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13" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Pros still soldier on with Core 2 Duos

Apple's MacBook Pro lineup has become rather stale. While PC notebook counterparts have been sporting new Core i5 and Core i7 processors for quite some time now, MacBook Pros have been soldiering along with stale (relatively speaking) Core 2 Duo processors.

Apple is now getting with the times and has announced a revamped MacBook Pro lineup complete with new Core i5 and Core i7 processors from Intel; that is if you opt for the 15" and 17" models.

“The new MacBook Pro is as advanced on the inside as it is stunning on the outside,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With faster processors, amazing graphics and up to three more hours of battery life, the new MacBook Pro delivers both performance and efficiency.”

13" MacBook Pros will continue to soldier on with Core 2 Duo processors, albeit this time at at speeds of 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz. The 13" MacBook Pros also get a boost from the old and tired NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics to GeForce 320M graphics. Both models come with 4GB of memory standard and a non-replaceable battery good for up to 10 hours of runtime (up from 7). The 2.4GHz model comes with a 250GB hard drive and will set you back $1,199 -- stepping up to the 2.66GHz model with a 320GB hard drive will cost you $1,499.

The new 15" MacBook Pro is now available with 2.4GHz ($1,799) and 2.53GHz ($1,999) Core i5 processors -- a 2.66GHz Core i7 model is also available ($2,199). The base model brings with it a 320GB hard drive while the middle child gets a 500GB hard drive. Both models come equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M (256MB) graphics card. The Core i7 model comes with a 500GB hard drive and a 512MB version of the GeForce GT 330M. All three models have Intel HD integrated graphics, 4GB of RAM and an internal battery rated at 8 to 9 hours.

Finally, we come to the 17" MacBook Pro. This $2,299 model comes with an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 2.53GHz. It features 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, Intel HD integrated graphics, a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card and battery life of 8 to 9 hours.

Updated 4/13/2010 @ 12:40pm

While the 15" and 17" MacBook Pros do incorporate automatic graphics switching, an NVIDIA representative told Apple Insider that is is NOT NVIDIA Optimus technology.

 

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wtf ripoff
By AssBall on 4/13/2010 10:49:18 AM , Rating: 5
I was just over on HP's site. You can pimp out a 17 inch laptop there with better specifications and lots of goodies (core i5, GT330, MS office, SSD, fingerprint reader, bluetooth, etc) for under $1800. I'm not a huge HP fan by any stretch, but honestly, where does Apple get off charging $2300 for their POS?




RE: wtf ripoff
By spread on 4/13/2010 11:13:55 AM , Rating: 1
There's lots of suckers lining up for this $2300 POS.

Remember the iPad launch? Lemme refresh your memory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-qnDmtkaeA


RE: wtf ripoff
By AssBall on 4/13/2010 11:29:27 AM , Rating: 1
I request those 6 minutes of my morning back now, please :(. At least the girl was a little bit hot (but annoying as hell).


RE: wtf ripoff
By Oralen on 4/14/2010 6:09:47 AM , Rating: 1
And here we go for another round of 14 year olds bashing Apple, "'cause daddy doesn't want to increase their pocket money", and they can't afford Apple products...

Poor people are sooo annoying...

I wish I was rich, just to be able to separate myself from those whining maggots...


RE: wtf ripoff
By Targon on 4/14/2010 7:26:05 AM , Rating: 1
Can you REALLY blame people for looking at the hardware specs and pointing out that just about every Apple product is overpriced by $500(give or take)?

People are not saying there is anything wrong with the machines themselves, or MacOS or anything like that. It is all about the hardware specs you get for your money. MacOS vs. Windows is very much like a religious debate, where different people will have their own preferences, and there is no "right" decision.

For myself, I DO look at how much something costs, and brand name does not blind me. Apple has made some good, or even great machines, but when it comes right down to it, they also come with a price premium, and if you take a Windows 7 machine at a given price, and compare it to an Apple machine with MacOS X at the same price, Apple does not look very attractive(unless you specifically look to spend too much money for a Windows based machine such as paying VoodooPC prices).

Yes, there are some who whine about not having the money to buy something, but the real issue is what you get for your money.


RE: wtf ripoff
By heffeque on 4/14/2010 7:30:18 AM , Rating: 3
You mean compared to a plastic computer with a battery life of 2 o 3 hours? A MacBook Pro is overpriced by 1,798 dollars compared to a pencil!


RE: wtf ripoff
By Targon on 4/14/2010 7:59:36 AM , Rating: 1
When is the last time YOU actually tested the battery life of anything? I can force a Windows machine to run at a max of 5 percent CPU power while on battery if I wanted to increase battery life if I felt that was an acceptable speed.

That is just how things work, Apple sets the speed of their computers much lower than most Windows machines while on battery. People don't spend money for a faster computer just so they can run it at a slow speed JUST for battery life.


RE: wtf ripoff
By JAB on 4/14/2010 8:53:42 AM , Rating: 1
Slower computer? You never have even used Mac Books have you? Try one out then speak it is not all about the spec sheet or a Celica would be equal to a Lotus Elise after all they had the same engine what else could be different?

Boot time on a Mac is half of on a similar spec W7 and once you get into similar quality screens and metal frames the Mac is often cheaper.


RE: wtf ripoff
By T2k on 4/14/2010 1:46:13 PM , Rating: 1
Your post is so fuckin hilarious I was like WTF???

I voted your post up because using utterly cheesy and retarded car analogies is sooooo 90s pro-Apple argument that's actually cool now...

...of course, you are still fuckin clueless and your post is full of shit (boot time lower on OS X? better specs in Macs? metal frames, etc?), keep in mind.

Before you pull out more lame, oudatedt non-arguments: FYI I use a Mac regularly (thanks to my wife) and yes, I could buy the entire new line from a single paycheck.


RE: wtf ripoff
By otispunkmeyer on 4/14/2010 8:12:30 AM , Rating: 2
i think people just forget how well made the apples are

the new uni-bodies are very well engineered. id rather pay more for an all aluminium jobby like that than the same spec computer wrapped up in some glossy creaky plastic.

but at the end of the day, you pays your money and takes your choice. yes its expensive, but its an individuals money and an individuals choice. if they have the means to take the financial hit then thats fair play to them. if you like to weigh up lots of options and then plump for the best value...thats also up to the individual. its horses for courses.

why people feel the need to moan about apple pricing really bugs me. its not like you have to buy their stuff is it? just shut up and spend $500 less on something else


RE: wtf ripoff
By Oralen on 4/14/2010 8:19:57 AM , Rating: 3
Exactly.

I don't have a mac. But, you know what? I wish I did. Because they are beautifully engineered machines, and Mac OS X is a very intriguing option for someone who has always used Windows.

But lately, Dailytech seems overrun by pimply kids, bashing everything Apple without adding anything to what the article is talking about, and with no technical insight that would justify their opinions.

Apple? Overpriced.
Iphone? Get an Android phone instead.
Ipod? Other brands (Sansa, etc) are sooo much better...

Haven't you already heard the same stupid things a thousand times? It means you don't visit this site regularly, then...

Meanwhile, millions of people are happy with Apple products, and even Anand is working on a mac, these days...
And for that he gets bashed, like after his iPad review, by morons saying he has no integrity as a reviewer...

His review was 25 pages long (including the one he did for the keyboard dock)!

One could say he did his homework...

But no. Then, an intellectually challenged teenager writes: "Apple baaaad! Never had an iPad in my hands, but iPad is crap! Steve Jobs eeeeevil!"

And it seems they come by the dozens, these days, on dailytech.

You want to criticize Apple? Fine by me. But find a real technical argument, then! Tell me something I don't know,teach me something!! Like: "Hey, they do not have this important option or that feature!"

