Apple Releases 17'' MacBook Pro

[rxse7en]

So 64 bit and I guess more grunt.

Tests I've seen--where they swapped a Merom into a Mini--were showing 25% speed gains without optimization. I'm thinking, with optimized mobos tailored to Merom we'll see better than 30% speed gains, longer battery life, ad nauseum by August. I'm only optimistic because, if I hadn't said it already, I REALLY WANT a Merom 'book!

B

 

[CanadaRAM]

Then you order TWO 1GB sticks - CAS 3 OPTIVAL - from Omni via Ramseeker.com for $146. Total cost for the 2 GB "upgrade" $46 ($56 Ed). Any quesitons?

Yeah.
How do you plan to get that RAM to work in the MacBook Pro?

Omni's DDR2-667 MacBook RAM is 2 Gb $259.98 for the cheap stuff and 2Gb $359.98 for their "superior performance" (which is itself a crock as all RAM will run at the same MHz speed)

 

[Multimedia]

30% Speed Bump With Merom To Begin With? Wow!

Tests I've seen--where they swapped a Merom into a Mini--were showing 25% speed gains without optimization. I'm thinking, with optimized mobos tailored to Merom we'll see better than 30% speed gains, longer battery life, ad nauseum by August. I'm only optimistic because, if I hadn't said it already, I REALLY WANT a Merom 'book!
B

Wow! Me 2. That's a lot more than I've read so far. Link?

All this informed speculation that the whole Intel Processor line is accelerating toward an earlier shipping date and that Merom will immediately bump the speed up 30% makes waiting for Merom much easier. Of course we are also speculating that Apple will move aggressively toward a Merom MBP line ASAP. I hope that's the case. I guess Steve will have more new products to introduce at WWDC than ever before plus the Leopard feature set debut. Going to be an amazing Monday August 7, 2006.

 

[yellow]

No you DO NOT. Putting 3rd party ram in a Mac DOES NOT VOID THE WARRANTY. Where that rumor got started I have no idea but it is BLATANTLY FALSE. Apple doesn't even ask what kind of ram you have in there.

There's no mention of voiding in the warranty statement at all.. However, in the nebulous legal terminology of the warranty:

http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/hardware.html

This warranty does not apply: (a) to damage caused by use with non-Apple products; (b) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, flood, fire, earthquake or other external causes; (c) to damage caused by operating the product outside the permitted or intended uses described by Apple; (d) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider; (e) to a product or part that has been modified to significantly alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; (f) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; or (g) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.

Both (a) and (d) could be used against you by Apple repair to deny warranty work on your Mac. Which is, in effect, tantamount to "voiding the warranty" (temporarily). The onus would be on you, the consumer, to prove that your 3rd party RAM (HD, GPU, whatever) didn't cause the problem.

While this is rare, I have had (on 2 occasions) powerbooks sent in for warranty work sent back to me, unfixed, with the 3rd party RAM in a static baggy. Of course, the other 8+ times, I've had no problems. I imagine it depends on how far the stick in one's ass extends.

 

[Multimedia]

$72.99 Is The Working Omni OPTIVAL CAS 3 MacBook Pro 1GB Stick Price

Yeah.
How do you plan to get that RAM to work in the MacBook Pro?

Omni's DDR2-667 MacBook RAM is 2 Gb $259.98 for the cheap stuff and 2Gb $359.98 for their "superior performance" (which is itself a crock as all RAM will run at the same MHz speed)

No, it's not when you go through Ramseeker.com. You can't get the lower price by going to Omni directly. They're PC2-5300 DDR2 ram running at 667 MHz.

I just tripple checked it and the price for MacBook Pro CAS 3 OPTIVAL is $72.99 per 1GB stick when you go through ramseeker.com. I don't even know how you came up with those much higher prices. At the top of Ramseeker.com you choose MacBook from the popup menu for Mac ram. Then you press the "Go" button. Then down in the list of prices for 1GB sticks is $72.99 across from the words "Omni Technologies™ OPTIVAL®". NOTE: You DO NOT click on those words. You have to click on the PRICE $72.99 to get the link to Omni where you will see it queued up for you to buy at that price.

Here are the images of both the Omni Specs and the Ramseeker chart you will find when you search for MacBook Pro ram there with the link to Omni highlighted.

I have nothing to do with ownership, friendship nor promotional employment for Ramseeker.com nor Omni Technologies. I'm just trying to help everyone save money for good ram. The lower right graphic includes the price and their toll free number. So if you need more reassurance just phone them toll free and ask them about whatever concerns you may have directly.

 

[rxse7en]

Wow! Me 2. That's a lot more than I've read so far. Link?

