Giving up on MBP--Going with MP

[shoulin333]

Apple loves you!

prolly exactly what they were waiting for. They wanted you to give up and buy a MP, then they will wait 15days so you will be out of your return period. Then BAM on day 16 they will prolly release the new MBP.

hehe, soo crappy, but prolly true

Since Sept '07, I have been 'this close' to purchasing a new, 'loaded' MBP 17" but have been waiting for the upgrade as have many of us. I am tired of the waiting game, and at this point in time, because my old Dell is quickly approaching its demise, I need to move on.

Because having the laptop vs. desktop has been more of a 'want' than a 'need', I am planning on going with an MP. I know that I could go with the current MBP, but it irks me to purchase something that will be so shortly updated whereas the MP is new. That may or may not be logical, but frankly I'm angry and do not want to be taken advantage of by the big . (And forget the MBA---it's a lightweight --no pun-- in terms of my needs.)

That all being said, I need advice on what options to select for the MP to match (or exceed) a fully loaded MBP without breaking the bank. Obviously I will need a display, but I am not technically savvy enough to select the other features such as the processor(s), memory, graphics cards, hard drive storage, SAS hard drives, a Mac Pro RAID Card (?), SuperDrives (?), and/or other options.

(I think that this is the correct forum in which to post this thread of inquiry-- or should I be posting this to the MP forum?)

Thanks in advance for any recommendations you have...

 

[maccompaq]

Yeah I think the one common factor that all 4 of my virus/spyware infected PC's shared is downloaded music. My guess is that I was getting a lot of bundled spyware programs hidden within my music downloads across the internet.

I have never downloaded music nor do I intend to do so. I guess that has saved me some problems.

 

[basqarl]

I don't know enough about the Mac Book to comment on whether it would be sufficient, compared to a MacBook Pro.

At least with the MBP you can get the entry model with AppleCare for $2300, still saving $800 over the basic MP, giving you portability, at the sacrifice of total power. But this is still a very nice laptop.

The difficult part is we don't know your budget. You implied having a modest computer budget but are discussing $3000+ computers. And you don't seem to have factored in software for your hobby. If you're serious and plan to get Photoshop, that's like $500. If you really want a calibrated system, that's like $200 for the kit. This is not to put you off, but to say asking "what should I buy" without describing your budget and goals is an impossible situation.

And all I can say for sure is that the Mac Pro is a high-end workstation, $3000 minimum, and (in my opinion) is overkill for most home users.

If you want a killer machine and have $3000 - $4000 to spend, the Mac Pro will be good for 10 years (no joke). Or you can buy a loaded 17" MBP for about $3500 that will crush most other laptops on the market.

But if you have a normal, or even lean, budget and also need to buy Photoshop, maybe a photo printer, and other Mac software, you should give the less expensive Mac's a good look.

Knowing how long I hold onto things in general, i want to invest in something that will last as long as possible, but will also fit my needs. If I purchase the MBP as a desktop replacement, it will give the portability I want for those relatively rare occasions that I want to take it with me, or even move to another room, depending on the situation. How long would the 'life' of a MBP be? (Again, not to be a broken record, but I am just so very frustrated by the concept of purchasing something that has an update coming just around the corner.)

On the other hand, if I had taken the advice of those who said to buy what you want/need now, I would have had the MBP since September or October..... and would have benefited from its features already.

I really appreciate your taking the time to help me think this through. It does seem as though I should stick with a notebook instead of going with a desktop, which rules out the other Macs. (I wonder if there is some way to alter the name of this thread to "Changed my mind.....Now, along with thousands of others the question is 'to wait or not to wait'" ?

 

[ghettochris]

i needed a computer this winter, and since no new macbook pro came out, i ended up with a 20'' imac. when i travel, i setup in remote locations for a couple weeks at a time, so i use a monitor with my mbp or mini. the imac is basically a monitor, but with a built in cpu with more power than either the mini or the mbp.

i actually view it as a 20'' mbp on a stand with no keyboard and a 3.5'' fast hdd

anything other than the pc express slot and non glossy option that the mpb has on the imac?

now i have the imac and the monitor i used to hook up to my stuff, so now i'm dual display, one glossy, one not.

