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Hahaha, very funny. I would like you to keep your humor when you are on a podium for a speech or a presentation and you need to hook up to an Ethernet port and you are trying to find that dongle you left in the hotel room.



all i want iz a slimmer floppy ether retna dongle thingy for my new macintosh:D



2008 macbook pro 2.4 4gig ram penryn i.e. you see my frustration here its related to my desperate need of a proper new computer......dongle or not:apple:
 
you arent going to see many corporate IT departments adopting laptops that require external adapters to interface with ethernet.

Why not ? We use external adapters to interface with monitors

For one it kind of renders stickyports useless if I can pinch the MAC address of anyones computer by grabbing a non locking adapter that fits in a shirt pocket.

Or by changing out the MAC in software. What's your point ?

This also will blow for people in marketing, graphics, post and edit departments that will want to access corporate networks while also accessing their large portable media devices.

It won't. That's just you making things up.

Hey I am trying to get my whole division onto more MAc laptops because I enjoy supporting those boxes. But honestly I have to reconcile my budget with VP's and corporate head office people, so it will end up being HP's ugly slabs of boring (that are a PITA).

If you're trying to justify an IT purchase based on "what you enjoy supporting", then you're a very bad IT person. Costs, support, ease of integration are the primary factors for purchases.

BTW, ugly ? Boring ? Who cares ? The boxes I work with all day are probably ugly (I wouldn't know, they live in a data center) and are very, very boring (they don't have a GUI at all, require lots of typing and scripting) and they are literal workhorses I wouldn't ever want to be without.

That's IT. If you don't like it, find another job that catters more to your aesthetic sensibilities.
 
My main concern is about the FireWire thing. I actually still use MiniDV, because I read the quality is still better than many hard-drive or flash memory camcorders, at least in terms of standard definition, and is much easier to edit sometimes.
The MacBook Air not having FireWire is fine. It's not really meant to be used for extensive video editing. That 2009-2011 white polycarbonate MacBook not having FireWire also isn't too bad, as it was their LOW-END laptop computer at the time.
The MacBook PRO, on the other hand, should still keep the FireWire port. Even the Mac Minis still have FireWire, which is actually a smart move. I think there are still a number of prosumer video editors that still use MiniDV or similar formats that require FireWire to import into the computer. It's not like with a common Windows desktop PC tower; if it doesn't have FireWire, you can just get a nice cheap FireWire PCI card and install it onto your machine, and you're good to go. Not so with Mac laptops.

As for the optical drive thing, just because the Mac Mini and MacBook Air don't have a SuperDrive doesn't mean the MacBook Pro should get rid of theirs. It's far more convenient than having to carry an external drive with you all the time. Apple's whole "DVD is as obsolete as VHS" thing is going too far now (as if Steve Jobs FUSSING about iDVD when iLife '08 was introduced wasn't enough.)
In fact, if iLife is going to be updated in all of this, they should at least merge the old iDVD program into iMovie. It saves less space on a disk, it would still download easily, and there are many consumer PC video editors that have really good DVD-authoring tools built in (like Pinnacle Studio), but that's for another thread.

As for the whole Ethernet thing that's causing a commotion, I use Ethernet as a SECOND option; in most cases I use Wi-Fi, even on my eMac!
 
The MacBook Pro is getting thinner and thus the optical drive is as good as gone. Sorry but it is what it is.
 
Why not ? We use external adapters to interface with monitors
on desktops. Using them with laptops, esp in conf rooms is annoying and another point of failure.

Or by changing out the MAC in software. What's your point ?
external NICs are a PITA.

It won't. That's just you making things up.
actually, in the video centric workflow I support, this is a common scenario. Whether ingesting footage, bugboxes, editing spots, putting together promos, we have a lot of guys and girls that need network access and a big hard drive at the same time. All day long.
If you're trying to justify an IT purchase based on "what you enjoy supporting", then you're a very bad IT person. Costs, support, ease of integration are the primary factors for purchases.
I don't have to justify purchases. I have a budget and I do whatever I want with it.

BTW, ugly ? Boring ? Who cares ? The boxes I work with all day are probably ugly (I wouldn't know, they live in a data center) and are very, very boring (they don't have a GUI at all, require lots of typing and scripting) and they are literal workhorses I wouldn't ever want to be without.

