Oh man, I think I'm in love.

[Masterz1337]

http://modmyi.com/images/mw09/mw-2.jpg
This guy makes Macbook and MBP batteries. After hearing about the new 8 hour battery life in the 17" MBP coming out late January, you love him.

The 17" Macbook Pro gets a major update today, falling in line finally with the recent updates (http://www.modmyi.com/forums/mac-news/381401-macbook-pro-updated-more-power-better-graphics.html) to the other Apple laptops. Starting at $2799 (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=MzA3MDc5MA) (same as its been), comes with 4GB of RAM, and can take up to 8.

http://modmyi.com/images/mbp17.jpg

Probably most notable of the changes though, is the whopping 8 hour claimed battery life per charge, with up to 1000 charges per battery - roughly 3 times the average current laptop, and giving it a 5 year lifespan. MAYBE you'll actually be able to use your laptop as a legit workhorse, on the go. MINUS the looking-all-over-the-terminal-for-an-outlet bit.


The longest-lasting Mac notebook battery ever.
The battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge1 and can be recharged up to 1000 times2 — compared with only 200 to 300 times for typical notebooks. To do this, Apple engineers custom-designed lithium-polymer cells to create the largest possible battery, then they went even further: They built the battery right into the computer, eliminating the space-consuming mechanisms and housings that standard removable batteries require. The result is a battery that’s 40 percent bigger than the previous generation and offers up to 8 hours of wireless productivity on a single charge — all in a notebook that’s less than an inch thin, weighs just 6.6 pounds,3 and remains the same price as the previous-generation model.

But building a battery that lasts up to 8 hours is only part of the story. Giving it a lifespan of up to 1000 recharges required breakthroughs in battery technology. Apple electro-chemists developed advanced chemistry that maintains the battery’s charging capabilities longer than ever. And while most notebooks wear down their batteries by charging them at a constant rate, the 17-inch MacBook Pro takes a different approach. Using an Apple-developed technology called Adaptive Charging, a microchip on the battery constantly communicates with the computer to determine the optimal way to charge its cells, adjusting the current up and down depending on a variety of conditions. Combined, these advancements offer a dramatic improvement in battery lifespan: more than three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries — up to five years.



http://modmyi.com/images/mbp17ports.jpg

Other features include (http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features-17inch.html):


Three USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire 800 port for connecting faster peripherals.
Mini DisplayPort is a perfect fit for the new Apple LED Cinema Display.
Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at up to 2.93GHz.
1066MHz frontside bus and 6MB of shared L2 cache.
320GB hard drive (or up to 256GB SSD).
Multi-touch glass trackpad.
Just 0.98 inch thin and 6.6 pounds.


http://modmyi.com/images/mw09/mw-3.jpg
Longest battery life. Ever.

http://modmyi.com/images/mw09/mw-14.jpg
Glass trackpad on new MBP's.

store.apple.com (http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features-17inch.html)

And it's about the same price as a gaming PC laptop, none which have as large a screen, the battery life, or advanced touchpad.

[Xetsuei]

Oh look, an actual reason to buy a Mac...

:v:

Depending on what GFX it has, I'd probably get one, and install Windows on it.

[Phopojijo]

Good thing it's got a 1000 charge cycle (up to 5 year) and 8 hour battery... since you can't replace it.

[Xetsuei]

I'm sure after 5 years you'd want a new notebook.

[legionaire45]

Good thing it's got a 1000 charge cycle and 8 hours... since you can't replace it.
Beat me to it D: .

The fact that the battery lasts longer sort of makes up for that, but it still is disconcerting that you'll have to go through Apple to have your battery replaced =/.

[Phopojijo]

I'm sure after 5 years you'd want a new notebook."up to"

The iPhone battery is rated "up to" like 2-3x what it actually does.

[leorimolo]

I bet in 3 years that battery will have 1 hour cycles. Just like any other laptop battery

[n00b1n8R]

Starting at $2799 (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=MzA3MDc5MA) USD
Stopped reading there.
Enjoy your over-priced laptop.