And stop talking about the lack of flash on the iPhone OS, or the price, because we know that, already!

It is written on the bleeding price-tag, ok?

Sorry if I am harsh, but I am tired of Dailytech. I used to come to this site most every day to read the news. But now, I just can't stand the level of the comments anymore, and I only come back here once a week.

Between the Apple-bashing, and the "republican-neo-nazi-america-is-the-best" opinions, I never learn anything new here anymore.

The comments always seems to be about either politics or fanboyism, and I am tired of it.


RE: wtf ripoff
By damianrobertjones on 4/14/2010 9:18:17 AM , Rating: 2
How about EVERY single damn pc thread invaded by Apple owners screaming, "Buy a mac!"

Now THAT gets annoying


RE: wtf ripoff
By nflduser on 4/14/2010 10:57:53 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
But no. Then, an intellectually challenged teenager writes: "Apple baaaad! Never had an iPad in my hands, but iPad is crap! Steve Jobs eeeeevil!"

And it seems they come by the dozens, these days, on dailytech.

You want to criticize Apple? Fine by me. But find a real technical argument, then! Tell me something I don't know,teach me something!! Like: "Hey, they do not have this important option or that feature!"


Glad to finally see someone say what I've been thinking for a while. I spent over 15 years working in the computer field, mostly as a technician and networking, mostly with Windows.

I bought my basic 13" macbook 2 years ago because it was suitable for me. My number one priority was long battery life and non windows OS. I have read so many of the "Bill Gates is my God and savior" bunch criticize it for (among other things) not meeting up to the claimed 5 hour battery life. When not using the dvd player, I've gotten 5 hours with wifi on. With it off and screen turned down, I've actually hit 6 hours. I've dropped it on floor many times, including falling on floor many times when hitting brakes (former long haul trucker). It still is in excellent shape. I've never had a virus worry, and I don't need to run virus software in background. In a side by side comparison, it will boot much faster than the Vista laptop we have or my step son's Windows 7 laptop. Simple fact.

The children on here can complain all they want about macs. Overpriced, don't run their favorite games, whatever. However, we grown ups don't always look at a computer as a PS3, Xbox or Atari 2600 (really dating myself, lol).

Macs might be priced higher, but they are worth it for quality. Same arguement as Honda/Acura vs buying a Crysler or GM car.

Someone who wants to run their favorite Crysis, Fear 2, etc isn't looking at a real computer anyhow, they are looking for a game machine. That is totally different and a different use. Higher quality comes with higher price (normally) and simply put, unix based OSs are typically much more secure and stable than Windows. I cannot even get MS Office XP pro to work on our Vista laptop bought for my wife before christmas. Keeps crapping out and needing reinstallation. Nobody can figure out what's up with it. So after alot of work, I've given up using it and she recently demanded a macbook herself. She's real happy now :).


RE: wtf ripoff
By EasyC on 4/13/2010 11:28:56 AM , Rating: 5
I picked up my SONY , yes Sony VPCCW27FX for 950$ from BEST BUY.... and it wasn't even on sale. It's got the i5-520/GT330M/4GB DDR3/500GB HD and an LED backlit high res 14" screen. Eat it, Apple. (pun intended)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: -1
RE: wtf ripoff
By spread on 4/13/2010 12:57:55 PM , Rating: 5
The Sony has a replaceable battery. You can buy an additional extended battery and its STILL cheaper than the Mac.


RE: wtf ripoff
By MrX8503 on 4/13/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By quiksilvr on 4/13/2010 7:26:02 PM , Rating: 3
Oh no, an extra 1/2 lb to add to your laptop bag! Your poor atrophied arms!


RE: wtf ripoff
By ImSpartacus on 4/13/2010 9:26:02 PM , Rating: 3
That stuff adds up quick.

I need a freakin hiking backpack for college. I carry my laptop, books for 3 classes (3 1.5" binders + 3 textbooks), and a lunch for the day.

I have a few other little things like extra pens and a wireless mouse, but I can travel pretty light technologically.

I would be out of luck if I had to carry around a charger and a spare battery. <3 7-hour battery life.


RE: wtf ripoff
By quiksilvr on 4/15/2010 9:32:47 AM , Rating: 2
Get this and get rid of your binders:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/compute...

And get this and get rid of your books:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Blue-Sony-Reader-Digital...


RE: wtf ripoff
By MrX8503 on 4/13/2010 10:19:29 PM , Rating: 5
Weight isn't the problem. Carrying an extra battery when you don't need to is called an inconvenience.


RE: wtf ripoff
By quiksilvr on 4/15/2010 9:34:45 AM , Rating: 2
Better carrying a spare battery in you bag (I'm a bit confused on the inconvenience part of this. It's in your bag, not your breast pocket) and saving several hundred bucks.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:13:38 PM , Rating: 2
Cause some people don't mind carrying an extra battery to do what they need. Some of us have things called "bags" that we use to carry stuff. Much like some of us use a thing called an "outlet" to keep out laptop charged at all times.

Good luck changing your Macbook battery of the fly. Brandon says you have to take out like 10 screws or something just to get at it. Alls I got to do on my laptop is slide the switch to pop the battery out.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Mojo the Monkey on 4/13/2010 8:34:28 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, but you have to admit... the battery life is fairly impressive. Once other manufacturers catch up with similar specs (~8-9 hours), Apple wont have much left to differentiate their product, hardware-wise.


RE: wtf ripoff
By ImSpartacus on 4/13/2010 9:31:15 PM , Rating: 2
When your entire laptop is only 5-6 lbs, a 1/2 lb here and there can add up quick.

No, it's not difficult to fit all that stuff in a modern laptop bag. It's actually easy.

The trouble comes when you have to fit other stuff into the said bag.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 6:34:02 AM , Rating: 2
I can carry all the stuff I need and my bag isn't even very big. Probably smaller than any bookbag I've ever owned.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/14/2010 10:22:52 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
Good luck changing your Macbook battery of the fly
I'll use an external battery and will connect it to MBP way faster than you replace your PC internal battery :P


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/15/2010 12:07:45 AM , Rating: 2
really you sure about that lol. oh & we can also get external batt packs for the PC laptops as well we sell them at the store I work at.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/15/2010 11:23:45 AM , Rating: 2
my point was that when you lie about "omg macbooks require changing like 10 screws to change battery while pc doesn't" you look like a moron, I'm tired to explain THIRD time to you that macbook DOES NOT need to unscrew those 10 screws when you want to get an additional 10 hours of work time, you just plug an external battery

I mean how many times I have to retype all these SIMPLE to understand points for you to get it?

if you don't understand these VERY SIMPLE points you should stop reading this and get yourself a harry potter book instead or something. technical/IT related reading IS. NOT. FOR. YOU.


RE: wtf ripoff
By themaster08 on 4/14/2010 1:52:28 AM , Rating: 1
Yeah I suppose you could buy an additional battery, except you'll need to buy the MBP to go with it. How does your alienware fair for battery life? I suppose that gets "pwned" by the MBP too.

I honestly fail to understand. I'm being serious here. You obviously like the MBP, and from what you tell everyone you're not short of funds, so why not buy one? At least then you'll own the machine you so needlessly support.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/14/2010 10:28:48 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
How does your alienware fair for battery life?
Not good, only 20 minutes on the battery now. I knew it had horrible battery life from the very beginning, so it was a conscious tradeoff, I wanted best GPU for the money in a notebook and I didn't care about other details.
quote:
You obviously like the MBP, and from what you tell everyone you're not short of funds, so why not buy one?
'Cause I've got an Asus UL80 already and its battery life is not much worse than that of the best MBP, maybe even somewhat better. Good thing PC industry copies Apple all the time and now at least Asus has some decent lappys, battery wise. Next step for PC industry is to copy Apple again and introduce 17" lappy with 9hr battery life. Maybe by 2012 Asus will make something similar. Don't lose hope!


