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Stuck in total ambiguity

D

deadkenny

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 25, 2006
129
0
Hi Folks,

I need a new Mac, I'm sure about that.
I sold my black MacBook (1st gen CoreDuo 2.0, 120GB HD, 2GB RAM) in advance of October 14th. It was getting a little old, I need a larger HD and more than 2GB of RAM (from time to time for parallels).

I got a good price for it on ebay and I sold it because I thought prices might fall when machines with new cases are releases (you know a black MacBook is a black MacBook, but an aluminium one is a totally new thing).

Well right now I'm at the point where I regret that I sold my old machine. I really like the case of the new MacBook, I like can live with the glossy screen (not an issue for me) but there are two reasons why I havn't bought one yet.

1.) No Firewire: All my peripherals are Firewire
2.) I have a 24" LCD and use the Computer mostly on the desktop

So I don't really like the new MacBook and I think it's not worth spending so much money on a notebook when I don't really need one.
I thought about the MacBook Air earlier, but didn't get one because it's limited to 2GB and has no Firewire.

So here are my options:

1.) Sell the 24" LCD and buy a 24" iMac 3.06GHz/4GB/500GB 8800GT
2.) Buy an MacMini and update the HD to 320GB or 500GB and the RAM to 4GB (I know only 3.5 GB or so will be usable but I can live with that) and maybe but a Laptop later if I feel the need for one (most likely MacBook Air)
3.) Sell the 24" LCD and buy a MacBook Air and the 24" LED Cinema Display (awesome looks, no FireWire)
4.) Get ove the Firewire issue and buy a 13" MacBook 2.4 GHz

Now I'm waiting because they say new MacMinis are on the way. Otherwise I'd have bought one already I think.

Right now I'm on my Dell Laptop, which is property of my company. However, I have some nifty ideas for little applications I'd like to code for my iPod Touch and honestly I really don't like working with windows. In addition to that, the Dell sounds like a jet engine (2.4GHz Merom).

My biggest Problem is, that I would hate to buy an iMac or Mac Mini now just to see it updated before X-Mas. But then again that might just not happen and I really don't want to wait any longer.

Damn Apple how I hate you for pulling FireWire from the new MacBook!

Any recommendations welcome!
 
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You can get an adapter to connect you monitor to the new MacBooks. It does still suck that there is no FireWire though.
 
Have you considered a refurbished high end Macbook Pro from the previous generation? You will get a great price and firewire and still have a laptop.

As for the high end iMac since you already have an LCD I would instead opt for a refurbished 2.8Ghz quad core Mac Pro. Then you can always upgrade the video card later on if needed or add more internal hard drives.

Heck since you mentioned buying the MB Air coupled with the LED LCD why not instead keep your current LCD and get a new Macbook Pro
 
I know about the adapter. I would buy the monitor because it looks nice and I like the idea of having a monitor as USB hub / speaker /power connector etc. with only one cable.

What I dislike though is the fact that Apple Monitors are not height adjustable. I have my Samsung in a position that the highest point of the monitor is at about 53cm. The highest point of the Cinema Display is 47cm according to the technical specs.
6cm difference is a whole lot! I can't believe it's really like that, the monitor must be so damn close to the desk, only about 10-12cm from the desk to the lower end.

I hate the old MacBook Pro, it looks too cheap, especially the keyboard. I don't like the new one either, it's too large for a notebook. I either get a 13" notebook which fullfills all my needs, or a desktop + a 13" notebook. 15.4" that's like a giant pizza box :)

I used to have my black MacBook folded together between the panel and the stand of the Samsung LCD with the Apple looking towards me. That looked kinda nice and I had all computer stuff in one place.

I could get a 13" black MacBook for a bargain price, that's another option. But then again, it's the old one ...

If you have arguments, that would help me to prefer the one or the other decision I'd really appreciate those!
 