That's IT. If you don't like it, find another job that catters more to your aesthetic sensibilities.
Uh whatever guy. You obviously don't work in IT if you make such a big deal out of it. You sound like a janitor bragging about his great mop.
Besides, gui-less servers and switches don't really compare to Laptops. They do not need to have ergonomics or be easy to use . Much less be appealing. Laptops need to be easy to use, reliable and heck its a plus if they look cool.

But back to what I was saying, in ACTUAL CORPORATE IT we use RJ45 terminated cat5-cat6 for networking. If anything they need to strengthen the RJ45 port. I have seen a lot of MBP's with "parallelogramed" ethernet ports.
 
on desktops. Using them with laptops, esp in conf rooms is annoying and another point of failure.

I'll specify here that I was talking laptops. All our laptops are now Display port equipped and we use Displayport adapters to VGA/DVI/HDMI all over the place.

The HP EliteBooks are like that now. We deal.


external NICs are a PITA.

actually, in the video centric workflow I support, this is a common scenario. Whether ingesting footage, bugboxes, editing spots, putting together promos, we have a lot of guys and girls that need network access and a big hard drive at the same time. All day long.

Which you can still do with external network interfaces. Heck, my laptop at work has 3 USB ports just on the docking station, 2 on the laptop itself and more if I use a hub.

I don't have to justify purchases. I have a budget and I do whatever I want with it.

And of course, you'll extend it to buy things that will be more expensive, have less vendor support and that you enjoy supporting rather then what will provide the most flexibility and productivity...

Right...

Uh whatever guy. You obviously don't work in IT if you make such a big deal out of it. You sound like a janitor bragging about his great mop.

That's what I am, the Unix janitor at work. I clean up after everyone messed up the mission critical stuff.

Besides, gui-less servers and switches don't really compare to Laptops. They do not need to have ergonomics or be easy to use . Much less be appealing. Laptops need to be easy to use, reliable and heck its a plus if they look cool.

And that is why all our work mandated desktops/laptops run a standard corporate image that is identical for every host, on a vendor supported solution (Applecare isn't vendor support) and that integrates well with the infrastructure in place, with LTS contracts.

Call me when that's Apple.

But back to what I was saying, in ACTUAL CORPORATE IT we use RJ45 terminated cat5-cat6 for networking. If anything they need to strengthen the RJ45 port. I have seen a lot of MBP's with "parallelogramed" ethernet ports.

The MBP Ethernet ports are standard. I don't get where you're going, I've always used RJ45 terminated connectors with my Macs.

And again, in corporate IT, we make do. If it means using adapters, we'll use them. Because getting things to work > whining about some missing port. We don't have time to whine like most do here.
 
Ethernetport

The ethernetport, this is were people are worried about?
There is a simple adpter to fix this.
BTW: Wireless is the future, haven't used the port for years.
 
I'll specify here that I was talking laptops. All our laptops are now Display port equipped and we use Displayport adapters to VGA/DVI/HDMI all over the place.

The HP EliteBooks are like that now. We deal.
no, HP's have both a reg size displayport AND a VGA Dsub. Of course in addition to USB, esata and garden variety ethernet. I don't like how they look, or how they mount the ram in two different locations on some models. But I can't fault Hp for abundance of ports. That is part of the ugly (along with Thinkpads IMHO). They have every port possible when half as many would do.

Which you can still do with external network interfaces. Heck, my laptop at work has 3 USB ports just on the docking station, 2 on the laptop itself and more if I use a hub.
I guess you aren't familiar with video workflows. USB 2.0 is a not starter. The drives need to connect with firewire, esata or thunderbolt. anything slower won't work, so yes we would need a thunderbolt hub or hope that daisychaining works.
And of course, you'll extend it to buy things that will be more expensive, have less vendor support and that you enjoy supporting rather then what will provide the most flexibility and productivity...
Right...
More expensive? That hasn't been true of Macs in a long, long time. As far as vendor support, in our industry there is no problem with that. We get better support for our software packages on the Macs than most of the stuff we run on PC. And to be frank, I find that people are more productive on Macs. Not because they are better computers or anything like that. But because people actually LIKE their Macs. I have this weird philosophy of IT. I think our job is to make the end user's experience of technology as smooth as possible. All my users get nice keyboards and mice, and I rotate out old hardware as fast as I can so nobody, not even the intern, is stuck with a slow old machine.
I don't want any of my users worrying about how much of teh share volumes they are using, or whether their inbox is too big. You sound liek the kind of IT guy that imposes his will on the users, instead of facilitating their tasks and getting out of the way.
That's what I am, the Unix janitor at work. I clean up after everyone messed up the mission critical stuff.
Oh now I get it, you'd be happier on a 486DX100
And that is why all our work mandated desktops/laptops run a standard corporate image that is identical for every host, on a vendor supported solution (Applecare isn't vendor support) and that integrates well with the infrastructure in place, with LTS contracts.
Well we have an Apple store down the street that so far has given us better turnaround than HP does on it's machines.
We run corporate images as well. Who doesn't? That's like saying "we use coroporate letterhead on all of our outgoing mail". We do have a few systems that run on HP bloatware images, but that is vendor specified by some idiotic companies that will only support their rinky dink video gadget if it's using X hardware with the garden variety HP image. Kind of like back in the day when Digidesign (now Avid) Pro Tools would only support PC users running Intel chips on Intel motherboards.


