MacBook Pro - to buy or not to buy!

[stuppy]

I have been eyeing up a Mac notebook for some months now. After being introduced to Macs at work some 3 years ago, I have grown fond of MacOSX. With the release of Apples new Intel based Mac notebooks, I have been ever more tempted into it. I am just so concerned though that if I were to drop the 1700 pounds on a MacBook Pro, would I really get the use out of it I would hope for.

At present I am using a Dell Inspiron 9300 (1.73Ghz P-M, 1Gig Mem, 60gig HDD, Geforce 6800Go GFX). It is an amazing computer and I cannot fault it and I dont think that I would be getting rid of it if I do plop for a Mac. On my Dell I am able to run all the programs that I love, from Fruityloops for my amateur music productions, Photoshop, Illustrator and a whole host of applications. I am worried that If I move to a Mac, I am going to find myself unable to find programs that do the same job on the Mac. Obviously i know the main big named products are going to be available like Office, Photoshop etc but what about other little apps, for instance Winamp? Or Direct Connect? Are there mac versions of pretty much all Windows Software out there?

My next question is, I understand that with all current applications for Macs being coded for PPC's, the Rossetta (sp?) layer will convert PPC instructions to Intel ones. What are peoples views on this Rossetta layer thing affecting speeds at which the programs do their job? I know this is only going to be an issue for a few months as new software packages will be coded universally.

Next, this Boot Camp program that allows you to boot Windows XP on the Macbook. Has anyone used it? Does it run Windows Natively (i.e. at full speed without anything sat behind it doing something to the code or whatever)?

Next, the PCMCIA slot, is that a standard size much like I would find on my Dell? Will I be able to use my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 PCMCIA card on the MacBook Pro?

I have a couple of Maxtor 300gig External drives with pretty much all my data on them. The partitions are formatted in either FAT32 or NTFS, will MacOSX see these partitions and write to them without problems or am I going to hit problems?

Thats it for now, IM sure i will have more questions but if people would be so kind to answer them for now

Thankyou!

[stuppy]

Oooo More questions :-

How do people rate the Wireless Card on the Mac? I trust that I will have no problems connecting Mac OSX to my Windows Network? How does the card compare with the Intel 2200BG that is in my Dell?

Is it worth getting the Apple Care extended thingie?

Jsut for reference im looking at going for the most powerful MacBook (2Ghz/1Gig Ram/ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory GFX) - how does the Graphics card live up compared to the Geforce 6800Go in my Dell?

[Gordy]

I have been eyeing up a Mac notebook for some months now. After being introduced to Macs at work some 3 years ago, I have grown fond of MacOSX. With the release of Apples new Intel based Mac notebooks, I have been ever more tempted into it. I am just so concerned though that if I were to drop the 1700 pounds on a MacBook Pro, would I really get the use out of it I would hope for.

At present I am using a Dell Inspiron 9300 (1.73Ghz P-M, 1Gig Mem, 60gig HDD, Geforce 6800Go GFX). It is an amazing computer and I cannot fault it and I dont think that I would be getting rid of it if I do plop for a Mac. On my Dell I am able to run all the programs that I love, from Fruityloops for my amateur music productions, Photoshop, Illustrator and a whole host of applications. I am worried that If I move to a Mac, I am going to find myself unable to find programs that do the same job on the Mac. Obviously i know the main big named products are going to be available like Office, Photoshop etc but what about other little apps, for instance Winamp? Or Direct Connect? Are there mac versions of pretty much all Windows Software out there?

My next question is, I understand that with all current applications for Macs being coded for PPC's, the Rossetta (sp?) layer will convert PPC instructions to Intel ones. What are peoples views on this Rossetta layer thing affecting speeds at which the programs do their job? I know this is only going to be an issue for a few months as new software packages will be coded universally.

Next, this Boot Camp program that allows you to boot Windows XP on the Macbook. Has anyone used it? Does it run Windows Natively (i.e. at full speed without anything sat behind it doing something to the code or whatever)?

Next, the PCMCIA slot, is that a standard size much like I would find on my Dell? Will I be able to use my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 PCMCIA card on the MacBook Pro?

I have a couple of Maxtor 300gig External drives with pretty much all my data on them. The partitions are formatted in either FAT32 or NTFS, will MacOSX see these partitions and write to them without problems or am I going to hit problems?