[Bodzilla]

"up to"

The iPhone battery is rated "up to" like 2-3x what it actually does.
i love that term.

we get the same bullshit with things down here as well.

there was an add for some HYCLONE fuel thing, basically it was supposed to make a swirl with the petrol and the water so that it was a better fuel/air mix.
up to 10% better economy.

in order for them to advertise it and it not be illegal, all they had to do was get .1% fuel economy saving and they could sell it and advertise it.
What a fucking joke.

[sdavis117]

7 hours of battery if you get the 9600M instead of the integrated 9400M. Take into fact that they probably rated the battery life with the wireless adapter off and working with a light load, and for everyday use you probably get 4-5 hours a charge. After a year of regular use you can cut that in half.

My iPod Touch is rated for 5 hours of use (with the screen on), and I only get 1 to 2 hours, and it's just a year old, with lower then default brightness levels.

[Sel]

Stopped reading there.
Enjoy your over-priced laptop.

I'll stick with my 800$ 3 hour battery life laptop thanks :v:

[InnerGoat]

LiPo in a laptop? Heh.

[FRain]

$2799.

You're kidding me, right?

[InnerGoat]

It's the latest and greatest from Apple, what do you expect it to be $999 ? :raise:

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

It's the latest and greatest from Apple, what do you expect it to be $999 ? :raise:

I expect 1000$

[flibitijibibo]

I smell a $599 joke coming.

[klange]

Stopped reading there.
Enjoy your over-priced laptop.
It's not overpriced, it's just really expensive.

I'll stick with the 4 hours I get out of my $500 netbook (with wireless and bluetooth on and screen as bright as it goes, wonder how long it would last if I wasn't lazy...) with the standard 4-cell battery - maybe Dell will give me an 8-cell?

[Masterz1337]

7 hours of battery if you get the 9600M instead of the integrated 9400M. Take into fact that they probably rated the battery life with the wireless adapter off and working with a light load, and for everyday use you probably get 4-5 hours a charge. After a year of regular use you can cut that in half.

My iPod Touch is rated for 5 hours of use (with the screen on), and I only get 1 to 2 hours, and it's just a year old, with lower then default brightness levels.

Well, It's broken and you should go to the apple store and they'll replace it for free. I've had mine over a year and It still stays charged after 6 hours of use.

[Phopojijo]

Well, It's broken and you should go to the apple store and they'll replace it for free. I've had mine over a year and It still stays charged after 6 hours of use.No... no that's common... I have one too.

I mean it varies... a *lot*... but yeah... pretty common. (If you're running graphics-intensive games that sucks the life right out of it especially)

[Masterz1337]

Games weren't available for the first gen iPod touch when it came out, so obviously they aren't talking about them when it comes to battery life with the 1st gen touches. If he's using it for music, and it dies in 2 hours, well than that's a problem.

[Phopojijo]

Games weren't available for the first gen iPod touch when it came out, so obviously they aren't talking about them when it comes to battery life with the 1st gen touches. If he's using it for music, and it dies in 2 hours, well than that's a problem.No they are... you just needed to pay like 10$ for a software update to get the App Store.

Believe me, I know.

Via Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_Touch)

On July 11, 2008 the iPhone 2.0 Software Update (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_OS) was released for the iPod Touch for US$9.95. The update allowed first generation iPod Touch devices to access the App Store (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store), download third-party applications, in addition to a host of minor "fixes". The iPod Touch 2.0 Software Update supports WPA2 Enterprise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPA2) with 802.1X authentication.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_Touch#cite_note-wifiwpa2-4)

Yeah... I paid 10$ for a software update... Apple marketing at its finest.

As for music -- his screen doesn't have to be on for it.

But yeah, if you start doing processing, leave Wifi on, and leave the screen on... it'll drain.

But yeah... 2 hours with Wifi off and the screen dim doing average apps wouldn't surprise me. Don't be fooled by the Steve Jobs reality distortion field
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field) (Yes that's a real term)

[Masterz1337]

Yes, you need to pay $10 to upgrade to 2.x firmware, but they (fiirst gen iTouch) came out about 9 months prior to the Appstore and 2.x firmware, when the only way to get new applications on your phone or touch was to jailbreak them.

I had one of the launch iPod touches, and used it up until I upgraded to an iPhone.

