MacBook Shipments Have Begun?

[polaris20]

You know, realistically, is there really anything PRO about any laptop? If you want to do power computing, don't most people go to their desktop? Just asking.

Nah, I use a laptop only for work, because being in IT I move around a lot, work from home, etc.

Currently I've got a Thinkpad T61 w/ the 2.4 C2D with 4GB RAM, running XP Pro. It does great with VMWare Workstation, audio apps, video, etc.

Sure workstations are faster, but the mobility is definitely an advantage for me. I suspect that's the case for a lot of people using it "professionally".

 

[kabunaru]

To be honest, I think the October 14th time frame seems right on

October 14 could be for something else, September 23 could be for the MacBooks:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/15/new-macbooks-already-shipping-hitting-stores-september-23rd/

 

[Syrus28]

Hahaha!! ON a mac you get OS X INSTANTLY without having to install it.

on a thinkpad, you will have to look for at least 2 hours to fix the audio problem to get it working smoothly. Believe me, i tried it. I have hackintosh on several computers, and setting it up is NOT an instant thing. the first one i made took 5 hours.

I'm confused as to why you assume we will all be taking the liberty of installing OS X on the PCs we buy.

 

[johnasmith1914]

But that's the point.

A PC is like a Ford that doesn't look great, but performs like a BMW.

A Mac is like a Ferrari that looks great, but performs only like a Ford.

See the difference?

Do you mean that a PC is like a subaru? With excellent performance but the exterior paint quality is not as high as a BMW's exterior coat of paint?

And that a Mac is like a Ferrari with a Geo engine?

You are confusing!!! typical of a PC user LOL

 

[Eric S.]

For those of you who are saying that it will come out tomorrow.....I GUARANTEE you that if these rumors are true and that it shipped from the factory today, it would take ALOT longer than 1 day to reach the United States, let alone all the retail stores. Think about it...these are coming over on cargo ships from China, they have to clear customs, be put on trucks, driven across the entire country...and you think all this can happen in a day?? To be honest, I think the October 14th time frame seems right on

It's possible that Apple could announce new models before they were available in stores though. But I think it is too soon after the new iPod announcement; they'll wait at least a bit to get more impact from the announcement.

 

[Syrus28]

Do you mean that a PC is like a subaru? With excellent performance but the exterior paint quality is not as high as a BMW's exterior coat of paint?

And that a Mac is like a Ferrari with a Geo engine?

You are confusing!!! typical of a PC user LOL

Trying to decipher this... Pcs have excellent performance, but lower paint quality... Macs have a Geo Engine... Yeah... Please stop talking.

 

[Beric]

I'm sorry, but I have to call this what it is: An utter lie.

20-30 crashes a day? You NEVER had a crash on OS X and neither has ANYONE you know? You either had your mac for a VERY short time, and have NO friends owning a mac, or you're lying through your teeth.

Secondly, Macs – especially their portables - have dwindled in quality in recent years to the point they should be considered the Dells of yore.

In summary: If you want a properly made laptop today, there are plenty to choose from, but Apple is not one of them. Meself? I prefer Thinkpads. And when this one dies, I will make my next computer (a thinkpad) into a dual boot hackintosh.

OS X itself are so bloated that Apple themselves see the need to slim it down considerably: Snow Leopard.
OS X is buggy as hell since the advent of 10.5 and the focus on the iPhone and Touch.

Thank you for something well-said.

Macs are not like they used to be. At least you used to get better-quality hardware than the competition. Macs definitely are the Dells of today.

 

[NT1440]

I know some people that work at apple and I know that the Intel processors that are in the mac are different from the intel processors in the PCs.

Intel makes Special Superior processors for the Macbook that are specially ordered and designed not to crash. The ones designed for vista are designed with older specifications that are made to crash more often.

Also the nvidia graphics card is a different version than what the model number says. On the macbook, it is a Secret edition that performs better.

um, i honestly cannot beleive a word you right john.

 

[johnasmith1914]

Macs are not like they used to be. At least you used to get better-quality hardware than the competition. Macs definitely are the Dells of today.

Dude. You are the LIAR. Macs are NOT the "Dells of today."

The cheapest dells cost like $180.

