Apple Notebook Event

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Kmax82

Diamond Member
Feb 23, 2002
3,008
0
0
www.kennonbickhart.com
Originally posted by: bearxor
Originally posted by: aphex
lol

11:01AM Q: Concern about the glossy screens. Are you going to offer another option?
A: Steve: We're going all glass -- we won't offer another version. Phil: You offset the reflection by the brightness, and consumers love it. One of the great things about a notebook is you can turn it however you want!

Yeah, nice try, but that's kind of a pain.





Reality distortion field in FULL EFFECT on that one.

This pretty much guarantees that I will NOT be buying an Apple laptop (or iMac) in the future. I REFUSE to buy a notebook with a glossy screen, Mac or PC. I simply won't have it.

A couple of other things:

I don't know why people are still waiting for 12" MBP's. a 12.1" MBP won't be significantly smaller than a 13.3", it won't have substatially better battery life, and now that the MB's have a GF9400, the graphics playing field is a lot more even and they're made out of the same materials as the MBP now. A 12" MBP is simply not happening.

Secondly, looks like the rumors for i7 pointed to a desktop-only launch. WHen I went back and checked, the mobile processors are slated unit Q3 '09. That's still a long ways off. I hadn't researched it very well and figured the entire line would be launching in Q4, but was wrong. So these notebooks are probably what we have until July/August, with maybe a speed bump along the way.

See.. that's a shame.. and I don't understand why Apple wouldn't make two versions to appeal to at least the same userbase that they have now. So annoying. I'm really regretting being an OS X user today.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
Originally posted by: HN
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: HN
refurbed blackbook is tempting ($200 price drop from before the announcement)

$1099
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - black
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Where are you getting that?

store.apple.com is down for me.

store was up. they just put the "we'll be back soon" page up again.

store's up, refurbs down
 

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
13,323
4,096
136
Wonderful Pork, the current 2 GHz "Penryn" CPU is probably quite close to your 2.16 GHz Merom CPU.

Originally posted by: umrigar
manly: didn't you catch the part about the new GPU in the Macbook? the $300 difference pays for newer tech and R&D, too... plus the fact that people will pay more for the SHINY.

new:
http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html
"NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory"

old:
http://www.everymac.com/system...2008-penryn-specs.html
"Intel GMA X3100 144MB shared with main memory"
Yes, the MacBook platform is overall clearly stronger but nearly a year after the last update, Apple has effectively raised prices.

This is during a tough economic environment/recession and a few months after they hinted at a lower-margin SKU. I like the new products, but the value proposition is not a strength.

No, I didn't miss anything and my opinion has nothing to do with how much fanboys will pay for shiny new models. As mentioned in today's show, the MacBook is Apple's best selling computer ever. It's a high-volume item and value certainly matters. Dropping the plastic base model to $999 doesn't count for anything.
 

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
Originally posted by: TheStu
Why so adamant Bearxor? I generally felt the same way until I got my MacBook with a glossy screen, and I love it. What are your reasons for not liking glossy?
Poor color reproduction for number one. Right now I'm working in Television and doing my own thing on the side, and I want the accurate color representation, and secondly, my notebook is my ONLY computer. It's not a companion to a desktop. I need to be able to use it everywhere and turning up the brightness will burn through the battery.

Hopefully they'll go back to matte screens on a future revision with the amount of backlash. I was actually interested in a 17" for the higher resolution and depending on how that upgrade looks, I might bite on a new 17".

I was really kidding on the chicklet keuboard stopping me from buying, but a glossy-only is a show stopper.

If you guys want to see something scary, check this video out ;):
http://www.cn2.com/video.php?media_id=000469
 

HN

Diamond Member
Jan 19, 2001
8,186
4
0
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: HN
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: HN
refurbed blackbook is tempting ($200 price drop from before the announcement)

$1099
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - black
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Where are you getting that?

store.apple.com is down for me.

store was up. they just put the "we'll be back soon" page up again.

store's up, refurbs down
i hope they're not "fixing" that price i saw earlier :laugh:

*edit*
it's still there in the refurb section.

blackbook or a bigass tv? what economic crisis?
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
Originally posted by: HN
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: HN
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: HN
refurbed blackbook is tempting ($200 price drop from before the announcement)

$1099
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - black
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Where are you getting that?

store.apple.com is down for me.

store was up. they just put the "we'll be back soon" page up again.

store's up, refurbs down
i hope they're not "fixing" that price i saw earlier :laugh:

up
 

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
9,353
23
91
Originally posted by: bearxor
Originally posted by: aphex
lol

11:01AM Q: Concern about the glossy screens. Are you going to offer another option?
A: Steve: We're going all glass -- we won't offer another version. Phil: You offset the reflection by the brightness, and consumers love it. One of the great things about a notebook is you can turn it however you want!

Yeah, nice try, but that's kind of a pain.





Reality distortion field in FULL EFFECT on that one.

