SANITY METER DROPPING DANGEROUSLY LOW ...
Here I am, middle of the night, poking around on the internet, fretting about this C2D issue.
I think I should take a deep breath, put things in perspective, maybe get some warm milk ...
NAAAH!!! LET'S KEEP OBSESSING, SHALL WE?
A cursory search at online vendors (DELL & SONY) has produced the following info:
DELL (taken from DELL.COM)
o There are 6 (count 'em, SIX) models available with C2D, from their top of the line model M1710 down to the lowly Inspiron 1505.
o The M1710 goes for around $3000-$3200 with comparable features to the MacBook Pro (17" version). Can be expanded up to 4GB of SDRAM, although it's REALLY expensive. Strangely, Dell Canada offered a free 2GB RAM upgrade for free, while the Dell USA website did not.
o The bargain-basement Inspiron 1505 is $1700, with similar features to the MBP, but smaller screen (15.4"), and shared 2GB SDRAM 533MHz memory. Still comes with Firewire, USB 2.0 ports, 3 HD choices, and free scratch-'n-sniff T-shirt of Michael Dell.
Shipping dates are 1st week of October.
The SONY.COM website was less clear, slightly more difficult to navigate around. Typical Sony ... ha ha. I did find 4 models with C2D, shipping dates unknown, although I would suppose they're similar to Dell, if not imminent. If I remember correctly, my local Vaio retailer advertised the Sony C2D notebooks in their recent flyer, meaning they had them in stock.
What does this all mean?
Well, #1 I should get a life and stop obsessing about this, and #2 I really don't understand the logic behind Apple's marketing of the MBP.
It's probably one of the poorest-kept secrets out there in notebook-land, the fact that the MBP hasn't been updated.
If a person was in the market for a notebook computer, and did 30 minutes of online research like I did, they'd find that Apple is dragging their heels compared to other vendors.
It's especially perplexing considering the fact that Apple positions their MBP as a "pro" level machine, a flagship model.
It's like one car maker only offerering a 6-cylinder model when everyone else has announced they're shipping V8's.
Perhaps this will all be a moot point on Monday with the Photokina announcement, but I have a feeling that all of us MBP fans are going to be disappointed. I don't see any particular reason why Apple would consider next Monday to be a good day to announce MBP updates.
Why?
Well, #1 We're just finishing with the back-to-school notebook season -- would Apple want to p** off all those recent purchasers?
#2 The last update to the MBP was the release of the 17" in April 2006, if I remember correctly. That was only 5 months ago.
#3 I think Apple is being caught in a bit of a maelstrom that is outside their control. The maelstrom is this: the Intel product cycle is far more intense than the IBM PowerPC cycle was -- and now Apple has to position themselves against every other vendor who wants the C2D chip. And even if there are enough of the C2D's to go around, consumers can instantaneously compare platforms to see who has the latest and greatest platforms -- and in this case, Apple does not.
The whole mystique around the PowerPC/Apple architecture is long-gone now, an esoteric footnote from 2005. Mr. Consumer asks: how come a plain-Jane Dell laptop for $1500-$1700 comes with C2D, but a sexy MBP doesn't?