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 2:06:23 PM , Rating: 2
Ahhh, poor disillusioned Pirks.


RE: wtf ripoff
By EasyC on 4/14/2010 6:21:19 AM , Rating: 1
I could buy the laptop AND extended battery for half the cost of the Mac.

So enjoy you're 9 hour paper weight while you're stuck on a long flight with no wifi. I can play games, you can play with the bubble bar. Sheep.


RE: wtf ripoff
By EasyC on 4/14/2010 6:22:09 AM , Rating: 2
your* (I just woke up and am having breakfast.)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/14/2010 10:36:06 AM , Rating: 1
hey pc lama don't you know I can buy an external battery for MBP and have another 12 hours of fun?


RE: wtf ripoff
By EasyC on 4/14/2010 12:17:14 PM , Rating: 2
Hey sheep, having a MBP that runs for 20 hours doesn't mean squat if you can't use it for the software you WANT to run.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Targon on 4/14/2010 7:34:00 AM , Rating: 1
Anyone can set the power profile to run the CPU at five(5) percent of its potential to cut down on power draw. That is really what it comes down to, underclocking the CPU to increase battery life. The thing is, if you get a fast processor, you don't buy it so it runs at a slow speed JUST for battery life.


RE: wtf ripoff
By DanD85 on 4/14/2010 10:12:13 AM , Rating: 1
Are you forgetting something? Try running Windows 7 on a Mac and see how long it will take before it shut down. I believe it will be "magical" or "revolutionary" if it can reach the advertised number on Win 7.


RE: wtf ripoff
By mellomonk on 4/13/2010 11:42:11 AM , Rating: 3
$1800? Not bad, but I will pass on the HPs flexy chassis, scratchtastic case, and four hour battery life. All the little finger reader do-dads and shiny plastic in the world cannot hide where those savings come from.

MB Pros are pricey, no doubt. But having killed a few of those plastic HPs and Toshibas, I can tell you that solid Al chassis in the MBPro is tough as nails. Especially when talking 17" models.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: -1
RE: wtf ripoff
By damianrobertjones on 4/13/2010 12:14:47 PM , Rating: 2
We need to know what model HP they're looking at to see if it has the option of an extended battery, which would be nice. Probably does.

..."and a non-replaceable battery good for up to 10 hours of runtime ". 10 hours or not, I'd prefer to be able to replace the battery once it eventually fails and, yes, it probably will.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: -1
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 12:47:46 PM , Rating: 1
DIY? I think you're asking too much from Apple followers. From what I've read/been told/seen it's not that easy getting the case apart. Provided you can get the case apart the rest should be self-explanatory.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/13/2010 12:55:53 PM , Rating: 5
Switching out the hard drive or memory on my 13" MacBook Pro is actually pretty straight forward. Remove ten tiny screws on the bottom and the entire back panel comes off giving you access to everything -- I think it's the same procedure for the 15" and the 17". I've personally upgraded the memory and the stock HDD to an SDD, and it couldn't be easier.

I have seen no reason to swap out the battery though as it's still under warranty and it's supposed to get something like 1,000 charge/discharge cycles.

See for yourself how easy it is to get to the innards:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-MacB...


RE: wtf ripoff
By yomamafor1 on 4/13/2010 3:18:09 PM , Rating: 2
10 tiny screws, and run the risk of voiding your warranty, or 2 screws on a regular laptop?


RE: wtf ripoff
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/13/2010 4:02:20 PM , Rating: 3
Opening the case to upgrade the HDD or memory doesn't void your warranty. The only thing that voids your warranty (that you can access) is removing the battery.


RE: wtf ripoff
By nikon133 on 4/13/2010 6:11:56 PM , Rating: 2
Well you pay more money for MBP - it is only fair you get more screws for the money ;)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 3:19:07 PM , Rating: 2
My whole point was that Apple folk don't like DIY stuff, else they'd build their own computers for cheaper. I know you can't do that for laptops, but still.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/13/2010 4:09:59 PM , Rating: 2
I was responding to your comment that "I've read/been told/seen it's not that easy getting the case apart." That's completely false and it is no harder to do than getting into a PC notebook -- well, only if you consider taking out 6 to 8 more screws "hard". It takes more time, but it is still not hard. It takes me less than 45 seconds or so to remove all 10 screws and then lift off the bottom case.

That being said, MOST people don't like DIY stuff either. That's why places like Best Buy Geek Squad do a HUGE business -- because most people can't even be bothered to do the simple stuff.

My wife's Acer Aspire One has one screw on the bottom to access the memory and two screws on the bottom to access the hard drive. It's dead simple (to me) to remove the panels and install more memory or a new HDD... but I'll be damned if I trust her to do it by herself :-)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 4:12:27 PM , Rating: 2
I guess it's changed since I've actually looked at the underside of a Macbook, which certainly has been a while. I don't use them so I wasn't sure. Not like it'd be hard for me anyway.


RE: wtf ripoff
By mellomonk on 4/13/2010 4:47:57 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
My whole point was that Apple folk don't like DIY stuff, else they'd build their own computers for cheaper. I know you can't do that for laptops, but still.


You are sure making some huge assumptions here. I've been in both the Mac and PC communities since the late 80s and I will debate you on this. The AVERAGE computer user doesn't do DIY projects period. The Vast majority of computers are bought not built. In fact the DIY crowd as a percentage of users, is smaller now then ever by a huge margin.

In the early days we built PCs because it was cheaper and cool. To be a personal computer user there was a learning curve. It wasn't a huge leap to assembling your own. Nowadays PCs are commodity items and sell like TVs and the like. The vast majority are bought on price since even the cheapest PCs provide a reasonable level of functionality. Hence the rise of Netbooks. Some enthusiast like myself keep building, particularly gamers. I just like the tinkering aspect. But we are lost in a sea of cheap purchased PCs.

So the average Mac user has had to part with a fair amount of coin, has had to seek out software alternatives to what the vast majority of folks use, and has to learn a different OS from a smaller pool of resources. You have to make a conscientious decision to do this. Why not just buy the cheap thing at Best Buy that everybody else buys and uses? So who are the mindless sheep here again?


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:17:34 PM , Rating: 2
I mostly agree with what you write, but the simple fact is that pretty much by default people who use PCs are more likely to do DIY stuff as they have vastly more options and such to do so. Can't exactly make a DIY Mac after all. I'm not saying the percentage is big, but it's likely many times bigger on the PC side than the Mac side.


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 5:38:49 PM , Rating: 2
in a PC latop you just open a small door upgrade the memory same for the HDD. As for the batt they just pop out & you install a new one of needed. No manuals or guides needed it is easy peezy in a PC laptop. :)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: -1
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:22:51 PM , Rating: 2
Yea, I've never replaced a battery on a laptop before. That said, the batteries used are usually actually about equal on either side. Varies based on the actual laptop of course. I suggest looking at some specs before making retarded comments like that one.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/14/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 2:07:56 PM , Rating: 2
You should take better care of your stuff then.


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/15/2010 12:16:09 AM , Rating: 1
Really!! Really umm ok anyways lol. if a altop is treated right & the batt used from time to time & does not psend all of its time fully charged because the laptop is always plugged in then it will last as long as the laptop. I also know for a fact that batts die in Macbooks as well dont even try to tell me different I have seen them fail lots of times & it also stems all down to people miss using their laptops. I have a old toshiba 486 33mhz laptop in my closet that the batt still works just like it did the day i got back in the 90's & it is because it has been treated good & used properly & no I do not use it any more but I have dug it out a few times over the years & it booted fully to windows 98 off of the battery which has not been plugged in for a very very long time.


