Does the MacBook have the same easily replaceable hard drive as the MacBook Pro? Could a person stick their own 7200RPM drive in there if they were so inclined, since Apple doesn't offer it?
I'm using an ancient iBook G4 Mac, and I STILL don't want to upgrade to the new MacBooks. $1299 is just too much. Try again Apple.
Absolutely! I have a 12" PowerBook G4. I use it mostly for surfing and word processing, and I don't see any reason to upgrade to a new MacBook. For users who aren't using graphics-intensive applications, I fail to see any point to the upgrade. Give me a faster machine with an LED backlit screen and longer battery life, make it no bigger than my current G4, price it at, say $1099, and I might be interested. Till then, I can wait.
You can't even hook this up to a standard monitor without shelling out another $29 for the DVI or VGA adapter.
Its not a lot of money but...
booo!
This is exactly the same situation as when Apple transitioned from P2 ports to USB and FireWire 10 years ago. They did it before the larger market, eventually everyone else followed. Soon everyone will be offering Display Port.
I work in a pro audio business selling recording equipment (mics, monitors, software, interfaces etc.) and not including a firewire port will have a very serious impact on the type of equipment I sell. We sell a lot of firewire audio interfaces and the Macbook will no longer be a choice for that customer. It's not always super high-end interfaces either (for the inevitable "shrug-off" argument that these will be "high-end customers" who can just simply afford to buy a Pro)- a lot of them are $200-$300 interfaces. The most bizarre part of it is that Apple trumpets it's "close relation" with a company called Apogee for audio interfaces. Apogee only makes firewire interfaces (and pci-e technically). I'm just really shocked by this move. I know this doesn't affect a lot of you guys, but it really affects my side of the world. We often find ourselves selling someone on the idea of buying a Macbook as their first introduction to a Mac (without spending a ton of money) and getting Logic Studio and an Apogee interface. Knowing that I'm going to have to try to convince this type of customer to now spend $2000 just to get firewire is just plain nuts...
I'm a bit taken aback by the price points. One would think that given the economic conditions hammering the world economies that Apple would price these things a bit more competitively.
Well, in the current economic conditions, some people will make a *lot* of money. For instance, people high up in the banks that were allowed to make hoodles of money by taking every risks possible until they got nearly bankrupt and *then* got a free check from the tax-payer. They gain a lot for years, and when they should have lost, their loses were paid for by the American and European citizens.
Same for the stock market, in the last week, some people have made a lot of money with the stocks having record amplitude.
And there are some economic segments where a lot of money will be made. For instance, my boss is quite happy about the situation : he will be able to buy other companies for dirt shirt, and he will be able to hire new employees with minimal efforts and wages. This means increases income for him...
So, these people will need proper laptop to show off (not that they would use them for real) how rich they are. This is especially important in a falling economy. You can't bring the Porsche inside buildings and the Bang&Olufsen stays at home. Now, they have the new MPB. Glass display, alumium body, sci-fi sounding manufacturing process, look over function and possibilities, that's a very good nomade proxy for Bang&Olufsen in the laptop world...
So overall a better value with the dell. And the graphics is discrete not shared memory like on the Macbook. Both are generally aluminum, the Macbook has the multitouch where as the dell has features like fingerprint scanner, HDMI, FireWire, ExpressCard.
For $1423 you can get that with Intel X3100 if you don't game... YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
It has FireWire like most laptops and I used FireWire long before I bought my Macbook. I don't think I know a Sony without Firewire So don't spread lies that PC users don't use Firewire, and its not dead like Floppies were (replaced with CD for quite a while before it was killed). What has replaced Firewire, its still a very pro tool.
And HDMI is better than DisplayPort if you have a TV and want to transfer video and audio...
I know I'm disappointed, and a friend who was considering switch from PCs decided not 2...
i work in a pro audio business selling recording equipment (mics, monitors, software, interfaces etc.) and not including a firewire port will have a very serious impact on the type of equipment i sell. We sell a lot of firewire audio interfaces and the macbook will no longer be a choice for that customer. It's not always super high-end interfaces either (for the inevitable "shrug-off" argument that these will be "high-end customers" who can just simply afford to buy a pro)- a lot of them are $200-$300 interfaces. The most bizarre part of it is that apple trumpets it's "close relation" with a company called apogee for audio interfaces. Apogee only makes firewire interfaces (and pci-e technically). I'm just really shocked by this move. I know this doesn't affect a lot of you guys, but it really affects my side of the world. We often find ourselves selling someone on the idea of buying a macbook as their first introduction to a mac (without spending a ton of money) and getting logic studio and an apogee interface. Knowing that i'm going to have to try to convince this type of customer to now spend $2000 just to get firewire is just plain nuts...
