Noob thinking Macbook Pro

[ViviTheMage]

We got a 15" macbook pro in at work, I am the first to see any new equpment, so as I was playing with it...thought it was interesting.

I rarely use my current laptop - x220 - i7, but it has epic battery life (12~ hours on a charge)

I do not think it would be bad for me to have one, since I use it so rarely (1-2 times a week), I could ween myself into the mac world with this?

Always been a windows guy, just want to...broaden my horizon, haha.

Is it hard to use both day to day?

 

[TheStu]

I use a combination of WinXP, Win7 and Lion every day. It isn't that hard, especially since both Windows machines are desktops and my laptop runs Lion, so the context switch is enforced in that way. When I dualbooted OS X and Win7 on my desktop there were some issues since it was the same machine, but nothing that couldn't be overcome.

Also, little thing but it is one of my pet peeves, as you can tell by the writing under the screen it is a Mac, not a MAC. The pet peeve has to do with all things like that, not just when people say MAC or iTouch. I get the same way when someone calls their desktop a CPU/HDD/whatever other silly thing. Or calling it a Dell Inspirion.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I would have no reason to dual boot, if anythong...i'd just run windows as a VM, if I had to touch windows 7, or i'd remote into my win 7 box at home if needed. I always plan to have a windows box, I just feel like I should learn some Mac.

pet peeve corrected :thumbsup:

 

[alfa147x]

You mean learn OS X

 

[ViviTheMage]

You mean learn OS X

Yup.

 

[Red Storm]

I used 3 different OSes in addition to Lion on my MBP. Used VirtualBox, it's pretty sweet being able to side swipe from Lion to Win 7, then Solaris, then Ubuntu.

Just make sure you put 8GB of RAM in it before doing this.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Will do .

If I get the one with intel HD, i'll use the 4gbx2 1866mhz kingston memory.

EDIT :

I am surprised the MBP 13.3 only has 1280 resolution, when the 13.3 MBA has 1440 ... that alone will make me go MBA over the MBP.

 

[Ns1]

best thing you'll ever do.

I use 3 OS's fairly interchangeably (OSX/WinXP/Win7, in that order) and it's great, if for no other reason than personal knowledge.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Yeah, I read a few of your posts about NS1 ... made me feel like I should figure it out

 

[ViviTheMage]

Will do .

If I get the one with intel HD, i'll use the 4gbx2 1866mhz kingston memory.

EDIT :

I am surprised the MBP 13.3 only has 1280 resolution, when the 13.3 MBA has 1440 ... that alone will make me go MBA over the MBP.

Anyone have thoughts on this? My only grip with my x220 was resolution, so if I bump the size to 13"~ I want the 1440 resolution, or higher. Is there a possibility of the MBP getting 1440?

Maybe I should wait until Feb of next year for the new early 2012 MBP's, and cross my fingers. I also read that ivy bridge should bump HD3000 by 60%~

 

[manly]

Anyone have thoughts on this? My only grip with my x220 was resolution, so if I bump the size to 13"~ I want the 1440 resolution, or higher. Is there a possibility of the MBP getting 1440?

Maybe I should wait until Feb of next year for the new early 2012 MBP's, and cross my fingers. I also read that ivy bridge should bump HD3000 by 60%~

since they've just speed-bumped the MBP, it'll probably be spring or even summer until they ship the Ivy Bridge upgrade. They don't necessarily follow Intel's release schedule to a T.

From a components standpoint, it would make a lot of sense if they put 1440x900 on the 13" MBP. I'd hold out for Ivy Bridge, or consider getting a MBA if you actually need something now. If you need to run VMs concurrently, the MBA's 4GB RAM may be a problem.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I got a buddy whose going to give me his late 2010 MBP, so i'll play with that until the new line comes out.

 

[TheStu]

since they've just speed-bumped the MBP, it'll probably be spring or even summer until they ship the Ivy Bridge upgrade. They don't necessarily follow Intel's release schedule to a T.

From a components standpoint, it would make a lot of sense if they put 1440x900 on the 13" MBP. I'd hold out for Ivy Bridge, or consider getting a MBA if you actually need something now. If you need to run VMs concurrently, the MBA's 4GB RAM may be a problem.

I say that it is more likely that they will kill off the MBP13 altogether rather than give it a panel bump to match the MBA13. The MBA is their flagship line going forward, and since the MBP13 offers nothing significant over the MBA (processor speed and 8GB notwithstanding). Then I imagine that they will upgrade the Airs to Ivy Bridge which is (I think) supposed to drop the TDP across the board to Air range, and if they can get 8GB into the Air (which I bet they can by that point) then there won't be any need for the Pro 13 anymore.

