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GraphicLounge.co.uk · Oct 19, 2006, 05:08 AM

Hi guys, I am about switch from being a PC user to a Mac user and I had some questions...
Please answer yes/no where appropriate.

1) Should I buy now or wait till november? (I can't wait any longer than that).

2)What is the DVD burner like on the MBP 17" Model? Is it fast, does it burn Dual LAyer DVDs?

3)Has the MBP 17" got HD built into it?

Thanks in advance.

siflippant · Oct 19, 2006, 06:01 AM

Apple (UK and Ireland) - MacBook Pro - Tech Specs

Try to wait it out as long as you can... while there is no guarantee of new revisions coming soon, you just never know with Apple... good luck with your new purchase...

swiftp · Oct 20, 2006, 10:05 AM

Wednesday my PBG4's disc died. I have spent the intervening time rebuilding an external disc and will now have to carry it around connected - sub optimal!

My strategy for a new purchase is wait for 2 weeks, if no announcement by last date that it is possible to ship before the American holiday (say, 15th) then buy. I need a computer and the current staus quo is no good.

amazing · Oct 20, 2006, 10:40 AM

Listening to the rumor mill is not a good idea: you're doomed to disappointment most of the time. That rumor of a November introduction of new models seems pretty bogus to me...

That said, waiting as long as you can makes good sense, because every week the build quality gets better.

swiftp: are you exploring putting a new HD into your PB? Is it still under applecare? Which model do you have? Because regardless of your purchasing a new laptop, you'll have much better resale on your old PB if it's working. Depending on your model, you might even consider doing it yourself, though there're bound to be places charging a reasonable fee near you.

swiftp · Oct 20, 2006, 11:40 AM

Yeah what I am trying to do is sell it on the business trade in deal. I want to put the disc I am building in - when I get stable I will disembowl it and do the upgrade. Thanks for the advice though.

SierraDragon · Oct 20, 2006, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by GraphicLounge.co.uk

Hi guys, I am about switch from being a PC user to a Mac user and I had some questions...
Please answer yes/no where appropriate.

1) Should I buy now or wait till november? (I can't wait any longer than that)...

Wait.
MBPs are 9 months old now, and as a consequence of v1 status lame in important aspects like mass storage, Superdrives, FW800, etc. Intel's road map is clear, there is zero technology to performing a basic upgrade and Merom PC laptops have already been announced.

The only reason Apple would go into this holiday season with only the existing substandard MBPs is if the chips are not available. Indeed there are some rumors to that effect that I consider low probability, but we will just have to wait and see.

Your questions 2 & 3 should be asked of Apple in November after new boxes (IMO) are announced.

-Allen Wicks

P.S. I am waiting, and will buy a Merom MBP.

mduell · Oct 21, 2006, 01:09 PM

1) God only knows.

2) Slot loading (read: annoying). Not terribly, yes.

3) No.

bloodline · Oct 26, 2006, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

1) God only knows.

2) Slot loading (read: annoying). Not terribly, yes.

3) No.

1. He doesn't need to wait any more!

2. How is slot loading annoying? I prefer it!
3. What does he mean by HD?

GraphicLounge.co.uk · Oct 26, 2006, 11:48 AM

Phew, I am glad I decided to wait.... I think I am going to wait a couple of weeks just incae there are any teething problems with the first batch of MBP's.

By the way what is slot loading? Am sorry, I am new Macs.
What I meant is can create 'High definition' DVDs on the MBP?

Oh and one more question.... Is there still a heat issue with the MacBook Pro's?

Cheers.

Nivag · Oct 26, 2006, 12:17 PM

slot loading is the way DVD\CDs are inserted into the laptop.

tray loading is a tray that ejects from the machine, you place the disc on the tray and you push the tray back in.

slot loading is a slot on the front of the notebook for the MBP and you push the disc in, then the machine grabs it and auto loads it for you, kinda like when you put your cash card in the hole in the wall to get beer tokens

as for the heat issues, i can't comment on the ones just released as i haven't seen one, but the original ones are fooking hot! hence why they are called notebooks and not laptops anymore.

GraphicLounge.co.uk · Oct 26, 2006, 01:46 PM

Oh right, got ya.

Thanks for the explanation. I sure hope that the new MBP's are cooler than the last ones.

Funnily enough, I went to the Mac shop in Manchester today and the sales guy tried to flog me the now out of date MacBook Pro, he told me they were much cheaper now that 3 days ago.

I politely told him....I dont think so!

Great pic dude, I have to get one for myself soon.

mduell · Oct 27, 2006, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by bloodline

2. How is slot loading annoying? I prefer it!
3. What does he mean by HD?

2. Very easy to break and generally slower read/write speeds.

3. Doesn't really matter, since the MBPs have neither HD-DVD drives or HD (1080p) screens.

Velocity211 · Oct 27, 2006, 03:49 PM

another example: a car stereo has a slot-loading cd player.

Originally Posted by mduell

2. Very easy to break and generally slower read/write speeds.

Wouldn't tray loading drives more prone to breaking? Cause if you have the tray open and someone accidentally hits it it'll break, that's what happened to my lombard's drive.

mduell · Oct 27, 2006, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by Velocity211

another example: a car stereo has a slot-loading cd player.

Wouldn't tray loading drives more prone to breaking? Cause if you have the tray open and someone accidentally hits it it'll break, that's what happened to my lombard's drive.

I will give you that: a tray loading drive is more prone to damage for the 0.005% of its life that it spends with the tray open.
Between dust (and other foreign debris) entering the slot-loading drive, the internals being a good bit more delicate empty, and my own experience with drive failures, I much prefer a tray loading drive to a slot loading drive.

My most recent experience: I had two laptop drives in a backpack; one slot, one tray. Backpack falls ~3 feet from a table to the ground. Tray is good to go, slot is dead to the world.

bloodline · Oct 30, 2006, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

I will give you that: a tray loading drive is more prone to damage for the 0.005% of its life that it spends with the tray open.
Between dust (and other foreign debris) entering the slot-loading drive, the internals being a good bit more delicate empty, and my own experience with drive failures, I much prefer a tray loading drive to a slot loading drive.

My most recent experience: I had two laptop drives in a backpack; one slot, one tray. Backpack falls ~3 feet from a table to the ground. Tray is good to go, slot is dead to the world.

Come on you know better than that!!! One slot loading drive craps out and they're all prone to damage?

I've had 4 slot loading drives (3 laptop and 1 desktop) and 5 (4 desktop and 1 laptop) tray loading drives.
All 4 slot loading drives still work.

Two of the tray drives wore out and the tray no longer ejects, and one tray drive I accidentally broke the tray off when I dropped the laptop.

mduell · Oct 30, 2006, 08:14 PM

It was one example in a sordid history with slot loading drives.

bloodline · Nov 1, 2006, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

It was one example in a sordid history with slot loading drives.

Oh... ok then

zign · Nov 2, 2006, 05:58 AM

They have them in Regents Street Store now. I was in yesterday when they actually brought the new ones out.