MBP, Snow Leopard - ETA?

[Battlefield Fan]

So if you were in my position, and on a tight budget, would you buy the Oct. 14th revision or wait for the January Macworld revision?

Relevant Info:
From now until December, I do generic computing and intensive word processing (i.e. 1 essay per week). My i button barely works at the moment (and I use personal pronouns ). I will definitely need the MBP by May at the latest so I can get my photography side-project back in full swing (not enough juice with the current computer).

After reading all of the post I would say you are due for a new laptop lol. I would suggest buying one of the new laptops that are released tomorrow. Apple should be releasing snow leapord around June of 2009. Also I don't see apple releasing a new mbp at the jan. Macworld. I would expect it to be released sometime before June of 2009. So I would just go ahead and buy the late 2008 model. 3 months is way to short for apple to update a laptop. I mean people were sur. When apple updated the MacBook just after 5 months.

And just because the laptop you buy has leapord doesn't mean you can't have snow leapord when it comes out. If anything when you upgrade it to SL it should improve the speed.

Now I don't know what hardware apple will use in the late 2008 mbp but keep it mind when you are customizing it that the items such as the CPU and screen can't be upgraded at a later time. Items such as ram and hard drives can be updated later on.

I wish you the best of luck and keep asking questions!

 

[Vivid.Inferno]

I was thinking the same thing, so thanks for your opinion. Now comes the task of finding the money to pay for it!

Yeah I'm in the same boat lol. I lent my mom most of my student loan to fix her car, and she's slowly paying me back...had I not loaned her the money I'd have a new computer tomorrow. Now I have to wait until January when she's paid me back >.< - Maybe sooner if I get financing from BB or Future Shop, although I'd rather BTO straight from apple.com/ca

thespyglass: Yes it is tomorrow

 

[iMacmatician]

Tomorrow's announcements will introduce a design that will be the look of Macbook and MB Pro for years. They will receive incremental processor upgrades but more exciting is the Macbook's combination of Nvidia and processor bump. I think Macworld will announce a significant MB Pro improvement while the design goes unchanged.

I think both notebooks will get both design and spec updates. And by "spec updates," I mean something more than a speed bump. It makes no sense, and it hasn't been rumored, any other way.

Less than a day to go...

 

[nope7308]

After reading all of the post I would say you are due for a new laptop lol.

You have no idea how right you are. My first attempt at a reply to this thread resulted in the "Blue Screen of Death" (or something near enough) which lasted for about 5 minutes. Three manual shutdowns later and I'm up again (knock on wood). It's sad, but I've come to accept system crashes as an inevitability... Windows, you can eat my ass.

Yeah I'm in the same boat lol. I lent my mom most of my student loan to fix her car, and she's slowly paying me back...had I not loaned her the money I'd have a new computer tomorrow.

You're a very nice son, so take some consolation in that. Sadly, I'm also debating whether or not to use my OSAP funding to buy a MBP. It's almost become a necessity now because (1) my current computer is both handicapped and narcoleptic, (2) it's near impossible to find an available computer in the library, and (3) the MBP will allow me to jump-start my little side project to get some more money flowing in. On the other hand, I still have to pay for rent, food, and beer (none of which can be sacrificed). Decisions, decisions! It looks like I'll be asking for an intra-family loan and potentially a few more trips to the food bank at the end of the semester. Oh, the joys of being a student.

I never expected this thread to grow so large, so a big 'thank you' goes out to all the contributors! I hope everyone who read this found something useful.

 

[Vivid.Inferno]

You have no idea how right you are. My first attempt at a reply to this thread resulted in the "Blue Screen of Death" (or something near enough) which lasted for about 5 minutes. Three manual shutdowns later and I'm up again (knock on wood). It's sad, but I've come to accept system crashes as an inevitability... Windows, you can eat my ass.



You're a very nice son, so take some consolation in that. Sadly, I'm also debating whether or not to use my OSAP funding to buy a MBP. It's almost become a necessity now because (1) my current computer is both handicapped and narcoleptic, (2) it's near impossible to find an available computer in the library, and (3) the MBP will allow me to jump-start my little side project to get some more money flowing in. On the other hand, I still have to pay for rent, food, and beer (none of which can be sacrificed). Decisions, decisions! It looks like I'll be asking for an intra-family loan and potentially a few more trips to the food bank at the end of the semester. Oh, the joys of being a student.

I never expected this thread to grow so large, so a big 'thank you' goes out to all the contributors! I hope everyone who read this found something useful.