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 5:36:57 PM , Rating: 1
or in a world that eberyone else lives in you just pop the batt out & install a new in in less than 3 seconds.


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 6:09:32 PM , Rating: 2
Turn on Macbook. Look for a guide to take it apart. Take out screws remove back cover. Or just buy a PC laptop one simple click Batt pops out insert another one PRICELESS. :)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: -1
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:19:16 PM , Rating: 2
Wouldn't that apply to PC laptops as well? Ignoring facts, just like you Pirks. Keep it up. :)


RE: wtf ripoff
By themaster08 on 4/14/2010 2:11:21 AM , Rating: 2
Mac zombies are funny as always, hehe


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/15/2010 12:24:37 AM , Rating: 1
Brains.....Brains....Brains.....must eat pirks brains...wait "brains"....I will starve to death "Brains "Brains". all in fun sry won't get me to actually get all upset because you called me a name.

Yes I do know about them we also use them in PC land they are called Battery Packs they make the laptop run for hours & hours extra you can get them for like $50 bucks at bestbuy or future shop.

"Change" "Change" "Change" "Must have change" :)


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/15/2010 1:07:19 PM , Rating: 1
To funny the easy peezy post was to draw you out & look how easy it was you never efven thought that it could be just posted to draw people out like you. Oh & yes I have heard of external battery packs as posted many times before in this thread. I also was not the one that posted the 10 screws thing I just added to it.

Slightly faster umm yea it is but anyway you look at it changing a battery in a PC laptop is going to be faster than changing one in a Mac book no matter how you try to avoid the issue by saying well I just plug in a battery pack oh look it is so much faster to do that. Dude that is not the point of what people have been saying they have been saying that changing out a battery in a mac book is harder than it is on the PC laptop maybe read the posts before blindly posting junk that has nothing to do with what people are talking about.

The other point you keep posting about Apple pwning this & that in battery life well for the price PC laptops pretty much pwn a macbook in everything else the most important of those is performance like the laptops I posted somewhere in this thread those all have much better hardware at a better price as well so who is pwning who most people don't care about getting 9 hours out of a laptop. But on that topic what is Apple doing to get those numbers are they undervolting the hardware underclocking thingsd like CPU & graphics I don't know & don't care. APple writes it own drivers for most everyting & its own OS for its own hardware that is how things work in a closed platform & I would be very dissappointed if Apple could not get it right giving the limited amount of hardware Apple has to write drivers for. Now Micorsoft has a much larger problem because they have to deal with several thousand hardware devices & thousdands upon thousdand of hardware configs when they make the Windows OS so I guess I can forgive them if they can not get as much battery life from a laptop as Apple does like I said apple does not have to deal with all the headaches MS does when it comes to hardware. I swear if Apple was to ever open their OS up to the masses they would see pretty quick just how hard it is out in the real world & they would probably praise Microsoft for doing a fairly good job over the years I said fairly not great MS has made big mistakes as well.

Oh & because of my job I have the deal with uninformed people everyday so anything you say does not really surprise me in the least I just look & go yep uh huh & if I feel inclined to do so I will respond. It does dissappoint me your from Canada because most of us here are open minded about most things. Which brings up another point it is hard to believe that all of your posts are coming from the same person because sometimes your posts are insightful & informative & then others are just plain rubbish so either there are 2 people using your account or you have multiple personalities which is it. Oh & I think I got my points across without actually resorting to dirty name calling neat huh. Just incase anyone was wondering this post is replying to pirks so please noone else get thier panties in a bunch lol.


RE: wtf ripoff
By inighthawki on 4/13/2010 1:12:40 PM , Rating: 3
You know some people aren't concerned with battery life. Some people just like to have a desktop replacement that can be considered portable, not needing to lug around a desktop, dozens of cords, a monitor etc. Personally I am one of those people. In my situation the battery on a laptop means little. Sure the longer the battery lasts the better, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but honestly it's a rare occasion when I don't have it plugged in an outlet somewhere anyways. Tbh I think the only use for my battery is sleep mode, in which case it can easily survive days before running out even on a crappy battery the one i have.


RE: wtf ripoff
By bobny1 on 4/13/2010 6:15:25 PM , Rating: 2
SO. What exactly people who need and depend on battery life do when it runs out of juice or after a year or so when the crappy battery won't charge anymore?. Send the entire laptop to Apple for a fee and get a refurb just like the ipad?. Booo-Booo on you Steve!!.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:21:30 PM , Rating: 2
And yet almost no one will. Face it, most people would rather pay more to not have to worry about stuff. This applies to PC users as well as Mac users. That's why places like Geek Squad and such exist.


RE: wtf ripoff
By inighthawki on 4/13/2010 9:26:15 PM , Rating: 2
No places like the geek squad exist because businesses like to exploit user's stupidity and brainwashing them into thinking something like installing ram is serious business. Replacing a laptop battery on a pc is LITERALLY as easy as buying the battery, pulling one out from the side (or detaching from the back) and pluggin it in. No harder than unplugging something from an outlet and plugging something else in. Everyone knows how to do that.

Don't try to lie and pretend that replacing a battery is a process that takes longer than 30 seconds for even the most inexperienced user.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 6:36:48 AM , Rating: 2
And yet I still wouldn't be surprised to hear tons of stories about people going in to Geek Squad to have that stuff done.


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 5:35:29 PM , Rating: 1
Well here is one that has a good batt life from acer & yes they do make good products 90% of the time.

http://us.acer.com/timeline/8hours1.html

I know for a fact these are good units have sold a lot of them & non have come back not working.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:26:49 PM , Rating: 2
Well, if you did some actual research.... or just looked at the link I've posted about it several times, you'd know that most of the battery life you enjoy in Macbook comes from the OS. Like the drivers are just more optimized, but no one can really say for sure. I'm not posting the link again so you can go find the article about it somewhere on Anandtech.


RE: wtf ripoff
By MadMan007 on 4/14/2010 6:02:50 AM , Rating: 2
Yup it is because of the OS. Vista or Win 7 on a MacBook gets less runtime, about what you would expect out of a non-Mac laptop. The tests I remember were with Vista.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Targon on 4/14/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By nflduser on 4/14/2010 11:17:40 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Battery life is a function of the power profile used. If you limit the CPU to 5 or 10 percent while on battery, then of course you can get a much longer battery life out of a machine. The thing is, no one would WANT to run their computer at only 5 to 10 percent for an extended time if they knew what was going on.


I will say this in response. I cannot speak for Windows 7, but the last 2 Vista laptops I've owned, there was not detectable difference in battery life between full performance mode, and full power saving modes even when doing all the manual tweaking I could. I don't see where there was any difference.

As for battery life on my trusty macbook, I admit you are right on one point. I personally have never tried a direct comparison of performance on vs off ac power. However, I do know that watching dvds with wifi on in background, I can still get about 4 hours on battery (mine is the older macbook version with 5 hour battery, not newer 7 hour battery).

I have used quite a few Windows laptops the 15" and smaller ones I've used never could get more than 2.5 hrs or so when I've used them.

Hardly a scientific comparison, but then again, personal experience is usually the best way to know something.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 12:43:20 PM , Rating: 2
I suggest you take better care of your stuff then. I have yet to kill my Acer laptop.


