I will still use and enjoy vitsa, but i think having a MBP to play with would be a blast. Just something to browse, maybe do some multimedia and just in general use would be great.

I think at this point it's MBP or nothing, now to figure out how to pay for it... anyone know any good deals other than the refurbs?