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Merom: If you had known what you know now...

J

JPark

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2006
663
158
Okay, here's a question for everyone who, like me, decide a very long time ago to buy a laptop but put off that purchase to wait for Merom.

1. How long ago did you decide you would be buying a laptop?
2. If you had know then that in mid-October it still wouldn't be out, would you have waited?

Waiting for it has had an interesting effect on me. I was absolutely sure when the Macbook came out that I wanted one. I was ready to buy in August, but decided to wait for Merom. Well, after about a month went by, I just wasn't that excited about it anymore. Now I'm questioning if I even need a new computer. I might just put it off another half-year. :confused:

How 'bout you? What are your thoughts?
 
I've been holding off, waiting for the Merom for awhile now. I was *so* sure that I was going to buy either a MB or MBP the other night...but I couldn't pull myself to do it, even after months of convincing myself to buy one. Simply put, I think the price/performance benefit on the MBP is extremely bad right now, seeing how long it's been since they've updated them...I think I will be waiting for Leopard and Santa Rosa, b/c god knows when the Merom's will ship in the MBP...say it's MWSF, then I get screwed b/c Santa Rosa comes out with *perhaps* a total new design (801.n, better battery life, new casing, etc.) a few months after that shipping with Leopard? Um, no thanks Merom/dated hardware that I would have for *maybe* 3-4 months...
 
I am probably buying this weekend. I really don't want to wait much longer. I still haven't decided on BlackBook or MBP.
 
I had planned to wait -but glad I didn't! Bought nearly 2 months ago now. 2 months next week :cool:
 
I considered on buying a MacBook since it was released. Then came the delays and fears: WWDC speculated updates; Concerns with the defects coming from MacBook, and Core 2 Duo coming soon. Here I am still waiting and a bit frustrated.. :(
 
Was planning to wait...BUT got it 2 weeks ago. All I have to say is I LOVE my Macbook.

To those who are waiting, good luck!

To those who didn't wait, congratz!
 
Well, I ordered a MacBook Pro the day they were announced. So I've had 7 months of use since I got mine. I knew Merom was coming out, and that it was drop-in compatible with Yonah. I knew that only one generation of 32-bit Intel Macs would be released. I still bought it.

Chips always get better/faster. Just look at the now-impending release of Quad-core chips. Once those are out, people will be waiting for the so-called "true" quad-core chips next year. Then for 8-core chips, ad nauseum. Same with all the other components.

Unless you have a specific technical need for wanting {upcoming technology}, you just buy based on what's available when you need to buy. (For example, if you do a workflow that requires the fastest processor available, and is massively multithreaded, it actually does make sense to hold off on a Mac Pro purchase for the quad-core chips to come out.)

My MacBook Pro will still be 'good' for another year at least, and 'current' for 2-3 years beyond that. That will be about the time I'll be looking for a replacement. I don't have any tasks that would specifically benefit from being 64-bit, or having more than 2 GB of RAM, so I'm happy with what I have. I mean, the initial Core (not 2) Duo iMacs didn't just become totally, completely obsolete, did they? Even the G5 iMacs are still perfectly good machines for most uses.
 
i'm still waiting for merom. i'm happy enough with my g4 powerbook and conroe pc for now, so it's not like i'm lacking something. but when merom hits i'm going to upgrade to a macbook pro, not so much for the speed difference but the heat difference. my conroe chip runs really cool, and i can't help but imagine merom might help with the heat in the MBP. plus i'm waiting for a new "revision" of sorts, to make sure all of the bugs are really gone. or at least the big ones.
 
I attempted to wait for the new release MBPs, not so much because I would need the 64 bit of the Merom, but because I wanted to get the best value for my money (something 'current' as opposed to 6 months' dated). I was limping along on an 800MHz PB where the CD drive had died, the case/hinge had cracked, and the battery would unexpectedly 'lose' its charge, despite the 50% readout on the screen.

I got so caught up in the threads (and didn't really have the money) for the new machine that I ignored all the signs that were saying 'replace it already!' My PB's harddrive failed the day of Photokina (when we were all so sure of an update!), and I decided that it was finally time. So I have a new MBP that I'm really happy with (although I still don't have all the money to pay for it), but if I had known, I'd have bought the thing back in August for the free iPod. Eh, hindsight's 20/20.:D
 
I would've probably bought a Macbook in August, together with memory back when it was a bit cheaper. Ah well, aiming for a MBP now.
 
1 - july... but i decided to scheldule the purchase to september / october because i wouldn't be needing a new computer during my sumer holidays

2 - probably not. then again, when i decided to get a new laptop, i was definitely not aiming at a mac (i'm a PC user and always have been). so i considered the sony vaio, the lg t1... then i stumbled onto the mac intels, tried them, liked them and decided that a macbook (pro) would be my next laptop.
 
I wish I had just bought back in July. As it is I gave in last week and bought a refurb figuring if I save almost £300 I dont mind not having the latest and greatest. Unfortunately the refurb I bought is faulty so has to go back which I guess gives Merom another 2 weeks.
 
