Just thought people might like to see a review of the most similar laptop to the MBP of anything I've seen so far. It's a bit heavier but uses the 2 GHz core duo, 2GB of RAM, higher screen resolution and a slightly bigger HD. Cost is roughly the same as the top MBP. 99% final result though. Battery life for the tests ranged from 3 hours for watching a DVD to nearly 221 mins.
There is "information" that the lack of FW800 might be only temporary. Rev B maybe?
There is information that Apple has given up on FW800:
Quote:
Apple removed the FireWire 800 port from the new laptop?what gives?
Quite frankly, FireWire 800 hasn?t really taken the world by storm. And Apple says that forthcoming cards for the MacBook Pro?s ExpressCard slot will be able to provide FireWire 800 ports for people who need them. (In addition, ExpressCards should be able to provide high-speed connections for other storages, such as external Serial ATA.)
There is information that Apple has given up on FW800:
I read an article yesterday that talked about this issue. Apparently, Apple was the only OEM that was putting firewire 800 on their motherboards. So Intel doesn't support it (as of yet?), because there has been little interest from their customers to include it. Just what I read, dunno if it is true or not. As for the DL situation, I asked one of the sales droids at macwerld what the deal was with the dvd. He said it uses a different form factor then the old drive. Therefore, the had to downgrade the specs to fit it in the new case. Anyone, care to verify the truth of that claim? Either way I am debating sitting this revision out.\
(...) Apparently, Apple was the only OEM that was putting firewire 800 on their motherboards. So Intel doesn't support it (as of yet?), because there has been little interest from their customers to include it.(...)
What I was trying to say was "as of yet" is the operative phrase, here. Of course, I could be wrong -- this is just what I heard somewhere.
The modem is useful as a backup for many ppl. ....just recently i was caught in a tropical cyclone, my DSL was out for a week and the entire cellular network was out as well, being in a remote area i had no other way to contact family to let them know i was still alive, luckily the phone line was still operational...
I appreciate that the use of the phone lines, and your modem, were helpful in that situation, but I don't believe this is the type of scenario Apple was trying to cover.
Also, this is Apple's most current laptops. I say this because, with all due respect to the occasions & conditions of the areas traveled that have been discussed, they may not still have so few options, and even if they still do, aren't likely to always be so limited. This product is complemented by the rest of todays technologies, and designed for the future.
It seems as though people are just looking for something to complain about, at times. Not that anyone has really implied this, but it's as though one would argue that while one who travels the world, and spends much of their time sailing the seas, and occasionally rides along on shuttle missions, that along with their top of the line laptop, they also really need to rely on an internal modem.
Someone mentioned the lack of floppy drives already.. cassette drives, zip drives, etc.
IMHO, I would imagine most people would prefer the internal iSight, rather then the internal modem. Even if that's not the case, I think the addition of the iSight adds a dynamic Apple probably wanted to introduce to more people, and imagine there are probably more avenues for innovations with the camera, than with the i-modem, to produce, and sell to the consumers.
One last thing.. Modems for the MacBooks, as well as i/Pbooks w/i-modems, are still currently available.
I would have to get a modem to get on the internet in many places around here, including our office and my house right now. It just adds something to the price, sigh. I am going to wait for the next more powerful book to come along anyway, in the latter part of the year.
powerbook powerback,The Best thing to do is to bitch and moan to the source!!!!!!!!! we want the world and we want it now click here and tell them why you will not buy a "macsuck semi pro"
Complain!,Especially about the name i think Apple will eventually lose sales over this from A: Pissed off mac users who will not buy until they change the Uberlame ass name "sounds extreme but those types? they are out there, and of course the hobbled ports issues.
B: Windows people and switchers who dont see anything special compared to the dells etc. what are you using? "ugh a gateway" you? "Toshiba" you? a "macbook pro" F*CK%&*....... people used to really respond when you said powerbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oohhh a powerbook??? whats that? thats the kind of responses it would get. "GET A POWERBOOK" and they go wow powerbook? huh cool................... macbook pro is as lame as xp pro change it now!!!!
We want the same care shown with the precious Imac "THEY DIDNT CHANGE ITS NAME DID THEY????
p.s changing the ibook to macbook wouldnt make sense either seeing as how the imac name stayed the same,this whole name change really unbalances everything..... personal computing really has true meaning on the mac side and thats why i feel the way i do about this "personal".
I can't believe the level of whining and carping in here. If Apple were able to suddenly drop dual-core G5 laptops for $2,000 they friggin applause would make us all go deaf.
Instead they've dropped dual-core intel chips and so all this crying is happening.
Firewire 800 - Apple attempted to make this a standard and guess what, they failed. They stood alone and no one else jumped. Even they had trouble insuring it worked right. Now they are going in a direction where you can have top dollar commodity hardware. This is the trade off. You get sick-fast machines, but you yield a tiny bit to the commodity market. Lots of folks were including Firewire 400 so it wasn't any big deal for Apple to keep that as well.