So overall a better value with the dell. And the graphics is discrete not shared memory like on the Macbook. Both are generally aluminum, the Macbook has the multitouch where as the dell has features like fingerprint scanner, HDMI, FireWire, ExpressCard.
For $1423 you can get that with Intel X3100 if you don't game... YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
It has FireWire like most laptops and I used FireWire long before I bought my Macbook. I don't think I know a Sony without Firewire So don't spread lies that PC users don't use Firewire, and its not dead like Floppies were (replaced with CD for quite a while before it was killed). What has replaced Firewire, its still a very pro tool.
And HDMI is better than DisplayPort if you have a TV and want to transfer video and audio...
I know I'm disappointed, and a friend who was considering switch from PCs decided not 2...
Such a bunch of stupid morornic lies from a stupid PC user.
First of all the processor is not the same. The Dell is only 800Mhz FSB while Mac is 1066Mhz
Secondly the memory on the Mac is 1066Mhz vs the 667Mhz on the Dell.
Thirdly no software along the lines of iLife.
Fourthly - DisplayPort has many advantages over HDMI and is very powerful. It performs with relatively low power-consumption, has a low pin count and can transmit data at 10.8 Gigabits/second, supporting resolutions up to 2560x1600 (WQXGA) and possibly beyond. It can perform properly over a length of cable up to 15 meters in length, which many see as a great advantage over HDMI.
Fifthly - Multitouch vs Fingerprint scanner. Are you mentally retarded??
Also, the XPS is not "aluminum." It contains merely some aluminum accents. Some of it is still just plastic.
I like the XPS though. They are decent values, high spec'ed, and are fairly well built for a PC laptop; plus, OS X runs almost perfectly with the current models.
First of all I own a 2.4ghz Macbook which I decided for over the XPS... well cuz it was 1299 and I wanted both Vista and OS X.
Second... your the idiot. I said Multitouch vs HDMI, ExpressCard, FireWire, Fingerprint Scanner.
Benchmarks performed EARLIER IN THIS THREAD showed very little difference between the new 2.4 ghz and the old 2.4ghz. The big deal with me is the drop from 2.4 to 2.0ghz in the $1299 model as well as drop of Firewire. You can get the base XPS 2.0ghz for $999 (ya not led, but 3GB of Ram, 250GB HDD) which beats the crap out of the white macbook at that same price.
Yes I will give you that iLife is nice, but Dell puts software on their and Vista has a DVD Burner, Movie Maker (which is decent) and trying to compete with iPhoto as well. Yes the Apple software is better, but Vista did do alot in create a better multimedia experience. I'm not a blind fanboi, nor a fanboi at all. I see what is good from both companies and quite enjoy my HP Slimline with WMC as my DVR and a 360 as an Extender. Most DVRs lock your content to one TV... not WMC.
If someone asked me what computer to buy, I would suggest something different based on their needs. If they loved music, and wanted to dip their toes in creating it... Macbook for sure (well the white one as some tools want Firewire). If they wanted a HTPC... Vista no doubt. I have easily had over a month uptime on it, it only reboots for updates. I watch TV everyday...
I love the tooling on the new macbook, but spec wise i'm not interested as I have an Xbox 360 and a dedicated gaming desktop that I upgrade as I need. I love the manufacturing, but I hate that it has Firewire. My $600 HP Slimline has it... its a HTPC it makes sense to enable this video device.
It also saddens me that a friend who wanted a macbook is now unsure... the only thing that would excite me is the use of the graphics in Snow Leopard to really speed up video rendering... as we need to continue to push computers to do that faster...
One of my sisters and my father want to upgrade their aging macbooks, but they both need firewire for their camcorders. The lack of firewire is a major deal breaker, and they cannot afford the cost of Macbook Pros... so what are their options now?
Longtime AI lurker, got an account just to post in this thread.
What is wrong with this community? Apple hit a home run with these models, in particular giving you guys almost everything on your long-running wish lists, and your reaction is to crack up? Absolutely amazing.
