Potential (aka really want a) Macbook Pro. Have a few questions.

[JoshGlzBrk]

Bear with me as this is pretty long and I have a lot of questions.


So I have always been a windows users 98, xp, and 7. Windows 7 being my favorite so far. Anyways to the point. In January I ordered a Dell Studio XPS 16" laptop with all of the fixings(turkey sounds good right now).

Dell Studio customizations:

i7-620M
6GB DDR3
1080p RGBLED (99% color gamut)
256GB SSD (Samsung pm800 with trim)

Total came to ~$2,200 before taxes.

The problems began about a week later. Ended up having to re order at a higher price, finally got the laptop about a month after I ordered it. A week after having it dust got behind the screen, they sent someone out to replace it. The person who replaced it screwed up the hinges and Dell offered to send a brand new replacement laptop. They called 3 days after I approved the replacement and they said they were not able to get me the RGBLED screen with the i7-620M even though you can go right on their website and order the exact same combination.

I eventually got a full refund and have been sitting on that money since last month.


What I'm looking for in a 15" macbook pro is the same processor i7-620M, at least 6GB ram (will they do this for the new models?), 256GB SSD, 1080p screen (might they do this also?)


I will be running bootcamp or a combination of VM and bootcamp (vm running bootcamp version) for Windows 7. Are you able to install 64bit Window 7 through bootcamp?

Hopefully there are not any performance decreases when using bootcamp as I have been told that bootcamp is essentially just a partitioner it doesn't act as a sort of "proxy" for windows to work through. Windows gets direct access to the hardware to the full extent right?

I'm mainly going to use it for Visual Studio 2008 and any other applications that need Windows. For everything else I will just move all my music and documents onto OSX.


Just wanting to know what the cost would be for what I want in a 15" macbook when they come out. I know we don't know the prices or the components that will be available but I'm just looking for a rough estimate.



Also, which "i" series mobile processors do you think they will use on the tiers?


Currently on the 15" macbook pros it goes 2.53ghz, 2.66ghz, and 2.80ghz.

The current lineup of dual core "i" series processors that I see that apple might use and their base and max turbo clocks:

i5-430M [2.26 - 2.53ghz]
i5-520M [2.40 - 2.93ghz]
i5-540M [2.53 - 3.06ghz]
i7-620M [2.66 - 3.33ghz] *What I want


I don't see the 430M being used so I'm guessing the three tiers will be the 520, 540 and 620.

I'm just hoping that they might add in a 720QM or 820QM (quad core) for the higher end as the current middle tier of the 15" mbp's are 2.66ghz which are the same base as the i7-620M.


The main reason I point this is out is the fact that currently there are only 3 choices. And if apple bundles the i7-620M in the place of the 2.8ghz model the price would start much higher than the middle tier mostly due to the better graphics card and the bigger hard drive.

I just hope apple might let us pick and choose what we want from a standard base model and offer all of the parts as customizations so if say you want a better video card but not a bigger hard drive you would be able to do so? In my case I would want the 620M and not have to choose the highest priced tier to get it because I might not want some of the addons it has compared to the middle tiered version.

Thanks for reading if you have made it down to here.

 

[Lyshen]

You can install 64 bit Windows OS, thats not an issue. And the OS has direct access, its not virtualized unless you run from within OSX through something like Fusion, Parallels, etc.

As for CPU, I highly doubt Apple will offer Quad core versions given the higher level of heat it dissipates. Apple isn't known for cutting edge but they do offer something decent when there are refreshes.

 

[gwsat]

If you got a current 15 inch MBP with 6 or 8Gb of RAM, it would easily satisfy your needs and more. Even my two year old 2.4Ghz MBP easily handles Windows 7, run in a VMware Fusion virtual machine, run in Unity mode. Because of the Unity option in Fusion, I routinely leave several applications open on the OS X desktop all the time. This includes several Windows 7 apps.

If this option is appealing to you, be sure to order the extra RAM from OWC, Newegg, or a similar vendor. They have RAM that is as good as that which Apple sells but it's a lot cheaper from those outfits.

 

[elpmas]

dang that's a lot of cash...you should wait until the end of this month
i want the same as you do...minus the SSD, due to how expensive it is

 

[Velin]

Let me just say this: once you get a Macbook Pro, I promise you, you'll never go back to a Windows laptop. Macbook Pros are that good.

Truth.

 

[Jaro65]

I wouldn't hold my hopes too high for a full 1080p screen on a 15" MBP, the other options may be doable with the refresh.

 

[JoshGlzBrk]

I'm for sure going to wait until the new ones are released. Just hope it happens sooner than later I'm the type of person who absolutely HATES waiting for anything. I'm just very impatient lol.


As for the 6gb ram if that isn't an option I can just buy the 4 and get an extra 2 later as compared to $600 to add another 4 to me is completely rediculous.

Also, does anyone know when apple may include TRIM support in osx? Seems like an essential with how many people are opting for solid state now. Since windows 7 supports it would it be able to perform trim operations when run on bootcamp? Lol

 

[kny3twalker]

I'm for sure going to wait until the new ones are released. Just hope it happens sooner than later I'm the type of person who absolutely HATES waiting for anything. I'm just very impatient lol.


As for the 6gb ram if that isn't an option I can just buy the 4 and get an extra 2 later as compared to $600 to add another 4 to me is completely rediculous.

Also, does anyone know when apple may include TRIM support in osx? Seems like an essential with how many people are opting for solid state now. Since windows 7 supports it would it be able to perform trim operations when run on bootcamp? Lol

You can buy a 8 GB kit for under $350 or a 4 GB stick for under $200. So just get the standard configuration which is 2x2 GB in the case of MacBooks with 4 GB standard.

 

[gwsat]

You can buy a 8 GB kit for under $350 or a 4 GB stick for under $200. So just get the standard configuration which is 2x2 GB in the case of MacBooks with 4 GB standard.

Yep, see Post #3. High quality memory for the Macbook line is easy to find from third party vendors. I got mine from OWC. It makes no sense to buy RAM from Apple when you can get the same thing elsewhere for much less money.

 

[Ice Dragon]

Only the 17" will give you a full HD screen. Either go for one of the two current 15" ones (mid or high end models) or the 17" or wait for a refresh.