The MBP Ethernet ports are standard. I don't get where you're going, I've always used RJ45 terminated connectors with my Macs.
Yes they HAVE BEEN STANDARD. I am talking about if Apple ditches the RJ45 ports they are pretty much shutting themselves out of all of the larger corporate campuses.
And again, in corporate IT, we make do. If it means using adapters, we'll use them. Because getting things to work > whining about some missing port. We don't have time to whine like most do here.
No. In professional IT you do not "make do". If someone that works for me thinks that "good enough" is adequate, they need another line of work.
When our main WAN fiber went down due to a fiber cut (construction in the building) I was here for 3 16 hour days in a row, on a weekend, to make sure that not only was the connection reestablished. But also that our SQL database was subscribing, our various web apps were up, and that the remote connections to all of our affiliates were working.
Making do would not have been sufficient in that scenario.
Network connections that do not physically lock are simply unacceptable. Thunderbolt is a non locking connection (like USB or Displayport). A dongle that gets you from TB to RJ45 doubly so. I honestly can't recommend putting them into production environments if the next rev really comes out with no onboard RJ45.
 
no, HP's have both a reg size displayport AND a VGA Dsub.

I know, we have 2 monitors each though. ;)



Of course in addition to USB, esata and garden variety ethernet. I don't like how they look, or how they mount the ram in two different locations on some models. But I can't fault Hp for abundance of ports. That is part of the ugly (along with Thinkpads IMHO). They have every port possible when half as many would do.


I guess you aren't familiar with video workflows. USB 2.0 is a not starter. The drives need to connect with firewire, esata or thunderbolt. anything slower won't work, so yes we would need a thunderbolt hub or hope that daisychaining works.

Great news then! So using the USB ports for Ethernet is a non-issue in your scenario, it doesn't "limit connectivity" as you put earlier.

More expensive? That hasn't been true of Macs in a long, long time.

I could fetch you our price list for Elitebooks. Average price is around 600$. That's 2 laptops for the price of one very low-end Mac. They all have 3 year warranties and are swapped out 1 year after the warranty is out. Service contracts are on-site.

I don't want any of my users worrying about how much of teh share volumes they are using, or whether their inbox is too big. You sound liek the kind of IT guy that imposes his will on the users, instead of facilitating their tasks and getting out of the way.

I impose nothing, I work in the kind of environnement were we have systems/solutions/security architects that write up those limitations and product certification requests. A lot of stuff is locked down for security purposes (we have several industry watchdogs to satisfy, on top of internal verifications).

You sound to me like someone who works at my old job. The hoge poge routine of SMB IT. I kinda understand your position better now. Yes, working in those environnements, you're free to be sloppy.

Oh now I get it, you'd be happier on a 486DX100

Out of nowhere. 1 of my servers probably contains more processing power than you've handled in your entire life. :rolleyes:

Well we have an Apple store down the street...

Ok I'm stopping here. I can't stop laughing now. If that is "corporate IT" to you, you have no idea what corporate IT means.

No seriously, keep fretting over lack of built-in Ethernet. We'll just "deal". There are solutions, they work fine, we'll go on while you'll whine and whine and whine.

Who's going to be less stressed if this comes to pass I wonder...
 
Apple should steal the reduced profile, collapsible ethernet port that Samsung used in one of its Series 7 laptops. It reduces the size of the ethernet port to essentially the same size as a USB port.