It's impossible to reply to every single post, so I'd like instead to address the more popular complaints being made.
Price increases: What? Where? Let's re-examine the announcement. Two aluminum MacBooks have been released. The lower of the two, which is the mid-tier MacBook, costs $1299; this is the same price as the prior mid-tier MacBook. The higher of the two aluminum MacBooks has increased from $1499 to $1599, a $100 increase. However, the white plastic MacBook fell from $1099 to $999, a $100 decrease. Quick, what do you get when you add 100 then subtract 100? Zero, which is how much the line's price has increased. "But I'm still paying $100 more for the top-tier MacBook," one might protest. Fine, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for. One may as well apply the same logic to the MacBook Pro line in general: why not consider it outrageous and unjust that the MacBook Pro and its predecessor PowerBook has always been priced hundreds to thousands of dollars more than the base MacBook and its predecessor iBook? "But the economy is bad right now," one might say. Personally, I dispute that assessment, but let's accept the premise: if the economy is bad, then why were you looking forward to buying a new computer in the first place? If the economy actually is bad, then you can't afford the luxury of a new computer, particularly when your current machine works just fine.
You are getting your money's worth regardless of model.
FireWire: I truly do not understand the outrage of the removal of FireWire. Has anyone paid attention to the FireWire peripheral market? Doubtful, because it barely exists. FireWire is, to put it generously, a near-dead standard. It was never widely adopted in the first place. USB soundly won the war in a manner reminiscent of VHS' triumph over Betamax. But, okay, there are people who own FireWire-based devices, such as external hard drives and video cameras. If FireWire is an absolute necessity, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Glossy screen: Again, I don't understand the outrage. Actually, in a sense, I do: who wants half their screen rendered unwatchable by unsightly glare from light fixtures, windows, or natural sunlight? Well, guys, there are plenty of good reasons to have a glossy screen that have already been touched on, primarily by graphics artists, and I'm not going to repeat what they've had to say. If a matte screen is an absolute necessity, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Buy a matte screen filter.
Blu-Ray: This I can understand, being an avid Blu-Ray fan. But, folks, Blu-Ray slot drives simply are not cost-effective enough to warrant inclusion in machines that are already being criticized for price increases. If the aggregate is already of the opinion that the MacBook costs too much, imagine the bottom line of a Blu-Ray-equipped MacBook. Why do the "poor economy" arguments apply only to the $100 price increase/decrease, but not to the potential price of a MacBook with a Blu-Ray drive? If you want to watch movies on the go, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Put movies on your hard drive. Use iTunes.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this complaining about the display/bezel/form factor, I have not seen the following point raised: what type of display does the MacBook use? Has Apple taken the opportunity to install 8-bit display panels? Who supplies the display panels? Has the color banding issue, which appeared in Q1/Q2 MacBooks manufactured with Samsung display panels, been corrected? I bought and returned three MacBooks that had this same issue and decided to wait for the oft-rumored aluminum MacBook. After deciding to upgrade the MacBook's GPU, did Apple give consideration to what their output will look like? I'll buy the $1299 model and find out.
Get a grip, AI community. You're better than this.
Longtime AI lurker, got an account just to post in this thread.
What is wrong with this community? Apple hit a home run with these models, in particular giving you guys almost everything on your long-running wish lists, and your reaction is to crack up? Absolutely amazing.
While I generally agree with you, there is one point where Apple really has shot its own foot: Firewire. And no, a dual hub is not a solution; the fuss is partly only about peripherals. It is also about Target Disk mode and Migration Assistant. You kiss bye-bye these two (they don't work through USB), or you use probably the wireless alternative (there must be something like that, no?) armed with much patience and luck so that your wireless router does not crash in the middle of data transfer, since typically this is going to take hours.
This is not like previous transitions, when some old technology was abandoned for something new and better and we had the usual complains about peripheral compatibility. Now Apple just removed a very useful in-house developed connectivity without proposing an alternative (like it did with the DisplayPort). This is just... irrational.
I find the features of the new Macbooks really great and I was ready to buy a new one to replace my black one which is still under warranty. But with no FW and the price increase (50 euros up) I will hold off.
EDIT: I am probably mistaken on the price increase, it may be much more; check out the UK pricing thread.
