Replacing my 17" MBP - Graphic Designer

[technominds]

Hey guys.

I currently have a 17" Alluminum MBP, one of the old Core Duo ones. The thing has caused me a NIGHTMARE in problems since I bought it, and now that the HD has failed for the 4th time since I bought it (as well as it setting on fire, battery exploding, graphics card dying, motherboard failing, superdrive being replaced twice) I am deciding to scrap it and go for a new Mac.

The choice is between the following:

The new 17" MBP Unibody.
The smaller processor 15" MBP plus a 24" LCD Monitor
iMac 24" (top of the line)

These all pretty much come to the same price.
As a designer, the big screen obviously appeals a huge amount to me, would the 15" MBP have a huge difference in performance to the 17?
My question would be the same for the iMac, could I justify losing protability for whatever power I may gain by having a desktop?

What do you guys think?

 

[mBox]

...My question would be the same for the iMac, could I justify losing protability for whatever power I may gain by having a desktop...

Are you freelance? Do you work with super large formats e.g. giant banners etc..
Do you work with vectors mostly or a mixed bag of everything?
I work with a few freelance and prodhouse designers and you really cant beat a large format display.
dual 30's if possible. but if you cant then try and stick with anything that has more screen space

 

[technominds]

Are you freelance? Do you work with super large formats e.g. giant banners etc..
Do you work with vectors mostly or a mixed bag of everything?
I work with a few freelance and prodhouse designers and you really cant beat a large format display.
dual 30's if possible. but if you cant then try and stick with anything that has more screen space

I'm a freelance web designer. Large format is not totally necessary, I do a fair bit of photography here and there so it would be nice to have a great display for that.

I would love twin 30's but of course that is way out of the price range!

Clarity and screen space is more important to me than anything else! Would it be worth maybe buying a slightly better 15" MBP and something aside from an Apple display?

 

[mBox]

...Clarity and screen space is more important to me than anything else! Would it be worth maybe buying a slightly better 15" MBP and something aside from an Apple display...

Well for web anything larger than 800x600 will suffice (jokingly) .
If you can get a display along with your 15" that would be great.
I have wedding photographer friends that switch back and forth from 15" to 22" iMacs and they seem to be doing great with that.
We have a newer 15" Uni and Ive tested it with an Apple 24, 30, Dell 24 and Samsung 20. Works great if you can get your hands on any of them.
I had (handed it down to graphic design daughter heading into 2nd year collage) an 17"uni for awhile. I do mostly Motion Design and 3D Animation.
Worked great but had the glossy screen. Next time around id get Matte.
At the start the 17" was also used to teach at local college and I had some probs with screen power (hooked up to LCD Projector) so tons of weird graphics anomalies.
Weird I didnt get that prob with Apple Cinema 24/30 with that baby

Wish you luck, Ill be looking for a new laptop soon too

 

[G.T.]

Hey guys.

I currently have a 17" Alluminum MBP, one of the old Core Duo ones. The thing has caused me a NIGHTMARE in problems since I bought it, and now that the HD has failed for the 4th time since I bought it (as well as it setting on fire, battery exploding, graphics card dying, motherboard failing, superdrive being replaced twice) I am deciding to scrap it and go for a new Mac.

The choice is between the following:

The new 17" MBP Unibody.
The smaller processor 15" MBP plus a 24" LCD Monitor
iMac 24" (top of the line)

These all pretty much come to the same price.
As a designer, the big screen obviously appeals a huge amount to me, would the 15" MBP have a huge difference in performance to the 17?
My question would be the same for the iMac, could I justify losing protability for whatever power I may gain by having a desktop?

What do you guys think?

Did you have applecare? Also when something this bad happens repeatedly do apple not eventually offer to give you a replacement, I've seen it on here b4 where people say "apple are giving them a replacement do they get the option that will be free or get better and pay the difference blah blah". Maybe phoning apple you might be apple to ask for one but don't know if that required you to have applecare in the first place. I assume u do cause changing the mother board etc is expensive and it looks like you might have well brought a new laptop with what you have had to replace if you never.

 

[mBox]

Did you have applecare? Also when something this bad happens repeatedly do apple not eventually offer to give you a replacement...

