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Apple Releases Penryn-Based MacBooks
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Apple want to upsell you the better model. You can just buy an external DVD Burner for the base MacBook if you want to burn DVD's.
hi.
i'm torn between a high end macbook and a low end macbook Pro.
can the blackbook with 4GB RAM support advanced programs such as AutoCad?
Also...can the above mentioned blackbook play games such as call of duty 4 or battlefield: bad company?
(assume theyre available on mac
)
thanks!
about 20 mins til i buy one eheh
i'm torn between a high end macbook and a low end macbook Pro.
can the blackbook with 4GB RAM support advanced programs such as AutoCad?
Also...can the above mentioned blackbook play games such as call of duty 4 or battlefield: bad company?
(assume theyre available on mac
)thanks!
about 20 mins til i buy one eheh
What a pity that there are no new designs.... I've been waiting for it for such a long time.... Anyway I have to consider the updated laptops.
Could anyone tell me if the new macbook "Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory" good enough to produce 3D models and renders? Some final quality is needed, for professional purposes.
Should I purchase a macbook pro instead, just because of that? And if so, is the 2.4/2.5GHz processor performance noticiable?
Thanks!
Could anyone tell me if the new macbook "Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory" good enough to produce 3D models and renders? Some final quality is needed, for professional purposes.
Should I purchase a macbook pro instead, just because of that? And if so, is the 2.4/2.5GHz processor performance noticiable?
Thanks!
I think if you look at the progress with the iPod and the iPhone and compare that with the design progress on the MBP my opinion is that the best designers don't have their hands on the MBP. What a shame, as a pro laptop is the bit of kit I'm most prepared to spent a hunk of cash on.
This keyboard is old, old, old! It's dusty!
This keyboard is old, old, old! It's dusty!
Hear Hear!
Plus, 2Gb standard.
Larger hard discs, and people still complain.
MB are very well priced. Apple are walking a fine line for taking potential sales away from the MBP line.
The Macbook is a great and beautiful computer if you do nothing except word process and use the internet, but the continued lack of a graphics card is a dealbreaker for me. I don't consider video cards a "professional" feature. I consider NOT HAVING video cards a bare bones way to skimp money... Does that mean I should have to get a $2500 power laptop? No. I want a mid-range, mid-price, consumer laptop that has a basic video card!
The 2.4 ghz chip is impressive, but unnecessary. Word processors and internet navigators don't need that power. I think that people who only need those basic things should be able to buy base-model laptops for $600, and people who do more computing (games, etc.) should be buying $1300 laptops with solid video cards. It's just too bad they still can't, even after this update.... Oh wait a minute! They can! From any other computer company in the world but Apple!
And to those who "don't understand" the complaining about a combo drive: It is upsetting to see an outdated technology used as a way to manipulate customers into paying more for a higher model. There is no cost savings in combo drives --DVD burners are practically free. They are using them 100% as a way to artificially differentiate their price points. The key word there is "artificially." It's even more upsetting how readily dedicated Apple fans applaud this move, simply because Apple can do no wrong. But they can do wrong. Leaving out basic technology as a form of manipulation is wrong. As a result, that $600 DVD burning laptop from Dell is looking even better vs the Apple competitor at twice the price with a 20th century CD burner...
I guess my main frustration is just the complete and total lack of a mid-range laptop from Apple. We have to pay $1300 just to start out with basic features in a consumer laptop, and that doesn't even have the capability to play games. I really don't want to have to get a Vista laptop, but Apple is making it hard for me
Post of the thread. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how anyone here can defend a combo drive in a $1100 laptop. I mean... really? It's 2008. DVD writers cost absolutely nothing, and if a machine has an optical drive, DVD-writing should absolutely be standard. I shouldn't HAVE to look beyond the cheapest model (cheapest relative to the rest of apples line, not to other laptops).
And although this is my 1st post here, Ive followed this site for a long time, and have been an even-longer time apple fan. I love their products, but lately many of their decisions have been frankly disappointing, and almost spiteful and insulting towards the consumer.
You are right and have been for a while, the problem is that people complain about this every single time Apple upgrade the MacBook. Its just a little old now
.
I agree. During the last refresh, it was barely acceptable, but now I don't see any Windows laptops, even the ones sold for $500, with just a combo drive. This is a very pathetic attempt to get you to buy the $200 more expensive laptop if you need a DVD writer. I am going to be in the market over the summer for a laptop for my parents, but I am not paying $1300 just for Superdrive. I guess they will stay in Windows world.
Oh, and enough with the 2GB 'standard'. Has the definition of standard changed, and I didnt get the memo? The $1100 model still has 1GB. Thats not called standard.
Another thing that irks me is apple's decision to use the multitouch as a differentiating factor between the 2 lines- as if they arent differentiated enough already. Multitouch should become synonymous with Apple and their products, and I think its a big mistake not to make it ubiquitous.