So you are suggesting that we buy a dual USB FW hub? What good would that do? You do realize that it still requires both the FW and USB ports on the computer to function, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by desides
Blu-Ray: This I can understand, being an avid Blu-Ray fan. But, folks, Blu-Ray slot drives simply are not cost-effective enough to warrant inclusion in machines that are already being criticized for price increases. If the aggregate is already of the opinion that the MacBook costs too much, imagine the bottom line of a Blu-Ray-equipped MacBook.
Exactly why a BD drive should be an option like it is on VAIOs. I'd gladly pay $500 over sticker for the option to have one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desides
If you want to watch movies on the go, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Put movies on your hard drive. Use iTunes.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this complaining about the display/bezel/form factor, I have not seen the following point raised: what type of display does the MacBook use? Has Apple taken the opportunity to install 8-bit display panels? Who supplies the display panels? Has the color banding issue, which appeared in Q1/Q2 MacBooks manufactured with Samsung display panels, been corrected? I bought and returned three MacBooks that had this same issue and decided to wait for the oft-rumored aluminum MacBook. After deciding to upgrade the MacBook's GPU, did Apple give consideration to what their output will look like? I'll buy the $1299 model and find out.
Get a grip, AI community. You're better than this.
You realize that movies are only one use for a BD burner, right? A BD-R holds 25GB worth of data, and it would make backing up a whole lot less cumbersome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desides
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this complaining about the display/bezel/form factor, I have not seen the following point raised: what type of display does the MacBook use? Has Apple taken the opportunity to install 8-bit display panels? Who supplies the display panels? Has the color banding issue, which appeared in Q1/Q2 MacBooks manufactured with Samsung display panels, been corrected? I bought and returned three MacBooks that had this same issue and decided to wait for the oft-rumored aluminum MacBook. After deciding to upgrade the MacBook's GPU, did Apple give consideration to what their output will look like? I'll buy the $1299 model and find out.
They went on about more accurate color, so I assume it is an 8 bit panel, but you'd probably have an easier time finding out about Area 51 than Apple giving you that info.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desides
Get a grip, AI community. You're better than this.
Some of you folks need to understand where the complaints are coming from.
While it is true that the new MB is actually cheaper than comparable machines from Sony and Dell, the complaints are that there is no low-end model to compete with the lower-end Dells and Sonys.
The plastic MB at $999 isn't quite as good as the cheapest M1330 that one can buy.
Sure, the MB competes well with the high-end Sonys and Dells, but many consumers aren't looking to buy a higher-end machine; they want something cheaper.
Sigh. With Apple screwing the pooch with no FireWire on the 'luminum models, looks like my new machine, if I bother to get one, is going to be the old white plastic model.
Comments
I'm using an ancient iBook G4 Mac, and I STILL don't want to upgrade to the new MacBooks. $1299 is just too much. Try again Apple.
Absolutely! I have a 12" PowerBook G4. I use it mostly for surfing and word processing, and I don't see any reason to upgrade to a new MacBook. For users who aren't using graphics-intensive applications, I fail to see any point to the upgrade. Give me a faster machine with an LED backlit screen and longer battery life, make it no bigger than my current G4, price it at, say $1099, and I might be interested. Till then, I can wait.
Its not a lot of money but...
booo!
You can't even hook this up to a standard monitor without shelling out another $29 for the DVI or VGA adapter.
Its not a lot of money but...
booo!
This is exactly the same situation as when Apple transitioned from P2 ports to USB and FireWire 10 years ago. They did it before the larger market, eventually everyone else followed. Soon everyone will be offering Display Port.
I'm a bit taken aback by the price points. One would think that given the economic conditions hammering the world economies that Apple would price these things a bit more competitively.
Well, in the current economic conditions, some people will make a *lot* of money. For instance, people high up in the banks that were allowed to make hoodles of money by taking every risks possible until they got nearly bankrupt and *then* got a free check from the tax-payer. They gain a lot for years, and when they should have lost, their loses were paid for by the American and European citizens.
Same for the stock market, in the last week, some people have made a lot of money with the stocks having record amplitude.
And there are some economic segments where a lot of money will be made. For instance, my boss is quite happy about the situation : he will be able to buy other companies for dirt shirt, and he will be able to hire new employees with minimal efforts and wages. This means increases income for him...
