Need advice about Apple MacBook Pro
08-30-2006, 09:30 AM
#1
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 7,363
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2007 E63 AMG | Obsidian Black | Schwarzes Nappa | Black BirdEye Maple | Premium II Package | Electronic Trunk Closer | Parktronic
Engine: RPi/Powerchips custom ECU tune, RPi Ram Air Kit (BMC filter, scoops), RennTech Sport exhaust, secondary cats, charcoal and resonator delete, custom AAA x-pipe
Exterior: 50% side windows / 35% rear window Formula One Pinnacle Series | Flat AMG hood emblem
Suspension: Renntech Lowering Module
Wheels/Tires: Radenergie R10, Falken FK452 245/30/20, Yokohama ADVAN Sport 285/25/20
-----------------------------------------
2005 545i Sport SMG | Ti Grau | Schwarzes Dakota | Anthracite Maple | Logic 7 | Nav
Engine: Custom AFE CAI, Superchips ECU remap, Sprint Booster, RDSport Dual Exhaust Conversion with Quad Pipes and X-pipe, 3 resonators deleted, 90mm tips!
Exterior: M-Tech Aero kit | M5 Mirrors | M5 Rear Bumper | Trunk Lid Finisher | Vorsteiner decklid spoiler | 50% Formula One Pinnacle Tint
Suspension and Brakes: Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, JBT BBK: 16" cross-drilled rotors, 8 piston and 15" cross-drilled rotors, 4 piston
Wheels: VIP Modular VR 02 20x9F, 20x10R | Toyo T1R 245/30/20F, 285/25/20R
Lights: PIAA 4150K Xtreme White Plus fog lights, AIB v3
MOST IMPORTANT: Hardwired V1; =)
ED Date: 4/7/05, Re-delivery date: 5/21/05
Seeing as how this community knows how & likes to spend other people's money... 
What do you all think about the Apple MacBook Pro MA600LL/A 15.4" Notebook PC (2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)? I'm looking for a new laptop since the monitor on my IBM T42 crapped out on me yesterday night. Great time to upgrade.
Where can I get a good price for it? Everywhere is about $2K. Please don't mention MacConnection or PcConnection. They pissed me off this morning. They had a sale and they lost a sale. Thanks!
What do you all think about the Apple MacBook Pro MA600LL/A 15.4" Notebook PC (2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)? I'm looking for a new laptop since the monitor on my IBM T42 crapped out on me yesterday night. Great time to upgrade.
Where can I get a good price for it? Everywhere is about $2K. Please don't mention MacConnection or PcConnection. They pissed me off this morning. They had a sale and they lost a sale. Thanks!
08-30-2006, 10:08 AM
#2
Contributors
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 6,554
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2014 X5 xDrive 5.0 M Package Carbon Black Metallic/2008 M Roadster Imola Red
The machine you mention is nothing short of excellent. If you are a student, even part time, then you can get an educator's discount. You won't find significant discounts, if any, on Macs that aren't also offered by Apple. I would buy straight from Apple. In this regard, I think you can put together the packages put together by others better than they can. I would buy at least 3 years of warranty, specifically AppleCare in this case, on any high-end portable if you intend to use the machine that long.
08-30-2006, 10:11 AM
#3
Senior Members
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Issaquah, WA
Posts: 903
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would say definitely get it. I've had no issues at all with my Mac, I absolutely love it. I don't have the MacBook Pro, I've got the PowerBook G4, but I haven't heard anything bad about the MacBooks. I don't know where you could get one for less though. I could use my student discount and hook you up with one for $1799 with all the specs you listed. Or for 2K I could upgrade it to 1GB RAM and a 100GB Hard Drive. The only problem with that is that if three was a warranty issue you might have to have me send the computer in.
Edit: You could also buy a refurbished MacBook Pro off the apple website and that will save you a lot.
Edit: You could also buy a refurbished MacBook Pro off the apple website and that will save you a lot.
08-30-2006, 10:49 AM
#4
Contributors
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: San Jose, California, USA
Posts: 4,119
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera S Convertible. Midnight Blue, 6 Speed.Retired - 2007 997 Carrera S, Midnight Blue, Grey leather, premium audioRetired - 2007 550i, Monaco Blue over Beige, Navigation, Logic 7, Cold Weather Pack, Comfort Access, Sport Package
Model Year: 2008
Excellent choice of machine! I bought my last Powerbook from MacMall, they seem to have a lot of offers on increasing the memory at no cost and you'll certainly want to do that here, OS X gets even better as the available RAM increases and you'll want at least 1 GB on the MacBook Pro to get the best out of it. Just an FYI too that there are rumors of minor refreshes to the MacBook Pro in light of the new intel chips announced this week (the new Merom Core Duo) so it may be worth holding out a little longer - rumors seem to be pointing to a September refresh with the new chips. That said, there is always something better coming out tomorrow so you may as well just get the best you can for the best price you can when you need it. Keep us posted!