S-Video - In this day and age of high resolution LCD projectors and also HDTV's you are seriously screwed if NTSC resolution is the best you can do to make the sell. DVI with an adapter to your need works best and is most elegant. Some backwards folks need VGA, some need S-video, they can carry around a little dongle instead of a little yellow cord.
Internal Modem - again if you are stuck in the past, use the USB solution.
PCMCIA - old, welcome the new.
8x DVD - Has anyone here actually ever burned a dual-layer DVD? I can't even find the stuff. The single layer media is down to like a .50-.75 cents per disk or less. I can't miss what I have never seen and never used. Apple can revise this later, but until I see the media widely available, who cares.
PowerBook is linked all right. It is linked in the minds of Mac users, and also a lot of other people, to having good looks and good performance(most of the time). It has entered in to a hallowed ground, and is part of the culture.
It is linked in people's minds, and it has been around longer than the PowerPC.
It is reasonable for people to miss it. Apple appeals to the aesthetic sense of mind and heart, and it will not hurt Apple to return to its formerly chosen name. After all, while this Mac Book is holding the ground until swifter processors arrive, then Apple's PowerBook will take its place.
Or, perhaps better, if there is desire for a new name, Mac PowerBook. That way it has Mac right in the foreground, where it should be. And Steve Jobs will know that he has made a change in the heartbeat of the Macintosh notebook. He wanted a book/laptop from early on. He pressed for it, with that prescience that he often has possessed, and now he is about filling that promise.
no... external USB modem is not aceptable. If you buy one it just about implicitly means you travel a lot. If you travel a lot you're BOUND to lose it.
no... external USB modem is not aceptable. If you buy one it just about implicitly means you travel a lot. If you travel a lot you're BOUND to lose it.
Then you probably shouldn't buy the laptop because you're BOUND to lose it.
Comments
Originally posted by livatlantis
Power = PowerPC. But if they replace "Power" with "Mac", then PowerMacs will be... MacMacs!
This made me laugh!
Originally posted by PB
I think it is the whole iSight mechanism that takes up space.
It's just a move to:
1) an industry standard size (15.4" are all the rage now, and 1440*900 is common)
2) a better panel overall
There's no conspiracy, and it's still a wicked high resolution for a 15.4" screen. Not so squinty as the 1650 models.
Originally posted by chris v
There is "information" that the lack of FW800 might be only temporary. Rev B maybe?
There is information that Apple has given up on FW800:
Apple removed the FireWire 800 port from the new laptop?what gives?
Quite frankly, FireWire 800 hasn?t really taken the world by storm. And Apple says that forthcoming cards for the MacBook Pro?s ExpressCard slot will be able to provide FireWire 800 ports for people who need them. (In addition, ExpressCards should be able to provide high-speed connections for other storages, such as external Serial ATA.)
Originally posted by onit
Oh yeah, how do you expect to receive FAXES without it?
Via an online Fax-to-PDF service? Then you can even *send* faxes, too.
Originally posted by JLL
There is information that Apple has given up on FW800:
I read an article yesterday that talked about this issue. Apparently, Apple was the only OEM that was putting firewire 800 on their motherboards. So Intel doesn't support it (as of yet?), because there has been little interest from their customers to include it. Just what I read, dunno if it is true or not. As for the DL situation, I asked one of the sales droids at macwerld what the deal was with the dvd. He said it uses a different form factor then the old drive. Therefore, the had to downgrade the specs to fit it in the new case. Anyone, care to verify the truth of that claim? Either way I am debating sitting this revision out.
Originally posted by livatlantis
They're moving away from the word "Power", aren't they?
Edit: Power = PowerPC. But if they replace "Power" with "Mac", then PowerMacs will be... MacMacs!
They were Powerbooks long before they sported PowerPC chips.
I could care less about the new name but had to chime in on this.
Originally posted by Bancho
They were Powerbooks long before they sported PowerPC chips.
I could care less about the new name but had to chime in on this.
You are correct, but Steve said the name change was due to the change from PowerPPC to intel chips. I know I heard it during the MWSF keynote.
Originally posted by taliesin
(...) Apparently, Apple was the only OEM that was putting firewire 800 on their motherboards. So Intel doesn't support it (as of yet?), because there has been little interest from their customers to include it.(...)
What I was trying to say was "as of yet" is the operative phrase, here. Of course, I could be wrong -- this is just what I heard somewhere.
Originally posted by Targon
The modem is useful as a backup for many ppl. ....just recently i was caught in a tropical cyclone, my DSL was out for a week and the entire cellular network was out as well, being in a remote area i had no other way to contact family to let them know i was still alive, luckily the phone line was still operational...
