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Macbook Pro 17 " Late 2008 Keep or Chuck?

M

MappleRulz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2008
3
0
Hey all!

I'm a (soon to be) new mac user that is living as an expat from Canada in Saudi Arabia. I bought a macbook pro 17" matte over the phone in Saudi and now I'm in Canada for just a week doing training. I received the mbp yesterday, but it doesn't have the new case as the new 15" mbp's have. Also, it has a slower front side bus, DDR2 ram and no blu ray!

I have two questions:
1) Is it worth keeping? Or should I just return it and wait for blu ray, case revision? Screen size is the biggest issue for me as well as the matte screen.
2) How portable is the 17" mbp? Is it a monster to lug around or is it manageable for airport travel (5 or 6 times a year transcontinental flights)?

Thanks!
 
I would have waited until after MacWorld in January. They will most likely be introducing the unibody to the 17" too.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Yeah, why would you buy something without researching it?

There won't be Blu-ray for years, if at all.
Click to expand...

I heard about the new models and I want a 17" notebook with a matte screen (non-windows), unfortunately, I didn't have time to do a thorough research... :confused: Plus, internet service is sporadic where I am stationed.
 
MappleRulz said:
Hey all!

I'm a (soon to be) new mac user that is living as an expat from Canada in Saudi Arabia. I bought a macbook pro 17" matte over the phone in Saudi and now I'm in Canada for just a week doing training. I received the mbp yesterday, but it doesn't have the new case as the new 15" mbp's have. Also, it has a slower front side bus, DDR2 ram and no blu ray!

I have two questions:
1) Is it worth keeping? Or should I just return it and wait for blu ray, case revision? Screen size is the biggest issue for me as well as the matte screen.
2) How portable is the 17" mbp? Is it a monster to lug around or is it manageable for airport travel (5 or 6 times a year transcontinental flights)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, they gave it a kind of lame half-update. It would seem by the tepid update that Apple has been forced to cut spending in terms of features, because their newest laptops are rather feature-spare.

1. The new MacBook Pro 17" won't have Blu-ray, and won't come in matte. This is probably your last chance to get a matte Mac laptop anyway, so I would keep it.
2. It's surprisingly light for a 17" notebook. I mean, it's something like 6.8 pounds, if I remember correctly. Most other 17-inchers will run at about 8 or 9 pounds, so it's probably the lightest for its size, but obviously it's going to have some heft.
 
I could have waited for MacWorld. But I didn't as I know is unlikely to have a matte option. If I don't get it now, I'll never own a matte mbp 17" ever. Since matte is a CTO option, and very unlikely to get it from refurb section in Malaysia's Apple Store.
 
Yup. I think you just have buyer's remorse. You'll have it even if you returned it and got the unibody after MWSF. There's no guarantee it'll come out then anyways.

Use what you have. It's a good machine, and still the best 17 incher around. Knowing how things worked out regarding the loss of matte on the 15 inch unibody model, you'll be glad you got the matte model now.

As for portability, you will either have to be very careful or may not be able to use it at all on a plane, but in most other respects it'll be useful. It's only slightly bigger than a 15 incher when u place one on top of the 17 inch. For me the tradeoff will be worth it since I don't travel much, and when I do, my iPhone works perfectly. :)
 
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