Potential Switcher (Buying Advice)

[Tinlad]

Hello everyone, I've been a reader of MacRumors for some time but now I have a question of my own. I'm a filthy Windows PC user, by the way :p

I'm going to university this September and so I am looking to buy a laptop in June/July time. I originally put Macs out of the frame, but since the MacBook Pro and especially Boot Camp have come out I am very interested again.

Now, on to my real question.

The MBP looks like an amazing machine, no two ways about it. What's putting me off slightly are the reports of problems (whining, heat, flickering, etc.). Have these problems been fixed in the latest shipments from Apple? Are there likely to be any major changes in the MBP occurring in June/July/August that I should wait for? I can't really wait for Merom and OS X 10.5 (which are September, right?).

Thanks in advance,

Tinlad

EDIT:
Perhaps should have specified: It's the 15" MBP I'm interested in.

[m-dogg]

Merom may be out in late summer or fall of this year, but I highly doubt 10.5 will be out in 2006. The first developer preview won't be until August, 2006 at WWDC.

And remember, for every one person that complains about an issue on these boards, there are tons of other people with no issues at all that don't bother to say "I got mine and it's awesome!" What I'm saying is...while there have been some issues, I think discussion boards like MR may disproportionately represent how widespread those issues actually are.

[mmmcheese]

With Vista being pushed back, Apple can allow 10.5 to be pushed back as well, letting them spend more time on it...I wouldn't be surprised if it gets pushed back to 2007, about the same time as Vista.

As for waiting for Merom...if you need a machine now, the get it. I don't think "Revision B" will have any significant feature changes. Basically Apple will release faster machines, at the same price and power points...so it will be clocked faster, but the battery life and heat output will be the same.

As a previous poster said, for every complaint, there are 10 that have a great experience. I have one, I really like it. It does make a bit of "whine" as people call it, but it's pretty minor. Sure, it gets warm as well, but it's not much warmer than my iBook G3 (but being metal, the heat feels different). Overall, I think it's a great machine. The only changes I would make to it (in an ideal world), would be super high resolution, and like a 6 hour battery (but not sacrificing size)....but then I'm a resolution and battery whore, so what can I say?

I moved from a 12" iBook, and even though I liked the small size, the 15" doesn't actually "feel" bigger (when carrying)....and when using it, the thinness makes it feel very small.

[dr_lha]

With Vista being pushed back, Apple can allow 10.5 to be pushed back as well, letting them spend more time on it...I wouldn't be surprised if it gets pushed back to 2007, about the same time as Vista.
PR wins aside, I sincerely hope Apple release Leopard when its good and ready, and completely ignores the release date of Vista. If they make it a race, it'll just end up being buggy ****, and that will make Apple look far worse in the eyes of the press, no matter how buggy Vista is.

We learn this lesson from the Virus debacle, just today new stories are showing up about the 1 OS X "virus" that was pretty much a damp squib a couple of months ago. As Macs gain popularity, so will scrutiny of the OS. I guarantee if Leopard is released with 100 bugs and Vista has 10000, Leopards bugs will get more press.

[mmmcheese]

PR wins aside, I sincerely hope Apple release Leopard when its good and ready, and completely ignores the release date of Vista. If they make it a race, it'll just end up being buggy ****, and that will make Apple look far worse in the eyes of the press, no matter how buggy Vista is.

We learn this lesson from the Virus debacle, just today new stories are showing up about the 1 OS X "virus" that was pretty much a damp squib a couple of months ago. As Macs gain popularity, so will scrutiny of the OS. I guarantee if Leopard is released with 100 bugs and Vista has 10000, Leopards bugs will get more press.

Well, it sounded like they hoped to have it out at the end of the year...and if they get a few extra months because Vista is late, and they still get to be out at the same time as Vista, bonus. In fact, coming out a few days before Vista will steal MS's thunder a lot more than months early.

I think taking extra time is a good thing if they can afford to wait...and I think they can. I was just mentioning that since Vista will be late, Apple will likely be able to take some extra time too.

[regre7]

I'm in a similar boat, but I'm waiting until after WWDC to see if Jobs has any crazy awesome things coming up. Well, not that I'm expecting him not to, but, you get what I'm saying.

[Tinlad]

That's been a great help. Thank you all very much.

One more thing:

All this "Rev A" and "Rev B" business... does that refer to major changes in the product (i.e. clock speed, memory, etc.)? Are the MBPs still on Rev A then?

[mmmcheese]

That's been a great help. Thank you all very much.

One more thing:

All this "Rev A" and "Rev B" business... does that refer to major changes in the product (i.e. clock speed, memory, etc.)? Are the MBPs still on Rev A then?

Revision B would be the next iteration of the MBP...so when they change processors (Merom for example), or they go to Dual Layer Drives, or a slightly different style, or different screens. Etc.

[Tinlad]

Thanks. That's made things clearer.:)