[C-Bear]

I was figuring on waiting to purchase an Alu15" until it ships with Panther, but a friend has advised getting one now with Jaguar instead. His reasoning is that I'll be able to get the Panther CD on the cheap, and that the software I'll be purchasing is established as Jaguar compatible, but that it might not be so on Panther for a while.

I'll be using the latest versions of Final Draft and Microsoft Office, and for utilities Norton Systemsworks and perhaps DiskWarrior.

Any advice or angle I'm missing? I need to get these things ordered pretty soon…
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[nuraoar]

I would suggest you wait. Apple is having issues with the Al15 right now.

Mine had the white spots and came back from repair just this monday with a perfect new samsung screen and assembly.

After about 3 days the spots started to reappear. I now have 1 bright and 4 faint spots again and it is getting worse. It think it is a fundamental design flaw with the lid and constant opening and closing seems to cause some pressure on the LCD causing these spots.

Other wise it is a great laptop. I would wait for this lid thing to get sorted out and for panther to be available makes no sense to buy now and upgrade since it is releasing in 2 weeks.

[hazelnutcoffeeg]

can you wait?
i couldn't.
it shipped on thursday.
it should be here monday-wednesday.

i switched from winXP.
i'll let you know how it goes.

[amazing]

The newest models are the ones least likely to have any problems with Panther. Apple has surely tested quite extensively with the latest models.

Of course, you might have problems with printer drivers and scanners, stuff like that. In any case, I'd recommend having 2 partitions, one with Jaguar and one with Panther. You'll have some minor adjustments to make when starting up in Jaguar with some apps, for example Quicktime will look for the latest Quicktime Player, which happens to be the Panther version which won't play on Jaguar. To get around that, put Quicktime for Jaguar in the Dock and drag the Quicktime clips onto that software.

The only version of Systemworks worth having is 3.0, but don't use it on Panther until it's confirmed to be compatible. Same with any utility software.

[LfGrdMike]

Wait 3 months after each refresh as a general rule. Give Apple time to work out any nagging issues. www.macfixit.com though posted in agreement to what I say but he bit the bullet. Should be on the front page still unless he updated it today. I haven't checked.

Edit its on the top of the page still go check it out its a good read. Shouldn't take you long to read through.

Umm Apple would test all their machines the same man. No, model gets better treatment. The G5 would probably be tested the most though because its not a G4 thats been around for the last 5 years.

[C-Bear]

Originally posted by nuraoar:
I would suggest you wait. Apple is having issues with the Al15 right now.

Mine had the white spots and came back from repair just this monday with a perfect new samsung screen and assembly.

After about 3 days the spots started to reappear. I now have 1 bright and 4 faint spots again and it is getting worse. It think it is a fundamental design flaw with the lid and constant opening and closing seems to cause some pressure on the LCD causing these spots.

Other wise it is a great laptop. I would wait for this lid thing to get sorted out and for panther to be available makes no sense to buy now and upgrade since it is releasing in 2 weeks.

Regarding issues with the build quality (white spots, latch problems, etc.), I agree, the longer I wait the less likely it is to get a bad model.

However, the question of software compatability and my need for a computer remain…

[C-Bear]

Originally posted by LfGrdMike:
Wait 3 months after each refresh as a general rule. Give Apple time to work out any nagging issues.

Agreed, that's an excellent rule of thumb, but given how long it took for Apple to produce revised 12"s and 17"s, I'm not sure I want to risk waiting nearly a year (or even half that) for a revised 15."

Umm Apple would test all their machines the same man. No, model gets better treatment. The G5 would probably be tested the most though because its not a G4 thats been around for the last 5 years.

[iomatic]

Stop with the partitioning! Down with partitions! Partions are evil--they complicate things and confuse your Desktop usage! It's un-Zen-like!

Go away partitions! Experts only!




US$.02

Originally posted by amazing:
The newest models are the ones least likely to have any problems with Panther. Apple has surely tested quite extensively with the latest models.

Of course, you might have problems with printer drivers and scanners, stuff like that. In any case, I'd recommend having 2 partitions, one with Jaguar and one with Panther. You'll have some minor adjustments to make when starting up in Jaguar with some apps, for example Quicktime will look for the latest Quicktime Player, which happens to be the Panther version which won't play on Jaguar. To get around that, put Quicktime for Jaguar in the Dock and drag the Quicktime clips onto that software.

The only version of Systemworks worth having is 3.0, but don't use it on Panther until it's confirmed to be compatible. Same with any utility software.