RE: wtf ripoff
By sebmel on 4/13/2010 1:32:36 PM , Rating: 2
HP ENVY 13 : $1870

Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo SL9600(2.13GHz, 6MB L2 Cache)
Graphics - 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 4330 Graphics
Case - 1" aluminium and magnesium
Memory - 3GB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
Hard drive - 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Display - 13.1" diagonal High Definition LED HP Radiance Infinity Widescreen Display (1366x768)
External optical drive - External Tray Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support with 2 USB Ports
Personalization - Webcam Only
Networking - Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
Primary battery - Two 4 Cell Lithium Ion Polymer Batteries
OS and recovery media - System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Vs. MacBook Pro 13"

The HP has:
Case = 1" mixed metal case vs all Alu Mac
OS = MS Win Home vs Mac full version
CPU = 2.13 vs 2.4
HD = similar
Memory = 1GB less than Mac
Graphics - don't know other than HP has dedicated RAM
Drive = external vs Mac internal
Battery = two batteries for similar life to Mac's single internal battery
Screen = similar
Webcam/Mic = I imagine both but HP don't mention mic
Networking = similar but HP don't mention Ethernet 1000
Ports = HP don't mention firewire or card reader
Keyboard = basic vs Mac backlit

Price: HP $670 more expensive

Discuss.


RE: wtf ripoff
By yomamafor1 on 4/13/2010 1:53:46 PM , Rating: 2
Right, comparing an Apple product against a high end, vintage product. That makes real sense.


RE: wtf ripoff
By sebmel on 4/13/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By AssBall on 4/13/2010 2:57:33 PM , Rating: 2
The envy is a ripoff. It makes no sense to compare it when there are cheaper more powerful HP's available.

Just build a regular laptop on HP's site and it is a hell of alot more feature rich and alot less money than these new Macs. The Envy is a "special edition" HP laptop. Why buy a Bently when a 35k subaru handles better and is more capable? Oh, and Apples don't pick up chicks, so no dice there.

In terms of the RAM, ports, or "completeness of the OS", you are talking straight out of your bunghole suggesting OSX is more powerful, featureful, affordable, or convenient than an $1800 Windows laptop.


RE: wtf ripoff
By MrX8503 on 4/13/2010 3:49:38 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Just build a regular laptop on HP's site and it is a hell of alot more feature rich and alot less money than these new Macs. The Envy is a "special edition" HP laptop. Why buy a Bently when a 35k subaru handles better and is more capable?


If you're comparing the same class of laptops, why would you compare a MBP to a budget laptop? To me this doesn't make any sense. Likewise why would you compare a Bently to a Subaru?

To me an Envy vs. Sony ViaoZ vs. MBP makes more sense than comparing it with oversized clunky budget laptops.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 4:29:07 PM , Rating: 2
Cause we have that option? More people buy Toyotas than Lexuses for a reason. You can have your "style," we'll have our performance.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/13/2010 5:42:29 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
More people buy Toyotas than Lexuses for a reason
The reason is called "low income"

harharharhar

:)))))


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:25:19 PM , Rating: 1
Well, if you're calling Mac products luxury items then...... that's what I've been waiting for. Everyone knows luxury items aren't worth the price you pay for them. It's called LUXURY after all.

I suppose "low income" is also why we all don't own private jets, huh Pirks?


RE: wtf ripoff
By damianrobertjones on 4/14/2010 6:15:56 AM , Rating: 2
Ignorant comment.

I have a very reasonable income, own my own home and have purchased all my cars etc.

I changed from a modded MR2 Turbo with 11k of fixes, mods over a 4 year period. I changed to a 2.5K slow MR2 Mk3. Standard. I can afford better cards, faster cards BUT I choose economy and my Penis is big enough.

I've owned high end and low end machines and build my own desktops.

Your "low income" comment is whats very, very wrong with mac onwer mentalities. Makes me sick.


RE: wtf ripoff
By MrX8503 on 4/13/2010 10:28:22 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Cause we have that option? More people buy Toyotas than Lexuses for a reason. You can have your "style," we'll have our performance.


Cause we have that option? What a lame excuse. If you're gonna compare devices at least compare devices that are in the same class. No one is gonna be comparing a Lexus to a Toyota. For example this would make more sense...

Toyota vs Nissan
Lexus vs Infiniti

Comparing different classes to say one merchandise is a ripoff does nothing more than show off your own bias.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 2:10:47 PM , Rating: 2
Feel free to believe what you want.


RE: wtf ripoff
By yomamafor1 on 4/13/2010 3:16:38 PM , Rating: 3
First of all, look is subjective, so I'm not going to comment on that. In addition, not sure if you noticed, but majority of the people don't use Firewire, so its not comparable.

Secondly, HP Envy line was originated from VoodooPC, which was a collector / vintage computer manufacturer. They specialized in making high performance personalized computers. What you're effectively comparing is ASUS regular 15" laptop with its Lamborghini series. Its all about the exclusivity.

Not sure how "exclusive" the Macbook Pro is, seeing a lot of people do carry them around (and showing it off).

Perhaps you should compare it with ASUS's UL30Vt

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.3Ghz stock, 1.6 Turbo)
Memory - 4GB DDR3-1066
Graphics - Nvidia G210M (which is a G310M) w/ 512MB VRAM
HDD - 500GB 5400RPM
Screen - 13.3" HD (1366 x 768)
Weight - 1.5kg
Battery life - 12 hours

So, Mac wins slightly on the CPU, featuring a faster version of C2D. On the GPU, although Mac's 320M is slightly faster than 310M, the video memory is shared with the system memory, as opposed to dedicated memory on ASUS. Mac features a slightly lower resolution screen (1280 x 800), a smaller HDD (320GB), weighs 1.1 pound more, and has less battery life.

What's the cost difference of all this? Mac is around 440USD more expensive than the UL30vt. Tell me again why Apple users aren't paying Jobs extra royalties?


RE: wtf ripoff
By Reclaimer77 on 4/13/2010 7:12:42 PM , Rating: 2
Nobody uses Firewire anymore lol. If it ever WAS used.


RE: wtf ripoff
By alanore on 4/13/2010 7:40:31 PM , Rating: 2
The real world performance of the processors wouldn't be vastly different, I have the 13" MBP with a 2.5GHz processor, but it can only run at 2.5GHz for less than 10mins before thermal throttling kicks in and it then yo-yos between 2.5GHz and 1.5GHz


RE: wtf ripoff
By yomamafor1 on 4/13/2010 8:09:53 PM , Rating: 2
That happened to my friend's MBA as well. She couldn't use the computer for more than 15 minutes before the bottom of the notebook gets uncomfortably hot.

I thought Apple laptops are "meticulously designed"?


RE: wtf ripoff
By damianrobertjones on 4/14/2010 3:56:06 AM , Rating: 2
Cor, how come this info isn't mentioned more?

Pirks..... DOes your machine do this?

:)


RE: wtf ripoff
By Pirks on 4/14/10, Rating: 0
RE: wtf ripoff
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 3:11:17 PM , Rating: 2
Perhaps you need to update CPU-Z. I've never had it print out false information unless the CPU just isn't supported yet.


RE: wtf ripoff
By spread on 4/13/2010 2:38:56 PM , Rating: 2
Same class of product. The HP is a POS because its an HP.


RE: wtf ripoff
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 5:44:10 PM , Rating: 2
well macbook POS because Mr jobs likes it. Hey just using your way of thinking I actually was only kidding....sorta


RE: wtf ripoff
By PrezWeezy on 4/13/2010 5:17:49 PM , Rating: 2
HP D3MT:
$873
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 w/ nVidia G 105M
6 Cell Battery (up to 9.5 hours)
10/100 RJ45
4GB DDR3
4.17 lbs @ .96" Thick
250 GB Hard Drive

That is a comparable model. The difference in cost is ~$320, with the Mac you get 10/100/1000 networking, .01" thinner, a slightly faster processor, and it's pretty like a Mac should be. You give up not quite 1.5 lbs (the Mac is 5.6 lbs).

