Review roundup: Apple's Retina MacBook Pro is pretty but pricey

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  • Reply 41 of 114
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    I remember when Toshiba laptops with a 640x480 "active matrix" color display would cost $4995 so you could see the Windows 3.1 desktop in glorious 8-bit color. I couldn't foresee the day when I could get a 2880x1800 retina display for half the cost, not adjusting for inflation. Seriously, if reviewers cared that much about price, let them go back to their beloved $259 Netbooks running crippled Windows Starter Edition.

    I received an email today from Pacific Geek for a 1.6 GHz Dell notebook. It had a whopping 256 MB of RAM and 20 GB hard drive and Windows XP. Yours for only $99 (plus $4.95 S/H).

    If someone wants a cheap laptop, there are plenty like that available.

    hmm wrote: »
    Since you're incapable of reading notation, 60" = 60 inches or 5 feet. 60' = 60 feet. A double quotation mark signifies inches.


    As I recall you typically keep your computers for a number of years between upgrades. You could always wait this cycle out and see if it comes back. Otherwise you get haswell rather than ivy, which doesn't seem like a bad option given the further power management improvements that intel has promised.

    My MBP is 6 years old. It's time for a new one. Besides, it's not likely that Apple is going to bring back the 17" - or they would have at least kept it for the warmed over last year's model.
  • Reply 42 of 114

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GadgetCanada View Post


     


    Also the Bugatti doesn't have a pickup bed in the back for the one time every 3 years I need to haul dirt. To all people freaking about the lack of a DVD drive, get a $40 USB DVD drive for the one time you use it every 3 years. "But a USB drive is not as portable!". Really? So you complain it's not portable but yet you carry around install DVDs and movie DVDs everywhere you go?



    My MB:NG <?> is currently being CTO'd (bumped the CPU and RAM ... stock SSD is fine - I'll store it on the campus cloud) ... and the only real downside for me IS the lack of onboard ethernet. As a University employee, you get access to more services in a wired state than wireless. So I ordered the dongle. It will sit on my desk at work. NBD.


     


    As for the optical drive ... I recently purchased an external LG BR RW drive (BP06) and it performs nicely. If I need the external drive, its small enough to slip into my laptop bag ... but realistically I doubt I'l ever carry it. I'll install some software (but most is a web install these days anyway), I'll rip some CDs (most of my preferred music i either own on Cd or isn't available on iTunes/digitally), and and rip a movie to play while traveling (I own the disc - nothing pirated). Once its on the machine , whether its software music or video, I won't touch the original disc again. Downside is that the BP06 requires two USB ports. On my MB thats fine - they are on the same side, but with the MB:NG they put them on opposite sides. Design fail :/ ... though minor.

  • Reply 43 of 114
    goofy1958goofy1958 Posts: 166member


    Hmmm, not seeing "pricey" for the performance you get.  If you configure the MBP Retina with 2.6Ghz processor, 16GB RAM, 768GB SSD, add in a Superdrive, it will run you just under $3600 (without AppleCare).  To compare, if you go with a Dell Precision M4600 Workstation (similar demographic for users) configured to the same specs, the price is just over $4200!  That's over $600 more for the same specs, and Apple's performance will be better!  I understand that the upgrading is an issue, but if you can afford it, just max it out now, and you should be OK for at least the next 3-4 years.

  • Reply 44 of 114
    zunx wrote: »
    "It's got less glare than previous MacBook Pro screens"
     
    WOW, How could they do it? 
    Hint: matte screens have no glare!!!

    Still spamming over the matte bs are you?

    At least you didn't post the stupid petition this time.....

    Srsly though...try one in person before you spew this crap again.
  • Reply 45 of 114
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    zunx wrote: »
    Hint: matte screens have no glare!!!

    {Statement not based on fact or reason.}
  • Reply 46 of 114
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member

    Quote:

    For more takes on the new MacBook Pro, additional, generally positive reviews are also available from Tim Stevens at Engadget, Ross Miller at The Verge, Jason Snell at Macworld, and Mark Spoonauer at Laptop Magazine.


    Are we only supposed to be interested in "generally positive" reviews or does the author mean that all the additional reviews are "generally positive?"


    Why even present an opinion of how positive the reviews are (unless that is the main thrust of the AI article?)


    Doesn't AI think we readers can decide for ourselves?


    Just asking.

  • Reply 47 of 114


    I am actually curious if the battery life is actually as advertised.


    I still find Lion such a battery drain (from a typical 5 hours with SL to just merely 2 and half under clean installed Lion)


    I most likely will wait until Mountain Lion comes pre-installed to verify the battery life.