Check it out.
 
I know, we have 2 monitors each though. ;)



Of course in addition to USB, esata and garden variety ethernet. I don't like how they look, or how they mount the ram in two different locations on some models. But I can't fault Hp for abundance of ports. That is part of the ugly (along with Thinkpads IMHO). They have every port possible when half as many would do.




Great news then! So using the USB ports for Ethernet is a non-issue in your scenario, it doesn't "limit connectivity" as you put earlier.



I could fetch you our price list for Elitebooks. Average price is around 600$. That's 2 laptops for the price of one very low-end Mac. They all have 3 year warranties and are swapped out 1 year after the warranty is out. Service contracts are on-site.
Well seeing as I just finished purchasing a bunch of new Elitebooks through our corporate liason, which gets us a better price than retail most of the time, I am calling shenanigans on that.
You can get an entry level i3 laptop with intel chipset video and 2gb ram for that much. To get a laptop that competes with MBPs you need to go to the 8560W or something similar. Those are roughly on par pricewise, and both can come with quad core i7's and real video cards.

You busted me, I don't really work for one of the largest corporations in the world. I don't own any stock in them, and I'm not super annoyed by the merger which is causing us to ditch our east coast based IT for India based IT. (because I am not daily pissed off at the bad job and total lack of issue ownership)
I certainly made up everything I said about Macbook pros being non-starters in a corporate environ because I don't already have a desk drawer full of displayport/miniDVI etc adapters for my mac users that constantly lose those. I am jumping up and down in anticipation of having to stock easily lost, expensive ethernet adapters for the web, graphics and promo departments.

All the rest of the stuff you said, you are really an insecure stereotype of an IT guy.
Stop putting on airs. It's not like anyone is accusing you of not knowing what a mouse is.
 
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All the rest of the stuff you said, you are really an insecure stereotype of an IT guy.
Stop putting on airs. It's not like anyone is accusing you of not knowing what a mouse is.

Yes, you got me, I'm sooo insecure. I'll just go hole up in my cubicle and cry to myself while I simply continue working with supported and working solutions and not fretting the small stuff like "lack of built-in Ethernet". :D

Keep up the good fight!
 
Too soon to be upset over I/O changes in the new MBP

All this fretting over the rumored changes in the MacBook Pro is a bit premature, no? Besides the fact that we've not seen the actual machine yet, just because its new doesn't necessarily mean everyone is a customer for it. I have an early 2011 MBP, and the Quad-core processor (as well as the optional Hi-Res display) serves my needs, and will for at least another year.

I've learned from experience not to buy the first model in a major design change -- the first MBP sucked, the next one (Merom?) was far, far better (but I was stuck with the CoreDuo version). People who purchased the first Unibody MBP in 2008 likely felt some real buyer's remorse when the next one in 2009 featured the new battery design with 2x the battery life.

I see this Ivy Bridge MBP as a transitional machine -- in between the fading current tech world (CDs & DVDs, Hard Drives, Ethernet & FireWire) and the emerging new technology (SSD's, Thunderbolt, etc). By the time the 2nd version of this new design appears (hopefully early 2013 with Intel's Haswell chip -- which boasts over 24-hour battery life - Hah!) the computer ecosystem will be more supportive of the newer tech. There'll be more, and affordable TB drives, as well as far cheaper SSD storage available. I'm hoping iTunes and other vendors will be offering lossless music downloads, mitigating the need for CDs for a large number of people (assuming ISP's have gotten their bandwidth act together by then).

It's totally understandable that those with older MBPs want to jump on the new Ivy Bridge model, but everyone else might consider waiting until the whole tech mix changes to match the new hardware.
 
No, you're simply making generalizations. There is nothing to imply that, because someone doesn't need an ODD or ethernet cable, that a discrete graphics card, significantly greater processing capability, higher resolution, more ports, or the ability to upgrade may not be reasons they buy a Macbook Pro.

Other than what you just listed, there's not much else differentiating a MacBook Pro from a MacBook Air other than screen sizes (and the Matte option for the 15/17" models), and maybe FireWire 800. That said, I fail to see how you're making your point here at all.
 
Other than what you just listed, there's not much else differentiating a MacBook Pro from a MacBook Air other than screen sizes (and the Matte option for the 15/17" models), and maybe FireWire 800. That said, I fail to see how you're making your point here at all.

