Macbook Pro worth it?

[danielsamuels]

Originally Posted by richiestang_78

Well Macs do crash, but virus wise Ive never had one and I haven't heard of one be developed for the for the Mac in years and years.

Biggest downside of Macs that its somewhat a pain to share files back and forth between Mac and PC w/o the use of software or networking. So no external HD sharing.

Format the Ext HD as FAT32, problem solved.
Or, make 2 partitions, a Mac one, and a NTFS for Windows; it depends what you need to do.

[timcadieux]

My external 160gig is an NTFS drive and I transfer back and forth my iTunes collection between my laptop, my MacBookPro and my PC all the time.

[berrex]

Originally Posted by TimCadieux

My external 160gig is an NTFS drive and I transfer back and forth my iTunes collection between my laptop, my MacBookPro and my PC all the time.

You can't do that by default. You should tell them how you did it so people aren't left in the dark wondering what voodoo magic you conjured up to get a Mac to write to an NTFS drive. =)

I did some research on this and I came across a solution (you should find this interesting, richiestang_78, since I know you were trying to do this a few days ago). First you need to download and install MacFUSE. Click here for the direct download for Tiger, or click here for the direct download for Leopard. To install, open up the downloaded .dmg file and double click the package to install.

Now you need to download NTFS-3G (direct download link here). Again, to install, double click the .dmg file and open the package to initiate the installer. You will have to reboot when finished. After your Mac boots back up, you should have full read/write capabilities for NTFS drives. This means you can have an NTFS-formatted external drive which you can use for backups for both your Mac and Windows. Pretty kick ass, huh?

[timcadieux]

Unfortunately, I don't recall, but as you've proved, it cam be done.

[richiestang_78]

You may want to wait, cause I heard that Apple may be about to roll out a new Macbook Pro line.

[esophagus]

Originally Posted by richiestang_78

You may want to wait, cause I heard that Apple may be about to roll out a new Macbook Pro line.

Where did you hear that? I'm quite excited, if they are.

[timcadieux]

I think I heard that too on Textra or maybe WebbAlert?

[richiestang_78]

Well looks like the rumor was true, theres a new and faster Mac Book Pro line.

[decepticon]

In short, yes. Very much worth it.

[pebblesdc]

hi. i usually dont post stuff but i think i can help several ppl clarify whether or not a macbook pro is worth it.

Firstly, yes a macbook pro does cost considerably more than its competitors with similar specifications. However, you must take into consideration why it costs considerably more. Comparing a 2007/8 Macbook Pro 15” to a Dell XPS 1530 with identical specifications you would have to assume Dell to be the better choice due the to pricing. But having owned these laptops and a lot of others (IBM/lenovo, Dell, Hp, Apple, MSI, Alienware etc) I can easily say macbook pro’s are by far the better choice for most consumers. It is like comparing a Toyota to a lotus elise, both use the same engine however one Lotus can buy 5 or more Toyota cars. The reason the Lotus is considerably more expensive is due to the design and fit for purpose (handling/racing, etc) not because of the engine or its modifications. You cannot compare one with the other besides the engine (in relation, specifications).
What the specifications don’t tell you is the things that actually make a difference in daily use. To name a few items that are well beyond Dell/HP/Lenovo’s class are:

- In Built Speakers:
Clear and precise as well as loud enough, anyone with a macbook pro can understand this. No other laptop speaker in such a thin design can come close to matching the clarity and loudness without be either considerably thicker or consume vast amounts of battery. The macbook pro accomplishes this to an extent that some my find it unnecessary to purchase external speakers.

- Soundcard:
When dealing with Ableton Live 7 and Reason 4, the high end Dell and HP laptops produce a much greater lag when dealing with midi controllers compared with macbook pros (lag for this means when you hit a key the time it takes to produce a sound). Without using an exernal sound card on the same audio settings DELL xps produces a 130ms lag compared to the 11ms lag from the macbook pro (Ableton live). This may sound like a small difference but those who know computer games will understand the difference of a 110+ms lag difference, especially when audio production is one of your key interests. With the Dell I had to purchase a $200 Lexicon Lambada sound card to get the reduce lag from the midi controller. You will also notice when using high end headphones that the sound reproduction is much more accurate and clearer especially the bass, a great incentive in comparison to carrying around a large bulky external sound card to produce that kind of quality.

