Purchase MacBook or wait for Merom?

[netdog]

I am a switcher on an iMac Core Duo and have a Windows portable, but given how pleased I am with the iMac, I am anxious to switch in my portable life as well.

I need to do light Windows use under Parallels (XP now and then Vista when it is released). Otherwise just need to to do the usual -- Office (mostly Word and Entourage), Firefox, iTunes, Skype, etc. on my portable.

I do want this machine to last me awhile. Will I really be sorry not to have the Merom to run 10.5 and Vista, or should the Core Duo be just fine? Is Leopard likely to make all sorts of increased graphics demands?

 

[generik]

I do want this machine to last me awhile.

Then wait. Newer products are generally faster and hence more futureproof

 

[sunfast]

I'm waiting for Merom. Granted I won't have the money until then anyway but I think it's a good call.

 

[joelypolly]

If you can wait 4 months then prob wait if not then get one now

 

[DevilsRejection]

You know that Intel is launching a new platform called Santa Rosa in the First quarter of 2007 right?

My point is stop playing the waiting game, your not going to be top dog for more than 4 months I promise you that much. We're no longer in 18 month product cycles, it's more like 7-8 month cycles now.

Curse it as you may, it just shows how good we as humans are at getting faser and faster

 

[generik]

I will probably wait till Merom at the very least, but you got it spot on, next year during MWSF we will probably see MBPs with robson caching and leopard.. which will produce insanely quick bootup times

 

[iGary]

You know there is not even any confirmation that Apple will be an early adopter of the Merom chip...right?

 

[DevilsRejection]

You know there is not even any confirmation that Apple will be an early adopter of the Merom chip...right?

Something tells me they will be, just like they were the first to use the Core Duo chip.

 

[netdog]

Something tells me they will be, just like they were the first to use the Core Duo chip.

I agree. I expect Apple will adopt the chip immediately, and perhaps be the first to use it given that Apple likes to keep their products at the pricey end of the market. I just wonder if:

1) It will be MBP only
2) The MB CPU will be soldered like that on that the MBP

 

[DevilsRejection]

I agree. I expect Apple will adopt the chip immediately, and perhaps be the first to use it given that Apple likes to keep their products at the pricey end of the market. I just wonder if:

1) It will be MBP only
2) The MB CPU will be soldered like that on that the MBP

I have my doubts about it going into the MBP so soon, maybe next year when they switch to 45nm but they need to fix the issues in the MacBook first before they stick a new processor in it!

 

[netdog]

I have my doubts about it going into the MBP so soon, maybe next year when they switch to 45nm but they need to fix the issues in the MacBook first before they stick a new processor in it!

Changing to the lower-power and newer Merom may be part of sorting out the whining problems and overheating problems on the MBP. As it is pin-compatible with the existing Yonah, your analysis doesn't make much senes to me. Maybe I am missing something.

Does anybody know if the current Asus Yonah laptops have soldered CPUs?

 

[DevilsRejection]

Changing to the lower-power and newer Merom may be part of sorting out the whining problems and overheating problems on the MBP. As it is pin-compatible with the existing Yonah, your analysis doesn't make much senes to me. Maybe I am missing something.

Does anybody know if the current Asus Yonah laptops have soldered CPUs?

Asus being an ODM I highly doubt they're soldered in.

The issues with the heat and whining aren't CPU related, there is a problem on the logic board or bios. Everyone else using the Core Duo chips in their laptops have zero issues.

 

[netdog]

Asus being an ODM I highly doubt they're soldered in.

The issues with the heat and whining aren't CPU related, there is a problem on the logic board or bios. Everyone else using the Core Duo chips in their laptops have zero issues.

My friend's Vaio runs quite hot.

 

[DevilsRejection]

My friend's Vaio runs quite hot.

And I've given clients IBM Thinkpad T60's that the fan rarely goes off it stays so cool. What's your point? Vaio's are crap, I thought everyone knows this lol.

My mate at another school has the new Dell 15 inch with a core duo chip and you would have a hard time telling the thing was on it's so silent and cool.

Apple made a mistake, but they don't have the balls to admit it. That makes me mad, but then again I never liked Apple notebooks in the first place. Why should they beta test first revisions with customers then keep on improving on it. Can't they just stick it in the labs for an extra month worth of testing?!

 

[generik]

Apple made a mistake, but they don't have the balls to admit it. That makes me mad, but then again I never liked Apple notebooks in the first place. Why should they beta test first revisions with customers then keep on improving on it. Can't they just stick it in the labs for an extra month worth of testing?!

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."
-Steve Jobs, Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996

Hint: Steve Jobs is running Apple now, he certainly is milking the Macintosh for what it's worth

 

[dancormier]

Let's not start a flame war please

And I've given clients IBM Thinkpad T60's that the fan rarely goes off it stays so cool. What's your point? Vaio's are crap, I thought everyone knows this lol.

I use an IBM every day for work ... it is a terrible machine. I often need to reboot it, the battery life is terrible and at 1024x768, the resolution is fuzzy for 15".
When I get home, I sit down to a Powerbook and a Sony Vaio notebook. The quality is extremely comparable. The Sony does many things that the IBM does not. It runs cool and quiet, has a 1280 x 800 resolution at 13.3" which is very easy on the eyes and performs well under a heavy load. Both the Sony and the IBM have a 1.6Ghz Pentium M so the issue isn't with the processor. My IBM is crap compared to my Vaio. I think you're stuck in the year 2000 when the Sony's weren't what they are now.