[Needles]

$3000 and the mac only gets a 9400/9600? I thought it would get at least a 9800m (http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9800m_gtx_us.html) at that price.

[Phopojijo]

And you think they shouldn't have planned ahead for the drain on the battery for the App store they KNEW they were launching in 9 months and even advertised long before the First-Gen Ipod Touches?

Seriously dude, give me a break.

Edit: Also they had the same hardware patched to 2.0 for a long time... so the hardware was intended to use the App Store. No excuse.

[Ki11a_FTW]

Stopped reading there.
Enjoy your over-priced laptop.
apple have always overpriced many of their products :fail:

[Phopojijo]

Yeah, that's what they do... and it works, so they do it. I don't blame them.

If you benefit from Apple's products, and don't mind paying a premium for it... go for it.

However many Apple fans wouldn't believe how few people would benefit from it.

[Masterz1337]

And you think they shouldn't have planned ahead for the drain on the battery for the App store they KNEW they were launching in 9 months and even advertised long before the First-Gen Ipod Touches?

Seriously dude, give me a break.

Edit: Also they had the same hardware patched to 2.0 for a long time... so the hardware was intended to use the App Store. No excuse.

Sure it was intended, but it wasn't designed for it. The updated Ipod Touch was built with the intent of having high quality games. They could obviously have delayed it, but it's Apple's strategy to always try to be one step ahead of the rest of the market. It's a strategy that works and makes them money, which is what any company is focused on.

[Bodzilla]

That doesnt make it right masterz or forgivable.

[Phopojijo]

Sure it was intended, but it wasn't designed for it. The updated Ipod Touch was built with the intent of having high quality games. They could obviously have delayed it, but it's Apple's strategy to always try to be one step ahead of the rest of the market. It's a strategy that works and makes them money, which is what any company is focused on.You're right... it works and makes them money. I don't blame them.

However you as consumers should care about who gets your money and why. If it's worth your money, than spend it... but making a knowledged investment is better than an impulse purchase.

[Masterz1337]

That doesnt make it right masterz or forgivable.

It's how all companies work. How many Vista Compadible PCs are there that can't run vista right. Or if You want to make this a not vista example go for 98->ME.


You're right... it works and makes them money. I don't blame them.

However you as consumers should care about who gets your money and why. If it's worth your money, than spend it... but making a knowledged investment is better than an impulse purchase.

I completely agree, If you were getting one just for the features it had at the time of release, then you got what you had. If you bought one for games and the like, it's as you said, an impulse purchase, well it kinda sucks.

[Warsaw]

$2799.

You're kidding me, right?

1st, I agree with you.

2nd, this can be classified as a monster notebook.

3rd, having now established No. 2, you can wait until March and get the new Clevo 18.4" that has a quad core and dual 9800M GTX cards for about the same price as this thing when you give it a only Core 2 Duo @ 2.93GHz. It also has a lightweight integrated chip for mobility purposes. Of course, battery isn't as good, but I doubt the Apple battery is as good as they claim either. Also, the new Clevo is nowhere near as fat as the old DC9091 (Sager NP9262). Picture Here (http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/12/clevos-18-4-inch-m98xnu-gaming-laptop-packs-a-lot-of-junk-in-it/)

Thus, I say this is a waste of money, unless you absolutely have to have the Mac OSX and a machined aluminum body. The horsepower in this computer is no better than that now aging HP DV7, which is less than half the price of this new MBP, and has the same screen real estate.

To the Apple machine's credit though, it is damn sexy.

[Phopojijo]

Yep.

And that's all the point was.

Don't believe what Apple says their benchmark was... because they (and just about everyone else who states battery life) are often wrong.

[ultama121]

You know what, even with the extra battery life and specs, I couldn't care less. :v:

Macs. :(

[legionaire45]

You can configure a Dell XPS 1730 with the same processor, memory, dual 8700M GT's and 2 9-cell batteries for the same price as the new Macbook.

You get fairly long battery life, if not better.
Better performance.
Some level of upgradability (HDD, RAM, etc.).
For the same price after shipping.

