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General discussion

Should I wait to buy a Macbook Pro

Dec 7, 2006 10:11PM PST

I was planning on buying a Macbook Pro in January, after the Leopard release date was given and a free upgrade was promised. However, now I am hearing that blu ray may make it on in 2007. Also, Jobs says it will be Apple's biggest product year ever. So should I wait to get it, or just bite the bullet in January. If I should wait, how long should I wait until I decide it's just time to get it. I have a PC at the moment, but it is dying more and more every day. It won't last another year, but it could last into 2007.

Discussion is locked

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Wait!!!
Dec 7, 2006 11:59PM PST

Apple normally keeps its prices uniform. For example today the Mac Mini is for $599 but tomorrow you never know that they will upgrade and the price remains the same for the upgraded system.

As Apple keeps the price the same, the blu-ray drive system should also be the same price compared to a Macbook Pro bought today.

In 2007 you will also get the latest iLife software and also Leopard. So I would wait and in the meantime try to extend the PCs life. you could have a RAM upgrade or something or you could re-install Windows etc. Tell me what problems it has and I will try to find a cheap if not free solution for you.

Good Bye

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Waiting
Dec 7, 2006 11:59PM PST

I would not hold my breath waiting for the Blu-Ray burners to make it into any computer any time soon.
Although Apple are supporting Blu-Ray, there is no guarantee that Blu-Ray will win out over HD-DVD.
I think Apple will wait until the standards thing has been settled and go with the winner.
Waiting for the next technological innovation to appear in a laptop only means that you will be without a laptop for the foreseeable future.

JMO

P

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You are right BUT...
Dec 8, 2006 12:02AM PST

But won't it be better to wait for the new iLife and Leopard? It will be just a little time and you will get the latest OS and software.

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Leopard
Dec 8, 2006 5:48AM PST

The poster had already decided to wait for Leopard, that was not part of the waiting discussion.

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Blu-Ray
Dec 8, 2006 7:57AM PST

Today, in Best Buy, you can buy an internal Blu Ray device for $749

It's a full size machine, with a tray, so it will not fit inside any Mac Laptop.

Guess you would not really want to wait for that to come down enough, and to go Slot Loading, before you buy your next machine.

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The two sides of waiting.
Dec 8, 2006 1:03AM PST

I say wait.

But then again, let's say you do wait. What will you do when you discover "the next new thing" will be released in just a few days? Do you wait again? And when that shows up, will there be anothex "next new thing" that you will wait for?

It's a vicious trap I see a few fall into.

I love postponing since I've always gotten a better machine but then again when it's time to do the deed I be careful not to fall into that trap.

Bob

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I agree with u partially...
Dec 8, 2006 2:15AM PST

What I am trying to say is that Leopard and iLife are going to be major upgrades and they come only once in one or two years. So when thinking about the Os and overall experience I say you should wait.

But as pointed out, I would not wait for blu-ray to come out. First they will release a reader only then they will say that the latest Mac have a burner as well, then they will say that the latest onee is even better so I really believe that for now forget about blu-ray.

Just wait a bit only for iLife and Leopard.

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Not to push conspiracies but...
Dec 8, 2006 3:14AM PST

... please remember that Bluray technology is predominantly being promoted by Sony... those folks who brought us the DRM Root Kit this past year despite their protestations of innocence (read "LIES").

Bluray promises 50 gig storage and all sorts of other wonders but will it live up to the hype without delivering a lot of limitations purposefully built into the equipment as well? In other words, why wait for something that may have just as many limitations as advantages... limitations that are placed there on purpose to dictate what you are allowed, and not allowed, to do with your computer.

Please don't get me wrong... I design digital content for a living and do not want to see the pirates given advantages over law abiding citizens... but I hesitate to get that excited over a Sony promoted product considering some of the stuff they have done over the past couple of years. After all, Sony extended old patents and registered new patents this year for technology that would allow a video game disc to be "locked" to a particular machine just by playing it the first time. They aren't on the record as planning to use this tech, but I find it interesting that a company is exploring how to get extra fees out of people if they want to buy a used game or possibly stop the used but legally resold video game and DVD movie industry.

shahrokhan is correct in saying the leopard and iLife upgrades are worth the wait. Blu ray promises a great deal of benefits but future promises shouldn't limit what desaimastaflash wants and needs to buy today. As such... I wouldn't let Blu ray be the deciding factor.

grim

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Price is the Issue
Dec 9, 2006 12:04AM PST

It is very possible to put a Blu-Ray Drive into a Laptop, as Sony have succesfully done. However, for Apple to follow in Sony's footsteps would be a bit out of character.

Firstly, Apple tend to keep their prices at a pretty steady rate unless a major upgrade is done (for example, going from G5 to CoreDuo). This means that if Apple release a MacBook Pro with a Blu-Ray drive, it will be effectively an entirely new product and the price almost certainly will go up if the upgrade is done in Q1 of 2007. Secondly, the current Blu-Ray drive are quite bulky, we can see this as the sony one is in a 17" laptop. Although there is a 17" MacBook Pro, it is very thin and a blu-ray drive of that size is not available. Making a thicker laptop is not something I can see Apple doing anytime soon. I also don't see Apple switching away from the cool slot-loading drives available on their laptops.

My guess is that a Blu-Ray drive laptop will be available in Q3 or Q4 of 2007 at least, Apple will wait until the development of Blu-Ray means the drive gets smaller and the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD battle gets a bit more resolved. Even then, I think their first target will be to get a Blu-Ray configuration option in the Mac Pros and then the iMacs. As soon as an iMac or Mac Mini Blu-Ray drive is announced, a Mac Pro drive is about 1 month away.