I appreciate that the use of the phone lines, and your modem, were helpful in that situation, but I don't believe this is the type of scenario Apple was trying to cover.
Also, this is Apple's most current laptops. I say this because, with all due respect to the occasions & conditions of the areas traveled that have been discussed, they may not still have so few options, and even if they still do, aren't likely to always be so limited. This product is complemented by the rest of todays technologies, and designed for the future.
It seems as though people are just looking for something to complain about, at times. Not that anyone has really implied this, but it's as though one would argue that while one who travels the world, and spends much of their time sailing the seas, and occasionally rides along on shuttle missions, that along with their top of the line laptop, they also really need to rely on an internal modem.
Someone mentioned the lack of floppy drives already.. cassette drives, zip drives, etc.
IMHO, I would imagine most people would prefer the internal iSight, rather then the internal modem. Even if that's not the case, I think the addition of the iSight adds a dynamic Apple probably wanted to introduce to more people, and imagine there are probably more avenues for innovations with the camera, than with the i-modem, to produce, and sell to the consumers.
One last thing.. Modems for the MacBooks, as well as i/Pbooks w/i-modems, are still currently available.
Originally posted by Bancho
They were Powerbooks long before they sported PowerPC chips.
Right. They were. And then they released PowerPC-based desktops, and called them PowerMacs. At which point you had:
desktop: PowerMac
portable: PowerBook
... and both became forever linked to the PowerPC name.
Origin, folks, does not exempt one from evolution or history. Regardless of how it started, Power evolved as a name to imply a link to the PowerPC.
www.apple.com/feedback/powerbook.html
Complain!,Especially about the name i think Apple will eventually lose sales over this from A: Pissed off mac users who will not buy until they change the Uberlame ass name "sounds extreme but those types? they are out there, and of course the hobbled ports issues.
B: Windows people and switchers who dont see anything special compared to the dells etc. what are you using? "ugh a gateway" you? "Toshiba" you? a "macbook pro" F*CK%&*....... people used to really respond when you said powerbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oohhh a powerbook??? whats that? thats the kind of responses it would get. "GET A POWERBOOK" and they go wow powerbook? huh cool................... macbook pro is as lame as xp pro change it now!!!!
We want the same care shown with the precious Imac "THEY DIDNT CHANGE ITS NAME DID THEY????
p.s changing the ibook to macbook wouldnt make sense either seeing as how the imac name stayed the same,this whole name change really unbalances everything..... personal computing really has true meaning on the mac side and thats why i feel the way i do about this "personal".
Instead they've dropped dual-core intel chips and so all this crying is happening.
Firewire 800 - Apple attempted to make this a standard and guess what, they failed. They stood alone and no one else jumped. Even they had trouble insuring it worked right. Now they are going in a direction where you can have top dollar commodity hardware. This is the trade off. You get sick-fast machines, but you yield a tiny bit to the commodity market. Lots of folks were including Firewire 400 so it wasn't any big deal for Apple to keep that as well.
S-Video - In this day and age of high resolution LCD projectors and also HDTV's you are seriously screwed if NTSC resolution is the best you can do to make the sell. DVI with an adapter to your need works best and is most elegant. Some backwards folks need VGA, some need S-video, they can carry around a little dongle instead of a little yellow cord.
Internal Modem - again if you are stuck in the past, use the USB solution.
PCMCIA - old, welcome the new.
8x DVD - Has anyone here actually ever burned a dual-layer DVD? I can't even find the stuff. The single layer media is down to like a .50-.75 cents per disk or less. I can't miss what I have never seen and never used. Apple can revise this later, but until I see the media widely available, who cares.
Nick
It is linked in people's minds, and it has been around longer than the PowerPC.
It is reasonable for people to miss it. Apple appeals to the aesthetic sense of mind and heart, and it will not hurt Apple to return to its formerly chosen name. After all, while this Mac Book is holding the ground until swifter processors arrive, then Apple's PowerBook will take its place.
Or, perhaps better, if there is desire for a new name, Mac PowerBook. That way it has Mac right in the foreground, where it should be. And Steve Jobs will know that he has made a change in the heartbeat of the Macintosh notebook. He wanted a book/laptop from early on. He pressed for it, with that prescience that he often has possessed, and now he is about filling that promise.
One Mac fans view.
no... external USB modem is not aceptable. If you buy one it just about implicitly means you travel a lot. If you travel a lot you're BOUND to lose it.
S-video... well.. wouldve been nice to keep on...
FW800... mah..
Originally posted by ZO
no... external USB modem is not aceptable. If you buy one it just about implicitly means you travel a lot. If you travel a lot you're BOUND to lose it.
Then you probably shouldn't buy the laptop because you're BOUND to lose it.
Originally posted by Telomar
Then you probably shouldn't buy the laptop because you're BOUND to lose it.
I doubt a 15" laptop could fall out of your pocket without realizing it .