All of the differences are minor, except the price. $300 is a lot of money for faster networking and 140 MHz faster processor. All of that extra is going into styling.

So once again, Macs are more expensive for comparable models, and you are paying for a pretty case.


RE: wtf ripoff
By PrezWeezy on 4/13/2010 5:22:02 PM , Rating: 2
My bad, I looked at the weight of the 15" not the 13", so it's really only 1/3rd of a pound difference. That's not really that much.


RE: wtf ripoff
By Targon on 4/14/2010 8:35:28 AM , Rating: 1
Ok, so try this for a proper comparison:

Sony VPCCW27FX/B
Best Buy price: $979
14 inch screen
Intel i5 at 2.4GHz
4GB DDR3 memory
500GB hard drive
DVD-RW with BluRay read support
Geforce GT330M

Note that the specs on this are similar to the 15 inch Apple offering, same graphics, memory, hard drive...

Now, the Apple offering:

$1799 for the 15 inch apple with only a 320 gig hard drive, no BluRay support. The Sony does not have the aluminum case, but for $800 you can keep it.

This is a straight comparison between machines in the same performance class. Yes, the aluminum case is nice, but if pretty much all the electronics are the same, from memory to graphics to hard drive space, is the CASE worth $800?!?


RE: wtf ripoff
By KeypoX on 4/13/2010 6:39:17 PM , Rating: 2
Thats still pricey. I just got a lenovo core i5 optimus nvidia tech, hdmi, etc, etc

for 650


RE: wtf ripoff
By stimudent on 4/13/2010 9:20:37 PM , Rating: 2
I hope these units will be better ventilated than the iMac which can overheat easily and crash.


Liars
By Pirks on 4/13/2010 9:37:36 AM , Rating: 3
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/performance.html

"On-demand performance.
Off-the-charts efficiency.

The 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models come standard with automatic graphics switching. It’s a breakthrough technology from Apple that switches graphics processors on the fly to give you performance when you need it"

So Optimus is "from Apple" now huh?

I think this is too much. nVidia is a pussy if they are keeping mum on this. Where's your whoopcanofass nVidia?

Pussies. *spits in disgust*




RE: Liars
By smackababy on 4/13/2010 9:48:51 AM , Rating: 5
I think someone hacked Pirks account...

Regardless of that, this is a classic case of Apple being, well, Apple. They don't invent something and tout it is innovation done by them.


RE: Liars
By Iaiken on 4/13/2010 10:08:30 AM , Rating: 1
I can't believe that is actually Pirks.

What's more, I just have to laugh when Apple puts proprietary controllers on a chip set that doesn't need a real northbridge or a southbridge. The only thing that needs to be off chip is the silicon for interacting with the SATA/usb/lan controllers and a PCI-E relay.

Instead they make some BS proprietary controller simply to prevent you from installing Windows on it directly or to prevent people from building their own "Mac". The more Intel moves towards system on chip, the more ridiculous I find apples draconian hardware design as they have to go out of their way to make it incompatible.


RE: Liars
By gralex on 4/13/2010 10:25:32 AM , Rating: 3
If you think Optimus is revolutionary, just wait till Apple announces how they developed CUDA specifically for the MacPro, so it can run Adobe's CS5 better:-)


RE: Liars
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/13/2010 12:44:08 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, it isn't NVIDIA Optimus technology according to AI. I have updated the story to reflect this:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/13/nvid...


RE: Liars
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 5:53:37 PM , Rating: 2
I'm sry but it involves a Intel HD & Nvidia optinus support product so all apple did was write their own drivers for it nothing more but hey it will be another thing appple will take whole credit for yet again. Now that we all know that this is possible without everyone having to actually use Nvidias optinus drivers we will see every laptop maker doing this Thanks Apple you rock lol yea right.


RE: Liars
By Pirks on 4/13/2010 3:29:45 PM , Rating: 5
I'm a liar, not Apple

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/13/nvid...

Now downrate me please


RE: Liars
By Anoxanmore on 4/13/2010 5:02:57 PM , Rating: 2
Can I poke you with fluffy pillows instead? ;) <3


RE: Liars
By Pirks on 4/13/10, Rating: 0
RE: Liars
By nikon133 on 4/13/2010 6:20:00 PM , Rating: 5
We like when you are wrong - and aware of it ;)


RE: Liars
By Pirks on 4/13/2010 7:02:53 PM , Rating: 1
argh ya nasty little suckaz, do you know that if everyone here were as self aware and honest as myself I'd hardly posted here ever, I need to do so many corrections to local wintrolls/pc zombies that I'm honestly tired, gimme a break ya pc lovin lyin bastards ;)


RE: Liars
By rocky12345 on 4/15/2010 12:24:33 PM , Rating: 2
awww does someone need to take a nap. Do you need your sucky blanket. Cry me a river if you hate PC wintrolls as you put it so much then go away & go back to your apple fan sites where everything there is always told in truth & noone lies. Kinda sounds like a fairy tale don't it. Sorry to inform you dude but everyone lies it is human nature & any one that says they never lie are lieing to your face. Thanks & have a nice day. Oh ya hard to believe your from BC Canada I know people from there & have lived there & I generally found that most everyone from there was polite towards others what happened bad child hood or something.


Display
By Gungel on 4/13/2010 9:40:12 AM , Rating: 2
Very disappointing display options. What took apple that long to refresh the MacBooks with such underwhelming specs. I expected much more this time around.




RE: Display
By Drag0nFire on 4/13/2010 11:11:18 AM , Rating: 2
If you look, they allow you to upgrade to a 15in 1600x1050 matte display.

I'm curious how they managed to get 9 hours of battery life out of these power-hungry processors. If I had to guess, I'd say this is where they spent their time...

I usually hate macs, but these look pretty compelling. I could buy one and install Windows. Only problem is still the one button mouse. Grrrr...


RE: Display
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 11:31:48 AM , Rating: 2
It's quite well known that OSX is what improves battery life. I'm assuming it's more efficient drivers and better power management, but it's impossible to tell since you can't look under the hood of OSX.


RE: Display
By Breathless on 4/13/2010 12:09:15 PM , Rating: 3
its quite easy to tell. Just install OSX on your PC laptop and test the battery life.


RE: Display
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 12:45:29 PM , Rating: 2
Ummmm, you can't. Unless that was your point. They've tested Apple laptops with Windows and the battery life goes back down to what PC laptops are. It has very little to do with the hardware since they are already extremely similar.


RE: Display
By pequin06 on 4/13/2010 4:41:16 PM , Rating: 2
OSX does less, hence the longer battery life.


RE: Display
By Pirks on 4/13/2010 6:56:19 PM , Rating: 2
ya indeed osx thrashes notebook hdd much less frequently than windows, good point bud :D


RE: Display
By Alexstarfire on 4/13/2010 7:28:39 PM , Rating: 1
You sir need to stop spouting bullshit.


RE: Display
By Pirks on 4/14/2010 11:40:13 AM , Rating: 2
You sir need to stop being in constant denial, just get any recent Windows notebook and observe how hard drive never stops because stupid Windows is always blinking HDD lamp as if it's reading something every minute or so.


RE: Display
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 3:18:29 PM , Rating: 2
I'm responding to Pequin, not you. I didn't know agreeing with you would also invoke a negative response from you. It's like nothing can please you and you are just here to argue. Granted, that's pretty much what I've always felt like you were doing. With your hypocrisy and all.