So is the wait and the eventual price really worth it? Personally, as soon as I can get a free upgrade to Leopard, i'm getting a shiny MacBook!!!

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I'm on the fence...
Dec 15, 2006 11:49AM PST

I'm on the fence and honestly don't myself know which way to go:

The current MacBook Pro is a rev 2, and I've heard it's pretty solid. I have an older 23" Cinema Display at home so the 17" MacBook Pro is unnecessary. I think the 15" 2.33GHz model with a 160GB drive is the ticket.

That said, I'd like Leopard and the newest iLife. But waiting for Leopard means Spring 2007 -- likely April or perhaps a bit later. And, if my totally wild guess is at all correct, Apple will announce at MacWorld very similar MacBook Pro with perhaps 2.5GHz - a modest speed increase.

Moreover, who wants the first release of Leopard? i'd rather wait for the first full post-release update -- and i'd guess that's 2-3 months after Leopard is available.

So, all told, do I want to wait until mid-year to get a (more) stable Leopard and perhaps 2.5GHz, an updated iLife for about the same money? Or buy now, and spend the $120 for Leopard next year sometime when I'm ready.

There are perhaps sounds arguements for buying now, and sound arguments for waiting. That said, I lean toward buying now, and then upgrading apps like Photoshop CS and Office to Universal apps. I think my money is better spent there.

Anyone feel differently?

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Apple not Stable??????
Dec 15, 2006 12:36PM PST

Do you think Apple would release an OS just like Microsoft does? Apple is different from Microsoft. It does not release half-baked Vista flavored Operating Systems. Even if it was unstable, which is highly unlikely, there will always be free updates to resolve issues. Remember it will cost you quite a bit to get upgrades for al your apps as you say you want to.

By the way Apple can not release a Mac with a new processor without Intel first releasing the processor. A 2.5 Ghz mobile Intel processor is not yet out. So Apple can not just go and get processors from Intel without it knowing.

Apple always tries to keep its prices the same for upgrades. For example the iPod 60 GB was for $350 I think. When the 80 GB iPod released, it was the same price. So an upgraded Macbook Pro will cost the same as it costs now.

If you can't wait, then you should get a cheap Mac from ebay and then sell it back when you are ready to buy Leopard. You could also just buy a Mac Mini.

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Sorry, forgot to say I already have a PowerMac G5
Dec 15, 2006 1:04PM PST

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that I already have a Power Mac dual 2.5GHz machine. The purpose of buying a MacBook Pro is to replace it; I need portability, but I don't need two machines, and aside from another internal hard drive and 1.5GB RAM, my PowerMac G5 is largely not upgraded. But I figure it's still worth over a grand on eBay, so I can lower the effective cost of the MacBook Pro while the G5's value is still higher since Leopard isn't available for another 4-5 months and non-Apple univeral apps aren't plentiful.

Point taken on Leopoard, though I didn't mean to imply that Apple puts out half-baked solutions; I've been using Macs since '87 and am on at least my tenth machine -- so I know about reliability. It's just that in general, a first revision is likely to catch a plethora of issues that come up with a number of third party applications and utilities -- something the alpha and beta releases, let along first full release, hardly ever do.

As for the hardware, my bad: Yes, Intel would have to announce the 2.5GHz chip and, unless they do so in bed with an exclusive for Apple -- risky -- a new MacBook with an upgraded processor is not likely around the corner.

Finally, to existing apps - they'll have to be upgraded regardless of when I buy a new machine. At some point sooner than later, my non-Universal apps will have to be upgraded: MS Office, Photoshop, iView Media Pro to name a few.

So -- all that said, and given my need, would you still wait till Spring to buy a MacBook Pro (presumably to get free Leopard and iLife) or would you go for it now? When calculating opportunity cost in terms of usability and portability, I honestly think it's six of one, a half dozen of the other.

The only thing I can think of right now to stay with the G5 is that my Mac native apps work well under PowerPC chips; until Leopard and other non-Apple apps are made Universal, the on-the-fly machine language translation will make for a detectable performance hit with those apps between now and the time Leopard is available.

Care to weigh in again?

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New Core 2
Dec 15, 2006 5:17PM PST

I have heard that Intel will be releasing a new set of Core 2 Duo chips. Maybe there will be a Core 2 Solo as well (i would like that). The new ones will have a faster bus speed. The curren ones are at around 1033 Mhz or so. The new ones will go to around 1300 Mhz. I am not exactly sure about the speeds but yes the bus speeds will be higher. They will be named with a 50 in them e.g E6550. But all said they look like they are only there for desktops. Nothing heard about mobile processors. Lets see.

Do you already have those apps? (Photoshop MS Office etc)

As some one above mentioned that he got a Mac and a few days later the new OS was released. You can guess how unhappy he was so I think I would be patient.

I didn't understand what you meant by the opportunity cost.

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Opportunity cost
Dec 17, 2006 3:35PM PST

By "opportunity cost," I was referring the benefit of having the MacBook Pro NOW, and enjoying its benefits (and putting up with the nuances like Rosetta) between now and the time Leopard is introduced, i.e., Spring of next year, VERSUS continuing to be saddled to my desktop, which is stable, runs all my non-universal apps just fine, but for which the resale value drops just about every month, i.e., waiting to resell my PowerMac G5 just affords me fewer and fewer dollars each month to put toward the MacBook Pro.

The opportunity cost, in this case, is calculated as the difference between the NET cost of the new portable now vs. later.

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(NT) Leopard will be Universal Binary
Dec 15, 2006 10:19PM PST