So, these people will need proper laptop to show off (not that they would use them for real) how rich they are. This is especially important in a falling economy. You can't bring the Porsche inside buildings and the Bang&Olufsen stays at home. Now, they have the new MPB. Glass display, alumium body, sci-fi sounding manufacturing process, look over function and possibilities, that's a very good nomade proxy for Bang&Olufsen in the laptop world...
2.4 Ghz 8300 Intel
250GB HDD
128MB Nvidia 8400
LED Backlit Display
3GB of RAM (vs 2 in the Macbook)
So overall a better value with the dell. And the graphics is discrete not shared memory like on the Macbook. Both are generally aluminum, the Macbook has the multitouch where as the dell has features like fingerprint scanner, HDMI, FireWire, ExpressCard.
For $1423 you can get that with Intel X3100 if you don't game... YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
It has FireWire like most laptops and I used FireWire long before I bought my Macbook. I don't think I know a Sony without Firewire So don't spread lies that PC users don't use Firewire, and its not dead like Floppies were (replaced with CD for quite a while before it was killed). What has replaced Firewire, its still a very pro tool.
And HDMI is better than DisplayPort if you have a TV and want to transfer video and audio...
I know I'm disappointed, and a friend who was considering switch from PCs decided not 2...
i work in a pro audio business selling recording equipment (mics, monitors, software, interfaces etc.) and not including a firewire port will have a very serious impact on the type of equipment i sell. We sell a lot of firewire audio interfaces and the macbook will no longer be a choice for that customer. It's not always super high-end interfaces either (for the inevitable "shrug-off" argument that these will be "high-end customers" who can just simply afford to buy a pro)- a lot of them are $200-$300 interfaces. The most bizarre part of it is that apple trumpets it's "close relation" with a company called apogee for audio interfaces. Apogee only makes firewire interfaces (and pci-e technically). I'm just really shocked by this move. I know this doesn't affect a lot of you guys, but it really affects my side of the world. We often find ourselves selling someone on the idea of buying a macbook as their first introduction to a mac (without spending a ton of money) and getting logic studio and an apogee interface. Knowing that i'm going to have to try to convince this type of customer to now spend $2000 just to get firewire is just plain nuts...
mumbo!!! Jumbo!!! Dumbo!!!
I configured a Dell XPS M1330 to $1523
2.4 Ghz 8300 Intel
250GB HDD
128MB Nvidia 8400
LED Backlit Display
3GB of RAM (vs 2 in the Macbook)
So overall a better value with the dell. And the graphics is discrete not shared memory like on the Macbook. Both are generally aluminum, the Macbook has the multitouch where as the dell has features like fingerprint scanner, HDMI, FireWire, ExpressCard.
For $1423 you can get that with Intel X3100 if you don't game... YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
It has FireWire like most laptops and I used FireWire long before I bought my Macbook. I don't think I know a Sony without Firewire So don't spread lies that PC users don't use Firewire, and its not dead like Floppies were (replaced with CD for quite a while before it was killed). What has replaced Firewire, its still a very pro tool.
And HDMI is better than DisplayPort if you have a TV and want to transfer video and audio...
I know I'm disappointed, and a friend who was considering switch from PCs decided not 2...
Such a bunch of stupid morornic lies from a stupid PC user.
First of all the processor is not the same. The Dell is only 800Mhz FSB while Mac is 1066Mhz
Secondly the memory on the Mac is 1066Mhz vs the 667Mhz on the Dell.
Thirdly no software along the lines of iLife.
Fourthly - DisplayPort has many advantages over HDMI and is very powerful. It performs with relatively low power-consumption, has a low pin count and can transmit data at 10.8 Gigabits/second, supporting resolutions up to 2560x1600 (WQXGA) and possibly beyond. It can perform properly over a length of cable up to 15 meters in length, which many see as a great advantage over HDMI.
Fifthly - Multitouch vs Fingerprint scanner. Are you mentally retarded??
So get your facts right EL STUPIDO PC MORON!!!
I like the XPS though. They are decent values, high spec'ed, and are fairly well built for a PC laptop; plus, OS X runs almost perfectly with the current models.
Second... your the idiot. I said Multitouch vs HDMI, ExpressCard, FireWire, Fingerprint Scanner.