Some items I own personally yes, but the company I work for doesnt believe in it. I usually wait till the end of the year from purchase date before buying into AppleCare. There really isnt any protection from lemons. If you have the patience and a good rapport with local Mac service, it usually gets done asap. My 17" didnt have a single major problem. but then I treated that baby like it was my car
If you have an Apple Store nearby then your lucky (somewhat).
You can have an actual person to talk too.
Were getting one here in MidWest Canada very soon so now I have a reason to hit the local mall

 

[dommeister]

In your situation I would go for a new 15 inch unibody MBP and a 24 inch monitor. This way you have both portability and real screen estate when you need it - photography, testing website pages in browsers whilst looking at code etc.

You also could run both the laptop monitor as well as the external display at the same time, giving you more screen space to play around with.

The new 15" unibodys now have the option for matte displays if that tickles your fancy.

The iMac's processors and RAM are the same as those of the notebooks. The only noticeable difference between the iMac and the notebooks is the hard drive speeds and size.

Plus, if you don't like glossy displays, then the iMac option is out the window. Considering that you will be looking at the machine in more detail than most computer users (HTML, CSS coding, colour/shading etc), this is probably the most important factor you need to consider for any of your choices.

Dominic

 

[technominds]

Did you have applecare? Also when something this bad happens repeatedly do apple not eventually offer to give you a replacement, I've seen it on here b4 where people say "apple are giving them a replacement do they get the option that will be free or get better and pay the difference blah blah". Maybe phoning apple you might be apple to ask for one but don't know if that required you to have applecare in the first place. I assume u do cause changing the mother board etc is expensive and it looks like you might have well brought a new laptop with what you have had to replace if you never.

I'm going to the Apple Store tomorrow to see what they can do.

My three year plan ran out like a few weeks ago, although I did report the problems BEFORE it ran out, so I may hold them to that.

I really have had a nightmare with it and it would be very nice if Apple offered to give a replacement, but I doubt they will.

What made the situation worse was that my external HD that I backup to was connected to my MBP and for some reason (could be coincidence) the external HD has failed too. Meaning I will have to spend a fair bit on data recovery to getall my work back.

I think I may go for the 15' plus the extra screen. I'm pretty sure the small difference in processing power won't be a problem.. and although I would LOVE the iMac, it just doesnt make sense when I need to visit clients so much and work around.

EDIT: I should also mention I quite often got some pretty serious electric shocks from my MBP, even when not connected to the mains!

 

[G.T.]

I'm going to the Apple Store tomorrow to see what they can do.

My three year plan ran out like a few weeks ago, although I did report the problems BEFORE it ran out, so I may hold them to that.

I really have had a nightmare with it and it would be very nice if Apple offered to give a replacement, but I doubt they will.

What made the situation worse was that my external HD that I backup to was connected to my MBP and for some reason (could be coincidence) the external HD has failed too. Meaning I will have to spend a fair bit on data recovery to getall my work back.

I think I may go for the 15' plus the extra screen. I'm pretty sure the small difference in processing power won't be a problem.. and although I would LOVE the iMac, it just doesnt make sense when I need to visit clients so much and work around.

EDIT: I should also mention I quite often got some pretty serious electric shocks from my MBP, even when not connected to the mains!

I would really recommend you try push them to give you a free upgrade b4 you spend any money, also considering how long you have put up with the machine causing you problems. I have only had positive experiences with apple but I can understand the number of issues you have experienced is beyond bad luck something was not right with that machine. I'll try find some example threads about people getting free upgrades and can give you a better idea on how they got it and why.

 

[mBox]

...I should also mention I quite often got some pretty serious electric shocks from my MBP, even when not connected to the mains...

Yikes!! thats kinda scary stuff. I back up everything most of the time so knock on wood

 

[technominds]

I would really recommend you try push them to give you a free upgrade b4 you spend any money, also considering how long you have put up with the machine causing you problems. I have only had positive experiences with apple but I can understand the number of issues you have experienced is beyond bad luck something was not right with that machine. I'll try find some example threads about people getting free upgrades and can give you a better idea on how they got it and why.

I will attempt to, but you know how the 'Genius' guys can be. They always somehow make me feel like it my fault. But not this time, I shall trap their fingers in a couple of MacBooks if they try and mess with me

 

[mBox]

I will attempt to, but you know how the 'Genius' guys can be. They always somehow make me feel like it my fault. But not this time, I shall trap their fingers in a couple of MacBooks if they try and mess with me

Haha Their opening up an Apple Store here in my home town. I wanted to apply as an Apple Genius. Sadly my life is allyready full as it is, so Ill just show up time to time to test them