RE: Display
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 3:25:14 PM , Rating: 2
BTW, I must say that you either don't take care of your stuff very well or you are simply unlucky in the products you buy because the HDD on my laptop is rarely doing anything. It's usually just sitting idle.


RE: Display
By Targon on 4/14/2010 8:55:58 AM , Rating: 2
You can't do it legally you mean? There is a lot of information out there how to run MacOS X on normal PCs.


RE: Display
By Alexstarfire on 4/14/2010 3:35:48 PM , Rating: 2
Basically, but if I can't run it natively then it's not worth comparing it that way. From what I've read getting OSX to run on a PC require some modified software to do so. On a desktop that might be fine, but since said software could affect battery life I don't think it's fair to compare them that way. It would be nice to see someone do this, but it wouldn't be entirely accurate.

It'd also be nice if I had far more control over my hardware components. I'd like to be able to adjust voltages, frequencies, timings, and such on my own if I should choose to do so. It's pretty much given that I won't be able to that with any laptop though.


RE: Display
By Targon on 4/14/2010 8:45:47 AM , Rating: 1
Does MacOS allow you to set the CPU performance used while on battery life? I wonder if MacOS is just set to a max of 25 percent CPU power or less while on battery, which would be lower than the "max CPU" setting for Windows XP/Vista/7 while on battery.

This could easily be the key since most people don't think about the basic fact that laptops are normally set to run slower while on battery even in the BIOS, but it can be adjusted by the OS.


RE: Display
By DandDAddict on 4/13/2010 1:42:57 PM , Rating: 2
They arnt using any of the quads and the duals pull 25-35w which is no more than thier c2d counterparts. The gpus are pulling less. The northbridge eats only 3.3 compared to the 7-16w a c2d one eats and you lose the southbridge completely so thats another 4w or so you gain back.

So theres alot of power savings there. If anything the battery life should go up


RE: Display
By KoolAidMan1 on 4/13/2010 2:36:43 PM , Rating: 2
You can use any multibutton USB mouse. The first thing I did with my first Mac in 2002 was plug in a five button Intellomouse Explorer 3.0. Worked perfectly with no additional drivers.

If you're talking about the trackpad that's a different story. Giant multitouch trackpad with gestures >>> regular trackpads


£1900 for a 17" laptop?
By CPLGDR on 4/13/2010 11:14:01 AM , Rating: 2
I guess people must assume that the eye-watering prices == vast superiority. Surely these machines are never a practical consideration.

The only thing impressive about macbooks is the battery life. You can configure a vastly superior machine from Sony at so much smaller a cost. Sony

But my biggest bugbear with the macbooks has always been HDD space. How can they justify upgrading to a 500GB HDD at £120, when the damn drive only costs £60 in the first place.




RE: £1900 for a 17" laptop?
By alanore on 4/13/2010 11:40:53 AM , Rating: 3
Yeah Sony make some pretty good laptops. The battery difference isn't so much of an issue, for the difference in price you can get additional external batteries.

I've found that for real word usage Sony's are better but Mac are nicer looking (not OSX though)


RE: £1900 for a 17" laptop?
By mellomonk on 4/13/2010 11:59:40 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Surely these machines are never a practical consideration.


Attend a few development conferences or the like. Anywhere where people need to get work done on the road. Hint. The word Vaio usually isn't seen. I've been in rooms where half the equipment present says Thinkpad or Dell, and you could 'practically' light the room from the glowing apples on the rest.


RE: £1900 for a 17" laptop?
By Abrahmm on 4/13/2010 9:37:28 PM , Rating: 2
LOL yeah right. Of all the developers I know, which is a lot, I only know of 3 with Macs. Usually Macs are the butt of our jokes because they are a complete rip off.


RE: £1900 for a 17" laptop?
By Cheesew1z69 on 4/13/2010 1:31:49 PM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't touch a Sony in my life again.


RE: £1900 for a 17" laptop?
By LifeByTheHorns on 4/13/2010 1:35:24 PM , Rating: 2
Most companies charge a premium for upgrades
Dell charges $195 to upgrade to a 500 GB drive.

...from Dell's website...

500GB Hard Drive, 5400 RPM [add $195.00]
160GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor [Included in Price]
250GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor [add $60.00]
128GB Encrypted Mobility Solid State Drive [add $430.00]
256GB Encrypted Mobility Solid State Drive [add $730.00]
320GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor [add $180.00]
500GB Hard Drive, 7200 RPM [add $195.00]
64GB Dell Mobility Solid State Drive [add $230.00]


RE: £1900 for a 17" laptop?
By CPLGDR on 4/13/2010 3:51:27 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Most companies charge a premium for upgrades Dell charges $195 to upgrade to a 500 GB drive.


Perhaps Dell is a bad example. If I remember correctly, though, Sony were a lot cheaper.

The other critical difference is that with Dell laptops - Asus, Acer, Sony etc., etc., you can upgrade the hard drive yourself without voiding the warranty. This may not be true any more, but I have always been able to upgrade laptop hard drives following instructions in their manual.

The guy in the Apple store told me that you can't even access the harddrive, even if you wanted to. And that Sony 17" laptop has TWO hard drive bays.

I have a macbook black, and I love it, but I didn't buy it because it made financial sense.


13" graphics are better though ...
By psychobriggsy on 4/13/2010 9:46:48 AM , Rating: 2
To keep up with the GeForce rebranding (they're GT240 variants):

GT320: 72 stream processors @ 540MHz / 1302MHz
GT330: 96 stream processors @ 550 / 1340 OR
112 stream processors @ 550 / 1340

9400M: 16 stream processors. 54 GFLOPS

But Apple say: "With 48 processing cores, the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M is said to be the fastest integrated graphics processor on the market" - that's a GT315. But "integrated"? Have NVIDIA created a beefier chipset just for Apple?




By hiscross on 4/13/2010 10:15:31 AM , Rating: 2
"But Apple say: "With 48 processing cores, the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M is said to be the fastest integrated graphics processor on the market" - that's a GT315. But "integrated"? Have NVIDIA created a beefier chipset just for Apple?"

Probably, why waste such good technology on a cheap PC?


By Zandros on 4/13/2010 10:40:38 AM , Rating: 3
They obviously didn't put desktop GPUs in their notebooks. They're using the Geforce 320M and the Geforce GT 330M. Both have 48 CUDA cores.


RE: 13" graphics are better though ...
By psychobriggsy on 4/13/2010 10:52:22 AM , Rating: 2
Okay, I've found out some stuff.

The "GeForce 320M" is a new chipset, the successor to the 9400M. It has 48 shaders, and performs up to 80% faster than the 9400M in games (despite having 200% more shaders, so it's saving power by running slower, or limited by the memory bus, or some other Apple shenanigans).

The "GeForce 330M" has 48 shaders as well, but presumably running faster as it is a discrete product, and has higher performance (182 GFLOPS).

Thanks, NVIDIA, for making a complete mess of your product branding so that it is really difficult to work out what products you are offering.


By Dribble on 4/13/2010 11:55:13 AM , Rating: 2
It's pretty simple the 3 is the series, the rest of the number is the performance 10 < 20 < 30. M means mobile. About the simplest branding nvidia's had for as long as I can remember.


By AssBall on 4/13/2010 3:16:46 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Have NVIDIA created a beefier chipset just for Apple


Does it matter?

What's the last DirectX game you played on a Mac? Warcraft? You sure need some beefy hardware for that. Unless you are running CAD with a Quaddro, Intel integrated is fine for Macs.

My point is that normal people don't buy an expensive Mac to play games or run graphic intensive applications. Those who do are either delusional or a bit off their rockers.


SD card slot
By vailr on 4/13/2010 10:37:52 AM , Rating: 2
Isn't having an SD card slot a "new feature"?