Benchmarks performed EARLIER IN THIS THREAD showed very little difference between the new 2.4 ghz and the old 2.4ghz. The big deal with me is the drop from 2.4 to 2.0ghz in the $1299 model as well as drop of Firewire. You can get the base XPS 2.0ghz for $999 (ya not led, but 3GB of Ram, 250GB HDD) which beats the crap out of the white macbook at that same price.
Yes I will give you that iLife is nice, but Dell puts software on their and Vista has a DVD Burner, Movie Maker (which is decent) and trying to compete with iPhoto as well. Yes the Apple software is better, but Vista did do alot in create a better multimedia experience. I'm not a blind fanboi, nor a fanboi at all. I see what is good from both companies and quite enjoy my HP Slimline with WMC as my DVR and a 360 as an Extender. Most DVRs lock your content to one TV... not WMC.
If someone asked me what computer to buy, I would suggest something different based on their needs. If they loved music, and wanted to dip their toes in creating it... Macbook for sure (well the white one as some tools want Firewire). If they wanted a HTPC... Vista no doubt. I have easily had over a month uptime on it, it only reboots for updates. I watch TV everyday...
I love the tooling on the new macbook, but spec wise i'm not interested as I have an Xbox 360 and a dedicated gaming desktop that I upgrade as I need. I love the manufacturing, but I hate that it has Firewire. My $600 HP Slimline has it... its a HTPC it makes sense to enable this video device.
It also saddens me that a friend who wanted a macbook is now unsure... the only thing that would excite me is the use of the graphics in Snow Leopard to really speed up video rendering... as we need to continue to push computers to do that faster...
What is wrong with this community? Apple hit a home run with these models, in particular giving you guys almost everything on your long-running wish lists, and your reaction is to crack up? Absolutely amazing.
It's impossible to reply to every single post, so I'd like instead to address the more popular complaints being made.
Price increases: What? Where? Let's re-examine the announcement. Two aluminum MacBooks have been released. The lower of the two, which is the mid-tier MacBook, costs $1299; this is the same price as the prior mid-tier MacBook. The higher of the two aluminum MacBooks has increased from $1499 to $1599, a $100 increase. However, the white plastic MacBook fell from $1099 to $999, a $100 decrease. Quick, what do you get when you add 100 then subtract 100? Zero, which is how much the line's price has increased. "But I'm still paying $100 more for the top-tier MacBook," one might protest. Fine, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for. One may as well apply the same logic to the MacBook Pro line in general: why not consider it outrageous and unjust that the MacBook Pro and its predecessor PowerBook has always been priced hundreds to thousands of dollars more than the base MacBook and its predecessor iBook? "But the economy is bad right now," one might say. Personally, I dispute that assessment, but let's accept the premise: if the economy is bad, then why were you looking forward to buying a new computer in the first place? If the economy actually is bad, then you can't afford the luxury of a new computer, particularly when your current machine works just fine.
You are getting your money's worth regardless of model.
FireWire: I truly do not understand the outrage of the removal of FireWire. Has anyone paid attention to the FireWire peripheral market? Doubtful, because it barely exists. FireWire is, to put it generously, a near-dead standard. It was never widely adopted in the first place. USB soundly won the war in a manner reminiscent of VHS' triumph over Betamax. But, okay, there are people who own FireWire-based devices, such as external hard drives and video cameras. If FireWire is an absolute necessity, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Buy a dual FireWire/USB hub.
Glossy screen: Again, I don't understand the outrage. Actually, in a sense, I do: who wants half their screen rendered unwatchable by unsightly glare from light fixtures, windows, or natural sunlight? Well, guys, there are plenty of good reasons to have a glossy screen that have already been touched on, primarily by graphics artists, and I'm not going to repeat what they've had to say. If a matte screen is an absolute necessity, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Buy a matte screen filter.
Blu-Ray: This I can understand, being an avid Blu-Ray fan. But, folks, Blu-Ray slot drives simply are not cost-effective enough to warrant inclusion in machines that are already being criticized for price increases. If the aggregate is already of the opinion that the MacBook costs too much, imagine the bottom line of a Blu-Ray-equipped MacBook. Why do the "poor economy" arguments apply only to the $100 price increase/decrease, but not to the potential price of a MacBook with a Blu-Ray drive? If you want to watch movies on the go, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Put movies on your hard drive. Use iTunes.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this complaining about the display/bezel/form factor, I have not seen the following point raised: what type of display does the MacBook use? Has Apple taken the opportunity to install 8-bit display panels? Who supplies the display panels? Has the color banding issue, which appeared in Q1/Q2 MacBooks manufactured with Samsung display panels, been corrected? I bought and returned three MacBooks that had this same issue and decided to wait for the oft-rumored aluminum MacBook. After deciding to upgrade the MacBook's GPU, did Apple give consideration to what their output will look like? I'll buy the $1299 model and find out.