This pretty much guarantees that I will NOT be buying an Apple laptop (or iMac) in the future. I REFUSE to buy a notebook with a glossy screen, Mac or PC. I simply won't have it.

A couple of other things:

I don't know why people are still waiting for 12" MBP's. a 12.1" MBP won't be significantly smaller than a 13.3", it won't have substatially better battery life, and now that the MB's have a GF9400, the graphics playing field is a lot more even and they're made out of the same materials as the MBP now. A 12" MBP is simply not happening.

Secondly, looks like the rumors for i7 pointed to a desktop-only launch. WHen I went back and checked, the mobile processors are slated unit Q3 '09. That's still a long ways off. I hadn't researched it very well and figured the entire line would be launching in Q4, but was wrong. So these notebooks are probably what we have until July/August, with maybe a speed bump along the way.


regarding macbook pros:

totally agree with you here. the specs on the mbp look decent (9400/9600GT combo), replaceable hard drive, displayport, ddr3, but no 1680x1050 option and glossy screens? i dont freaking think so. that black looks absolutely horrid on the macbook pros. as i stated in my earlier post, the reason why the mbp was great is because it offered a matte display and the entire case looked GOOD, unlike this new one where it basically emulates a portable imac/mba (the two designs that i hate and are the worst imo). you can use any color you want apple, but glass on the display? seriously? and with phil schillers idiotic and possibly revolting comment about glossy screens:

Q: Concern about the glossy screens. Are you going to offer another option?
A: Steve: We're going all glass -- we won't offer another version. Phil: You offset the reflection by the brightness, and consumers love it. One of the great things about a notebook is you can turn it however you want!

no WAY are they getting a sale on the macbook pro from me.

bottom line is, if they made the mbp look basically exactly like the mba, but with a matte or glossy option like the old days, no glass OR a black border on the display, it would have been perfect.

regarding the macbooks:

they've made too many changes to bring the macbook up to the macbook pro line. the looks, sure. ill give them that, but whats weird is that now its not about graphics or the screen resolution that make people jump to the mbp, but its FIREWIRE. why the hell did apple leave out firewire on the macbook? its awesome that the macbook got the 9400, backlit keyboard, SSD option, better cpu, etc, but no firewire? and great job apple, at reducing the price of the old macbook to just 999. with those specs, it should be even lower...at MOST it should have been 750-800 dollars.

regarding the macbook air:

awesome. thats how it should have been from the start. bigger hard drive(s), faster cpu, MUCH better graphics. i like that machine a lot, even though its a bit overpriced and the design is meh.

regarding everything else:

reduced student discount? hate that (mbp with a student discount used to be 1799, now its 1899, and so on and so forth). 17" mbp gets all the nice upgrades, like the standard matte or gloss (thankfully) 1920x1200 LED screen, 320GB hd, 4GB of ram. whats up with apple raping you in the dongles and adapters?

5/10 apple. you screwed over the pro users who needed a matte screen, made it look ugly (imo), you brought too many changes to the macbooks so now the pro seems kind of awkward in that high price considering the macbook has most of the pro features, but you redeemed yourself with a much better gpu in the macbook and macbook air, along with the usual bump in specs. lastly, the one more thing was disappointing; should have been together with the mba/mbp updates too, not as a "separate" thing.
 

Wonderful Pork

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2005
1,531
1
81
Originally posted by: manly
Wonderful Pork, the current 2 GHz "Penryn" CPU is probably quite close to your 2.16 GHz Merom CPU.

So todays new "base" Macbook for $1299 has the equivalent TWO year old processor? Though, I guess its OK seeing how if they had these back then I wouldn't have gone for the Pro.
 

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,664
202
106
Originally posted by: TheStu

Why so adamant Bearxor? I generally felt the same way until I got my MacBook with a glossy screen, and I love it. What are your reasons for not liking glossy?

I can't speak for Bearxor but I have a BlackBook with a glossy screen and don't like it. I can live with it, but I won't be buying another laptop with a glossy screen. The reflections are distracting. Plus, in the case of the now previous generation MacBooks, they simply aren't high quality screens.

It will be interesting to see one of these new screens in person. LED backlighting doesn't automatically make for a great display.

Also, I just realized the new MacBooks lack a firewire port. I can't believe Apple did that. I use the FW port on mine all the time.

-KeithP
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
isn't the glossy screen pretty much the same as that of a 700m?


man so many decisions...

refurb 1500 MB for 1100, refurb MBP for 1350...

new MB for 1600...
 

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
I'mnot so torn up about the loss of firefire. I mean, let's be honest, firewire lost in the battle against USB. I think I called for apple to drop firewire from notebooks sometime last year, but I'm happy they kept in on the pro and dropped it to a FW800-only port since I can get a FW800-FW400 cable.

About DisplayPort adapters, Displayport is just sop new. Give it some time, and those DVI dongles will go down in price.
 