That, or you can be a sane person and buy yourself a cheaper but still decent 15" laptop. Hell, maybe even a 15" Macbook Pro. Anything bigger than that isn't very portable anyway (no matter how much they tell you it is; 15" is still a lot to be lugging onto a plane or whatever). For performance, get yourself a $1000 desktop and for portability get yourself a similarly priced laptop. Gaming or anything else that is system intensive will turn that 8 hour battery life into 2 hours or less anyway. For school, unless you plan on making video games or something, all you need is a netbook.

Oh, lol, Apple has the balls to charge you $50 extra for an "antiglare" (aka matte) screen.

[Bodzilla]

laptops are fucking shit anyway.

[Pope]

YFor school, unless you plan on making video games or something, all you need is a netbook.

I want it because I'm in film school. Having that much power is nice for editing and since Final Cut Pro is pretty much industry standard now, I'm unfortunately tempted by this offer. Well at least I don't have to worry because I got no money anyways.

[Mr Buckshot]

laptops are fucking shit anyway.

That's a pretty biased statement. Laptops serve a purpose that desktops can't: portable computing. If you're a businessman who frequently travels, try hauling around the case, monitor, power cables, keyboard, and mouse everywhere with you. Not going to be pleasant. No, putting all your spreadsheets on a USB drive and then using them on public computers is not an alternative.

I plan on going to university in the U.S. and from that point on I'll most likely not own desktops any more. In the confined space of a dorm, having all the necessary components of a computer in one package, with only one power cable needed, is highly sought after. If you plan to have add a printer, you'll appreciate the space-saving even more.

The notion that "laptops suck for games" has been broken since 2003, btw. The Macbook Pro's Geforce 9600MGT may not run Crysis at 1920x1200 on max with 60 fps, but it can handle, say, 1024x768 on high. Its secondary integrated 9400M is not to be underestimated given its ability to play COD4 smoothly (I hope to see this IGP in all Netbooks). My laptop has an 8600MGS and it runs Crysis at 1024x768 on high smoothly, I can hit 1440x900 by lowering some details while still preserving the immersive graphics.

Upgradeability is still a problem with laptops (especially Macs due to their physical design) but standardized graphics solutions (MXM) have already been proven to work on 15.4" and 17" Windows laptops. Give it some time and eventually there'll be a standalone laptop graphics market just like there is with desktops.

As for price, I know that a laptop will always cost more than a desktop with the same specs. But if the buyer truly knows that he needs the space-saving qualities and portability, then the premium is worth it.

But yeah, if you're a stay-at-home type of guy, or if your office provides you with a computer, then laptops are shit :P

On topic: I doubt the claim of 8-hour battery life, especially since all rechargeable batteries never meet the claims in the manuals and also lose some capacity after repeated charges (chemistry will explain why).

This claim probably applies only to low brightness and wifi/bluetooth turned off. I can achieve 4 hours on my LG P300 by doing just that, but I'm usually not in a situation where I need more than 2 hours of charge, and if there's a hotspot there's no way in hell I'm turning off the wifi switch.

[Bodzilla]

How many of you Genuinely need laptops? as in you cant get away with just using a USB to carry your files from the PC to say school at the library or class room?

a massive waste of money, and they have to be about the worst thing to type on ever. no only are they cunts to type on because of how the keys are which leads to massive problems with Carpal tunnel but you also have to deal with the fucking heat coming out of the laptop into your hands when their rested on it for typing.

so yes laptops are GREAT.

[Mr Buckshot]

How many of you Genuinely need laptops? as in you cant get away with just using a USB to carry your files from the PC to say school at the library or class room?

a massive waste of money, and they have to be about the worst thing to type on ever. no only are they cunts to type on because of how the keys are which leads to massive problems with Carpal tunnel but you also have to deal with the fucking heat coming out of the laptop into your hands when their rested on it for typing.

so yes laptops are GREAT.

I actually prefer the laptop keyboard design and my desktop keyboard is similar in that the keys are not as tall as with most desktop keyboards. I've never had a heat issue either and no I don't use pads or anything. Windows laptops have a power configuration tool in the control panel to let you underclock the thing when it's running on batteries. I daresay my laptop produces as much heat as my Nintendo DS. If there's any time when I felt discomfort due to heat from a computer...there's none.

