[USNA91]

To MacPro, or NOT to MacPro?

THAT, is the question!

I have a fully-loaded Powerbook G4 15, which I got about 18 months ago. I love the damned thing, but I'll admit to getting the MacPro bug. I just saw this thing today, and I'm really stunned at the updates.

- Bigger screen
- Faster graphics
- Faster CPU
- Faster HDD
- Built-in iSight
- Remote control
- Magnetic power cord

etc.

Now, it's not cheap at close to $4K fully loaded.

So........ Should I take the plunge, knowing it's just a desire to have the best thing going? Any concerns on first-run glitches?

Any chances they finally fixed the DAMNED keyboard sticking problem?

What say ye?

[jam8]

yes, buy it! unless you are a professional photographer , etc. then stick with powerpc for a few months.

[Maflynn]

If the PB does what you want it to now, I'd hold on to it.

Why - you'd lose too much money. Consider how much money you could sell your current PB, the cost of the new MBP, software incompatabilities and hardware issues.

Not to belabor the point but it sounds like you were happy with the PB until you started seeing the MBP, if that's the case wait until you see how the machine shakes out and let others be on the bleeding edge.

Mike

[USNA91]

Originally Posted by Maflynn

Not to belabor the point but it sounds like you were happy with the PB until you started seeing the MBP, if that's the case wait until you see how the machine shakes out and let others be on the bleeding edge.

I was happy, but I wanted more speed, especially from the hard drive, and I was beginning to really crowd the HD, so I offloaded stuff I wish I didn't have to. I have a white spot on my screen (annoying, but hardly a major problem) and now my delete key has decided to go a tad nutso on me.

So far, all the software I have supposedly works perfectly on the new systems.

It's almost as if the MacBook is what I was always hoping the PB would have been.

Dear me....... The temptation!

[Zyphere]

You can always consider waiting a bit.. if not for the 2nd revision then at least for people to start receiving their MBPs now so you can see how everything is first.

[USNA91]

Originally Posted by Zyphere

You can always consider waiting a bit.. if not for the 2nd revision then at least for people to start receiving their MBPs now so you can see how everything is first.

I hate it when people bring logic into these discussions!

[Zyphere]

Well yeah, save for a few minor glitches here and there with your PB, it still packs enough juice to get you through at least until the 2nd revision MBPs roll out.

[Maflynn]

Well soundsl like you want justification to go and buy one - its your money so if that's what you want more power to ya. I have a Rev a 15" alu powerbook and I'm going to wait but that's just me.

Who are we to say what you should or shouldn't do,

[Moderator]

just upgrade your HD. get a 7200 rpm 100 GB + monster

[Eriamjh]

Unload the G4 now and you might be avoiding a great price plunge in its value in the future. As long you don't use a lot of Rosetta apps, you'll probably be quite happy.

Don't forget, the MacBook Pro is a DUAL PROCESSOR notebook. It will be faster than your G4 PB once you start using universal apps that are MP aware. This is why my DP800 G4 is still quite usable for normal everyday things in spite of its relatively slow speed.

All the benchmarks coming on for the iMac Intel are sucky because, even though iLife '06 is universal, the apps are not taking advantage of DPs (my understanding). iMovie and iDVD will improve greatly when all consumer Macs are DPs and all of iLife uses DPs.

Intel is the future. Please step forward.

[striker100]

I'm sort of in the same position unfortunately. I have a 1.67GHz 15" Powerbook, not the very latest one with the higher resolution but the one before. It even has the 128mb vram video card, 100GB HD and 1GB ram, I bought it at an Apple Retail Store, I believe it was called the "Ultimate" Powerbook". I'm also sort of itching for the MacBook Pro even though the Powerbook I have does just fine by me. The major reason I want the MacBook Pro is for the new display, supposedly it is just as bright as the 20" Cinema Display. The faster dual processors and everything else would just be gravy. In the past I've sold Powerbooks and took a minimum hit, perhaps $200-$300 after about a year, not bad at all considering that alone is the cost of AppleCare for the Powerbook. Now unfortunately if I sell my Powerbook I would take a major hit in what I could get for it and considering how nice this Powerbook still it it doesn't seem worth it. I think I'll wait until rev B, remember in the 2nd or third quarter of '06 there is supposed to be a replacement for the napa processor (meron, I think?).
I have to get out of the "latest and greatest" mentality, if I really needed it that would be different but since I don't it no longer makes sense now that there will be greater and faster changes in the Mac notebook components.

