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Intel Claims Core i5-Based MacBook Pro Promotion a Marketing Error

Save me from the Dark Side!!

I'm a current 17" 2006 Mac Book Pro user and have been reading and waiting for the possible bump as you all have. This has unfortunately allocated time to travel to the "Dark Side". What I'm seeing is that we are waiting for a product that will be inferior to what we can already buy from another manufacturer for less money.

Mac Book Pro
17-inch: 2.8GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB Memory
500GB hard drive1
ExpressCard/34 slot
Built-in 8-hour battery2
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB
$2,499.00

"The Dark Side" (HP DV8T Quad Edition)
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
Memory $100 OFF! 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm
Hard drive 448GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (SSD 128GB + 320GB 7200RPM)
Graphics card 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M
Display 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
Primary optical drive Blu-ray +/-R/RW with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Personalization Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Espresso Black)
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
TV & entertainment experience HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard
Primary battery HP Long Life Notebook Battery with support for Extended Lifecycle
$2238.98

Someone please talk me out of this!! Yes I know it's W7 instead of Leopard, but I may need more than that. <<<fingers reaching for credit card>>
 
Loaded Hog said:
Someone please talk me out of this!! Yes I know it's W7 instead of Leopard, but I may need more than that. <<<fingers reaching for credit card>>
Click to expand...

If you need applications that are only available on an Apple - then wait for Apple to catch
up with a hardware refresh (or buy one of Apple's current (albeit somewhat behind the times) laptops).

If you need performance now, go with a Windows 7 laptop.

Computers are tools, not a religion. Buy whatever meets your needs and budget today.
I like Makita power tools, but my workshop has some Craftsmen power tools as well. If
a Craftsmen does the job for half the price, then Sears gets my money.
 
Thanks for response Aiden, as you are the "voice of reason". I guess my fear is that the bump will not be enough, so why delay... but then again I also fear being wrong, heh. probably your "wait" advice is the best. I'm going to try and be patient! Don't let me down Apple!
 
If I was going to get a Windows laptop, I'd skip on HP. There are better brands to look at, or so I've heard. I've always loved Sony laptops, and they are coming out with some really nice new stuff as we speak. Their stuff is pricey too though.
 
I'm not going to be as diplomatic about this. Do not buy the MBP unless you feel like wasting money.

The current MBP offering represents horrible value for your money and would be a terrible purchase decision. DDR2, Core 2 Duo, an old chipset, a low-end videocard(s), are now all quite outdated. At minimum, you should wait for a refresh that hopefully brings the new chipset architecture supporting DDR3. Remember, you can't put the latest memory technology into a current MBP. And that's not saying anything about the tech advances in i5/i7.

HP notebooks are generally pretty bad in terms of durability. Out of all the notebooks I fix, HP and Dell (non-XPS) represent the most common. I agree with the above poster about Sony. I would also recommend Asus.

Furthermore, I do not see an advantage to OS X anymore. Windows 7 is an excellent operating system. So, both OS'es are very capable. I suppose if you are tied to the Apple ecosystem, OS X is a better choice. If that's the case.. wait for the refresh.
 
soooo,out of the apple media event,nothing was yet announced about refreshes on the MBP? I've been waiting since november for the update, but I'm almost giving up,desperation is taking me to switch to HP or asus.. :(
 
Thanks Stephan!
Yeah, I'm pretty well in the holding pattern now until I see the "Refresh". There's no way I'm going to slap $2,500 on the table right now knowing that by waiting a little longer, I can end up with a laptop that will be good for at least an additional year longer than if I buy one of the crrent Mac offerings. I am taking the advice of yourself and another to look at the Sony line just in case. I really do enjoy the Mac operatin system and would hate leaving it, but if Mac isn't going to compete with the current technology, then that's probably a sign for a lot of us it may be time to move on. Let's cross our fingers.
 
I was intrigued by Jobs comments that Apple is now a mobile device company - or words to that effect.

Makes me wonder about the future of the Mac Pro and iMacs. Even the laptops I wonder about. I believe that Apple is selling mostly low end MacBooks and 13 " MacBook Pros.

They seem disinterested in competing in the higher end markets. They will still have offerings there for awhile, but I think their future lies in the iPod, iPhone and now iTab.

So unfortunately, if you're looking for a 15" MacBook Pro - I suspect it will still be over-priced and under-powered even after the refresh. That's not Apple's focus at the moment.
 
should i wait for the macbookpro with i5 processor?

Just got my 17 macbookpro but im thinking of returning it and wait for an update. Any suggestions?
 
check this out

SYSTEM COLOUR Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-820QM Quad Core Processor 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows ® 7 Home Premium Edition edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works, English edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months edit
HARDWARE SERVICES 1 Year Limited Warranty with 1 Year Return To Depot Service edit
LCD AND CAMERA HD+ Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1600x900) W/2.0 MP, XPS 1647 edit
MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
SOUND OPTIONS Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi MB edit


=2200$
 
one click away

Good discussion here. I get frustrated at times with mac overpricing and the high price of fixing their machines. However, going back to someone's comment that this is not a religion and a computer is just a tool. I think the operating system is the real tool we all buy into, and for my needs, windows is too limited, and the learning curve is too high, to compete with a mac. Its the creative software that is so important. My network guy for my office always tells me that my pc' can do everything my mac can do cheaper. However, it always takes getting apps that no one can show me how to use, and that often don't play well with other apps.

With mac, I can get the iwork, ilife software, along with office, and have a fully functional, multimedia computer where most of my programs get along well with other programs.

So if another company makes a cheaper better laptop, it really doesn't help me because it doesn't come with the software i need.

I got a touch diamond phone with better specs -at the time- then the iphone. The iphone's software runs circles around my phone. who cares if the specs are better if it just sits?
 
All this spec stuff is great. But Windows 7, while miles better than Vista, is a hideous OS compared to Snow Leopard. Sorry. Even the file explorer stuff is just shiny goo, hardly as usable as Snow's simplicity. I'll wait. When MS gets UI design, maybe I'll check again. To each his own.
 
liked the file explorer in XP. the new one starting with Vista is way too complicated. it's like MS changes things just for the sake of changing them
 
Edwin the Elder said:
I was intrigued by Jobs comments that Apple is now a mobile device company - or words to that effect.

Makes me wonder about the future of the Mac Pro and iMacs. Even the laptops I wonder about. I believe that Apple is selling mostly low end MacBooks and 13 " MacBook Pros.

They seem disinterested in competing in the higher end markets. They will still have offerings there for awhile, but I think their future lies in the iPod, iPhone and now iTab.

So unfortunately, if you're looking for a 15" MacBook Pro - I suspect it will still be over-priced and under-powered even after the refresh. That's not Apple's focus at the moment.
Click to expand...

it's like MS Windows and Office. they are there for stable revenue, but the growth is in other products
 
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