Macsbooks are $1000+

you have no idea what you are talking about

 

[thirtytwopaths]

October 14 could be for something else, September 23 could be for the MacBooks:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/15/new-macbooks-already-shipping-hitting-stores-september-23rd/

I still dont see how that is possible. Research online shows that it takes on average around 3 weeks for a cargo ship to travel from China to the West Coast of the United States.....

 

[gooey]

For those of you who are saying that it will come out tomorrow.....I GUARANTEE you that if these rumors are true and that it shipped from the factory today, it would take ALOT longer than 1 day to reach the United States, let alone all the retail stores. Think about it...these are coming over on cargo ships from China, they have to clear customs, be put on trucks, driven across the entire country...and you think all this can happen in a day?? To be honest, I think the October 14th time frame seems right on

I do not believe that it'll come out tomorrow either, but I should say shipping from China is not that much a problem. 3 yrs ago when I ordered my iBook G4, I ordered the system Friday night, and found out it's actually shipped out directly from China. When I checked it next day it was already in Alaska, and I received the package on Monday!!

 

[Dreamail]

That Gateway is like what I want. I'm currently giving Apple 6 months to a year to make a similar model for a similar price, or I'll buy it. I prefer OS X and will give it a bit more time, but not forever.

It's really hard to compare the two like for like. You can't just look at the barebones specs.

From the Gateway's tech specs I can't find out if the casing is solid metal or not, from what I gather some keys are metal but the enclosure is plastic. In which case the MacBook's aluminum will always be more expensive.

Also this Gateway has a tray loading drive on the left side - which doesn't really compare to a slot loading drive at the front. The former is flimsy and awkward in tight spaces.

The FireWire port is only 4pin, i.e. not powered. Which is cumbersome if you want to attach an external portable drive on the go. 'Same' spec, but yet not the same.

These are just three of the many small details where MacBooks have higher quality components. In total this will result in a much more refined user experience - but also a higher price.

You can't just say a DVD drive is a DVD drive, or a Firewire port is a Firewire port. There are nuances and usually with PCs if you pick all the cheapest nuance variants and bundle them up you get a PC with 'like' or even 'better' specs for cheaper money. Duh!

Some people are OK with that and rather have the cheaper parts. I prefer a solid aluminum case, 6pin Firewire port and slot loading drive (and all the other niftier details). And I am willing to spend more money for them.

 

[Beric]

Do you mean that a PC is like a subaru? With excellent performance but the exterior paint quality is not as high as a BMW's exterior coat of paint?

And that a Mac is like a Ferrari with a Geo engine?

You are confusing!!! typical of a PC user LOL

Sorry, I'm a Mac-only user and have always been.

I simply have looked at the specs and price. You wanted to talk about cars? I decided to as well. I fact is, there are no cars in today's market to adequately define a typical PC versus a typical Mac. So I made up my own car types.

In more simple terms: A Cheap car that performs, and doesn't look nice, versus an expensive, nice-looking car that doesn't perform.

In the car market, an expensive, nice-looking car tends to also have a great engine and perform well. Macs actually have worse specs than PC's.

 

[kabunaru]

Macs definitely are the Dells of today.

To me, Macs are the Mercedez of Macs. Rock solid, at least for me.

 

[Syrus28]

Dude. You are the LIAR. Macs are NOT the "Dells of today."

The cheapest dells cost like $180.

Macsbooks are $1000+

you have no idea what you are talking about

... "The Dells of Today" as in "the sub-par computers of today". While I wouldn't go that far, my MacBook is definitely not what I thought it would be.

 

[Mackilroy]

Dude. You are the LIAR. Macs are NOT the "Dells of today."

The cheapest dells cost like $180.

Macsbooks are $1000+

you have no idea what you are talking about

He's not referring to cost, but rather hardware quality.

Fortunately, he's wrong, because Apple still consistently outscores all other PC manufacturers on consumer reports for quality and ease of use. That's not to say Apple never has problems, and has never made a mistake, but to call them the 'Dells of today' is exaggerating substantially.

 

[Beric]

To me, Macs are the Mercedez of Macs. Rock solid, at least for me.

A Mercedes that isn't that powerful, you mean.

Macs are under-specced compared to PC's.