 

[netdog]

And I've given clients IBM Thinkpad T60's that the fan rarely goes off it stays so cool. What's your point? Vaio's are crap, I thought everyone knows this lol.

I use an IBM every day for work ... it is a terrible machine. I often need to reboot it, the battery life is terrible and at 1024x768, the resolution is fuzzy for 15".
When I get home, I sit down to a Powerbook and a Sony Vaio notebook. The quality is extremely comparable. The Sony does many things that the IBM does not. It runs cool and quiet, has a 1280 x 800 resolution at 13.3" which is very easy on the eyes and performs well under a heavy load. Both the Sony and the IBM have a 1.6Ghz Pentium M so the issue isn't with the processor. My IBM is crap compared to my Vaio. I think you're stuck in the year 2000 when the Sony's weren't what they are now.

I agree that Vaios today are generally not crap. As I said, their Core Duo laptops also seem to run hot. Devilwhatever just likes to bellow, dismiss and pretend to know best. Oh well.

 

[dancormier]

I agree that Vaios today are generally not crap. As I said, their Core Duo laptops also seem to run hot. Devilwhatever just likes to bellow, dismiss and pretend to know best. Oh well.

Yes, I have used the new Cure Duo Vaios and they are warm, I wouldn't dream of disputing that ... think you're right about Devilguywhatever

 

[TallShaffer]

So wait.... The current MBP and the soon-to-be MB won't be able to run the new Mac OS coming out later this year?!

I had finally made up my mind to buy the MB because I can deal without having the merom's lower power consumption, anything will beat my current lappy (50 minutes!).

Did I read correctly in that the current mactels won't be able to run Leopard?


<edit: The new vaios with core duos in the SZ (13.3") series are pretty bad. I'm in computer sales, and I've seen over half of them returned due to being defective. The Toshiba ones run great, but they're a lot uglier than the little vaios.>

 

[dancormier]

So wait.... The current MBP and the soon-to-be MB won't be able to run the new Mac OS coming out later this year?!

I had finally made up my mind to buy the MB because I can deal without having the merom's lower power consumption, anything will beat my current lappy (50 minutes!).

Did I read correctly in that the current mactels won't be able to run Leopard?


<edit: The new vaios with core duos in the SZ (13.3") series are pretty bad. I'm in computer sales, and I've seen over half of them returned due to being defective. The Toshiba ones run great, but they're a lot uglier than the little vaios.>

I haven't tried the new SZ series ... so I can't comment there. There has been no indication that the current Mactels will not be able to run Leapord. Tiger runs on my wife's (obsolete) iBook with a G3 600 Mhz processor with 384 MB or RAM. I'm sure that the new Mactels will run Leapord just fine.

 

[TallShaffer]

This is good. I have never owned a mac before, and I'm so sick of "blah blah blah has encountered and error and needs to... <bluescreen>". I'm looking to purchase the MB when it comes out as well as an iMac 20" when the new processors/OS comes out later this year. Sound like a good choice?

(I''ll be the guinea pig and let you know all the problems of the beta MB for y'all.... I'm sure it's still better than any machine running windows)

 

[netdog]

So wait.... The current MBP and the soon-to-be MB won't be able to run the new Mac OS coming out later this year?!

I had finally made up my mind to buy the MB because I can deal without having the merom's lower power consumption, anything will beat my current lappy (50 minutes!).

Did I read correctly in that the current mactels won't be able to run Leopard?


<edit: The new vaios with core duos in the SZ (13.3") series are pretty bad. I'm in computer sales, and I've seen over half of them returned due to being defective. The Toshiba ones run great, but they're a lot uglier than the little vaios.>

I am sure they will run Leopard. If Leopard supports 64bit, however, they wont be able to take advantage of that.

 

[®îçhå®?]

The macBook is due TOMORROW or so that rumour says. If it is true, buy it. If you do wait for Merom, you will wait until the next one, and the next one and so on. If your Windoze laptop needs to be replaced, do it now. I would personally buy the macbook tomorrow.

 

[netdog]

The new iBook announcement is definitely imminent. The following, posted by another user on this board, takes it all beyond rumour now...

Apple new iBook Confirmation

 

[MattyP]

You know that Intel is launching a new platform called Santa Rosa in the First quarter of 2007 right?

My point is stop playing the waiting game, your not going to be top dog for more than 4 months I promise you that much. We're no longer in 18 month product cycles, it's more like 7-8 month cycles now.

Curse it as you may, it just shows how good we as humans are at getting faser and faster

While I partially agree with this the merom is a 64 bit chip while the yonah is 32 bit... Even taking Moore's law into account it will probably be quite some time before there is a 128 bit chip so it seems to me like a good bet to at least wait for Merom. A 64 bit system may even get faster over time as software bottlenecks are elliminated, for example if OSX becomes a true 64 bit operating system, which it likely will in the near future.

I say wait for Merom