 

[DaveF]

Knowing how long I hold onto things in general, i want to invest in something that will last as long as possible, but will also fit my needs. If I purchase the MBP as a desktop replacement, it will give the portability I want for those relatively rare occasions that I want to take it with me, or even move to another room, depending on the situation. How long would the 'life' of a MBP be? (Again, not to be a broken record, but I am just so very frustrated by the concept of purchasing something that has an update coming just around the corner.)

On the other hand, if I had taken the advice of those who said to buy what you want/need now, I would have had the MBP since September or October..... and would have benefited from its features already.

I really appreciate your taking the time to help me think this through. It does seem as though I should stick with a notebook instead of going with a desktop, which rules out the other Macs. (I wonder if there is some way to alter the name of this thread to "Changed my mind.....Now, along with thousands of others the question is 'to wait or not to wait'" ?

Computers last as long as you want them to. I used a Windows PC for 9 years, until I replaced it with my MBP last summer. People productively use Macs, portables too, for 5 or more years. It depends on how much you feel the need to upgrade to the newest software, how much you upgrade your computer, and where you start from.

As for a possible refresh -- I waited about six months extra planning to get a refreshed MBP with Leopard and iLife 08. To my annoyance, Leopard and iLife 08 were postponed for months after the summer MBP refresh, and my computer purchase had moved from desire to need. So I bought my MBP within days of its refresh and then paid an extra $300 to upgrade to OS 10.5 and iLife 08 a few months later. So it goes.

If you can wait longer, believe there's a refresh coming, and will be upset at seeing what you bought drop in price shortly after buying it, then you should wait. Otherwise, as you note, if you'd bought when you first wanted, you'd already have enjoyed it for 9 months. Who knows if this refresh is in three days or three months?

 

[Twe Foju]

congrats on the MP, it is a beast machine

but on some other hands, i kinda feel sorry for you not getting the MBP where you could just buy one without having to wait for the unknown coming updates

 

[maccompaq]

Now is the time to comment on the new MBP.

 

[basqarl]

...it's a non-issue now........

Since Sept '07, I have been 'this close' to purchasing a new, 'loaded' MBP 17" but have been waiting for the upgrade as have many of us. I am tired of the waiting game, and at this point in time, because my old Dell is quickly approaching its demise, I need to move on.

Because having the laptop vs. desktop has been more of a 'want' than a 'need', I am planning on going with an MP. I know that I could go with the current MBP, but it irks me to purchase something that will be so shortly updated whereas the MP is new. That may or may not be logical, but frankly I'm angry and do not want to be taken advantage of by the big . (And forget the MBA---it's a lightweight --no pun-- in terms of my needs.)

That all being said, I need advice on what options to select for the MP to match (or exceed) a fully loaded MBP without breaking the bank. Obviously I will need a display, but I am not technically savvy enough to select the other features such as the processor(s), memory, graphics cards, hard drive storage, SAS hard drives, a Mac Pro RAID Card (?), SuperDrives (?), and/or other options.

(I think that this is the correct forum in which to post this thread of inquiry-- or should I be posting this to the MP forum?)

Thanks in advance for any recommendations you have...

Well....it's a non-issue now that the new MBP came out. I am a happy camper and just ordered it over the weekend.

Thank you all for your recommendations....they helped me hang on until the MBP came out. (Of course, had it been another month, I was ready to just jump ship or buy the older version.)

 

[maccompaq]

Well....it's a non-issue now that the new MBP came out. I am a happy camper and just ordered it over the weekend.

Thank you all for your recommendations....they helped me hang on until the MBP came out. (Of course, had it been another month, I was ready to just jump ship or buy the older version.)

The next MBP update is this coming June.