08-30-2006, 11:24 AM
#5
Senior Members
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Seattle, WA Metro Area
Posts: 1,794
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'll second the MBP. I have one more year on my PowerBook before I upgrade. Wait a week to two and see if the Core 2 Duo's get released. I buy direct from the Apple store (online or brick and mortar) and use my company discount. My PowerBook kicks butt when compared to past Toshiba, Dell, HP (Omnibook), and IBM laptops.
08-30-2006, 01:20 PM
#6
Contributors
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 6,554
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2014 X5 xDrive 5.0 M Package Carbon Black Metallic/2008 M Roadster Imola Red
Originally Posted by ImolaRedM' post='328790' date='Aug 30 2006, 12:24 PM
I'll second the MBP.
08-30-2006, 01:26 PM
#7
Senior Members
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Issaquah, WA
Posts: 903
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Znod' post='328842' date='Aug 30 2006, 02:20 PM
But, you fifthed.
08-30-2006, 01:34 PM
#8
Contributors
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,573
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2006 530i Sport
Silver Gray - Black Leather - Anthracite Maple
Manual Transmission
Premium Audio
Cold Weather Package
Rear sunshade
Sirius Radio
Autobahnd Roadblock (3M) film kit
I'll be devil's advocate then.
Comparing the new Apples to the older Powerbooks is a little misleading. Several news articles from Mac fansites are strongly questioning what is going on with quality control at Apple. There are several issues with the Macbooks and Macbook Pros that may or may not be ironed out. They aren't the tanks that they used to be.
The lack of a Core 2 Mobile option is the thing I would be the most upset about. If you are dead set on getting an Apple, I'd wait for them to release the ones using those chips. The rest of the notebook makers are announcing now since the official release of Core 2 Duo Mobile was 8/26. I would also wait a few weeks or a month before ordering - just to see what the gripes and snags will be for the Apple product - pretty much every new release has had at least one thing that was corrected or acknowledged within that time period after shipments began.
Comparing the new Apples to the older Powerbooks is a little misleading. Several news articles from Mac fansites are strongly questioning what is going on with quality control at Apple. There are several issues with the Macbooks and Macbook Pros that may or may not be ironed out. They aren't the tanks that they used to be.
The lack of a Core 2 Mobile option is the thing I would be the most upset about. If you are dead set on getting an Apple, I'd wait for them to release the ones using those chips. The rest of the notebook makers are announcing now since the official release of Core 2 Duo Mobile was 8/26. I would also wait a few weeks or a month before ordering - just to see what the gripes and snags will be for the Apple product - pretty much every new release has had at least one thing that was corrected or acknowledged within that time period after shipments began.
08-30-2006, 01:35 PM
#9
Contributors
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 6,554
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2014 X5 xDrive 5.0 M Package Carbon Black Metallic/2008 M Roadster Imola Red
Originally Posted by Heiss5' post='328847' date='Aug 30 2006, 02:26 PM
He actually fourthed, unless you count jiio as the first but is that allowed?
Advanced math sucks.
08-30-2006, 02:50 PM
#10
Contributors
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: San Jose, California, USA
Posts: 4,119
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera S Convertible. Midnight Blue, 6 Speed.Retired - 2007 997 Carrera S, Midnight Blue, Grey leather, premium audioRetired - 2007 550i, Monaco Blue over Beige, Navigation, Logic 7, Cold Weather Pack, Comfort Access, Sport Package
Model Year: 2008
Originally Posted by UUronL' post='328850' date='Aug 30 2006, 02:34 PM
I'll be devil's advocate then.
Comparing the new Apples to the older Powerbooks is a little misleading. Several news articles from Mac fansites are strongly questioning what is going on with quality control at Apple. There are several issues with the Macbooks and Macbook Pros that may or may not be ironed out. They aren't the tanks that they used to be.
The lack of a Core 2 Mobile option is the thing I would be the most upset about. If you are dead set on getting an Apple, I'd wait for them to release the ones using those chips. The rest of the notebook makers are announcing now since the official release of Core 2 Duo Mobile was 8/26. I would also wait a few weeks or a month before ordering - just to see what the gripes and snags will be for the Apple product - pretty much every new release has had at least one thing that was corrected or acknowledged within that time period after shipments began.
Comparing the new Apples to the older Powerbooks is a little misleading. Several news articles from Mac fansites are strongly questioning what is going on with quality control at Apple. There are several issues with the Macbooks and Macbook Pros that may or may not be ironed out. They aren't the tanks that they used to be.
The lack of a Core 2 Mobile option is the thing I would be the most upset about. If you are dead set on getting an Apple, I'd wait for them to release the ones using those chips. The rest of the notebook makers are announcing now since the official release of Core 2 Duo Mobile was 8/26. I would also wait a few weeks or a month before ordering - just to see what the gripes and snags will be for the Apple product - pretty much every new release has had at least one thing that was corrected or acknowledged within that time period after shipments began.