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solofx7 · Jan 18, 2007, 10:55 AM

i just wanted to quickly weight in on the wait to buy thing...
unfortunatly there is always new hardware and there are always new os's...
on the Apple side of things the new hardware is a ways away on the notebook side...
i think the os will be here sooner than later though....

ruftytufty · Feb 15, 2007, 09:10 PM

There is an ExpressCard 34 card that provides 2 eSATA II ports, and works with Mac OS X:

Sonnet | Tempo SATA Express 34 - SATA Express34 Card for MacBook and PC Notebooks

It does support port multiplier technology, so you can connect up to 5 SATA drives to each eSATA port, using an enclosure with a port multiplier.

Unfortunately, you can't boot from and external SATA drive, because the drivers for the card load too late in the boot process.

I'm hoping that Apple will (finally) add a built-in external SATA port to the MacBook Pros when they are switched over to the Santa Rosa (aka Centrino Pro) chipset, which has built-in support for 3 SATA ports. After the internal SATA drive, that leaves 2 that could potentially be connected to an external port.

I don't know if Santa Rosa supports port multiplier technology, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't. That seems critical for high-performance I/O.

sc_markt · Feb 15, 2007, 09:28 PM

I'm waiting for both 10.5 AND a MBP refresh.

Targon · Feb 16, 2007, 05:12 AM

Yes waiting for Lepoard first, hopefully the new MBP provide an option for a higher res display, i hope also we get more USB slots an 2 x eSATA slots!

pra9ab0y · Feb 16, 2007, 05:32 AM

Im waiting fir leopard cos its goning to be much better than anything we see now and also the fact I am still saving! need another £200 for the base macbook pro with no upgrades it will suit my needs tho!

brokenjago · Feb 16, 2007, 05:42 AM

There is an ExpressCard 34 card that provides 2 eSATA II ports, and works with Mac OS X:

Sonnet | Tempo SATA Express 34 - SATA Express34 Card for MacBook and PC Notebooks

It does support port multiplier technology, so you can connect up to 5 SATA drives to each eSATA port, using an enclosure with a port multiplier.

Unfortunately, you can't boot from and external SATA drive, because the drivers for the card load too late in the boot process.

I'm hoping that Apple will (finally) add a built-in external SATA port to the MacBook Pros when they are switched over to the Santa Rosa (aka Centrino Pro) chipset, which has built-in support for 3 SATA ports. After the internal SATA drive, that leaves 2 that could potentially be connected to an external port.

I don't know if Santa Rosa supports port multiplier technology, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't. That seems critical for high-performance I/O.

I can't decide if this is spam, or someone replying to the wrong thread. I'm leaning towards the latter.

earthlings · Feb 16, 2007, 12:40 PM

I am waiting for Leopard also to buy a MBP or an iMac.

azdude · Feb 16, 2007, 01:06 PM

I *would have* waited for Leopard to order, ordinarily, but...

I ended up purchasing a Student Developer membership, which has a double benefit: I saved ~$400+ (including cost of the membership) on my MBP purchase, AND I'll receive Leopard free when it's done. Why wait?

My 17" will be here Monday. Yay!

earthlings · Feb 20, 2007, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by azdude

I *would have* waited for Leopard to order, ordinarily, but...

I ended up purchasing a Student Developer membership, which has a double benefit: I saved ~$400+ (including cost of the membership) on my MBP purchase, AND I'll receive Leopard free when it's done. Why wait?

My 17" will be here Monday. Yay!

Where do you get the Student Developer membership?

azdude · Feb 20, 2007, 10:46 PM

Here:
http://developer.apple.com/students/

Proof of student status is required before it's activated.

mavherzog · Feb 21, 2007, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by norz

@mduell: why do want 1920x1200 on the 15" Macbook pro?

WUXGA is a fairly common option on 15" laptops from other competitors. Not having the option on Apple's PRO line of laptops is disappointing. I too hope that this is rectified with the next MBP refresh.

mavherzog · Feb 21, 2007, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by bloodline

I agree, 1920x1200 on a 15" is painful (as I've seen), and certainly not useful to me (in terms of music production) unless I can scale the image(s) to a more comfortable size (a feature of Leopard?).

I stare at two 15" WUXGA displays all day. AFAIC, it is the perfect size and resolution for a laptop display.

earthlings · Feb 21, 2007, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by azdude

Here:
ADC Student Membership

Proof of student status is required before it's activated.

ok thanks

dantewaters · Feb 22, 2007, 06:55 PM

with the esata express slot adaptor
You get 200MBs mega bytes or mega bits...

Cuz I know Alex lindsay (from pixel corps) gets 190 mega bytes per sec...
And he's using Xserve with about 8 drives.

mduell · Feb 22, 2007, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by dantewaters

with the esata express slot adaptor
You get 200MBs mega bytes or mega bits...

Cuz I know Alex lindsay (from pixel corps) gets 190 mega bytes per sec...
And he's using Xserve with about 8 drives.

eSATA supports 150MBps (megabytes per second) or 300MBps. ExpressCard supports 250MBps. Most single drives can push 60-80MBps.

Andhee · Feb 24, 2007, 10:45 AM

Who thinks by august there will be a new MBP and Leopard? Most probably Leopard but i'm not sure about a new MBP. I'm waiting until after my GCSEs (I'm english) until I get a mac, but I wouldnt want to buy a MBP, then they release a new one like two weeks later!

hldan · Feb 25, 2007, 04:47 AM

Dude, not only will there be without a doubt a new MBP before August but Apple most likely will be working on the next revision by then. It's been time for a revision of the MBP.

Chuckit · Feb 25, 2007, 05:16 AM

Originally Posted by Andhee

Who thinks by august there will be a new MBP and Leopard? Most probably Leopard but i'm not sure about a new MBP. I'm waiting until after my GCSEs (I'm english) until I get a mac, but I wouldnt want to buy a MBP, then they release a new one like two weeks later!

These things are both almost beyond doubt.

mduell · Feb 25, 2007, 12:59 PM

Latest rumors for Crestline (and the rest of the Santa Rosa platform) say the release date will be in May. A little later than I had hoped, but hopefully Apple will implement it immediately (like Core Duo, unlike Core 2 Duo) and it guarantees the next MBP/MB update will ship with Leopard/iLife '07.

Andhee · Feb 25, 2007, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

These things are both almost beyond doubt.

Oh wow thanks for telling me. So, you think at the time I come to purchase one in august, and there is still no new version of the MBP, I should wait until perhaps september?

Simon · Feb 25, 2007, 03:22 PM

New iMacs, MBPs and MBs will likely arrive when Santa Rosa ships. These guys say that will be in May.

brokenjago · Feb 26, 2007, 02:15 AM

I'd like to have 6 GB minimum for futureproofing

I'm pretty sure 4 GB SO-DIMMS son't exist yet.

And if they did, they'd probably be like $1,000.

mduell · Feb 26, 2007, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by brokenjago

I'm pretty sure 4 GB SO-DIMMS son't exist yet.

And if they did, they'd probably be like $1,000.

I'm sure they'll be closer to $2k at launch.

No laptop chipset supports >4GB RAM, so there's not really any incentive to build higher capacity modules yet.