 

[Tosser]

Hahaha!! ON a mac you get OS X INSTANTLY without having to install it.

Depends if you want:

a) A bloated full install, or:

b) A slimmed down install without all the unnecessary languages, crap apps and so forth.

I prefer the latter.

And with both you have to set it up. As I mentioned, you will only NOT have to do anything if you're "in college" and/or do nothing special with your computer. The moment you have to install and run professional apps you can't just run the thing "out of the box".
What's so difficult to understand?
Oh, that's right, you're this bloke:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6243045/

on a thinkpad, you will have to look for at least 2 hours to fix the audio problem to get it working smoothly. Believe me, i tried it.

Sure you have. Just like you had screens explode and so forth

I have hackintosh on several computers, and setting it up is NOT an instant thing. the first one i made took 5 hours.

Yeah, and as in your example, you also make $200/hour yet you have no clue how to outsource your time
Get real – I'm willing to bet you have never even seen a hackintosh, nor have touched a Thinkpad in your life.

 

[thirtytwopaths]

I do not believe that it'll come out tomorrow either, but I should say shipping from China is not that much a problem. 3 yrs ago when I ordered my iBook G4, I ordered the system Friday night, and when I checked it next day it was already in Alaska, and I received the package on Monday!!

Yea but that is an individual unit being shipped via a private carrier (DHL). It was most likely sent over on a plane, not a boat. When you are shipping hundreds of thousands of units, it takes something alot larger than an airplane to get it over here (thus the use of cargo ships) and DHL definitely would not be in charge of that.

 

[NT1440]

Specs ARE important in a computer, not just the design.

It's like BMW vs. FORD.

The BMW has a better engine.

Just like Macs have a better processor and hard disk drive than PCs. The processor is special made INTEL. and also NVIDIA graphics.

On a PC you'll probably get AMD and Ati graphics.

if you provided any proof whatsoever, people wouldnt think you where just talking out your ass.

Apple uses standard intel chips off the shelf.

 

[Beric]

He's not referring to cost, but rather hardware quality.

Fortunately, he's wrong, because Apple still consistently outscores all other PC manufacturers on consumer reports for quality and ease of use. That's not to say Apple never has problems, and has never made a mistake, but to call them the 'Dells of today' is exaggerating substantially.

What about heating issues (as hot as is possible without overheating, 24/7), and Macbook cracking, and MBP graphics card problems? What about poor flash performance?

Also, I'd be curious to know which of the users in your survey actually have older Macs, which tend to run much better than the modern ones of the past couple of years.

 

[kabunaru]

Macs are under-specced compared to PC's.

Except the Mac Pro you meant?

 

[Tosser]

Dude. You are the LIAR. Macs are NOT the "Dells of today."

The cheapest dells cost like $180.

Macsbooks are $1000+

you have no idea what you are talking about

Er, you don't think we're talking quality and poor assembly in general?

As someone else said to this comment:

I know some people that work at apple and I know that the Intel processors that are in the mac are different from the intel processors in the PCs.

Intel makes Special Superior processors for the Macbook that are specially ordered and designed not to crash. The ones designed for vista are designed with older specifications that are made to crash more often.

Also the nvidia graphics card is a different version than what the model number says. On the macbook, it is a Secret edition that performs better.

You really aren't one to believe.

One should make a little black book with all your nonsense statements – they could fill an entire moleskine from this thread alone.

 

[johnasmith1914]

Yeah, and as in your example, you also make $200/hour yet you have no clue how to outsource your time

LOL i never said I make 200 per hour. I don't even get paid hourly. I meant hypothetically if you get paid $200 per hour then that is what it costs to build a hackintosh--about $1000, which makes up the difference between PCs and Macs where you get OS X already installed.

and also, how am i supposed to outsource my hackintosh-building time? Where do I find people that know how to fix the driver problems on a PC when I install OS X in my town of a population of 500. Do you think I can hire anybody off the street and they will know how to install kalyway onto a random PC with no problems?

 

[Beric]

Except the Mac Pro you meant?

Right. The Mac Pro is the ONLY Mac that has the best specs in its category. For a price, of course. But at least it has the best specs. Your typical consumer Mac has the worst specs in its category. And yet they STILL cost the most in their category.