[Kenstee]

http://www.macobserver.com/columns/u...20060124.shtml

This guy REALLY knows Macs and presents some excellent, very rational reasons for holding off on a MBP purchase right now.

"The 15" MacBook Pro, although similar in design to the current PowerBooks, is a fundamentally new architecture. As such, there is a much greater potential for as-yet-undiscovered problems. Especially as it isn't even shipping yet. Hardware design issues usually get addressed in a revised upgrade that comes out about 3-4 months later. So you might want to wait for that.

But there's an even more compelling reason to wait: It is virtually certain that a 12" and 17" MacBook Pro are waiting in the wings, set to replace the current PowerBook models of the same size. My money says that these notebooks will have significant new features not included in the current 15” MacBook Pro. When these models get released, the 15" model will be similarly upgraded so as to maintain feature parity. I'd wait to see these "real" MacBook Pros before I bought one. Remember, it's a fact, not a rumor, that every Mac will be transitioned to Intel processors before the end of 2006 (probably well before the end). So you know they are coming."

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Kenstee

http://www.macobserver.com/columns/u...20060124.shtml

This guy REALLY knows Macs and presents some excellent, very rational reasons for holding off on a MBP purchase right now.

"The 15" MacBook Pro, although similar in design to the current PowerBooks, is a fundamentally new architecture. As such, there is a much greater potential for as-yet-undiscovered problems. Especially as it isn't even shipping yet. Hardware design issues usually get addressed in a revised upgrade that comes out about 3-4 months later. So you might want to wait for that.

But there's an even more compelling reason to wait: It is virtually certain that a 12" and 17" MacBook Pro are waiting in the wings, set to replace the current PowerBook models of the same size. My money says that these notebooks will have significant new features not included in the current 15” MacBook Pro. When these models get released, the 15" model will be similarly upgraded so as to maintain feature parity. I'd wait to see these "real" MacBook Pros before I bought one. Remember, it's a fact, not a rumor, that every Mac will be transitioned to Intel processors before the end of 2006 (probably well before the end). So you know they are coming."

This old FUD again? Take a look at the iMac forums... where are all these first revision problems? The video issue was a software problem (and also seen on some G5 iMacs running the same OSX build). Apple very rarely releases upgrades within 3-4 months, and if issues exist they are often not fixed (think of all the faulty G3 iBooks, the G5 chirps, etc... I've posted a more complete list in the past that you can search for).

What features are the 12 and 17" going to get?
Faster CPU? Already at top-of-the-line (2.33 is expected in May, give or take a month).
Faster GPU? Just upgraded to the 2nd best mobile GPU available.
Dual link DVI? Already stock/standard.
Higher resolution screen? Possible, but Apple could have done this any time over the last 3 years and has chosen not to.
Next generation expansion card? Already have ExpressCard.
At best the 17" may get an eSATA port and support for larger ExpressCards.

It doesn't sound like Ted Landau "really knows Macs."

[Kenstee]

Originally Posted by mduell

It doesn't sound like Ted Landau "really knows Macs."

Actually, he does. You don't. Please post a link to your Mac troubleshooting book and website after you publish it so you can share your "wisdom" !!!!!!!!!!

[USNA91]

Well. I don't know who that gentlemen is, but he states that Virtual PC won't work on the new systems, while the MS page for VPC says it will.

Someone is wrong....

He does bring up a good point about the 17-inch version, though. I'd love to see that, so I'll be patient and wait a bit.

[b11051973]

I've got a 3 year old PB. I'm waiting for at least until 12" and 17" PB and iBook replacements come out. I want to see what all my options are.

I think I'll probably wait until OS X 10.5 comes out.

[Barefoot Matt]

Originally Posted by USNA91

Well. I don't know who that gentlemen is, but he states that Virtual PC won't work on the new systems, while the MS page for VPC says it will.

No, it doesn't. It says that Office for Mac and Messenger for Mac will work on intel macs. I don't know why that's on the VPC page, but it is, and I think that's what you were looking at. The site (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product...virtualpc.aspx) makes no mention of VPC itself being compatible with intel macs, and from what I've seen in various places, that development is still a ways off.

Originally Posted by Microsoft

Q. What does the announcement about Intel-based Macs mean for Virtual PC for Mac?

A. Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 is still the best emulation solution for users who have PowerPC-based Macs, but it does not run on Intel-based Macs. We are working with Apple to determine the feasibility of developing Virtual PC for Mac for Intel-based Macs. Virtual PC for Mac is highly dependent on the operating system and hardware and will require additional development to run on Intel-based Macs.

[USNA91]

Woops. Obviously misread that.

DOH!