Get a grip, AI community. You're better than this.
Longtime AI lurker, got an account just to post in this thread.
What is wrong with this community? Apple hit a home run with these models, in particular giving you guys almost everything on your long-running wish lists, and your reaction is to crack up? Absolutely amazing.
While I generally agree with you, there is one point where Apple really has shot its own foot: Firewire. And no, a dual hub is not a solution; the fuss is partly only about peripherals. It is also about Target Disk mode and Migration Assistant. You kiss bye-bye these two (they don't work through USB), or you use probably the wireless alternative (there must be something like that, no?) armed with much patience and luck so that your wireless router does not crash in the middle of data transfer, since typically this is going to take hours.
This is not like previous transitions, when some old technology was abandoned for something new and better and we had the usual complains about peripheral compatibility. Now Apple just removed a very useful in-house developed connectivity without proposing an alternative (like it did with the DisplayPort). This is just... irrational.
I find the features of the new Macbooks really great and I was ready to buy a new one to replace my black one which is still under warranty. But with no FW and the price increase (50 euros up) I will hold off.
EDIT: I am probably mistaken on the price increase, it may be much more; check out the UK pricing thread.
Price increases: What? Where?
You are getting your money's worth regardless of model.
Agreed, a comparable Dell or Sony to the Macbook costs more by a few bucks to a few hundred bucks.
If FireWire is an absolute necessity, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Buy a dual FireWire/USB hub.
So you are suggesting that we buy a dual USB FW hub? What good would that do? You do realize that it still requires both the FW and USB ports on the computer to function, right?
Blu-Ray: This I can understand, being an avid Blu-Ray fan. But, folks, Blu-Ray slot drives simply are not cost-effective enough to warrant inclusion in machines that are already being criticized for price increases. If the aggregate is already of the opinion that the MacBook costs too much, imagine the bottom line of a Blu-Ray-equipped MacBook.
Exactly why a BD drive should be an option like it is on VAIOs. I'd gladly pay $500 over sticker for the option to have one.
If you want to watch movies on the go, the solution to your problem is obvious:
Put movies on your hard drive. Use iTunes.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this complaining about the display/bezel/form factor, I have not seen the following point raised: what type of display does the MacBook use? Has Apple taken the opportunity to install 8-bit display panels? Who supplies the display panels? Has the color banding issue, which appeared in Q1/Q2 MacBooks manufactured with Samsung display panels, been corrected? I bought and returned three MacBooks that had this same issue and decided to wait for the oft-rumored aluminum MacBook. After deciding to upgrade the MacBook's GPU, did Apple give consideration to what their output will look like? I'll buy the $1299 model and find out.
Get a grip, AI community. You're better than this.
You realize that movies are only one use for a BD burner, right? A BD-R holds 25GB worth of data, and it would make backing up a whole lot less cumbersome.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this complaining about the display/bezel/form factor, I have not seen the following point raised: what type of display does the MacBook use? Has Apple taken the opportunity to install 8-bit display panels? Who supplies the display panels? Has the color banding issue, which appeared in Q1/Q2 MacBooks manufactured with Samsung display panels, been corrected? I bought and returned three MacBooks that had this same issue and decided to wait for the oft-rumored aluminum MacBook. After deciding to upgrade the MacBook's GPU, did Apple give consideration to what their output will look like? I'll buy the $1299 model and find out.
They went on about more accurate color, so I assume it is an 8 bit panel, but you'd probably have an easier time finding out about Area 51 than Apple giving you that info.
Get a grip, AI community. You're better than this.
Wrong again.
While it is true that the new MB is actually cheaper than comparable machines from Sony and Dell, the complaints are that there is no low-end model to compete with the lower-end Dells and Sonys.
The plastic MB at $999 isn't quite as good as the cheapest M1330 that one can buy.
Sure, the MB competes well with the high-end Sonys and Dells, but many consumers aren't looking to buy a higher-end machine; they want something cheaper.
Well, at least it has FireWire.
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