No USB 3.0 is surprising/bad.
Probably because Intel's chipsets won't support USB 3 until next year. Current PC motherboards are supporting it with third-party controllers, which presumably Apple didn't want to bother with.
New MacBook Pro series
341–350 of 359 posts
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#342Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Dell XPS is a desktop-replacement laptop. Fast, but bulky. I doubt it has wonderful battery life. It's probably got a cheap case. Resale value will be low. Comparing Apples to Apples, you might look at high-end Sony laptops. The MBP 13" close to the S series, both in price and quality. The F series (big, bulky powerhouse) is much cheaper, and has much better specs - but it's a desktop replacement (like the Dell X…
It doesn't even make desktops! Huh? What about the Mac Mini, the iMac and the Mac Pro?
OK, you're right. It seems that small form factors (Mini) and all-in-ones (iMac) are generally classified as "desktops". Though workstations (Pros) are not.
By "desktop", I meant "towers, mini-towers, and those horizontal towers that used to prop up CRT monitors". Computers that you could stuff high-end (but not workstation) video cards, and quad core processors into.
It's only recently that the iMac used "desktop" parts, and not "laptop" ones, isn't it?
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#343Earlier quoted context omitted.
unless you sacrifice [...] optical drive space What they really sacrificed here was the opportunity to make a compelling product. It's 2011, when have you last time used an optical drive?
I'm curious why they didn't put in a Blu-Ray reader/writer, if they're going to put in an optical drive at all?
Because it costs more.
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#344Earlier quoted context omitted.
unless you sacrifice [...] optical drive space What they really sacrificed here was the opportunity to make a compelling product. It's 2011, when have you last time used an optical drive?
When I updated the system to Snow Leopard.
Given the Air's recovery thumbdrive, I think Apple can start sell the next OS X version in thumbdrive form =).
1st thing I did when I receive my Snow Leopard DVD is to RIP it to my firewire HDD.
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#345Didn't get as much coverage, but there are also new ThinkPads this week: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/22/lenovo-trots-out-new-thin... The 14" models look good: 30 hours (claimed) battery on the T420, 0.83" ultrathin T420s with discrete graphics. Edit: Here's the official announcement, which took a bit of digging around to find: http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1421 . synacksynack has posted a…
Any news on the resolution on the 14" models? I'm still looking for a competitor for the display on my three or four year old sony: 13.3" with a 1600x900 display. The new Sony laptops do full 1080p at 13.3", but Sony really doesn't like linux, so I'd love to get a different brand. If only there were somebody else making high-DPI laptops... UPDATED: Noticed the Tech Specs PDF. Looks like the 14" does offer a 1600x900…
I had a Vaio VGN-Z70B. You can somehow run linux on it but its a pure pain. On another note, I strongly suggest against Sony. Some things I experienced:
- Severe quality problems (broken cdrom plastic part on the side, white pixels screen, discoloring and wearout of plastic)
- Broke down completely once in the guarantee time, exchanged it freely but with penalty ( I had to get my data of the disk, but guess what, you can't access the disk easily you have to take apart the whole laptop for that. Putting it together was no problem, but they noticed you did that and thus let you pay penalty.)
- Broke down now again, probably again something with the power supply. No guarantee this time.
Don't buy Sony.
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#346hmm - you need to go to 1799$ before you end up with a half decent graphics card and 2199$ for a decent card. Compare it with a Dell XPS 15 Sandy Bridge - $1049 for i7 2620M, 1920X1080 display, nVidia GT525 Optimus card, HD Camera. For a first time possible mac buyer (me) - is it well justified ?
I'm also interested in becoming a 'first time mac buyer'. As such, I have some questions: - Do these offer a significant enough improvement over the last generation to justify not buying a refurbed older model? - What's the real conceptual difference between the three models? I know it's not just screen size - how do they differ in intended use case? - I want a laptop I can lug around everywhere and curl up on the so…
Here are where I see the use cases for the different sizes of MB Pros:
13": you do work on the laptop, but you also do a fair amount of travelling. In this particular case, the MB Air is also quite good.
15": you do quite a bit of work on the laptop, including connecting it to an external monitor, but would still like the laptop screen as a second monitor. This is definitely the best all around option, especially if you do some travelling/commuting but not all the time.
17": you need the extra screen real estate for something like video editing/graphics editing while on the move. Other than that, it's a bit bigger and heavier than most people find comfortable.
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#347Earlier quoted context omitted.
30 hours (claimed) battery life? That sounds ridiculous. How close (or far away) to the truth is that? Anybody know more?
battery life > battery life while actually using computer.
The * often states it;s without wifi on and at 50% screen brightness, so that's pretty much the same thing.
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#348Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's valid to discount the Mini because when you buy a Mini you are paying for several very significant features that are lacking from a typical desktop. If you want to make a fair comparison to the Mini, look at home-theater PCs that will be similarly small and quiet.
I don't follow how being a better desktop disqualifies the mini from being a desktop?
Does it have a discrete GPU, or one that shares the system's memory?
Can you upgrade the GPU?
Can you add extra hard drives?
Obviously not everyone needs those features, but some people do. And not everyone wants to pay for workstation parts (like the Pro).
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#349Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's valid to discount the Mini because when you buy a Mini you are paying for several very significant features that are lacking from a typical desktop. If you want to make a fair comparison to the Mini, look at home-theater PCs that will be similarly small and quiet.
I don't follow how being a better desktop disqualifies the mini from being a desktop?
The mini, by virtue of using low-power laptop chips and other techniques to reduce its size and power consumption, will always have a higher cost than a budget tower with equivalent clock speeds but a 250W power supply built by the lowest bidder, loud fans, and other commodity parts.
If all you are looking for is a cheap tower machine built from commodity parts, any of Apple's offerings will require you to pay a significant amount for features that you don't want, because the Apple machine isn't meant to be a generic box or to compete with generic boxes. The Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Pro all target niches that are different from the low-budget, ultra-low-margin desktop market.
It's really no different from saying that the MacBook Pro is an overpriced desktop - of course it is, because it is more than just a desktop. Apple doesn't make ordinary desktops, much to the consternation of almost every hacker who wants an ordinary desktop (but not a workstation) with a good unix-like OS. If Apple did make a generic ATX form-factor box, nobody would take exception to the idea that the Mini, iMac, and Mac Pro are in different categories.
Re: New MacBook Pro series
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't even make desktops! Huh? What about the Mac Mini, the iMac and the Mac Pro?
OK, you're right. It seems that small form factors (Mini) and all-in-ones (iMac) are generally classified as "desktops". Though workstations (Pros) are not. By "desktop", I meant "towers, mini-towers, and those horizontal towers that used to prop up CRT monitors". Computers that you could stuff high-end (but not workstation) video cards, and quad core processors into. It's only recently that the iMac used "desktop" p…
"horizontal towers" = pizza boxes?