After much humming and ha-ing, ordered in August, had to wait until September for it to arrive (at which point I wondered whether it would be a Merom machine), but am VERY happy with it. Face it - whatever machine you buy will be out of date in 3 months (Apple updates stuff every 3 months...). Buy it, use it, be happy.
 
would of brought

well I got made redundent, and was going to buy a laptop, but having a bit of time on my hands i thought I would research the whole laptop subject on the internet.

what I found was apple laptops were not as overprices as I thought compared to comparable machines from the likes of major pc makers, infact they looked like better value that some pc laptops that I looked at.

Then I hit the problem, I found out the mac laptops were due a refresh (mainly thanks to this place) so i decided that as it was my machine and not one somebody was buying for me (like company laptops) I needed to be as future proofed as possible that means getting a merom chip, or the latest model, then so be it.

I can wait till January to buy one but as normal i want one now.
 
1. How long ago did you decide you would be buying a laptop?
2. If you had know then that in mid-October it still wouldn't be out, would you have waited?
Click to expand...

I decided to buy a Macbook Pro in Early July, and waited until WWDC to see if Merom would be introduced. Since it didn't, I bought one that afternoon.

Even if I had known it would be released in January or whenever, I still wouldn't have waited. You can play the waiting game for a long time :)
 
Yay! Revive an ancient thread time!

JPark said:
Okay, here's a question for everyone who, like me, decide a very long time ago to buy a laptop but put off that purchase to wait for Merom.

1. How long ago did you decide you would be buying a laptop?
2. If you had know then that in mid-October it still wouldn't be out, would you have waited?
Click to expand...

So, as of today, my primary laptop is still my ordered-the-day-the-Intel-Macs-were-announced MacBook Pro. Core Duo (32-bit only,) 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM. I had to replace the hard drive when it failed a few months ago, but if it hadn't failed, it would still have its stock hard drive.

And I'm still not going to buy the just-released Core i5/i7 MacBook Pros. (If they had made the quad-core i7 an option, I very likely would have, though.)

For my workflow, the 2.0 GHz Core Duo is not that much slower than the 2.66 GHz Core i7 in the just-released models. It's now over four years old, yet in most CPU-bound benchmarks, it's about 50% the speed of the i7, and closer to the i5 (and Core 2 Duo in the 13"). I would say that that is pretty good for a four-year-old chip; but I actually think it's a bad sign for Apple's notebooks.

They should at least have the quad-core "Clarksfield" processors available as a CTO for people who care more about CPU power than battery life.
 
ehurtley said:
Yay! Revive an ancient thread time!



So, as of today, my primary laptop is still my ordered-the-day-the-Intel-Macs-were-announced MacBook Pro. Core Duo (32-bit only,) 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM. I had to replace the hard drive when it failed a few months ago, but if it hadn't failed, it would still have its stock hard drive.

And I'm still not going to buy the just-released Core i5/i7 MacBook Pros. (If they had made the quad-core i7 an option, I very likely would have, though.)

For my workflow, the 2.0 GHz Core Duo is not that much slower than the 2.66 GHz Core i7 in the just-released models. It's now over four years old, yet in most CPU-bound benchmarks, it's about 50% the speed of the i7, and closer to the i5 (and Core 2 Duo in the 13"). I would say that that is pretty good for a four-year-old chip; but I actually think it's a bad sign for Apple's notebooks.

They should at least have the quad-core "Clarksfield" processors available as a CTO for people who care more about CPU power than battery life.
Click to expand...

Holy Batman thread resurrection!

I still rock the 1st generation MacBook Pro (2.16Ghz Core Duo with the Radeon X1600).

Although I am envious of the 8 to 9 hours battery-life of the new MacBook Pro and the 1680 x 1050 screen it still continuous to be sufficient for my mobile needs.
 
Pressure said:
Holy Batman thread resurrection!

I still rock the 1st generation MacBook Pro (2.16Ghz Core Duo with the Radeon X1600).

Although I am envious of the 8 to 9 hours battery-life of the new MacBook Pro and the 1680 x 1050 screen it still continuous to be sufficient for my mobile needs.
Click to expand...

I too have the first gen MBP but 2GHz version. I did just order a new one today though, mostly because of the hi-res screen. The problems I've had with the old one is something funky with the batteries I have, hadn't decided if I need new ones or if there is a problem with the computer. I also find the wireless reception to be gimpy, so hoping the new one is better. I've been happy it lasted so long though, I hope this new one does the same.
 
Battery issues? What battery issues are you having?

I'm presently on my 5th and 6th batteries. Battery #5 holds about two hours of life, then dies suddenly with no warning, claiming to have between 10%-20% of life left. Battery #6 holds about three to three and a half hours, and dies gracefully. One of my paranoias about the Unibody MacBooks is the integrated battery. The life would be great; 8 hours is absolutely perfect for me (I've had two batteries the whole time, because I use it off-AC for 4+ hours a day.) But I am now completely paranoid about premature battery death.

(Then again, I'm also on my third logic board...)
 
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