All this informed speculation that the whole Intel Processor line is accelerating toward an earlier shipping date and that Merom will immediately bump the speed up 30% makes waiting for Merom much easier. Of course we are also speculating that Apple will move aggressively toward a Merom MBP line ASAP. I hope that's the case. I guess Steve will have more new products to introduce at WWDC than ever before plus the Leopard feature set debut. Going to be an amazing Monday August 7, 2006.

25% framerate increase shown in Quake 4--Yonah vs Merom. My 30% comment was based on my assumption that the proc he used was a prototype at 2ghz and that the shipping Merom 'books would probably be faster and the mobo tweaked for Merom.

B

 

[Multimedia]

Merom's Speed Tops Out At 2.33 GHz

25% framerate increase shown in Quake 4--Yonah vs Merom. My 30% comment was based on my assumption that the proc he used was a prototype at 2ghz and that the shipping Merom 'books would probably be faster and the mobo tweaked for Merom.

B

My uderstanding is that Merom's fastest speed will be 2.33 GHz. Thanks daneoni. Link to that test please?

 

[daneoni]

My uderstanding is that Merom's slowest and starting speed will be 2.33 GHz. Link to that test please?

The slowest merom speed is 1.66 and the highest is 2.33. Intel is keeping the current clock speeds. There is an article on this in wikipedia i think.

Here's the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core

 

[daneoni]

Slightly off topic but how do people encode HTML in this forums. The way i do it everywhere else doesnt seem to fly on this site

<a href="www.abc.com">abc</a>

Isn't this the format?

 

[yellow]

No, vBulletin (and most other Forum softwares) have their own style. Inside tags.. Use the buttons in the advanced edit screen to see what the tags are.

 

[rxse7en]

My uderstanding is that Merom's fastest speed will be 2.33 GHz. Thanks daneoni. Link to that test please?

Last post in this thread.


B

 

[daneoni]

No, vBulletin (and most other Forum softwares) have their own style. Inside tags.. Use the buttons in the advanced edit screen to see what the tags are.

Thanx. Soooo which of the tags do i use and can you give an example test

 

[yellow]

Thanx. Soooo which of the tags do i use and can you give an example test

Unfortunately, I can't give a good example because any tags I use as an example get parsed automatically.

Like I said, just "Reply To Thread" and look at the buttons above the text area. If you hoer over them with the cursor, you can see what each one does. Click it for an idea of how it gets inserted into the post.

For example:

[ url=http://www.appple.com]Apple[/url ]

(sans the space before url and after /url)

Is one way to use URL tags.

 

[Multimedia]

How To Enter Active URLs In Your Posts

Thanx. Soooo which of the tags do i use and can you give an example test

It's really easy. You can highlight the text you want the link to become active on and then simply click on that Green Planet Earth Globe that has a chain link on its lower right - to the left of the link with the red x immediately below the smilie. That will reveal a dialog box that lets you paste in the link you have saved to your clipboard or you can type in. Then press "return" or "enter" and your link is automatically entered correctly for all those words you highlighted.

Then you can see the syntax used here for all URLs around your highlighted word or words.

 

[daneoni]

Got it. Thanx. Here is the Merom configurations link.

 

[eVolcre]

It's really easy. You can highlight the text you want the link to become active on and then simply click on that Green Planet Earth Globe that has a chain link on its lower right - to the left of the link with the red x immediately below the smilie. That will reveal a dialog box that lets you paste in the link you have saved to your clipboard or you can type in. Then press "return" or "enter" and your link is automatically entered correctly for all those words you highlighted.

Then you can see the syntax used here for all URLs around your highlighted word or words.

You keep equating the cost of RAm to our 'intelligence' and I think you're way off. What works for you cannot be translated to what works for us? Your 'multimedia way' is nonsense for a lot of us.

You seem to think it all depends on the dollar value. Some of us value convenience higher than a few dollars saved. Don't make assumptions that we are 'stupid' , like your posts seem to suggest.


If money was THAT important to me, maybe I wouldn't be buying a MAC. There are cheaper alternatives right? To me, money isn't a factor when compared to convenience. I travel a lot and do NOT need the hassle of taking out my memory when I call APPLECARE.

When I'm spending 3 grand, what difference does a few hundred make?

Your 'multimedia' way might work ... for YOU ... stop insulting those of us who value convenience over cost.

One of your posts said that 'if you have money to waste, go the 'non multimedia' way. Do what you want to do , for YOURSELF, quit projecting your OPINIONS on me.

eV

 

[CanadaRAM]

No it's not when you go through Ramseeker.com. You can't get the lower price by going to Omni directly. Omni does not yet offer 2GB sticks for the MacBook Pro. I don't know what you mean by that question. It works.

Following your pricing method - giving the price for 2 x 1 Gb modules. I never thought I would have to spell it for you....