Another thing that irks me is apple's decision to use the multitouch as a differentiating factor between the 2 lines- as if they arent differentiated enough already. Multitouch should become synonymous with Apple and their products, and I think its a big mistake not to make it ubiquitous.
Yeah LED back light was one of the key things I had hoped for and also the lit keybd. But I wonder if Apple will ever have a MB lit keybd other than the Pro?
Sure would of liked the multi touch pad.
Oh well I will continue to wait. Overall not too bad of an update.
Oh thought that an extra $20 for the remote was a rip. Don't like the nickel and dime us for everything. What's next? They gonna charge us additional for the shipping box?
Oh well! Seems to be the way all things are going now a days!
Take another hit on that ganja and the next thing ya know holographic drives will be standard while you buzz away your life!--)))
Post of the Thread
This is seriously the post of the thread. Apple plays a cunning game with consumers between the base and mid-range Macbook. They have fooled people into thinking that the component differences between the two are worth the price difference.
Thus, anyone who wants a Superdrive in the $1099 Macbook is immediately shouted down with the claim that this addition would raise prices; after all the more expensive model has the Superdrive so the drive itself must cost at least a hundred more.
In reality, nothing is farther from the truth. All adding a Superdrive to the $1099 model would accomplish is the lowering of Apple's very high profit margin. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple was making a 10-20% margin on these machines.
What's even more unsettling is the fact the combo drive and Superdrive are probably the exact same thing. The manufacturer just disables the DVD burning functions per Apple's request. After the update, I visited the Dell website and found machines that cost half the Macbook's price with a DVD burner.
The Macbook is a great and beautiful computer if you do nothing except word process and use the internet, but the continued lack of a graphics card is a dealbreaker for me. I don't consider video cards a "professional" feature. I consider NOT HAVING video cards a bare bones way to skimp money... Does that mean I should have to get a $2500 power laptop? No. I want a mid-range, mid-price, consumer laptop that has a basic video card!
The 2.4 ghz chip is impressive, but unnecessary. Word processors and internet navigators don't need that power. I think that people who only need those basic things should be able to buy base-model laptops for $600, and people who do more computing (games, etc.) should be buying $1300 laptops with solid video cards. It's just too bad they still can't, even after this update.... Oh wait a minute! They can! From any other computer company in the world but Apple!
And to those who "don't understand" the complaining about a combo drive: It is upsetting to see an outdated technology used as a way to manipulate customers into paying more for a higher model. There is no cost savings in combo drives --DVD burners are practically free. They are using them 100% as a way to artificially differentiate their price points. The key word there is "artificially." It's even more upsetting how readily dedicated Apple fans applaud this move, simply because Apple can do no wrong. But they can do wrong. Leaving out basic technology as a form of manipulation is wrong. As a result, that $600 DVD burning laptop from Dell is looking even better vs the Apple competitor at twice the price with a 20th century CD burner...
I guess my main frustration is just the complete and total lack of a mid-range laptop from Apple. We have to pay $1300 just to start out with basic features in a consumer laptop, and that doesn't even have the capability to play games. I really don't want to have to get a Vista laptop, but Apple is making it hard for me
This is seriously the post of the thread. Apple plays a cunning game with consumers between the base and mid-range Macbook. They have fooled people into thinking that the component differences between the two are worth the price difference.
Thus, anyone who wants a Superdrive in the $1099 Macbook is immediately shouted down with the claim that this addition would raise prices; after all the more expensive model has the Superdrive so the drive itself must cost at least a hundred more.
In reality, nothing is farther from the truth. All adding a Superdrive to the $1099 model would accomplish is the lowering of Apple's very high profit margin. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple was making a 10-20% margin on these machines.
What's even more unsettling is the fact the combo drive and Superdrive are probably the exact same thing. The manufacturer just disables the DVD burning functions per Apple's request. After the update, I visited the Dell website and found machines that cost half the Macbook's price with a DVD burner.
Hey, the minute I buy a new laptop, a few weeks later a new one comes out. I should keep buying! LOL. I'm kind of cheesed in a way but I'm happy with what I have
LOL. I'm kind of cheesed in a way but I'm happy with what I haveI guess i will not open mine.
My order is a replacement of my second generation macbook. They are supposed to ship my computer after i send them my current computer. I sent an email to the customer service specialist that is replacing my computer to see if i can get an upgraded macbook. Lets hope he says sure :/
Anyway... do you have an issue with the existence of a combo drive model, or the price of the SuperDrive model? Because I could do without the drive altogether. If there was only ever a $1299 SD model with a -$149 Combo "downgrade" I'd bet there'd be less whining.
PS I have no idea what that edit message is about.
Even the so called "Superdrive" is hardly a super drive. Common, it just has a max. reading speed of 8x, it's slow at recognizing discs and it's loud as well! I would prefer the 2.1GHz MB because I don't want the additional heat of the 2.4GHz model and I prefer a longer lasting battery. Unfortunately Apple doesn't want me to configure a 2.1GHz CPU with their super "8x" burner.
