mac.attaq.
Hey Voxers, Voxels, Voxettes. I need some advice!
Today I need to decide whether or not to make the largest purchase with my summer earnings. I need to determine whether to buy a MacBook Pro before work ends today. Why today? Tomorrow is my Mom's birthday and my Dad has offered me a slight discount if I hand over the complimentary Nano iPod as a gift for my Mom. I have no qualms giving up the iPod, and any discount I can grab my hands on the better.
I'm a die-hard pure-bred mac fan (I was but a wee thing when I started cliciking on the old classic, and Cosmic Osmo is one of my most beloved childhood memories), so if any of you have positive/negative reviews about the MacBook (does it get too hot? how do adobe programs run on it? are you completely satisfied etc.) I would be most appreciative. Any input would be fantastic and thank you in advance!
Edit: Alright folks, after gathering my thoughts and contemplating the comments I received on this post, I've decided to hold back on buying a MacBook for the time being, my dear old computer will have to serve me well. It's dvd/cd-rom players don't work and its a bit banged up, but it still chugs along. In particular, I use my computer half for communication and half for design/animation, so its important that the respective programs run quickly.
I can't say how pleased I am at how much feedback I got from this community. Its wonderful to know that Vox has harbored online persons together to actively collaborate and exchange. I can only imagine what the future beholds us voxers :). Thanks again to all!
Comments
I just bought a MacBook, and it's neat-o.
The one con I've read is that most software is not written for the dual-processor system. Apple users will have to wait for the next edition of many programs to benefit from all of the Macbook's extra juice.
I am waiting a couple of generations before going into the MacTels. This way you can wait until the software developers get their code bases caught up (as Toho states).
I know the sweet siren's song that emits from apple.com/Apple Store but you must be strong. Save your pennies and wait. Oh yeah, I am sure Steve-o will be announcing a better one at the developers conference (happening the beginning of august) or his next Apple lovefest.
Such a siren song it is indeed. The other thing that I'm contemplating is the fact that I'll only be a student eligible for student discounts for another year...and as I said before, the more discounts I can get the better. But thanks Raf and Toho, your input is really helpful and I'm still undecided!
If student discounts are a concern consider the following. If you work at an academic instuition (on the Apple list), you can get an educational discount. If you become a part time student at an approved academic instuition, you can get an educational discount. I worked on my Master's at night while working in the day. I was able to reap the benefits of the educational discount.
Also, when a new OS launches, the Apple Store provides significant discounts on new computers. I purchased my first mac (all white iBook) when Jaguar launched. I got it for a price cheaper than my educational discount.
Also extremely helpful. Thank you so much!
I've purchased two MacBook Pros in the last six months and returned them both because they made a high pitched ringing noise - which Apple has finally admitted was a problem. I think they have this resolved, but I was happy to be able to return them because I ended up getting a regular MacBook.
Because I plug into a cinema display when I'm in the office, I don't need a big screen, and I actually prefer to be able to walk around the house with it when I'm disconnected - which means I need to be able to carry it in one hand. (Other hand is for beer). The MacBook Pro is a monster, IMO. I could not easily carry it around without worrying that I'd drop it. The MacBook, at 13 inches instead of the Pro's 15, is much easier to carry, so that one works much better for me.
In terms of how they work, I'd say I notice close to no increase in speed for regular stuff like web browsing and navigating around the OS. For Adobe apps, slow, slow, slow. For Microsoft apps, slower, slower, slower.
These are not twice as fast as the G4 powerbooks in terms of real world use - at least not for me. I don't see speed as being the reason to buy one. Buy one if you need a new laptop, generally. They are nice machines. But it's not much of an upgrade from a G4 powerbook, IMO.
The screens are much nicer than the old laptops. When I put my 12 inch powerbook next to the MacBook it's amazing how much brighter the screen is on the MacBook.
To summarize:
Cons: My apps are slower - Photoshop, MS Word, etc. No backlit keyboard on the MacBook sucks for typing in a dark place.
Pros: Screen is brighter. More screen real estate as compared to my powerbook. Backlit keyboard on the Pro.
My recommendation would be to keep using your current Mac as long as it is working well for you. I don't see much of a reason to upgrade to the MacBooks because not much is better.
If you do end up buying one, I recommend maxing it out on RAM at 2 GB.
I am about to buy one too. Probably not the Pro though. As long as apple software works on it(And Camino-my favorite browser). I should be good to go.