I don't even know how you came up with those much higher prices.

That would be, the price that the Omni site gives you when you choose MacBook Pro

At the top of Ramseeker.com you choose MacBook from the popup menu for Mac ram. Then you press the "Go" button. Then down in the list of prices for 1GB sticks is $72.99 across from the words "Omni Technologies™ OPTIVAL®". NOTE. You DO NOT click on those words. You have to click on the PRICE $72.99 to get the link to Omni where you will see it queued up for you to buy at that price.

All of which you neglected to mention with your original link to ramseeker.
Any other method, like, for example, "lowest price PC2-5300 SODIMM" or cliking the Omni ad in the centre of the page, does not come up with that omni price, but gets you the standard Omni pricing I quoted.

Personallly, I don't give much credence to much of what that company says on their website - They claim CAS Latency 3 on their generic 667 MHz RAM.
I can guarantee you that nobody is building DDR2 SODIMMs capable of CL3 at 667 -- not at anywhere close to $80 or even $200
CL5 is standard.

Here's what another vendor says when you try to buy their generic $73 module:
"WARNING! - Because the MacBook Pro is a low power consumption notebook and is very sensitive to voltage regulation we highly recommend using one of our more voltage stable modules, which are our Factory Original or Major Brand selections. You may have stability issues with our Generic memory modules."

In other words, that vendor is honest enough to say - we just advertise this **** to get the lowest price on RAMseeker. We don't really think you should put it in your MacBook Pro.

 

[regre7]

One of your posts said that 'if you have money to waste, go the 'non multimedia' way. Screw you pal. Do what you want to do , for YOURSELF, quit projecting your frigging OPINIONS on me.

Burn, baby burn.... disco inferno!

I personally prefer first party or reliable (Crucial, Corsair) RAM, even if it costs a little more. I don't really need that much RAM anyway, maybe 1GB for the occasional video edit.

 

[Multimedia]

Buying The least Expensive Ram Is Not Always Best

I personally prefer first party or reliable (Crucial, Corsair) RAM, even if it costs a little more.

Chalk it up to no negative experience with low priced ram.

I see your point and will consider paying more for ram in future.

Please note that my instructions on how to get a low price from Omni also extends to all the other brands listed. You will find that by going through Ramseeker.com, you will be offered a lower price, with a link for that price to the vendor's website, than by going directly to any of the vendors' sites first. The overall point I wanted to make, but didn't explicitly, was that you will almost always save money - no matter which brand or quality of ram you buy - by going through those ramseeker lower price links.

 

[bloodycape]

I wonder when Apple is going to start using DDR3 that be beast of a machine.

 

[matticus008]

I wonder when Apple is going to start using DDR3 that be beast of a machine.

Probably some time after DDR3 becomes available...

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Does anyone know if the Merom upgrade speed increase was comparing an equal speed Core Duo and Merom, or was it comparing, say, a 1.5 GHz Core Solo to a 2 GHz Merom? If it was comparing faster GHz, then OBVIOUSLY it will be faster...

But, there is supposed to be SOME speed increase just from moving to Merom, even at the same speed. I just hadn't seen any hard numbers on what the improvement really was. (Also, moving to 64-bit will improve another 10-sih percent. So moving from 32-bit Core Duo to 32-bit Merom will have one speed boost, and from 32-bit mode Merom to 64-bit mode Merom another speed boost. But that would require a 64-bit compilation of the Mac OS for Intel.)

 

[daveL]

PowerBook vs MBP

Here's a good place to compare the last PBs and the new MBP specs:

http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/powerbook/macbookpro_1_06.shtml

 

[daveL]

Does anyone know if the Merom upgrade speed increase was comparing an equal speed Core Duo and Merom, or was it comparing, say, a 1.5 GHz Core Solo to a 2 GHz Merom? If it was comparing faster GHz, then OBVIOUSLY it will be faster...

But, there is supposed to be SOME speed increase just from moving to Merom, even at the same speed. I just hadn't seen any hard numbers on what the improvement really was. (Also, moving to 64-bit will improve another 10-sih percent. So moving from 32-bit Core Duo to 32-bit Merom will have one speed boost, and from 32-bit mode Merom to 64-bit mode Merom another speed boost. But that would require a 64-bit compilation of the Mac OS for Intel.)

You might want to look here:

http://anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2715&p=2

 

[DHagan4755]

Question on Firewire ports

Does anyone know if the Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 ports are on the same bus, or are they each dedicated?

I read somewhere in a forum where a user was debating on whether to get an iMac Core Duo or a MacBook Pro for video editing, it was recommended that the MacBook Pro would be a better choice since you could add another Firewire port on a different bus, which would be better for throughput.

Help, I'm confused. Thanks!