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Few Questions From a Possible MBP Buyer

M

mikeyPotg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hey guys,
I've been contemplating purchasing a new MBP and I've been weighing out all the pro's/con's, but I have a few questions I was hoping some people could help me out with.

1. Is it really worth it to wait for the 2nd generation? One of my former students keeps telling me that I"ll regret buying the 1st gen MBP, even though its such a huge upgrade over my current pbook. She mentioned that the next gen will be "bug free", but couldn't tell me any of the current bugs on the MBP. I've been reading these forums often for the past couple weeks, and I don't think I've read up on too many issues.
Does she have a point?

2. How much do you think I can get my current G4 Pbook for?
1.33 Ghz
15 inch
1.5 gigs of ram
40 gig HD 7200 rpm
Combo Drive (I have an external dvd burner)
minor scuffs & scratches

3. RAM: I'm thinking of buying the 2.16 ghz, 100 gig HD 7200 rpm, and only 1 gig of memory. My former student told me it would be much wiser to purchase memory from another company for roughly $130, instead of the $300 that Apple is charging. Is it easy to install? And is there a big difference with the different RAM chips?

4. Would it be possible to use one of the 1 gig memory cards from my current g4 in a MBP?

Thanks so much for any assistance.
Mike
 
1) If you want/need a new laptop now get one. I've got one and I'd say it's bug free. You won't see a refresh for a good few months yet.

2) No idea.

3) RAM is easy to install (I did it myself). Just make sure you have a really small (size 0 iirc) Philips screwdriver.

4) No. It's totally different.
 
Well what software will you mostly be using and how badly do you need the performace boost? I personally would wait till the new 64-Bit laptop chip called Merom is out from Intell and used on the MBP's. I feel at this moment the Core Duo is not really the pro chip Apple intended to have in their Pro laptop line, however it's still a tremendous performance boost over the previous G4 laptops, so they had to do it. Plus Meron wasn't ready yet. The MBP is still a tremendous system. If you do get it make sure all your apps are UB or at least run well under Rosetta which makes PPC apps run on Intel macs.

Also, I'm not sure how much you can get for that PBG4. Search e-bay for some ideas. The RAM on your old PBG4 will not work on the new MBP.
 
I have a MBP, and i think it works just fine. However, I have the basic MBP, and it appears you are thinking about spending just under 3000 on your new laptop. I think it would be a better investment to wait for the next revision, considering its a serious investment and you already have a decent pbook.
 
I second that. I'm just getting the stock model, but if you're going all out, I'd wait. And a bug-less computer doessn't exist. Each model just seems to have different bugs if you ask me. Also, if you use pro applications, you might as well wait until universal versions come out. It doesn't seem like you're in dire need of a laptop, and I think you should wait it out. The scratches and only a combo drive are what's probably going to drive down the price of your pb (at least for me it would)
 
If i was you i would buy one now. I have one and i don't have any problems at all and i am enjoying my model now. My model is completely bug free and i am sure this is so is for the majority of people who have one. If your model does have any problems you can always send it to be put right. Get the Apple Care plan as well if you can because then you have security for three years if anything goes wrong.
 
thanks for the responses so far guys.

as for the programs. I'll be using FCP for casual editing (UB version should hopefully be out by mid April) and playin some games on it (wow/wc3), probably get into Adobe once the UB version is available, and all the usual daily applications.

As far as merom goes. I'm still not sold on the 64 bit computing yet. I bought a laptop just over 2 years ago with a 64 bit chip, and I'm still waiting on the purpose of it. I don't think the merom chip will be out for at least another year - and then I'll probably have to wait on programs that take advantage of the 64 bit chip, and then perhaps people will tell me to wait for the next revision again! The madness never stops!
Also, if I get the MBP now, perhaps I can still sell it for a decent price when the Merom version comes out.

You all make good points though, as it will be a huge investment and I have to make sure I'm ready for it.

As you can probably see, I'm leaning towards getting it, I'm just trying to convince myself not to, or at least hear more reasons as to why I shouldn't.


Thanks for the advice so far!
 
Don't get it! yet

Apple is coming out with <next awesome product> for their 30th anniversary!

But who am I to tell you what to do with your money?
 
heh, thanks Apple G. Thats why I'm waiting til April 1st (and hopefully no later) to make my decision. Though I think the announcements will be the Video Ipod and the Intel ibooks.
 
I sold my 15" 1.25ghz, 1.25gb, 80gb 5400 rpm harddrive on January 10th for $1250 on ebay if that gives you any sense of what you could get for yours.
 
oooh wow, thanks for that, excalibur. I'll have to tell my friend that I must put it on ebay now and see how that goes, heh. I was about to sell it to my friend for dirt cheap, but if I can get over 1k, ebay is the way to go.
 
Buying computer hardware is always frustrating as your purchase is near obsolete within months of buying. But the only good advice I can give is buy when the price is low or when the performance/features improve in a big 'jump'. The MBP is a fairly hefty performance over the PowerBooks, so I'd recommend it. (I have one myself and absolutely love it!)

The only bugs I've experienced:

- Trackpad stopped working (once) - had to plug in a USB mouse, wiggle it a bit, then the trackpad resumed. No idea why..

- Sometimes doesn't shut down, I end up having to hold the power switch to force it to power down. (With a journalled filesystem, I'm hoping this isn't too much of a risk).

- One of my colleague's MBPs crashed in a fairly non-pretty manner (screen was fairly thoroughly corrupted) just today, when left idling over a coffee break.
 
I say go for it. Its a very nice upgrade from the computer that you have...and I doubt there will be any problems with this revision.

As far as ram is concerned, I ordered mine from Apple with 1GB and ordered a second 1GB stick from Crucial. Saved a little bit and Crucial memory is some of the best.
 
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