Don't forget the PCI express card slot for my eSATA card that lets me transfer files to my archive drive super quickly. A macbook Air simply doesn't have the horsepower I need for MY job.

As for corporate scenarios, if they want to use laptops they should use a dock to get an ethernet port if their needs can't be met wirelessly. Why someone like a designer or video editor who has to move large files around would use a laptop-sized screen in a cubicle on a daily basis makes no sense to me.
 
Other than what you just listed, there's not much else differentiating a MacBook Pro from a MacBook Air other than screen sizes (and the Matte option for the 15/17" models), and maybe FireWire 800. That said, I fail to see how you're making your point here at all.

I listed seven things, and you added another. So, in summary, outside of the eight differences we just noted, you don't see what differentiates the Air from the Pro. Outside of the eight differences....
 
Personally I'm more concerned with weight and footprint size. If they can drop the weight and reduce the footprint (as in the Dell XPS 13) I'd strongly consider the MacBook Pro over the Air. I'm not really too concerned with laptop thickness.
 
This will doom the company. The thinner laptops are worthless overpriced netbooks. Why pay so much money when you can have the same functionality with a $150 netbook?

What netbook has a retina display, solid state drive, 8gb of ram and an i7quadcore processsor? If you don't want to buy the laptop, don't, but don't say stupid things like a MacBook pro is the same as a netbook. Statements like that make you look retarded.

Already android phones and tablets are driving Apple out of the market, and once they lose the PC market, the company will probably fold up by 2013-14 at the latest.

Apple holds about 61% of the tablet market share currently, not sure where you are getting your info. Android phones are also not driving apple away. They have a larger market share because they sell more phone models. The iPhone comes out once a year, and the entire world is on red alert when it happens. Every iPhone has sold out and every iPhonr has brought no less than 65% growth in sales over the previous generation. Android systems have been integrated into over 200 handsets, the iPhone iOS has been on 5...
Apples stock has exponentially increased over the last 3 years and their market cap is expected to takedown Exxon mobil by Q3 of 2013.
For you to say they will fold makes me chuckle.
 
The only reason they removed the ethernet port and ODD is so they can make the design thinner.
Are you an Observer to have your time flow so mixed up? They have not "removed" anything because they have yet to announce anything. That will likely happen next week, and repeating the same old speculations from months ago will not influence what the next-gen MBP does or doesn't have.
I'm still confused why Apple are seemingly giving people less reasons to buy the Pro over the Air
Again with the time confusion, this time mistaking the future for the present, with the same bogus assumptions. The icing on the metaphorical cake is the misuse of "less", where a ten year old would know to use "fewer".
 
Don't forget the PCI express card slot for my eSATA card that lets me transfer files to my archive drive super quickly. A macbook Air simply doesn't have the horsepower I need for MY job.

As for corporate scenarios, if they want to use laptops they should use a dock to get an ethernet port if their needs can't be met wirelessly. Why someone like a designer or video editor who has to move large files around would use a laptop-sized screen in a cubicle on a daily basis makes no sense to me.

The ExpressCard slot, frankly, is the best argument for the 17" MacBook Pro to stick around. Given that the 15" and 17" MacBook Pros in their current form serve a unique use not served by the MacBook Air and impossible to be served by any machine with that thin of a form factor, all of this talk of "MacBook Air inspired redesign" is a load of rubbish.

I listed seven things, and you added another. So, in summary, outside of the eight differences we just noted, you don't see what differentiates the Air from the Pro. Outside of the eight differences....

I'm sorry, what was your point again?
 
It's not gigabit.

It will be..

----------

Apple holds about 61% of the tablet market share currently, not sure where you are getting your info. Android phones are also not driving apple away. They have a larger market share because they sell more phone models. The iPhone comes out once a year, and the entire world is on red alert when it happens. Every iPhone has sold out and every iPhonr has brought no less than 65% growth in sales over the previous generation. Android systems have been integrated into over 200 handsets, the iPhone iOS has been on 5...
Apples stock has exponentially increased over the last 3 years and their market cap is expected to takedown Exxon mobil by Q3 of 2013.
For you to say they will fold makes me chuckle.

One correction. Apple passed Exxon's market cap a while ago. Today Apple's market cap is $160 billion higher than Exxon Mobile.
 
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