  • Reply 48 of 114
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I'm trying to find out just how much more expensive this new MBP is over other 15" notebooks with 5.2 million pixels but I'm having trouble finding others in which to compare.
  • Reply 49 of 114
    eluardeluard Posts: 319member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    I'm trying to find out just how much more expensive this new MBP is over other 15" notebooks with 5.2 million pixels but I'm having trouble finding others in which to compare.


    Good, but it is no Nagromme.

  • Reply 50 of 114


    Powerusers want a loaded 17" real desktop replacement with all the goodies, not some cut down 15" for rich students. There are continuing rumors of some premium large notebook coming down the pike, but I wish Apple would just announce it and do it, one way or the other. If this 15inch is their best offering MANY customers who typically spend thousands on their notebooks will be looking elsewhere.

  • Reply 51 of 114
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Powerusers want a loaded 17" real desktop replacement with all the goodies, not some cut down 15" for rich students. There are continuing rumors of some premium large notebook coming down the pike, but I wish Apple would just announce it and do it, one way or the other. If this 15inch is their best offering MANY customers who typically spend thousands on their notebooks will be looking elsewhere.

    Cook stated that the 15" retina is now Apple's flagship computer. I don't know how you can be clearer than that.

    As for losing business, you're speculating. In reality, people who would have otherwise bought the 17" MBP have to decide whether the size or the OS is more important to them. I would have otherwise bought a 17" this fall, but I'll buy the15" retina MBP instead. The size will be less of a sacrifice than switching to Windows.

    So what makes you so certain that I'm in the minority?
  • Reply 52 of 114
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    eluard wrote: »
    Good, but it is no Nagromme.
    His was definitely funnier and more well throughout. Thanks for pointing it as I would have missed it.
  • Reply 53 of 114
    jollypauljollypaul Posts: 328member


    Yes, expensive but impressive. It's tempting from a pure self indulgent tech-gasm standpoint, but what I really need is the mobility of an Air so I'll remain a spectator.


     


    Still, can you imagine hooking up the cassette and playing a round of Lemonade Stand on a retina display? Ha ha, look: it's a thunderstorm!

  • Reply 54 of 114
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post





    You left out one important fact:

    If you really want a cheaper solution, last year's MBPs have been updated and are now available for hundreds of dollars less.


    That's bollocks. The last year's base 15" (2.2GHz) is now more expensive. In Apple World recession doesn't exist.

  • Reply 55 of 114
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Trajan Long View Post


    Powerusers want a loaded 17" real desktop replacement with all the goodies, not some cut down 15" for rich students. There are continuing rumors of some premium large notebook coming down the pike, but I wish Apple would just announce it and do it, one way or the other. If this 15inch is their best offering MANY customers who typically spend thousands on their notebooks will be looking elsewhere.



    Contrary to others, I'd tend to agree. A 17" MBP is a portable workstation. The new one is more than a bit hobbled as a workstation, and the screen is too small for serious work. Yes, I could get an external monitor, but if I do that why get a laptop in the first place?


    While I wouldn't be interested in a Windows box I'd look at used 17" machines, 2nd party upgrades, and Hackintosh laptop possibilities. For me a 17" MBP is a necessity, not a luxury. I won't be spending thousands on a laptop I have to squint at. Even with my current 17" MBP I have to use computer glasses. I won't be going back down to a 15" screen, much less a tiny 13 incher.


    And how much will an ethernet to thunderbolt dongle cost me? $100+? I find it hard to believe adding ethernet and firewire ports would add more thant $25 to the cost of the machine. Meanwhile there's not a lot of Thunderbolt stuff out there yet.


     


    Don't get me wrong, these are nice laptops with some great features, but as usual, Apple is getting ahead of themselves, as they have many times in the past. These machine look like intermediate steps to a better laptop.

  • Reply 56 of 114
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,267member
    I think they are just saying it "looks" expensive in comparison to other laptops. At least in this case you get what you pay for.

    Out of interest, in 1998 I bought the base model "wall street" PowerBook G3 series just after it had been discontinued. It cost US$4200 ex tax in Oregon. In Australia it retailed AU$5700.

    And kids today just don't believe it.
  • Reply 57 of 114
    strobestrobe Posts: 369member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Reviewers are floored by the high-resolution Retina display on Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, but remain put off by the $2,200 entry price.


     


    FTFY

  • Reply 58 of 114
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    strobe wrote: »
    FTFY

    Yes, they're floored by how affordable it is, considering.
  • Reply 59 of 114
    adonissmuadonissmu Posts: 1,776member
    I was hoping for a cellular option just like my iPad.
  • Reply 60 of 114
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    hentaiboy wrote: »
    That's bollocks. The last year's base 15" (2.2GHz) is now more expensive. In Apple World recession doesn't exist.

    What are you talking about?

    The base 'old' MBP is less expensive now than it was a week ago.

    The new Retina MBP is less expensive than a similarly equipped MBP (16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD) was a week ago.
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