Thats it for now, IM sure i will have more questions but if people would be so kind to answer them for now

Thankyou!

Ok I will try to cover all your questions.

PPC apps run in rosseta universal ones run normally. Personally I've not noticed any differences between the two, rossetta is very fast for its type of emulation.

Nearly all apps now are being coded for universal, its the future and anything else is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Universal covers both nicely.

Boot camp is windows at native speeds its just like dual booting windows 2000 and xp on a your dell.

MBP's dont have a pmcia slot its an express slot something very different.

OSx should see all your fat32 hard disc partitions not sure about the ntfs ones though.

[Gordy]

Oooo More questions :-

How do people rate the Wireless Card on the Mac? I trust that I will have no problems connecting Mac OSX to my Windows Network? How does the card compare with the Intel 2200BG that is in my Dell?

Is it worth getting the Apple Care extended thingie?

Jsut for reference im looking at going for the most powerful MacBook (2Ghz/1Gig Ram/ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory GFX) - how does the Graphics card live up compared to the Geforce 6800Go in my Dell?

The wireless card follows the standards so will joing any wireless network.

I would look at other options as apple care is expenisve and doesnt cover accidental damage.

I think the gfx cards are similiar in spec not sure though.

[stuppy]

Thanks for the info. Think im gonn aplace my order in the morning

[Spud1]

osx can access ntfs partitions fine for read at least, I have not tried writing. XP can write to OSX's file system too which is a bonus

[ExceededGoku]

omg macbook pros are quite literally pro (hence the massive price really ). But yes its all standard wifi so you'll be fine, macs make brilliant work machines. Hope it does you well

[muddyfox470]

osx can read from ntfs file systems, but they cannot write to them.

gordy is the man to answer your q's (as he alreasy has) as he has quite a collection of macs. last thing i hears was that he was going to donate me his mac book pro as he wanted an even newer one :S i don't know why, but hey i'm not complaining ! - he's a generous man

ian

[Gordy]

osx can read from ntfs file systems, but they cannot write to them.

gordy is the man to answer your q's (as he alreasy has) as he has quite a collection of macs. last thing i hears was that he was going to donate me his mac book pro as he wanted an even newer one :S i don't know why, but hey i'm not complaining ! - he's a generous man

ian

lies!

[gobbo]

Rosetta is pretyt impressive, and on higher spec machines (1.8Ghz+ Core Duo) it's very good.

Sadly, on my 1.5Ghz Solo Mini it's not that fast, Office is usable, untill you start using images, Photoshop is just about usable, but pretty slow.

[stuppy]

Sweet jesus I did it.

1GB 667 DDR2 - 2x512MB SO-DIMMs 065-6100
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) 065-6096
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth 065-6102
100GB Serial ATA drive (5400rpm) 065-6098
Backlit Keyboard & Mac OS 065-6461
2.0GHz Intel Core Duo 065-6460

etc etc

On top of that, the house insurance people rang 30mins ago to tell me that they are sending me a 60gig Video Ipod to replace my 40gig 3G that i lost. Even asked me what colour I wanted Its been an Appletastic day

[Gordy]

Hehe nice one

I would have said to get a single stick of ram it makes upgrading easier

[stuppy]

The memory thing I didn't understand. It was 1780 with 1x 1gig but 1709 with 2x 512. My mum is lending me the money to buy the computer and I couldn't be bothered arguing with her over anohter 70 quid. So Ive opted for 2x512 which i dont see a problem with as should i opt to upgrade to 2gig mem, 1gig is about 70 quid each i think? So im not really losing out on anything!

What are thed elivery dates like? They have said it should be on or before the 2nd of May. Should I expect it any eariler?

Cheers

[pr0p4g4nd4]

Stop it, stop it. You're all evil!

[stuppy]

Gordy -

My order was meant to be shipped on the 25th April, it was shipped today, the 24th - one day early. To reflect this, my estimated delivery date was also pulled forward one day to the 1st of May from the 2nd. Ive asked for the laptop to be delivered at work - but work will be closed on the 1st. Do TNT deliver on Bank Holidays?

From your experience, do you think I should expect to recieve the laptop by the end of this week? Or is it likely to be the 2nd?

[Gordy]

Not sure, I don't get any computers directly from apple I go through my local reseller.

TNT will not work on bank holidays no courier will.