Well after complaining a lot and thinking trough every option I ordered an aluminium MacBook today: 2.4GHz/250GB HD/4GB RAM and Displayport -> DVI
Online status sais delivery in 3-5 days :D
 
This is why Apple will never really know how dissatisfied many of its customers are with the new laptop line. People will end up buying them because they're left with no other suitable option.
 
I wrote a letter to them where I were complaining about this issue and I filed a request for product enhacement.
I have on application that is bound to firewire, one I develop at work (a product). We are planning to use Mac Minis in the final product there, hidden and equipt with Windows though.

If Apple will stop making Macs with Firewire then we will simply switch to industrial PCs in that form factor, there are plenty :)

For my private use I won't miss Firewire that much actually. The target disk mode is something that I will miss very much though.
 
deadkenny said:
I wrote a letter to them where I were complaining about this issue and I filed a request for product enhacement.
I have on application that is bound to firewire, one I develop at work (a product). We are planning to use Mac Minis in the final product there, hidden and equipt with Windows though.

If Apple will stop making Macs with Firewire then we will simply switch to industrial PCs in that form factor, there are plenty :)

For my private use I won't miss Firewire that much actually. The target disk mode is something that I will miss very much though.
Click to expand...

I don't think Apple would take FireWire out of the Minis. I think it was more of a design consideration based on the size of the MacBook and the logic board inside. There isn't room inside the new MacBook for a FireWire port. Also, Apple's always been ahead of the curve when it comes to dropping technologies. Remember the outcry when the MacBook Pros were released without a modem?
 
understand completely. My little black MB is just perfect...especially after replacing the HD for a 320G. get the refurb if it met all your needs. Apple refurbs are a great value. Unless the 9400 GPU does it for you there is little advantage (a faster bus - 1066) to the new ones. Also, if you buy the last black model released it will be a good improvement over your former one,
 
The 1200 Euro BlackBook is not a refurb, it's a brand new one which is available at a local reseller (remaining stock).

However, I got my Aluminium MacBook on Friday afternoon!

First the looks: Silver looks cheap compared with black. A friend of mine has a blackbook so I could compare side - by -side and I honestly think that it's color looks better. However, the new MacBook is much better in shape.

Second the feels: The machine is plainright awesome when it comes to stiffness and appeal. Nothing that bends and nothing that is bendend, no splices or gaps: brilliant. No noises, absolutetly easy to use display latch etc.

Third the feels cont.: The surface is cold when you turn on the laptop (metal) and warm shortly after that. The keyboards tints just as easy as the one on the blackbook. The anodized aluminium feels a little bit like plastic. I liked the gently textured kinda textile like haptics of the blackbook better. The new one is still great though.

Lack if Firewire: Well turns out that migration assistant was inable to read all data from my harddrive. OS X would hard crash when I tried several times (the "Press the Power button longer to turn off your Mac" message appeared). I don't know wether it is a Firewire/USB issue. MacOS has sometimes problems to mount the harddrives in the IOmega Minimax as well over USB. However I managed to copy all relevant data from there and I will try a repartition/reformat and hope that the HD will work fine afterwards.

Screen: Glossy as hell, much more than the black MacBook. It doesn't really matter though because the screen is just so damn much brighter!

Trackpad: I often have parts of my hand somewhere on the Trackpad when I use a finger for scrolling/clicking, causing awkward behaviour (right click instead). I think I have to get used to the new dimensions. Maybe it would have been better to make it just 1" smaller on the bottom. On the other hand there is barely enough place for a 4 finger wipe on that pad, so the size is good.

Otherwise the new MacBook is just like every Mac a really nice machine. It's such a joy to be back on a Mac from my 4 weeks interlude on the DELL Precision 2300 with XP. It feels so much faster (even though the DELL is 2.4GHz Core2Duo as well), it's so much more quiet.
I don't regret that I bought one. Speed difference for everyday applications is not noticable compared to the black MacBook. Only virtualization (my black MacBook was limited to 2GB RAM) and HD access is quite noticeably faster.

Still, when they make a black aluminium one, I will sell this one the very same day :)
 
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