my (personal) question for the last 48 hours...
... is how i should spend my money...
my local dealer offers me the "old" blackbook (2.4, 2g-ram, 250gb) reduced to the EXACT price as the new 2.0 macbook 160gb.
i would win: more disc-space, fire-wire, slightly faster processor and a "prooved system"
i would loose: the lookandfeel of my old pb, led-backlight, larger trackpad, better gpu
any hints where to go?
(actual system: pb g4 1.25, 80gb)
my local dealer offers me the "old" blackbook (2.4, 2g-ram, 250gb) reduced to the EXACT price as the new 2.0 macbook 160gb.
i would win: more disc-space, fire-wire, slightly faster processor and a "prooved system"
i would loose: the lookandfeel of my old pb, led-backlight, larger trackpad, better gpu
any hints where to go?
(actual system: pb g4 1.25, 80gb)
Comments
my local dealer offers me the "old" blackbook (2.4, 2g-ram, 250gb) reduced to the EXACT price as the new 2.0 macbook 160gb.
i would win: more disc-space, fire-wire, slightly faster processor and a "prooved system"
i would loose: the lookandfeel of my old pb, led-backlight, larger trackpad, better gpu
any hints where to go?
(actual system: pb g4 1.25, 80gb)
It depends on what you need. Do you have any firewire devices that you'd like to keep? Do you plan on doing any video editing in the future? If so, firewire is very important.
Do you plan on doing some gaming or 3D modelling or motion graphics work, perhaps some raw encoding? If so, the GPU is important here.
The GPU will soon be used to accelerate a lot of apps in 6 months. You may not see the benefit now but you will then. Some apps will speed up by an order of magnitude and you won't see the benefit on the old Macbook.
The new model is cooler (aesthetically and functionally) and is much stronger. A lot of people have issues with the case cracking in the plastic models.
The glass screen is easier to keep clean too.
Basically, I would say if you don't see an absolute need for firewire, go with the new model no question.
You can also check out the refurb Apple store. Sometimes they have the old 15" MPB around that price too and you get a better GPU, firewire and the option for matte if you don't like glossy screens.
The old MBPs aren't so easy to replace the hard drives though.
It depends on what you need. Do you have any firewire devices that you'd like to keep? Do you plan on doing any video editing in the future? If so, firewire is very important.
I would add do you plan to edit video on a tape based format. That is where FireWire is important
Most consumer cameras are moving to hard drive or solid state storage. FireWire holds less of an advantage with this method.
It depends on what you need. Do you have any firewire devices that you'd like to keep? Do you plan on doing any video editing in the future? If so, firewire is very important.
thx for reply!
my profession is graphic-design, and i'm actually working as production-supervisor for a magazine. since i always had desktop-macs in the companies i worked, my "home-mac" is for years now a portable. at home my mac gets most time plain surfing and mailing, some iphoto and now and then work in indesign/photoshop.
since a year or so i'm thinking of a change from 15" to a smaller size because of portability.
i own 3 fire-wire external-drives and use the "target-modus" quite often with the mac-pro at work.
but maybe you are right with your pros to the new mb. one night of copying and the firewire-hd's are history for a new (maybe slightly slower) usb-hd. and the target modus could be replaced with a gigabit-cable...
i own 3 fire-wire external-drives and use the "target-modus" quite often with the mac-pro at work.
If you plug in an ethernet cable to the Mac Pro and connect over AFP using the Mac Pro login, the firewire drives will mount on your laptop.
What causes you to use target-mode often? Is this for transferring data between the laptop and Mac Pro? If so, using ethernet will save you a reboot.
but maybe you are right with your pros to the new mb. one night of copying and the firewire-hd's are history for a new (maybe slightly slower) usb-hd. and the target modus could be replaced with a gigabit-cable...
I use an external bus-power USB drive for transporting between home and work. It's easy having it bus-powered as you can switch between machines very quickly.
A stupid Q.: Is any external USB HDD that has a seperate electric supply, bus-powered or not?
A stupid Q.: Is any external USB HDD that has a seperate electric supply, bus-powered or not?
Nope, it has to say it supports bus-power. You may want to check out power draw too because if the power draw exceeds the port output, you have to use both USB ports. The plugs usually come with two USB ends, one for power+data, the other for extra power.
Most drives these days will run off one port - the new machines have better power output too. Some of the older powerbooks need you to use two plugs.
weighing up the pros an cons we came to the conclusion that in fact of a new system (snow leopard) arriving and new chips for macbooks in pipeline, the new macbook is the best compromise at this time. (if you need it NOW)
and if there will be a really major update (more speed, new chip) of the mb's in a year or so, the current mb will sell maybe better than the old "plastics". i hope he is right with this prediction...
New 2.0 Ghz MB with 4GB RAM and AppleCare for $1,672.77
OUCH! I just saw one in person and all I can say is SHAM-WOW. I didn't need anymore convincing.