Buy new MBP now or wait? How soon do you expect updates?

[hbchad]

In december, I decided to buy a new MBP to replace my 333mhz G3 Powerbook and my new PC. Then I decided to wait for MacWorld which I was certain would bring an update. Now, with no MW update, should I buy or wait? I can suffer with my current machine if updates are likely by March. I know that no one knows when the MBP will be updated...I am somewhat looking for a poll of "If you had an OS9 G3 Powerbook, would you wait it out for an update of the MBP or go ahead and buy?"

Prerequisite Information:
There is nothing I necessarily need to do right now (until march) that my PB is not capable of doing (albeit slowly...)

I gave my 3 month old PC to my father for Christmas so that he could finally burn cds and surf the internet, so I have gone from having a relatively modern computer back to my almost 10 year old PB.

I am a relatively heavy photoshop user - still in photoshop 5 on the PB, but got used to CS3 on my PC (PS5 does what i need it to do, just not as quickly)

OS9 has developed some quirks (upon startup have to force quit finder or else comp is frozen, ding alert sound goes off randomly, in order to view flash it must be reinstalled after every restart, random crashes and the like...)

I would like to have a faster, more reliable machine now, but am willing to be patient...

Basically, In my situation, I could prob make it to march but i need to start editing work on a new photo book in april and would def need to replace my PB by then. I would love a new one now but am willing to wait if the majority of MR users think an update will occur soon. Thanks for your input!

 

[Twe Foju]

i would say just buy
look at the new MB Air

the specs are horrible, it's even worse then the current MB

its at 1.8GHz optional which is kinda lame

and i will expect the same thing with the new MBP

maybe it will start off at 2.0 GHz and 2.2 Optional

and again

how long are you gonna keep waiting?

 

[jer2eydevil88]

If you need it now then buy it now, if you are sure you can wait till March then wait till March.

Apple product line update schedules are never advertised and the rumors are never a sure thing.

That said even if you buy a Macbook Pro today it will still be just as fast today as in April. If the only reason you want to wait is for the latest and greatest to be released you should be aware there are often design flaws in revision A products.

 

[MajereXYU]

@Twe Foju :

I mean no disrespect but I think there is something that is eluding you here...

The Macbook Air is not a laptop computer. It is an ultra-portable computer.

Just as laptops have to use slower/smaller/less spacious hardware, so does the ultra-portable, even to a fuller extent.

You cannot blame the iPhone for not being an 8-Core Xeon beast because it is not meant to be. Same with the Macbook Air. It is not meant to compete with the Macbook/Macbook Pro in the CPU/RAM/Video and Hard Drive space department.
It is meant to fill a niche, to meet a certain need that some people have, that is to be small, lightweight but still fully functional.

It is not less capable or less desirable that its siblings, it is only responding to a different customer need.

People also criticise it for being expensive... Think about what you are getting and also remember that miniaturization is expensive to research for and develop.
The fact that they managed to include all the functionality they did in the Macbook Air is nothing short of phenomenal!

The most recent Bluetooth standard, Wireless N, Multi-Touch gestures, back-lit keyboard, LED-backlit screen etc.

I personnaly won't buy one because it does not meet my needs but I am sure a lot of people who want a really small and light laptop will like it.

As Steve Jobs demonstrated in the keynote, competing products are compromising on a lot of aspects and do not provide as much functionality (and they also do not run OS X).
Sometimes in life, you get what you pay for. If you want excellence, you need to pay a premium. If you want ordinary, run-of-the-mill, you can order a Dell. It will work, it will get you through the day but it will be less than ideal and less than excellent.
Some people settle for just good enough. Some people want better.


Last thing I want to address while I am ranting here is people comparing the Macbook Air to the runwaway hit of last Christmas : the Asus Eee PC.

People are saying that the Macbook Air is much too expensive when compared to the EeePC.

Truth is, while the MBA is much pricier than the EeePC, it is not *at all* in the same category.

For starters, the Asus machine is running a limited (some will say, customized) version of Linux with very specific functionality. It works great for what it is intended to do but don't expect to make it your main work computer. (The shortcomings I am addressing here are when compared to MBA. EeePC is a very interesting machine in its own right if I may say)

Yes, you can install any O.S. you like on it but then you meet shortcoming #2 : CPU and RAM limitations.
The EeePC uses a really low powered CPU and does not have a whole lot of RAM available. The screen size is around half the MBA's and the storage size is laughable when compared to the MBA's. Come on, 8GB (Maximum) VS. 80GB standard...

8GB in this day and age is not even enough to install let's say the latest version of OS X or even Windows.

The other limitations are also quite the dealbreaker when you are looking for something to use for more than just simple web browsing: the limited keyboard and small trackpad (without multi-touch gestures) mean you won't be using it to produce any kind of text/code on a daily basis.

All in all, two very different machines, meant for two very different demographics.
No one is forcing anyone to buy the Macbook Air. If a simple Macbook or MBP fits your needs better, you are welcome to buy those instead.

Thank you for indulging me. It just frustrates me when people pass judgment too quickly without getting the full facts and without analyzing the situation.

 

[theLimit]

Well, I can wait until the end of February, so that's what I'm going to do. If a MBP update happens by then, great! If not, I'm still buying a MBP. You're welcome to wait as well, or go ahead and pull the trigger now. Either way, I bet you'll get a lot more done with a MBP than on your G3!

Not making fun, I still use my B&W G3 for a few tasks. I'm looking to upgrade my PB G4 and chuck this old Windows PC all at once.