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Considering a new MacBook Pro...Need Advice...

S

ShMac

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 3, 2007
45
4
I now have a 17" Powerbook G4, 1.5 Ghz. I am looking at the 2.4 Ghz
17" Mac Book Pro.

I want a 7200rpm drive in my new MacBook Pro. I would also like the
to take advantage of the rebates or free printers offered by some of the
Mac resellers.

Unfortunately, none of the resellers offer the upgraded drive.

Is it realistic to upgrade the drive myself?

What drives will work? Segate Barracuda? What is recommended?

What are the chances that the current MacBook Pros will be compatible
with the new solid state drives?
 
Yes, it is very easy to upgrade the drive yourself. My understanding is that any 2.5" 7200RPM drive will work (personally I recommend Wester Digital). If you are unsure of how to do so, check out YouTube - there is loads of video tutorials on how to change the drive.

I am not sure about the solid-state drives. My understanding is that they will be 1.8" and possibly use a different interface which would make them incompatible with anything which uses a normal 2.5" SATA drive.
 
I doubt that it voids you warranty. Even so, you can just take the laptop and the drive you want to put in to an Apple store and the techies there will do it for free (well thats how it works over here).
 
skuzzy said:
I doubt that it voids you warranty. Even so, you can just take the laptop and the drive you want to put in to an Apple store and the techies there will do it for free (well thats how it works over here).
Click to expand...

1. It is not an easy procedure.
2. It can void your warranty if you mess anything up.
3. It is possible to do yourself but see 1 and 2.
4. They will not replace HDs at the Apple Store.
5. Getting it done at a reseller will preserve your warranty (assuming they're Apple Certified) but it will cost you (the place near me charges $120).
 
Wow, that is a complicated looking procedure but I've seen worse.

I have never been a beneficiary of any major warranty. My
Powerbook looks like it was used as a roadside bombing shield
in Iraq...it is still ticking with no maintenance ever...

So, if you don't mess anything up is the warranty voided?


Which is considered the best screen? High or low res? Matte or
glossy? I'm not worried about the extra pixels...the rez of my
powerbook is fine...I want the best quality look...I will be doing
work on a photograph illustrated book...

If I buy from Apple I would pay about

$3,240 for low-res display with 7200 rpm, 2 GB Ram
including taxes

From ecomElectronics:

$2,330

Then I buy a drive for say $180 and Ram for $180.

I go through a complicated procedure, and then I've
spent:

$2,690 total without state tax

Total savings:

$640

That might be worth the complicated procedure.
I haven't made $640 in a day yet in my life per say.
 
I can't help you with the high or low res, but if the money isn't a big deal, I see no reason why you shouldn't get the higher res. It may make things really tiny if it's turned up all the way, but I can assume it can only help with photo work and clarity there, but my dad has the regular res 17inch mbp and it's BEAUTIFUL still.

I'd personally go with matte for book and print work especially. My last mbp was a matte and it was great, I recently switched to glossy becuase I have a matte external I do work on as well as the computer in our labs, so the glossy was just better for my in class work (the glare actually helps because it concentrated the weird lighting in my studio instead of defusing it), but for color correctness and illustrations and all that I'd definitely go with matte if I were you.

I vote for matte high res if you don't care about the extra 100, extra res can't hurt and you may really like it for some things. :) You can always set it lower if need be!

Not sure about the drives... with the rebates you will get though, it may very well be worth it to just find a cheap estimate to replace it without voiding it from a authorized reseller or something. You could always go with normal res and put that extra 100 towards the drive changing fee.... or just put the old drive in an enclosure and sell it for a few bucks anyway, make some money back that way :)

Goodluck with your purchase, you'll LOVE it.

Edit: will 2 2gig sticks really cost 180? It seems i've seen 4 gig kits for just around 100 lately. Not to mentin you can sell the 2 gig the comp comes with for a few bucks! :) And maybe the old drive if you don't want to keep it. it wouldn't be as much as you assumed. :)
 
Oh, and I would also have a 160 GB 2.5" drive and a 2 GB
PC-5300 chip leftover to sell on Ebay...I could save over
$800 after the proceeds are added in.

That is about 25%.
 
skuzzy said:
I doubt that it voids you warranty. Even so, you can just take the laptop and the drive you want to put in to an Apple store and the techies there will do it for free (well thats how it works over here).
Click to expand...

Where do you live?
 
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