Right now in high school, laptops don't seem that useful (although I hate the desktops at school, they're insecure and super outdated so they have compatibility issues). But university's way different. I plan to go to Stanford, and afaik you can't just hop on a computer at any time you please plus the labs are closed at certain hours. You go to community college right? How does it work there? I'm just curious. One more thing, the computer stations in the school library are often filled up with the younger kids hogging them to read game sites.

I always take my own laptop to school for Flash and Powerpoint presentations on the projector, because the classroom computer runs Windows 98 and has all kinds of compatibility issues with modern software (aka: I can't run such files off a USB drive on the class PC).

anyway this argument goes nowhere, you've probably used only those 17" desktop replacement monsters which I despise (they barely count as laptops) - those definitely emit excessive heat.

I believe Zeph is also one of the users here who genuinely needs a laptop. Fireball from =EP also desperately needed one because he was going to the army and would have to move super frequently. After I graduate, a desktop is definitely impractical for me.

[Bodzilla]

windows 98??

what kind of school do you go to.

[ExAm]

Good thing it's got a 1000 charge cycle (up to 5 year) and 8 hour battery... since you can't replace it.
y hlo thar mister uninformed. IIRC you can remove the battery from any macbook model. I've done it :|

[Xetsuei]

How many of you Genuinely need laptops? as in you cant get away with just using a USB to carry your files from the PC to say school at the library or class room?

a massive waste of money, and they have to be about the worst thing to type on ever. no only are they cunts to type on because of how the keys are which leads to massive problems with Carpal tunnel but you also have to deal with the fucking heat coming out of the laptop into your hands when their rested on it for typing.

so yes laptops are GREAT.

Stop making bullshit up. Sound's like you've never even used a laptop.

[Sel]

How many of you Genuinely need laptops? as in you cant get away with just using a USB to carry your files from the PC to say school at the library or class room?

a massive waste of money, and they have to be about the worst thing to type on ever. no only are they cunts to type on because of how the keys are which leads to massive problems with Carpal tunnel but you also have to deal with the fucking heat coming out of the laptop into your hands when their rested on it for typing.

so yes laptops are GREAT.

Yes they are.

I could use a USB device to move files back and forth between school computers, but I'd really rather not after all those things are so full of school installed spyware. I don't really want them being able to see every single thing I do :)

[FRain]

It's the latest and greatest from Apple, what do you expect it to be $999 ? :raise:

I expected it to be >$500.

[Bodzilla]

Stop making bullshit up. Sound's like you've never even used a laptop.
nice projection.

while i admit mines a POV and not a statistic, i stand by my point.
and yes i've used laptops multiple times.
they're shit.

[Xetsuei]

I don't know if your hands are amazingly huge or if you've used some laptop with an amazingly crappy keyboard (or an amazingly crappy laptop in general if heat comes through the keyboard), but if you ask anyone else who actually owns one they won't have had any of those problems you speak of.

[Sel]

nice projection.

while i admit mines a POV and not a statistic, i stand by my point.
and yes i've used laptops multiple times.
they're shit.

I prefer using my vista laptop for not gaming, over my xp desktop :saddowns:

[Bodzilla]

i do own one. between our family there is 5.

cant stand them. the way they are designed is not a good way to type for your wrists. end of story. You'll end up with some serious problems in your wrists because of it.

it set my carpal tunnel off when standard keyboards didnt. Now after just 5 minutes on a laptop i now end up in pain just because of the un-natural horrible layout of any laptop design. the keys are fucking parallel to the desk for christs sake.
i now use gell wrist supports to minimize the damage.

[Sel]

REAL MEN HAVE CARPALS BOD

DONT YOU KNOW THAT :maddowns:

[InnerGoat]

It sounds like there is something wrong with your body, not the laptop...

I've got a budget laptop, and that thing doesn't get hot. The low resolution on most of them is my biggest issue with them.. 1280x800 what is this little screen. :-3

[Sel]

It sounds like there is something wrong with your body, not the laptop...

