Apple Releases 17'' MacBook Pro

[ImNoSuperMan]

Yes, if designed to do so, FW800 Drives Can Get Power From The Laptop.

Oops. I think he`s asking if FW800 can power the 3.5 inch HDD too. Which is not possible at all. You can use smaller Laptop HDD (ie 2.5"). FW800 can power those. But for regular 3.5" you`ll still need external power.

 

[bentoms]

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW912AL2/

I have two of those and I love them. They were exactly what I was looking for and it sounds like they are exactly what you want also.

Or this: http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=329

 

[Will_reed]

I'm likeing the look of these new 17inch macbooks. I might just have to save up to make the upgrade

 

[Multimedia]

WiebeTech SuperDrive Dock Runs 3.5" HDs Off The FW800 or FW400 Bus

Oops. I think he`s asking if FW800 can power the 3.5 inch HDD too. Which is not possible at all. You can use smaller Laptop HDD (ie 2.5"). FW800 can power those. But for regular 3.5" you`ll still need external power.

It is possible. It is not good for long battery life. But if you're running off AC and you want a less complicated hook up, The WiebeTech SuperDrive Dock Runs 3.5" HDs Off The FW800 or FW400 Bus. $249 NO AC needed, although an AC Power adapter is included. matticus008 explains the downside below. WiebeTech explains the upside at their site when you use the link above.

 

[matticus008]

Ooops. WRONG! It is not only possible. It is happening all the time. Read it and weep vikas soni. You are mistaken. I know exactly what he was asking and I know I am right. The WiebeTech SuperDrive Dock Runs 3.5" HDs Off The FW800 or FW400 Bus. $249 NO AC needed, although an AC Power cord is included.

Bus-powering a 3.5" hard drive (presumably on battery power, otherwise what difference does it make?) is a bad idea. The typical desktop hard drive sits at around 11-12W. Firewire in theory peaks at 15W, in practice somewhat less. That leaves you very little overhead, not to mention the strain on your notebook's battery (which raises the temperature--enter fans, etc...). A typical notebook computer consumes 30W altogether (17" MBP maybe slightly more) when active, so you can see that you stand to lose more than 1/3 of your battery life by running a desktop hard drive (by comparison, you'd be looking at roughly 5W for a 2.5" hard drive). Of course this is a bit simplified for brevity's sake.

Yes, it's possible, but no, it's not advisable unless you plan on recharging every two hours or less, which consequently shortens your battery's life as well--500 power cycles is going to come around a lot faster. If you plan on taking full size hard drives on the road, buy a spare battery and expect to replace them relatively often.

 

[AidenShaw]

convenient, and manages clutter

That's three cables plus a lock. Add a docking station and you have... three cables plus a lock and a docking station

No, I have one click to disconnect from the home office (keyboard/mouse/USB hub/24" DVI monitor/GbE/power) to pack up and go.

And one click to connect at the office to another set of peripherals.

And the cables to the docking station can be bundled and routed through the cable tray, much better aesthetics than an octopus of cables coming out of both sides of the PB.

 

[ImNoSuperMan]

It is possible. It is not good for long battery life. But if you're running off AC and you want a less complicated hook up, The WiebeTech SuperDrive Dock Runs 3.5" HDs Off The FW800 or FW400 Bus. $249 NO AC needed, although an AC Power adapter is included. matticus008 explains the downside below. WiebeTech explains the upside at their site when you use the link above.

OK. Didnt know that. A bit expensive but definitely better than seperate ac adapter. Also the risk of Corrupting your data, in case you r not using an UPS and there`s a power cut, is eliminated. Might not be a big problem in US/UK but for the ROW power cuts are pretty normal.

 

[steve_hill4]

Not sure whether this has been mentioned or not as of yet, but itt appears that the spec page for the MBP added battery life figures at the same time as the 17" specs. They quote 4.5hours for the 15" and 5.5 for the 17". I never spotted these before and it was only ever suggested it was the same as the PowerBook life, never printed.

I may of course be wrong. Either way, this 17" beast is indeed a welcome addition to the family.

 

[lifeboy001]

Actually, MPG testing is done at federal facilities and follows specific guidelines:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml

I wouldn't expect the computer industry to begin setting standards for battery life testing anytime soon...