I hear they're releasing a new MacBook Pro sometime in August with newer Intel Merom CPUs (they currently have Intel's Yonah CPUs). The difference being a 4MB L2 cache instead of 2MB and a 667 Mhz Front Side Bus.
in answer to "does it get too hot?":
yes, when it's sitting on my lap.
no when my hands are freaking freezing and i want them warmed up.
my favorite thing about the mbp is the battery adapter. it's magnetic and the prongs are inside and snap right in. my issue with laptops has always been the power adapter breaking in one way or another, so that's the first thing i noticed about the mbp and quite possibly what i love most about it.
are you aware of the student discount apple gives? (is that where the ipod comes from?)
i did bump up the contrast and saturation (reds n greens) a little for the point lobos pic... but only to get back to a truer picture.. thats how bueatiful the place authentically is (we should go some time). the red moss only grows very sparecely in ciertain parts of the western coast. unlike green moss, it lives simbiotically with the tree, absorbing nutrients that the tree can absorb, thats why it only is on the sides of the tree that face out to the ocean.
and good choice not buying a macbook, especially for someone who uses adobe software so much. talking with my moms bf who works at adobe, he sez that itl be a year or two before the adobe mac software is optimized for pentium.
cheers!
I always tell people to check here before buying a mac to get an idea of where in the release cycle you are.. in this case they just came out recently, but as others said the main issue is adobe software running "native" .. congratulations on not drinking the kool-aid .. so very hard. Shiney Shiney Objects....mmmmmm.
I bought two MacBooks three weeks ago: a entry-level White and a top-spec Black. I've been a long time Mac afficionado and these are the fastest Macs I've ever used. The Black one does get a bit hotter than the other one though. I think it's to do with the metal casing. The White one has a plastic enclosure.
I don't notice a huge slowdown when I run Photoshop CS2 from my dual-CPU G4 to be honest.
So what did you end up deciding to do? I didn't have any advice that wasn't redundant with what had already been said. If I had the money I'd buy a Macbook like woah, but then I don't depend on graphics applications that are not yet Intel-native. Then again, my Powerbook G4 is holding quite well-I only wish it had a 300gb hard drive so I could fit all of my mp3s and dvd rips on it.
good choice on holding off. I got a MBP through our fabulous place of employment, since ye olde 12 inch PB was tanking after three years of freelance design work. I was happy to get one through work so I could test it out before buying. After working on the MBP for the past three or so months, I would have to say that I am in no rush to buy one. I don't know that there's any better solution than to wait for it to not be so buggy.
+ way better than my 3 yo PB, mostly cuz of memory issues
+ love the power connector, since my last one got all tore up
-/+ it gets so hot that i get red blotches on my legs if i have it on my lap for two long. My other one did this too, so i guess I cant compare.
- Annoying-ass whir. it used to be a loud wookie purr noise, now they've updated the firmware or something so its only an equally annoying high pitched whine. I suspect dogs find it even more annoying.
- Photoshop and Illustrator refuse to be running at the same time. Starting one causes the other to crash, on mine anyway.
- Has lately started doing this weird thing where it spontaniously goes to sleep and/or shuts itself off, the screen just goes black like its decided its battery is totally and completly dead and you just have to restart.
- It doesnt seem to sleep for very long before shutting down. With my old PB I could leave it closed and unplugged for at least a day at a time and it wouldnt loose much battery power at all, with the MBP if its closed and unplugged the battery seems to drain at almost the same rate as it would if it were open, and eventually shuts down.
- Takes a really long time to start simple processes, like show the screensaver or find the wireless network you were just on.
+ The OS seems at least as smooth and well designed as my last one, with some nice extras built in (photobooth is just neato).
- the wrist rest and screen are already showing marks from hand-dirt/grease that won't come off.
+ shiny
The size and the heat issue put me of the MBP as well. I'm very happy with the MacBook. It doen't have that weird wirring that everyone seems to complain about on the MBP. Gabe, you might want to contact AppleCare to get all those problems fixed!
Oh, and I run both Illustrator and Photoshop (CS2) at the same time with no problems.
I know it's too late to contribute to your decision, but as I'm currently typing on one of the new MBPs now, I want to second (or third) that the lappy's heat is bothersome unless I'm working on a desk, which distributes the heat away from the bottom of the unit. That kind of defeats the purpose of using a wirless laptop for me though. :-\
I'm not sure if u've purchased the macbook pro already or not but if you haven't I got a discount for like $30 off of $300.