[itsanobscureid]

Hi all,
I currently have a Dell D800 which i use for work, work entails Visual Studio (.NET / c#) , Java - Eclipse, general MS apps - ie excel access etc + SPSS & SPSS Clementine (data mining) & Mapinfo...
I also own a G4 12" Ibook which i use at home for recording my own attempts at rock stardom - logic / garageband etc ...

I have been looking into getting a new laptop for work for some time now - I was hoping for dual core (as a lot of my work is computationally very intensive) yet portable - i am sick and tired of carrying this brick around ....

so i guess you can see where this is going - with the introduction of the new macbook & boot camp I felt my heart skip a beat - could i really get work to buy me an apple and use it in XP throughout the day - then get home and boot into a proper OS and keep recording .... also pricing wise the macbook seems to be very competetive when compared to similar specced wintels while also having reliable build quality...

obviously as work will be buying the laptop - i need to be sure ill be able to perform all my duties reliably via bootcamp...

what are your thoughts - would i be taking a risk by getting the macbook or should i just get one ordered

any advice is, as ever, much appreciated
dan

[JAR]

Wait a few weeks if you can. Some of us early buyers are having problems with heat, whining and mooing (the fan revving). Once you hear us talking about how we traded in our first Macbooks for new ones that are cooler and quieter, then it's time to buy.

[Hi I'm Ben]

That's unfortunate for Puff. My MacBook is neither hot, nor does it Moo. It's a stock black one. It's been great. I've considered opening it and reapply the thermal paste just for good measure, but I have no qualms right now.

[itsanobscureid]

thats good to hear ben - it does seem that there have been a few documented heat issues - altho some ppl seem to say that the MB runs colder in XP - n obviously u'll always hear about the problems - im gonna need to get a new laptop within the next 2 months - but ill want to be sure that i can do everything ill need to do for work ...

- does anyone have any experience of Visual Studio on a bootcamp enabled Macbook?
- also its not likely that apple will pull this feature do you think - the worst scenario would be that i'd get work to buy the macbook then apple would pull bootcamp and it would become useless for work & then my balls would get trampled on by my boss

[Star-Fire]

I can't see that happening, Apple knew when it released bootcamp it was going to open a whole new can of worms, and to ditch it now would upset ALOT of people, myself included. Personally I believe in 10.5 you will be able to run both OSs at the same time and switch back and forth, but one never knows.

[itsanobscureid]

ok, thanks for your thoughts guys n gals

- how about right click functionality & external monitor support in XP - these working OK?

I really am so so tempted now

[Star-Fire]

There is a little windows app caled "Applemouse" that will allow you to control click in windows just like in Mac OS X, or just get an external mouse, it works and I believe extrnal monitor support works just fine, if some one has tried it chime in, seems to work on the MBPs fine.

Here is a link for applemouse: http://www.geocities.com/pronto4u/applemouse.html

[itsanobscureid]

thanks star-fire - i've always prefered an external mouse anyway so i think ill follow that route

I've been thinking more about potential overheating problems everyone seems to be discussing atm - i think that given the potential seriousness of the problem if worst comes to worst the macbooks will be recalled & replaced - then again i think 3 yrs applecare might be worth it if 2 years of 75c + temps might start to damage other components - i think id prefer it to either be no problem or a really bad one instead of this potential middle ground ...

still i think that apple may be getting a lot of new customers with spec they are providing at this price point

anyone have any other thoughts ?

[itsanobscureid]

anyone know if there any characters that aren't/can't be mapped properly - as i'm a coder and using insert symbol all the time would drive me mad

also whats the situation with ctrl-alt-del as mac keyboards have never had a del key ... hmmm ?

thx all

[manasgajare]

not sure how much job security you have, but personally I wouldn't risk it and just let the boss buy me a top of the line PC laptop (if such a thing exists )

Then I would just save up some money and buy the Macbook myself for personal use.

Nobody says you can't have both.

[Gee4orce]

Ok - lets just stamp this rumor out right now. The MacBooks do not overheat. Yes, they can run somewhat warm - certainly nothing exceptional. It might be something to worry about if - ooh - your legs are made out of chocolate or something, but otherwise for regular flesh and bone people, it's not a big deal.

The problem is that people are running utilities (CoreDuoTemp) and getting all hot under the collar because of what it's telling them. I mean, whatever next ? People will be saying "oooh, look, it says here that the hard drive is spinning at over five thousand times a minute !! The bearings will run out ! What if it flies out and slices through my legs !!?!?"

Gee4orce, typing this on his MacBook, on his lap.

[Star-Fire]

I have to agree, the hottest I saw my MacBook was 78C, that's 10-11 degrees cooler then former MBP. It does get tosty on the bottom when charging, but on battery it's quite cool.