Yep, its a lot like gas milage. Car companies turn off the A/C, put the windows down, and cruise the highway at 40mph (I'm serious) and the road must be a straight away. In order to get their numbers. I'm speculating that computer companies pay someone to look at the computer at the dimmest settings and just move the mouse around enough for the screen not to go to sleep. Not really 'fudging' but could come off like that... and hey, I think if we had a company and we could get those numbers, we would post the best possible too.

 

[rxse7en]

i don't understand why some people would replace their 15" MBPs to get the 17", and not to mention, ultrafast dual G5's with new machines for which you won't even notice the difference in speed unless they held a stopwatch in their hands all the time. really. that money can be put to better use. hey it's not my money, but listen to yourselves. i'm kinda having a mental image of will smith's character in MIB being hailed as the king by those lemming-like creatures in the locker. my take on all of the present-day capitalist, mindless society.

I'm sure you can wait in line and get yourself the brand new Pravda 2000 laptop--circa 1982--in Cuba. They're still communist, right?

 

[nicksoper]

It is not. We seem to have to go through this at every product release.

       US         UK           Euro (Fr) UK Premium      EU Premium  
MBP17  £1572.74   £1701.28     £1677.55  £128.54 or ~8%  £104.81 or ~6.6%

Apple want to set a price for their product which can remain constant for as long as possible, they also want to market their product at a specific price point in whichever market they're competing in. To do this they have to take into account various factors, one being exchange rates and they build in a margin of error so that if exchange rates move against them they don't have change the selling price to avoid reduced profit. I think 8% is probably a fair premium to pay considering the smaller market in the UK and additional cost incurred selling there.

If you do a search I did the same comparison over a year ago on some other products (displays I think) and Apple actual gave a better deal to the UK than it was to the US at the time. Also compare DELL's products in the UK/US and you'll see much biggar differentials.

So Where did you get those prices from.

THe US store shows $:2799 (£1564) and the UK store shows £1999

You just made that uk price up.

 

[nicksoper]

Anyone else think the CD drive slot is just plain ugly?

Kind of. I've been loking at the same drive slot for 3 years, since they havn't changed it. So a change would be nice. Not too bothered though.

 

[matticus008]

So Where did you get those prices from.

THe US store shows $:2799 (£1564) and the UK store shows £1999

You just made that uk price up.

UK price includes VAT; American price does not include taxes. Without VAT, the UK price is ~£1700. Doing the conversion just now, I got a rate of £1569 for $2799. His prices are pretty accurate.

 

[acdc1174]

Which HD did you go with MovieCutter?

The Faster Smaller 100GB Battery Eater or the Slower Bigger 120GB Battery Conserver?

I think bigger slower battery conserver is my choice. I can remember when 5400 was the faster speed. I'm thinking 5400 is fast enough. What do you think? Anyone please.

BTW Omni via ramseeker.com sells the 1GB PC2-5300 667 MHz sticks for $128 Hyper CAS 2.5 or $73 Optival CAS 3. Apple? $270

For what it is worth, I just upgraded my 12" PB G4 (1.33 ghz, 1.25 GB RAM) with a 100 GB/7200 RPM drive and a dual-layer Superdrive. I can tell you that the appreciable difference in speed between the 5400 and 7200 RPM drives is enough for me to NEVER go back to 5400 RPM, even at the expense of 20 GB storage space. Having said that, I DO work almost ALWAYS plugged in to an A/C outlet and I DO notice a hit on battery life (2.5 hours on a full charge at full screen brightness and full volume). I would also say that my work involves addressing the hard drive almost constantly, so THERE is where I see the performance boost. 5400 WAS "fast enough" at the time but I needed a bigger hard drive anyway and I wanted to "turbo-charge" my 12", so I went for it. I wanted this machine to last me another year or so while Merom rolls out in the laptop line...I will have NO problem weathering the transition with this current setup.

 

[Photorun]

You're being quite the ass today.

Which is why when he talks his head spins.

 

[true777]

Is anyone else a tad underwhelmed by this product announcement?

For the long wait, I was hoping for faster processor speed - a step above the 15" model. The 8x Superdrive is irrelevant to me - and I suspect to many others - but I need the 17" screen and the fastest speed I can get. I was hoping this product would set new standards for Apple and let the 15" pale in comparison. I'll still buy it and think it's a good product at a great price, but was hoping for a bit more speed.

 

[50548]

Is anyone else a tad underwhelmed by this product announcement?

