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pbollin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 5, 2006
15
0
Hello, I have been waiting for a while to purchase a laptop for college. I will be taking a few online courses next semester so I figure that having my own laptop will allow me to complete my work in silence in the university library rather than in the generally loud computer labs. However, I have one dilemma. I know that the Macbook Pro is likely to get an update soon, but I think that is too much for my needs. Does anyone have an idea about when the Macbook may see an upgrade/revision? I was thinking it would be around December or early 2007, when Leopard is likely to be released. Does anybody else think it is a good idea to wait until Leopard comes around and hope that the Macbook hardware has gotten a bit of an upgrade as well? Thanks for any advice, I am very indecisive when it comes to spending lots of money.....that's why I choose Mac.
 
Go For It!

The current MacBook is a very nice machine. My friend just got his yesterday and brought it over to my house to show it off today. I was very impressed with it, much more so than I thought I would be.

The speed of the machine, coupled with the size and features are amazing. Have no doubt in purchasing a MacBook now if you need one. You can always play the waiting game and get something better, but if you need a computer waiting won't really do you a lot of good.

After seeing one in the wild, I'm sold on the MacBook. I'm planning on getting one for school in the fall after seeing his today. You won't be sorry.

* The MacBook I reference is a mid-range, white, 2ghz model
 
MacBook's a good deal..

Instead of a MacBook Pro- get a MacBook and IMac...

Even 3 years later they will be still good (to 5years max), compared with a Windows box that will drive you crazy, with crashes, updates, weight etc... [My Dell, required for legacy stuff, is worst owned].

For the MacBook, get an external USB Hard drive (250GB, for C$200 or so). Internal graphics not best for gaming- get a PS3, instead or the IMac.

Have Fun!
 
pbollin said:
Does anyone have an idea about when the Macbook may see an upgrade/revision? I was thinking it would be around December or early 2007, when Leopard is likely to be released. Does anybody else think it is a good idea to wait until Leopard comes around and hope that the Macbook hardware has gotten a bit of an upgrade as well? Thanks for any advice, I am very indecisive when it comes to spending lots of money.....that's why I choose Mac.

Rule number one for anyone wishing to buy a Mac. Buy what you like when you need it and can afford it. Thats the way it is with Apple.
If you think you need it now then dont worry bout updates. No matter when you buy it there`ll be definitely something better round the corner.

Anyways. Yes. The MacBook will definitely see an update by the year end. Or MWSF 07 at the latest. Also Leopard is also supposed to launch on MWSF too. So IMO by this Jan you`ll have Leopard launched and MB updated with a Merom(hopefully better gpu too)

But the question really is if it`s worth to wait for 6 more months. IMO if you need a notebook now than just go ahead and buy it. And in case you want to wait..... Well you can be waiting for years. Coz with the Intel chips both MB and MBP might be updated twice a year.

Just go ahead and buy it.

Stevenote in 4 hours n 14 minutes.. Cant hardly wait.
 
this is just my dilemma,
I was thinking of getting the iMac 20" for my gaming needs and general use but then I'm starting college this term, and I will need a laptop so I had a look at the MBP but it is way too steep for one computer. So the joke between me and my mother came alive and I thought of getting the imac with a laptop, maybe the macbook, but folks over here were really harsh on that idea.
I will probably buy something tomoroow but I still am not clear on what to get. Help is appreciated
 
pbollin said:
I have one dilemma. I know that the Macbook Pro is likely to get an update soon, but I think that is too much for my needs. Does anyone have an idea about when the Macbook may see an upgrade/revision? I was thinking it would be around December or early 2007, when Leopard is likely to be released. Does anybody else think it is a good idea to wait until Leopard comes around and hope that the Macbook hardware has gotten a bit of an upgrade as well?

I'd agree that the MacBook will probably get an update around December, but I don't think think it's worth it to wait 6 months for a potential update. If you'd like to have the computer now, and feel like it would help you, I'd go ahead and get it. Right now, I think the only reason to wait would be to get a MacBook with Leopard preinstalled, rather than spending the $130 to upgrade.
 
wisredz said:
this is just my dilemma,
I was thinking of getting the iMac 20" for my gaming needs and general use but then I'm starting college this term, and I will need a laptop so I had a look at the MBP but it is way too steep for one computer. So the joke between me and my mother came alive and I thought of getting the imac with a laptop, maybe the macbook, but folks over here were really harsh on that idea.
I will probably buy something tomoroow but I still am not clear on what to get. Help is appreciated

In my experience, I didn't play computer games nearly as much after I entered college, and was glad that I got a laptop instead of a gaming desktop. You may feel the other way, but depending on the intensity of the program you're going to enter in college, you might find that you don't have as much free time to spend on games. I'm currently in a fairly tough program in college, and I love my laptop for the ability to just pack up and move to the library or engineering buildings if it gets too noisy in my dorm/house. I know others disagree, but I wouldn't want to go to just having a desktop. I'd much rather have my loaded MacBook.

If you're set on getting a desktop, think about getting a used iBook G4 to take around campus with you. It will run Word/iTunes/Safari perfectly, and will let you get out of your room to study if you need it.
 
that config still has 2 computer, one a desktop, the other a laptop, which my father finds ridiculous. A 17" MBP with a 1 gb ram boost and wireless mighty mouse equals to one 20" imac with a 2 gb ram boost and 1.83 ghz macbook... I'd rather have both computers at the same time but my father doesn't think so.

I am going to be a mechanics engineer(really busy program) and I believe at some point laptop will come handy. But you know, MBP is still toooo expensive. No matter what I expect to play some games on a computer and Macbook is not nearly good enough for that.

I will not be staying in the dorms as well, the college is in my town... after this update what would your advice be?
 
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