 

[Red Storm]

I say that it is more likely that they will kill off the MBP13 altogether rather than give it a panel bump to match the MBA13. The MBA is their flagship line going forward, and since the MBP13 offers nothing significant over the MBA (processor speed and 8GB notwithstanding). Then I imagine that they will upgrade the Airs to Ivy Bridge which is (I think) supposed to drop the TDP across the board to Air range, and if they can get 8GB into the Air (which I bet they can by that point) then there won't be any need for the Pro 13 anymore.

Problem with the Air is RAM upgrades. I got the 13" Pro because I could pop out the 4GB it came with and pop in 8GB. When the Air gets 8GB, you'll probably be able to take the Pros to 16GB.

If the Air had replaceable memory and a glass black bezel (it really looks a lot better than the Air's bezel) like the Pro line, I would have definitely chose it over the Pro.

 

[manly]

I say that it is more likely that they will kill off the MBP13 altogether rather than give it a panel bump to match the MBA13. The MBA is their flagship line going forward, and since the MBP13 offers nothing significant over the MBA (processor speed and 8GB notwithstanding). Then I imagine that they will upgrade the Airs to Ivy Bridge which is (I think) supposed to drop the TDP across the board to Air range, and if they can get 8GB into the Air (which I bet they can by that point) then there won't be any need for the Pro 13 anymore.

plausible but we're just positing guesses here. I'd call the MBA their new volume leader rather than flagship model, although from a UX perspective it definitely delivers. Based on current tech, it seems Apple is happy with the MBA having lower CPU performance-TDP, lagging the mainstream market by a few months, and having limited configs/user-installable upgrades. So there are still at least a couple valid reasons to continue the 13" MBP, although value is no longer one of them.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I say that it is more likely that they will kill off the MBP13 altogether rather than give it a panel bump to match the MBA13. The MBA is their flagship line going forward, and since the MBP13 offers nothing significant over the MBA (processor speed and 8GB notwithstanding). Then I imagine that they will upgrade the Airs to Ivy Bridge which is (I think) supposed to drop the TDP across the board to Air range, and if they can get 8GB into the Air (which I bet they can by that point) then there won't be any need for the Pro 13 anymore.

I read that MBP has better gammit on the LCD, and of course upgradable memory/HDD.

What makes you think the'll dump it?

 

[TheStu]

I read that MBP has better gammit on the LCD, and of course upgradable memory/HDD.

What makes you think the'll dump it?

Because it confuses the product line and the Air is their idea of how laptops should be. I don't know if it will be soon, but I don't see them keeping both especially once the Pros lose their optical drives.

 

[boomhower]

I got a buddy whose going to give me his late 2010 MBP, so i'll play with that until the new line comes out.

I need a buddy like that.....

 

[ViviTheMage]

I need a buddy like that.....

well, he is pulling money out of our business account for his new one, so his new one is technically 'free' anyhow

 

[Rottie]

See my sig below after I got my hands on a Macbook Pro last month I started less with my Windows 7 netbook. Apple OSX is fun to learn while Windows 7 gave me nothing else to learn new because Windows 7 is much like Windows Vista over again.

 

[freegeeks]

I went Mac a couple of years ago and never looked back. I use Windows Vista at work and I am reminded 40 hours/week what a pile of crap it is compared to os x

 

[deanx0r]

I went Mac a couple of years ago and never looked back. I use Windows Vista at work and I am reminded 40 hours/week what a pile of crap it is compared to os x

This.

I intended to use Windows on my MBP, but OSX won me over with its desktop management, ease of use, gestures and awesome trackpad. The first week with it was actually horrible specially with the lack of command+x, but eventually, I came to realize that the Mac way make more sense than Windows. Prior to using a Mac, I used hate Apple out of pure fanboyism, just like many of the Apple haters on this board. It wasn't until my first MBP that I realized how horrible my PC experience was overall.

I would spend most of my time trying to support or fighting against my machines instead of being productive. The Dell experience was probably one of the worst as their laptops would always have some kind of faulty components. The tech support was also horrendous. Now with my Macs, I can just drop them off a local Apple store and they would take care of it within a few days (see my thread). That is priceless IMO.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I can't say I have ever had any issues supporting my windows system. The few times i've used mac, it didn't make sense, but when I had it for a few hours at work it made a bit more sense. I hope you aren't basing Windows PC's entirely on Dell's support either, that's just crazy.

Lenovo has epic support, as does Asus, Toshiba, and Acer from my knowledge. Obviously none of them can beat in retail store support that apple provides though.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Sadly my home laptop is a MBP, and my lousy work computer is Windows.

Also unfortunately I have to use excel A LOT at work, and Excel on OSX is complete rubbish so I am also trapped 40 hours a week on a crummy windows machine, while my beautiful macbook just has to sit at home and wait for me.

The other shitty thing is that all the developers and support guys at work all use OSX and it makes me so jealous!

 

[mugs]

Is it hard to use both day to day?

Not hard at all. My desktop is a Mac Mini, my laptop is running Windows 7. I bought a copy of Windows 7 for my Mini, but it's been sitting unopened for 2 years because I've never had a need for it.