about to cancel my dell for a macbook pro (questions...)

After thinking hard over the last few days, I'm fairly certain I'm going to cancel the M1330 I ordered a few weeks ago for a MBP (for several reasons that don't need to be discussed here). This is going to be my first mac (I do have some limited experience working on them) as well as my first laptop so sorry if I ask any dumb questions. Anyway I am considering a machine with 2.2ghz C2D, 2 gigs of RAM, and the 7200rpm hdd.

1. I definitely like the idea of having the faster drive, but I am wondering if it will have a significant effect on battery life? Also, will the faster boot time and file access be very noticeable? If I go with the 5400rpm, I can pick up a system tomorrow, but I was told for the 7200rpm I would have to order online (not sure how long that takes). Not that I mind the extra waiting seeing as I'm sure it would arrive before the M1330 anyway, but it would sure be nicer to have the thing in my hands tomorrow. Basically is this a worthwhile upgrade considering these factors? The additional heat and noise don't concern me a whole lot...

2. For those who use the MBP, how easy/difficult is it to carry around? I know it's not in the ultra portable class like the M1330, but 5.4 lbs vs. 4.5 lbs (M1330 w/ 9 cell) doesn't seem like a HUGE increase to me. I've heard people stress that anything over 5lbs is too heavy to carry around everyday. How big of a pain will it be to carry the MBP around to class, the library and so forth?

3. Leopard sounds very cool, but unfortunately I can't wait until Oct. to purchase a laptop. How much will the upgrade cost and will the student discount be applicable to it?

4. At this point, I've 90% made up my mind to cancel my M1330 for the MBP, but just out of curiosity, are there any good reasons why I shouldn't make the switch? Better yet would be any words of encouragement to cast aside the last remnants of doubt a lifetime PC user would have over jumping ship to OSX...

Thanks!

EDIT: forgot to include I'm considering the 15.4 inch model, not the 17 inch

 

the weight insn't a huge difference..i used to carry around a 6 pound lappy in a backpack..when i still had my old lappy. if they are complaining about 5.4 they are pansies..LOL. i dind't find carrying a 6 pound lappy in a backpack hard at all!! anyways have you considered how much more it will cost? Macbooks are really good though. but i've heard some really good things about the XPS. I would say go through some more reviews b4 making your final choice. you can also get as much if not more out of your XPS for less money. good luck on deciding

 

ooooh hey..ask what they would think about carrying a 8 lb 10 oz. baby around most of the time when it is born..and more pounds added when he/she gets older. LOL i'm sorry i'm just trying to be funny.

 

i canceled my m1330 and my mbp pro with 7200 rpm drive is coming tomorrow. I honestly dont think there is much of a difference between the 5400 and 7200. Couple minutes at most, if there even is a difference. I really did want to order the cheaper 5400 drive and swap it out for a 200gb 7200, but I didn't want to void my warranty. It does take 7-10 days if you order the 7200 though.

And as for weight, you won't notice .7 lbs.

 

The answer to #1 lies in the question you should really ask is "do I need just a faster drive, or a larger drive?" If you are intending to do really intensive tasks that need fast disk access, then the faster drive is worth it. If you get the faster drive, it will generate more heat inside the laptop. More heat causes the laptop to fire up the fans more which in turn uses up more battery life.

#2: I don't see what the big deal is from going from a 4.5-ish pound laptop to a 5.4 pound laptop. Really it comes down to the size you'll be carrying. For example, the Dell XPS M1330 has a 13.3 inch screen, and so its physical dimensions are smaller than the MBP. Its more about how big a bag you want to lug around than worrying about weight in this sense. Its not that much bigger than the m1330 really, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem anyway.

#3: If you can find 4 other people plus yourself then you can opt to get the family license pack for Leopard. You get 5 licenses to use, and costs $200 total for it. Look for it on Apple's website. You might be able to get a student discount off of Apples' website also.

#4: That is a loaded question and I will not attempt to answer it, LOL.

 

the MBP actually comes out slightly cheaper than the XPS I ordered, and it has a faster processor and better video card. I know I am sacrificing some cool things like HDMI, fingerprint reader, and smaller size, but it seems that those who have already received their M1330s are experiencing all sorts of woes and that has been a bit of a downer over the last few days. Seems like too much of a headache for paying such a high premium. Furthermore, I've already had some bad experiences with Vista and wasn't really looking forward to use it, and apparently the XP install is still in limbo. My experience with Dell's customer service ever since I placed the order has been a big turn off as well and may have been what pushed me over the line...I think I'm ready to just move on.