I've got a budget laptop, and that thing doesn't get hot. The low resolution on most of them is my biggest issue with them.. 1280x800 what is this little screen. :-3

My previous laptop only went up to 1024X768 :(

[p0lar_bear]

My previous laptop only went up to 1024X768 :(

My current laptop is 1024x768, 15". :saddowns:

Bod, I've only had that issue with older laptops. Most modern laptops have been engineered to keep heat away from the touchable part of the case. My problem with them is that I can't really do much graphic work because using a trackpad or that little nub in the keyboard as a pointing device sucks, unless I buy one of those $20+ portable wireless mice.

But, it gets me by in situations where I can't use my computer at home.

[sdavis117]

Games weren't available for the first gen iPod touch when it came out, so obviously they aren't talking about them when it comes to battery life with the 1st gen touches. If he's using it for music, and it dies in 2 hours, well than that's a problem.


I use it for websurfing mainly, and youtube.

[legionaire45]

y hlo thar mister uninformed. IIRC you can remove the battery from any macbook model. I've done it :|
Apple decided to try and make the battery as large as it could possibly be so that they could pull off that 8 hour battery life figure; in order to do that, they made it internal and not easily removable by the end user.

At least for the 17" anyway; AFAIK the 15" models allow you to remove the battery.

BTW, for High School students, assuming your school has computers, all you need is a flash drive. If you are concerned about viruses, just install some portable antivirus software (http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable). If you have an iPod or an iPhone, you can probably get away with using that as a flash drive as well, just enable disk access and don't be obvious.

[klange]

My current laptop is 1024x600, 9".

Mostly ranting at Bod:

My netbook has no fans and yet I have no heat problems. Hottest this thing gets is ~80F around the edges (and I'll have you know that in the icy cold of my high school, that's a blessing, it's also less than body temperature, so...). Also, I've got this tiny little keyboard with an altered layout and I haven't had any medical trouble so far (maybe I'm immune to carpal tunnel? I've typed on so much stuff for so long and my fingers still keep flowing with blood...). Now, my ancient PowerBook that I keep for luls (circa 92, I think?), that has a bad keyboard...

Laptops in general are great, even if you're paying $3000 for one of these fancy MacBooks, or $300 for a budget one.

@pb: You don't have a portable mouse? Get one, it helps a lot. I have a Logitech with one of the 2mm USB receivers that I got to make using my laptop easier on a desk.

[Phopojijo]

y hlo thar mister uninformed. IIRC you can remove the battery from any macbook model. I've done it :|Yes... most Macbooks you can remove the batteries from...

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features-17inch.html

Not this one.

"They built the battery right into the computer, eliminating the space-consuming mechanisms and housings that standard removable batteries require."

http://www.macworld.com/article/137979/2009/01/expo_17inch_macbook_pros_battery_replacement_will_ cost_179.html?lsrc=rss_main

"Expo: 17-inch MacBook Pro’s battery replacement will cost $179"
(Which admittedly isn't bad for a battery replacement... in the ballpark of a typical battery. So... I guess I don't really have any criticisms except if you are the (rare) person who wants to have a spare battery with you...)

[InnerGoat]

I'm sure upgrading it yourself would be easy. Apple just doesn't want average joe doing it because they used caseless lipos to save space (from the looks of it. the 15" model uses a hard case)

[Phopojijo]

Yeah truthfully I was expecting it to be more "Standard Apple Pricing" {{S'up 500$ for 2GB of Registered RAM (http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX17096(ME).aspx)}}

But 180$ wouldn't be that bad.

[ExAm]

Some level of upgradability (HDD, RAM, etc.)
Why the hell does everybody think you can't upgrade these in Macs?

[Phopojijo]

Why the hell does everybody think you can't upgrade these in Macs?As far as I know, in the new 17", you can't. Apple needs to upgrade your RAM and Harddrive for you since the 15" upgrades through the battery door which no-longer is present... and there's no sign of any other way in (It's all solid aluminum.)

Yeah... looked around more... almost certain you need to pay Apple 1200$ to upgrade the ram from 4-8GB, and you need to pay Apple to replace the harddrive.