Yeah I'm attempting to work on that whole inra-family loan thing. It isn't going over so well. I also don't qualify for OSAP (god I hate OSAP). When I said loan it came from the RBC.


Are you at U of Guelph? My cousin is doing and English Major there.

 

[nope7308]

Yeah I'm attempting to work on that whole inra-family loan thing. It isn't going over so well. I also don't qualify for OSAP (god I hate OSAP). When I said loan it came from the RBC

Yeah, OSAP is a bitch. I didn't qualify for the longest time either (savings + line of credit kept me afloat). I actually have a HUGE beef with OSAP - they don't take into account whether YOU pay tuition and, at my school at least, the requirements for OSAP also determine financial need status (and thus eligibility for scholarships, bursaries, research positions, and on-campus work). Long story short, the middle class get no financial assistance, are ineligible for bursaries and 90% of scholarships, and are prevented from working on-campus to pay off debt.

In my program, research positions are based solely on financial need (not merit) and the only merit-based scholarship is a $150 book prize. Although I'm grateful for at least 1 merit-based award, books just don't pay the bills! What the hell is wrong with our educational system?

Sorry for the rant, but I feel better now

So, yeah, Oct 14th...

Are you at U of Guelph? My cousin is doing and English Major there.

Indeed, philosophy major though (hence my propensity to argue/complain at length).

 

[nacengineer]

So if you were in my position, and on a tight budget, would you buy the Oct. 14th revision or wait for the January Macworld revision?

Relevant Info:
From now until December, I do generic computing and intensive word processing (i.e. 1 essay per week). My i button barely works at the moment (and I use personal pronouns ). I will definitely need the MBP by May at the latest so I can get my photography side-project back in full swing (not enough juice with the current computer).

If I were in that position I would wait until tomorrow and buy the one I want today through the Hot Deals or Clearance section of the online store. There will be a discount plus a full warranty and the option for Applecare.

SL will only work on Intel Core 2 Duo machines (most likely a these are 64bit chips). It will optimize the kernel to utilize the GPU's on the Graphics card and optimize.

Buy now if you need it now. Don't wait for SL. Upgrades on OS X aren't like upgrades on Windows. Generally they improve the machine speed and add new features and are greatly backwards compatible... to a point. In this case Core 2 Duo chips...

 

[Sun Baked]

At Macworld, we will get an estimated availabilty (aka, Summer) for a product previewed by Steve as a coming attraction.

4-6 weeks before shipment Apple will officially announce Snow Leopard -- this is when you will know that you can buy a new machine and get a copy of Snow Leopard inside the box or for $5 or 19.95 (whatever the Up-to-Date pricing ends up as.)

Until Apple Officially Announces it, the ETA is a SWAG.

---

Until Apple "Officially Announces Snow Leopard" when you buy a machine, you will pay the full $129 price.

Buy after the announcement, then you will qualify for the Mac-up-to-date pricing. Buy a couple days to 14 days before the announcement, and cry on the phone and they may give you up-to-date pricing.

 

[Vivid.Inferno]

Yeah, OSAP is a bitch. I didn't qualify for the longest time either (savings + line of credit kept me afloat). I actually have a HUGE beef with OSAP - they don't take into account whether YOU pay tuition and, at my school at least, the requirements for OSAP also determine financial need status (and thus eligibility for scholarships, bursaries, research positions, and on-campus work). Long story short, the middle class get no financial assistance, are ineligible for bursaries and 90% of scholarships, and are prevented from working on-campus to pay off debt.

In my program, research positions are based solely on financial need (not merit) and the only merit-based scholarship is a $150 book prize. Although I'm grateful for at least 1 merit-based award, books just don't pay the bills! What the hell is wrong with our educational system?

Sorry for the rant, but I feel better now

So, yeah, Oct 14th...



Indeed, philosophy major though (hence my propensity to argue/complain at length).

Hahaha, yeah, I am in the EXACT same position. My stepdad owns an Insurance Brokerage, some years he does well, others not so much. Last year he made around 90k, thus no OSAP for me. The part that really makes me mad, is that he never adopted me, so I'm not legally his child. AND he won't pay any part of my education because I'm not his child. I'm drive an hour each way every day to get to my class, so I'm paying gas, and $7 a day for parking, plus the parking at the hospital I'm doing my clinical placement at (I'm a nursing student). Oh yeah, one semester, 7 text books, $1000.

/rant. I feel better now too lol.