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
13,323
4,096
136
Originally posted by: Wonderful Pork
Originally posted by: manly
Wonderful Pork, the current 2 GHz "Penryn" CPU is probably quite close to your 2.16 GHz Merom CPU.

So todays new "base" Macbook for $1299 has the equivalent TWO year old processor? Though, I guess its OK seeing how if they had these back then I wouldn't have gone for the Pro.
That's why I and others are questioning the value of the new MacBooks, although the platform as a whole is stronger.

Keep in mind the CPU is just one component and that overall system performance should be improved. I think most of us feel it's a crock that the year-old $1299 MacBook has a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo but the spanking new model comes in at 2 GHz. Besides this, the $1499 price point was edged up to $1599!
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I just checked out the new offerings. Nothing to make me rush out and replace my mac. However, if someone wanted to buy my macbook pro I would sell it and buy a new one of these. I would probably get a macbook and not a pro. I do not game much and I mostly use it with a external monitor. So the macbook would work perfect.

I do have questions on that new display though. I hope they provide some option to use it with my existing macbook pro. It is just what I am looking for.
 

randomlinh

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,846
2
0
linh.wordpress.com
i'm disappointed there was no price drop. I would have like to see the entry for a macbook pro to be lower. move the air to 1599, pro to 1799... have macbook at 999/1199/1399

loss of fw really sucks. macbook is just about what I need.. but I'd like to dump video onto it too. guess it's still imac or hackintosh next for me
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
1440x900 :(


why the hell are all the 15.4" LCDs so low res?
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
guys, how is the mac with ram usage?


would a 2.4 w/2gb be better or a 2.0 w/4gb be better?

 

aphex

Moderator<br>All Things Apple
Moderator
Jul 19, 2001
38,572
2
91
Originally posted by: Ns1
guys, how is the mac with ram usage?


would a 2.4 w/2gb be better or a 2.0 w/4gb be better?

OSX does better with less ram than most other OS's. 2GB of Ram is fine, though more is never bad.

Keep in mind, you can always add more ram fairly cheap, while you can't swap the CPU.
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
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Originally posted by: sourceninja
I just checked out the new offerings. Nothing to make me rush out and replace my mac. However, if someone wanted to buy my macbook pro I would sell it and buy a new one of these. I would probably get a macbook and not a pro. I do not game much and I mostly use it with a external monitor. So the macbook would work perfect.

I do have questions on that new display though. I hope they provide some option to use it with my existing macbook pro. It is just what I am looking for.

I'm with you on that one SourceNinja. I am in no hurry whatsoever to get replace my first gen (really really first gen) MacBook, and although the 2.4GHz would be sufficiently faster than my exisiting system to make me think the upgrade is worth it, I am not going to go out of my way for it.
 

LtPage1

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
6,311
2
0
Originally posted by: ElFenix
1440x900 :(


why the hell are all the 15.4" LCDs so low res?

Have you used one? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want a display that was any more dense than that. Watching 1080p video would be sweet, but everything else would be awkward, I feel.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I have a 1900x something dell notebook. The display is actually un-readable in windows. Looks fine in linux however.
 

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
Originally posted by: LtPage1
Originally posted by: ElFenix
1440x900 :(


why the hell are all the 15.4" LCDs so low res?

Have you used one? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want a display that was any more dense than that. Watching 1080p video would be sweet, but everything else would be awkward, I feel.

My 4-year old Inspiron 6000 has a 15" screen with a 1680x1050 screen and the only reason I didn't get the 1920x1200 was that it was another $100 I couldn't afford at the time. I have to give Apple some kudos, because the vast majority of off the shelf laptops only have a 1280x800 screen in the 15" department and a 1440x900 in the 17" models.

Having said that, everytime I boot up my Inspiron 6000 for something, I wish I could transplant the screen over to my MBP. It's not as bright, but I typically leave the brightness down to the lower third (another reason why I want to keep a matte screen) and the amount of work I could do in the 1680x1050 screen is amazing compared to the 1440x900. I can't even have two full browser windows open on most sites with the MBP, or 2 word documents for that matter.
 

rikadik

Senior member
Dec 30, 2004
649
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0
Originally posted by: randomlinh
i'm disappointed there was no price drop. I would have like to see the entry for a macbook pro to be lower. move the air to 1599, pro to 1799... have macbook at 999/1199/1399

loss of fw really sucks. macbook is just about what I need.. but I'd like to dump video onto it too. guess it's still imac or hackintosh next for me

My sentiments exactly. :(
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
Originally posted by: LtPage1
Originally posted by: ElFenix
1440x900 :(


why the hell are all the 15.4" LCDs so low res?

Have you used one? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want a display that was any more dense than that. Watching 1080p video would be sweet, but everything else would be awkward, I feel.

i've used smaller screens with more pixels. so, yes. 1680x1050 would be perfect. my current 14" 4:3 notebook has a vertical height of 8.4" and resolution of 1050. a 15.4" widescreen has a vertical height of 8.16" and the same resolution. so not much smaller.