[ExAm]

As far as I know, in the new 17", you can't. Apple needs to upgrade your RAM and Harddrive for you since the 15" upgrades through the battery door which no-longer is present... and there's no sign of any other way in (It's all solid aluminum.)

Yeah... looked around more... almost certain you need to pay Apple 1200$ to upgrade the ram from 4-8GB, and you need to pay Apple to replace the harddrive.
Son of a bitch!

[Inferno]

Could you not build a computer that good for a 1/4 of the price?

[Mr Buckshot]

Yes you can build a desktop that good for 1/4 of the price. But this discussion is about laptops, which are meant for purposes that desktops will never fulfill.

A more relevant statement would be, you could get a Windows laptop with the same specs, screen size, and decent battery life for 3/4 of the price or less (with ASUS models it can even be HALF).

Right now I'm trying to find out just how desirable the Mac OS is compared to Windows. For sure, the Mac OS has much fewer malware problems, but this is partly because Windows viruses may not be compatible with Mac code, and also because most virus-creators target the more popular OS, which is Windows, and don't even look at Macs. Also I'm still unhappy with the touch pad on the Macbooks - just add two buttons, damn it. The two-fingers-on-touch-pad version of right-click just doesn't feel ergonomic to me.

Are there really any Mac applications that are pwnage and don't have any comparable alternatives on Windows? That question, for me, is still unanswered and is the #1 reason why I don't buy a Macbook.

[Mr Buckshot]

[quote=p0lar_bear;345688]My current laptop is 1024x768, 15". :saddowns:
unless I buy one of those $20+ portable wireless mice.
quote]

Double post, but I've seen them discounted at some Canadian stores for $15 Can or less so try searching at small shops if you're strapped. Anyway $20-$25 is a fair price to pay, especially for those where the receiver is a sexy tiny thing that plugs into the USB port without obstructing adjacent USB ports or drawing too much power from the laptop. As for myself, I've used the same Microsoft-branded wired mouse (bought for $7 USD) since 2001 (holy crap MS products last that long without a single issue?)

[Phopojijo]

Son of a bitch!Would you honestly use more than 4GB? Honestly? Honestly?

The Harddrive is a bit -- meh... but... it's a classic Apple move.

Sometimes they let you upgrade... sometimes they don't.
Sometimes they let you replace your battery... sometimes they release the air.

They always balance between building their brand and maximizing their profits.

On the consumer level, that means you need to be critical of everything you buy though. There's both Gold (iPod Touch, Apple Cinema Display) and Pyrite (iPod Shuffle, Macbook Air) in their repertoire. Know what you buy.

And even still... the Macbook Pro 17" might suit your needs... if you're a film editor whose studio uses FinalCut and you want to edit on the plane... perfect. Great large screen... the price is absorbed by your company... long battery life... nice videocard.

[Inferno]

Yes you can build a desktop that good for 1/4 of the price. But this discussion is about laptops, which are meant for purposes that desktops will never fulfill.

You can't buy a laptop case and get all the separate parts and put them together? That's actually a question, I'm nub to hardware as I have said before. So don't go off on me if that was a stupid comment.

And I seriously doubt their is anything you can do on a Mac that you can't do on a PC. Apple ports a lot of their apps to PC anyway.

BTW

Iv'e personally never thought much of apple computers. Their hand held shit is AMAZING but their computers are over priced and meh.

[klange]

Hell, there's nothing you can do on Mac that you can't do on Linux, much less anything you can't do on a PC, but that's really not the point.

[Inferno]

Then what is the point?
I see a over priced computer with a OS lacking any stand out features besides big bubbly buttons.

Btw I'm posting from a itouch so don't call me a apple hater.

[Warsaw]

Well, that was a typical dick move by Apple.

Ohai:
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5797-custom-notebook-built-clevo-m570tu-p-2540.html?wconfigure=yes

[Pope]

And even still... the Macbook Pro 17" might suit your needs... if you're a film editor whose studio uses FinalCut and you want to edit on the plane... perfect. Great large screen... the price is absorbed by your company... long battery life... nice videocard.
Only reason of thinking of buying this. Unfortunately, like most students, I'm strapped for cash and unlike most students, this is equal to about 3/5ths of my tuition.