For the long wait, I was hoping for faster processor speed - a step above the 15" model. The 8x Superdrive is irrelevant to me - and I suspect to many others - but I need the 17" screen and the fastest speed I can get. I was hoping this product would set new standards for Apple and let the 15" pale in comparison. I'll still buy it and think it's a good product at a great price, but was hoping for a bit more speed.

As exhaustively explained above, the MBP 17" is the most powerful real notebook in the world in its 1-inch form factor (no, Dell behemoths need not apply).

There is no real need for "new standards" in this case. You've got the fastest Core Duo available, a pretty fast GPU (the fastest in its desired form factor), probably the best screen brightness for a notebook and the whole set of needed ports and connections, all within a great enclosure, thickness and price point...

Apple couldn't do any better for now, and I challenge you to show me a better offer from anyone else; a better combination of design/thickness/power/battery life/image and video capability/price simply doesn't exist.

 

[Surreal]

You're being quite the ass today.

now, i WAS quite frustrated with Multimedia before this baby was announced, partially because i was frustrated that this baby hadnt been announced, sso i know he can get annoying, but not so bad that name calling is necessary.

vikas said it was not possible at all, and it is possible. maybe multi could have been a LITTLE "nicer" but...

 

[ImAlwaysRight]

Is anyone else a tad underwhelmed by this product announcement?

For the long wait, I was hoping for faster processor speed - a step above the 15" model. The 8x Superdrive is irrelevant to me - and I suspect to many others - but I need the 17" screen and the fastest speed I can get. I was hoping this product would set new standards for Apple and let the 15" pale in comparison. I'll still buy it and think it's a good product at a great price, but was hoping for a bit more speed.

Apple is limited to the chips Intel supplies them. Fastest mobile chip out right now is the 2.16GHz Core Duo Yonah. And just how is Apple suppose to go faster than that?

 

[AidenShaw]

Oc

Apple is limited to the chips Intel supplies them. Fastest mobile chip out right now is the 2.16GHz Core Duo Yonah. And just how is Apple suppose to go faster than that?

Overclock - which wouldn't be the first time Apple did that...

They might have trouble finding water pumps to fit in a 1" form factor, though.

 

[tonyl]

finally! But where is my 13.3 MacBook?

Just wait for another month.

 

[iEric]

wow, now i'm definatly getting the MBP considering i was about to upgrade the processor on the 15" but this one is so much better. But it's going to be a biatch to carry around!

 

[Freebart]

Apple's MBP Web Pages

Does anyone else find the gray on black of Apple's MacBook Pro web pages virtually unreadable?

 

[SiliconAddict]

Please Aiden, spare us from this kind of criticism...PCs have always used A LOT more cables than Macs...while you guys were playing with your Dell and a fugly external card, my old iBook G3 already had internal Airport...besides, the Duo Dock was a good idea...10 years ago. Let it rest in peace.

I have the following cables hanging off my MBP

-DVI cable
-Power
-Audio
-USB hub
-scanner
-iPod (Using the sole FW port.)

I'd give up one of my pinky toes for a dock.

 

[milo]

I dont see why people would by a 17'' laptop, they are supposed to be small, and its extremely expensive. I would rather go with a desktop.

That's just stupid. A laptop isn't "supposed to be" anything, it should be what the user wants, and that varies widely. Might as well complain about Levi's making pants larger than the size you wear.

Apple killed their own invention by not including it on ALL their mac products including the ipod or the Mac mini. I am scared to death of buying a FW800 only device now that apple can't make up its mind on even FW400 (ipod video and nano).

Apple killed FW800 by not making it cable compatible with 400.

Bark. Bark.
http://www.barefeats.com/rosetta.html

That didn't really answer the question, did it?

Lots of offices have it. You don't need 17" to demonstrate something to a customer in a cafe...

There are plenty of locations that don't have open monitors handy where laptops are used. Who the hell do you people think you are, telling other people what they don't need?

I'd like to see even higher resolution available as an option.

You are correct about firewire. I don't know why they just don't dump Firewire 400 and go solely with firwire 800. Do camcorders work with firwire 800 though?

Probably because 90% of FW in the field is 400, and it uses different cables (adapters). Sure, you could throw an adapter on every FW400 device you have, but that would be a pain considering how many more there are. Unfortunately, apple botched 800 and it's mostly a failure as a format, it just never really caught on to a large degree.