 

yea i know..if i could afford a macbook i would get a macbook..just seems the price would have been cheaper considering that i have looked for mac's before. okay nevermind my bad..anyhoo how much is yours going to cost? just for a comparison on what i'm trying to decide to get. I myself am trying to decide between a Dell Inspiron 1520 or the HP dv6500t.

 

it's $2,105 with the 5400rpm drive and $2,240 with the 7200rpm (still undecided on this)...price includes 3 year applecare, but is pretax though, which I expect will add just about $200 to the price. It's still pricey no doubt, but the XPS I configured was slightly higher. Also the mac comes with a free ipod nano and printer which sweeten the deal a bit.

 

1) Boot time is already very fast compared to Windows...Mac OS X is booted up 15-20 seconds. I don't think its necessary to have the 7200 RPM hard drive. Its only a bit faster in most tasks but runs hotter and is louder.

2) The dimensions of the MacBook Pro are pretty small for its class...and its weight is very light for its class. I wouldn't worry about it.

3) There's no such thing as a OS X upgrade. Apple only sells full versions. Oh no! Very expensive!?! Nopes . Mac OS X Leopard Full Version costs only $129 US. Student Discount will bring the price down to $69 US.

4) Nopes.

 

I had a similar dilemma.

On the size/weight/carrying question:

The 15.4" MBP is smaller than pretty much any 15.4" PC laptop I have ever seen. I think this is due to how the screen is mounted on the laptop. When I first saw this thing, I thought they'd messed up and sent me a Macbook!

The bulk, therefore, is between the size of a 15.4" PC laptop and a 13.3" PC laptop. I think it is a featherweight and has a tiny footprint. Anyone who can't handle a 5.4 pound laptop is not carrying it properly. It is lighter than any one of my textbooks.

I got the faster drive, but honestly it shouldn't be much different except for maybe boot up times, which will be a small percentage slower on a 5400 (maybe 25 second instead of 20).

I don't mind just purchasing leopard later, I don't see it as anything revolutionary.

 

I'm biting my tongue...


OUCH!

 

Similar thing with me - after Dell took my money for a 1520 a month ago, and just before it was due to ship told me my order would only ship out in September I finally had enough and cancelled.

The MBP was the last on my list as I always thought it would be too expensive, but since I wasn't happy with the other options, I went and took a look and with the education discount, it only came out $200 or so more than my Dell order. So now, just wondering about a couple of things before I order as well.

1. There aren't any delays with Apple are they? I'd hate to be here in a fortnight and still without a computer.

2. I'm going to be running XP on bootcamp and are drivers going to be an issue? And if I decide to switch to Vista later will drivers be an issue?

3. Does Turbocache only work on Vista, or does it also work on XP?

Thanks for any help.

 

1) There are delays, unfortunately. The demand for new MacBook Pros are delaying delivery times. But its not too bad compared to Dell's wait times.

2) Driver support for XP is pretty good. Not fantastic but pretty good. The final version of Boot Camp will be out in October, and everything will be finalized then, so not too long until Boot Camp's all done.

3) That's a gaming specific question . But anyways, yes, TurboCache works in XP.

Comment for the post below: No need to say sorry, dbam987! Its always good to have people help out, and I'm sure crimsonswallow doesn't mind getting a second opinion!

 

#1: Apple's estimated ship date is very accurate, according to lots of people's posts in other threads in this forum.

#2: One of Boot Camp's steps allows you to burn a CD with the drivers needed for Windows XP. I'm not too sure about Windows Vista, but I assume it does the same thing. Later on, if you so choose to you could install Fusion or Parallels and run a virtual instance of Windows XP while Mac OSX is running using the Boot Camp partition.

#3: Sorry, can't help in this department. I did not do any research on this at all yet.

Edit: Sorry for the cross post Sam!

 

I had some concerns too about "switching." I've used PCs and Macs over the years, and do like OS X better than Windows generally - but I also play games a fair amount. So when the new MBP came out, with a very capable graphics card, I was sold. Why?

You don't lose anything by going to Mac. Nothing. If you want to, you could run your Mac completely as a Windows machine. Driver support is pretty solid, so using Boot Camp to run Windows is a pretty painless process, and gaming is great. There's really no down-side to getting a Mac, besides, of course, some design features and the price point. But if those aren't holding you back, then you, literally, having nothing to be worried about.