- Design:
Now you have to understand why apple stress so much about design, its because it actually makes a huge difference. Firstly you see that the entire chassis is aluminium, meaning strength and greater heat distribution. Pick up any Dell, HP, Asus (lenovo/IBM is actually good) with one hand on one side and move it up and down. You will see flex and a very cheap feel with a distinct cracking sound of bending plastics. If you happen to drop your laptop, aluminium will bend/distort, meaning more components will be saved in comparison to plastics which snap and the actual force will get distributed to the components. Do a quick search on ebay, for damage or faulty macbook pro’s and then do another for Dell XPS or any other brand. You will find that those macbook pro’s dented or distorted will still function to some regard in comparison to DELL’s which have snaps in the chasis/case.
Another issue which many of the other makers have is that when you open the screen the actual screen will lift the base of the laptop as well. Not a huge problem? On the DELL and ASUS high end laptops it is. You will find that every time you open the screen you must push the base of the laptop back to the table which causes a small thump. This small thump over time can cause HD issues as well as screws to fall out the bottom of your laptop (both dell and asus have compartments underneath which allow you to open and clean or install new components). Currently my Dell is missing 2 screws and the asus is missing 4.
Illuminated lights. Enough said, great invention. If you haven’t noticed, Dell has tried to mimic the macbook pro design with their highest range laptops (aluminium built, illuminated keyboard), and it is actually priced more than macbook pro’s in Australia.
Heat dispersion. Yes the macbook pro does get hot to the touch. But so does most high end laptops. The one great thing about the macbook pro design is that the heat is dispersed from the back of the laptop and flows upwards in front of the LCD screen. This is makes a big difference especially when watching movies in bed. Since the bottom of the laptop is free from vents the macbook pro can breath relatively normal in comparison to DELL’s which overheat’s on such a surface as vents are blocked (underside), ideally meaning it cannot be used as a lap-top, though no notebook should.

- Battery Life
I use laptops a lot. The Dell brand new lasted around 1 hour and 30 or so minutes, macbook pro is around 3-4 hours. Now I treat my batteries well as I use recharge a lot (100+ cycles in a month) The Dell after 4 months lasted around 40 minutes and the macbook pro is running still 3-4 hours. It is actually a huge comfort knowing that even if I have 20% of battery remaining on the macbook pro I can still outlast a fully charged Dell or HP. When I first got my macbook pro I was surprised that I could watch 2 full movies on battery volume turned up screen on half brightness. The last mac I had was an ibook which claimed 6 hours of battery life and lived no where near, so apple have definitely got their statements accurate this time around.

- Graphics card
Now both my Dell XPS and macbook pro have the same 8600GT M I think it is. Both do a good round of gaming and both get extremely hot over time. Having used both pretty equally for the past 10 months in terms of gaming or graphical performance, The Dell laptop now has graphic lag issues. Now this is not a fault of the graphics card itself (Dell checked) its actually a design flaw to do with thermal pads and pastes used. Now I don’t know what apple uses but it seems that regardless of time the apple will perform at best and even if it does start having graphic issues now (2 months after the Dell) that is still a 20% increase of working life in terms of gaming and high end graphical programs which can already compensate for the entire difference of the more expensive apple computer.

These are the main points that I find stand out. And once you add the better speakers, illuminated keyboard, cost of aluminium v plastics, better camera (>MP does not mean its better), much more desirably screen, pure design, more advance battery life, software, etc. The difference in price of purchasing another brand is meaningless. I have not mentioned software nor have I mentioned support, which I can tell you paying extra for Dell business support is useless, though lenovo is still much more attractive in terms of support than apple.

The last thing I will say is that bootcamp will usually solve many problems windows users face. I actually find it much more comfortable using windows with what I need to use it for and mac os x for the rest. Using windows only when needed means that you don’t install (overtime) unnecessary applications, cookies, etc, clogging up your registry slowing down your machine and it also means you are less prone to virus attacks compared to a user who is running windows 24 x 7.
Hope this helps anyone with the issue. Just to let anyone know, im not some die hard apple fan, I would say I still use my Dell and lenovo for work, but apple (only recently) for everything else. Great laptops and I will be purchasing the new version macbook pro within the next few months.