RE: SD card slot
By mellomonk on 4/13/2010 11:17:35 AM , Rating: 2
No.


RE: SD card slot
By jbwhite99 on 4/13/2010 12:41:52 PM , Rating: 2
for Apple, anything that you can insert or remove into these boxes is a feature! Macs have been closed for the entire time Jobs has worked in Cupertino - the only time Macs were open was when he was at Next/Pixar. The original Mac was not expandable at all - they slipped in a memory upgrade under Steve's nose but you even needed a special Torx screwdriver to crack the case!

Steve, the rest of the world is open - you and your gang of lawyers are just STIFLING INNOVATION and openness!


RE: SD card slot
By hiscross on 4/13/2010 3:48:46 PM , Rating: 2
" the only time Macs were open was when he was at Next/Pixar."

Please take your pill and go nto the next room for a timeout.


or you could buy these & get more & pay less
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 6:16:18 PM , Rating: 2
AS7740G-6930
http://us.acer.com/acer/productv.do?LanguageISOCtx...

AS7740-6656
http://us.acer.com/acer/productv.do?LanguageISOCtx...

those are just 2 of the models I got the dual core one & the batt life is pretty good not 9 hours but enough to watch a few movies on the road I got 2 batts for it so I get about 8 hours of normal every day use but the wierd thing is I have never had to put the second batt in never used it for 9 hours in one stretch before lol.




RE: or you could buy these & get more & pay less
By rocky12345 on 4/13/2010 6:52:11 PM , Rating: 2
Just wanted to add this is the one I have on order as they are out of stock at the moment.

Asus G73JH-A1 w/ Core i7-720QM, 8GB DDR3, 1TB (500x2 HDD), Blu-ray Combo, 17.3in 1980x1080 Full HD, Radeon HD5870 1GB GDDR5,10/100/1000 Nic,Wireless b/g/n, Blue Tooth v2.1+EDR,8in1 Card reader, 2.0 MP web camera, Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit $1,819.99 Canadian dollars I am sure it is cheaper in the USA.
ALmost forgot it also comes with a gaming backpack & gaming mouse which i most likely won't use lol

This thing is not replacing my Acer but it is going to be my gaming while traveling. I do not see how anything Apple has would match that for price or performance in their Macbook pros & if they do have one that Matches these specs I a msure the price would be at least 4K to 5K. Sure the Batt life is not going to match up on this but when you buy something like this do you realyy care about the batt life anyways you buy it to do fairly hard core gaming which is why I have one on order nuf said.


RE: or you could buy these & get more & pay less
By T2k on 4/14/2010 2:08:21 PM , Rating: 2
Or the $750 with ATI 5650 1GB that AT highly recommended: http://bit.ly/acer750


By rocky12345 on 4/15/2010 12:26:52 AM , Rating: 2
sweet i forgot about that article good find sold a few of those as well good units pretty solid.


No Blu Ray?
By Leper Messiah on 4/13/2010 2:15:10 PM , Rating: 2
Come on Apple, my powerbook G4 from 2005 had a SuperDrive. It's 2010, where is the bluray support?




RE: No Blu Ray?
By MadMan007 on 4/14/2010 6:08:34 AM , Rating: 2
They are still waiting for the SuperDuperDrive.

Actually I have a suspicion they don't want people using HD content easily other than from iTunes.


RE: No Blu Ray?
By Penti on 4/14/2010 9:12:36 AM , Rating: 2
They haven't been able to license all the tech for Blu-ray yet. Neither are they allowed to without redesigning how the graphics drivers deal with video and audio. No third party has released any BD player either, guess they can't get the same deal as for XP where protection is weaker. Apple licenses H.264/AVC already (as well as HDCP-support) but not AACS, BD+ or VC-1. They seem in no hurry to conform to the demands to license all of it.


Fantastic!
By gralex on 4/13/2010 9:18:37 AM , Rating: 3
Now I really want an m11x




RE: Fantastic!
By sapiens74 on 4/13/2010 2:06:12 PM , Rating: 2
Me too!

Comes with a free 3-year subscription to tech support Hell (english edition costs more)


Apple Backing Away from Laptops?!
By jah1subs on 4/13/2010 2:20:50 PM , Rating: 2
I believe that the price/specifications of the new MacBooks are simply another sign that Apple is backing away from laptop computers (and likely computers).

To me, the first sign was that the iPad uses a modified/enhanced version of the iPhone operating system, not Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.




By erple2 on 4/13/2010 2:55:22 PM , Rating: 2
I think that would be a major mistake on Apple's part. Part of their bread and butter market is application development on the move, which is part of why the 8+ hour battery life is so crucial to (some of) their customers.

While it's true that an iPad will do many things that many people use a laptop for, it's also true that there are many things the iPad just can't do (or at least can't do well), like actually developing applications for the iPad :)

The specs of the new Apple bring them up to the standards of current (mostly - gfx is still slightly behind top end) laptop tech in the PC world. The Core i5 and i7 (though NOT the quad core i7's) is state of the art in the intel based CPUs.

Also, I'd bet that Apple couldn't figure out how to incorporate the i7-720 and faster quad core processors in the notebooks and still get anything close to the "8-9 hours" of battery life.


By Targon on 4/14/2010 8:50:32 AM , Rating: 1
For ultra-portable devices, the less you have the device doing at any time helps battery life. With the lack of multi-tasking, it makes for a device with long battery life but less functionality. It is a trade-off, and for some people, acceptable. For $500 though, I would rather have a real laptop with a real keyboard, dual-core processor, etc.

A laptop may not be as good for reading a book, but then again, it does so much more(and faster), that a laptop makes more sense.


What's the most anybody has spent on a Mac?
By Jeff7181 on 4/13/2010 12:26:22 PM , Rating: 2
I'm curious... seeing as how the Mac Pro can be upgraded with hardware, dual monitors and software to the point that the price tag is over $20,000. I wonder if anyone has actually paid more that much for a personal computer... in fact, I wonder if anyone has actually paid over $5,000 for a personal computer in the past 10 or 15 years.




By ralniv on 4/13/2010 1:44:58 PM , Rating: 2
Absolutely. Boutique PC shops that cater to affluent gamers stock PCs that go well beyond $5k. Maingear's Xeon based gaming rig starts at $4k and can be optioned in excess of $20k. You can do the same at Digital Storm and others.

I personally only know of 1 person that has a >$5k personal desktop computer. He's an affluent hardcore gamer and can afford a turn-key and warrantied monster rig.


pirks
By comc49 on 4/13/2010 4:31:28 PM , Rating: 2
these days i think pirks is trying too hard.. sorry man you can't beat reader1




By Acanthus on 4/14/2010 7:02:27 AM , Rating: 2
The new APPLE macbook pro with CORE I7 DUAL CORE and *Insert Nvidia Rebrand*

My head hurts.




By T2k on 4/14/2010 2:04:10 PM , Rating: 1
Seriously, this $750 machine beats the living hell out of anything comparably priced Apple unit: http://bit.ly/acer750

Well, it's Apple - expensive crap with rather unimpressive hardware and totally average quality, lame security (my Core Duo-based old Vaio had fingerprint reader & TMP several years ago) due to its design choices (which always trumps engineering in Cupertino) they all come with fuckin' weird issues with inaction or even denial following from Apple (see all the legions WiFi issues ever since Intel Macbooks launched).

Of course, using OS X in enterprise environment is still a no-go - after a DECADE miserable Apple still unable to provide DFS support (forget proper AD etc), just to name one.

Unless you *have* to have OS X (sw, local network, your wife etc forces you) or you're in love with OS X (people calling themselves web designers and producers while working as waiter/busser/runners) I don't see the point ever buying one.




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