I know everyone says buy now, but...

[JimmyDThing]

I've heard from a few people that it's not unreasonable to think that the MacBook will get a better video card after Leopard comes out.

This will be my first Mac, and as I don't NEED it right now, waiting until Leopard comes out wouldn't be that big a deal for me.

The only reason I would buy now is for the free nano.


Also... I know it doesn't belong in this forum, but I'll probably also be getting the AirPort Extreme and plugging a printer and a hard drive into it. I will have both Mac's and PC's running off of it. For the most part, I'll have media on the hard drive... will I be able to access and move files locally to both Mac and PC?

Thanks for any help!

 

[elcid]

To answer your first question the video card is one of the main differences between the MB and the MBP. I have a MB and I play WoW on it. Its not as good as my desktop but it is very managable.

The MB as a product line is designed for people who dont play games or require a lot of video managment.

I doub it will be done for Leopard, but if it is it will be a better integrated card. Personally I would buy it now if you wanted the nano.

 

[iBookG4user]

I doubt that the MacBook will get a dedicated video card, maybe the new integrated graphics that Intel came out with, though. There really aren't any features in Leopard that require a terrific graphics card to run them.

 

[squeeks]

and they also cant impose on the macbook pro sales

 

[vicious7]

I you want it now (along with the additional prizes) pick one up. If not, then wait. The logic is really simple.

 

[dacreativeguy]

The MacBook isn't getting a graphics card. With the power of the core 2 duo processor, there is more than enough power to run integrated graphics. The MB is the cost conscious notebook, and integrated graphics is much cheaper than dedicated.

 

[JimmyDThing]

Thanks for all your help. I think I will get it now rather than later... I can always upgrade to Leopard, and that way I get a chance to see what people say about it first.

I'm wondering, though, how reliable the Refurbished MacBooks are?

Obviously they are older, but they have a MacBook thats got an 80GB hard drive, a gig of memory, and the L2 Cache is 4MB... the SuperDrive is only 6x, but I don't do a lot of CD or DVD writing... and obviously the software isn't as up to date, but that doesn't bother me so much. I'm more wondering if it's a good idea or if it's worth it just to buy a new one. If I did get a refurbished one, I'd definately get the extended 3 year warranty though.

Let me know what you think and, again, thanks for all your help.

 

[T-Mac]

I'm waiting for my macbook

The next update will probably be significant:

x3100 graphics is a big improvement over the gma 950 (on paper at least)
LED screen improves brightness and lessens battery consumption
The Santa Rosa chipsets offer speed bumps, plus 800mhz bus, plus better wifi
Leopard (it's an inevitable upgrade so why not save $129)

Granted these are all speculative upgrades, but most likely accurate. I think the new macbooks will arrive shortly after Leopard (or maybe with). Since my livelihood does not require the new laptop now, I would kick myself for not waiting a couple months for these improvements.

It is most definitely a personal choice.

 

[filmgirl]

The next update will probably be significant:

x3100 graphics is a big improvement over the gma 950 (on paper at least)
LED screen improves brightness and lessens battery consumption
The Santa Rosa chipsets offer speed bumps, plus 800mhz bus, plus better wifi
Leopard (it's an inevitable upgrade so why not save $129)

Granted these are all speculative upgrades, but most likely accurate. I think the new macbooks will arrive shortly after Leopard (or maybe with). Since my livelihood does not require the new laptop now, I would kick myself for not waiting a couple months for these improvements.

It is most definitely a personal choice.

I'm not saying that waiting until Leopard if you don't need it, need it now isn't a viable option (though I still say November will be the next update - as per traditional scheduling), but let's clear a few things p.

1. GMA 950 and X3100 are not that different in practice. I bought into the "on paper" stuff too. But just today I was able to compare The Sims 2 running on my MB in BootCamp vs. my friend's new SR Dell (same RAM, same amount allocated in Windows, almost the same processor) -- the difference was really, really minimal. It isn't enough to put off it you need or want something now. That was my big hang-up too, but now I feel much better knowing that X3100 has pretty much the same limitations as GMA 950.

2. The better wi-fi in SR is already implemented in the MB -- it has been in both the MB and MBP since the second revision (those machines need a firmware upgrade - so if you got the refurbished system, you just pay $1.99 to enable draft n wireless for Airport Exreme) - all Santa Rosa is branding -- just like Centrino. To get that branding, the hardware has to meet a set of standards and so many of the features of SR were already implemented in earlier laptops.

3. The increase in bus speed is less significant since the memory controller can still only go to 667 -- not 800. Thus, your speed performance increase is going to be minimal. Hence, a SR 2.2 and a MB 2.16 run processing tasks at almost the same rate. The MBP has dedicated graphics and that allows better gaming/high video intensive apps to perform faster/better -- but for actual processing power - the 800 mhtz bus is not really going to do that much unless you have RAM to match it. The current hardware doesn't support it.

So yes, there are advantages in the new SR's -- but they aren't as big as the marketing would like you to believe.

 

[T-Mac]

Good point about marketing hype, filmgirl. Although the real advantages of the x3100 are not likely to be seen until the drivers mature.

My main point is that the May update to the Macbook was very minor, while the November(?) update should offer the latest technologies that are now becoming standard in laptops.

I've heard enough positives about the LED MBP screens to want to wait for that plus Leopard. Hopefully, my wait will pay off.

 

[aliquis-]

If you don't need it now just wait until the next rev whenever that is, it's probably not before leopard but it will be sometime, and you will get a better speced machine, last update was a little lame.

Regarding the airport extreme i think it works with both macs and windows machines, you might also want to check out synologys products.