I am going to Europe for about 3-weeks starting June 17. This would be my first Mac, and I want to get a MBP once the upgrades (and hopefully price drops) occur during the WWDC (11-15).
1) Will the new MacBook Pros be available by say the 17 once they are announced during the WWDC (I dunno if they are announced on the 11 or 15). I would like to order through the Online store, but I doubt I would receive it in time, so I would have to take a 2 hour trip to my nearest Apple Store.
IMO, it would be a tightrope.
IMO, your best bet is to call your local Apple Store and ask what's *currently* in stock, and after you think you've built up a bit of a friendly relationship with the guy on the phone, reveal that you want to hold off until the WWDC announcements just in case something interesting gets announced with immediate availability and see what he says.
Before you do this, do try to find out what date & time the keynote is going to be. Ideally, be at the store during the keynote...if that's how the clues are leaning. Otherwise, try to make an appointment for coming in later that day and have a POC that you can phone directly after the keynote to make your "hardware reservation".
2) Does the MBP require a grounding connection, because I will be purchasing an American MBP, and bringing along a outlet converter, but the converter doesn't provide a ground.
I can't think of the last time that I had a laptop whose charger had a 3 prong; I'd not be too concerned about that.
However, what I *would* be concerned about is getting your laptop's charger to
fit whatever 240v converter plug you have. I've spent a lot of time in various hotel rooms all over the place (including a lot in Europe) and have run into all sorts of fun at times.
I can recall being in a hotel room Bourges France with an iPod charger to only discover that my 240v adaptor that had a lip on it and this recess prevented me from plugging the iPod charger into the adaptor, because the charger's body got stopped by the lip...I fixed the problem by cutting away the side of the plastic lip so that it could fit...and because of TSA rules, all I had to do this with was a small pair of nail clippers!
Plus, there's also frequently outlets that are at an odd/wierd angle, 0.01" above the floor, etc.
This is why I now carry this wonderful $4 little tool from Radio Shack:
FWIW, you may also notice that this also allows you to plug two 110v devices into this 6 inch extension cord, the cord into your adaptor and the adaptor into the local grid power.
BTW, there's two different sizes of what look like the same mainland European plug design (click here for an example). The difference is in the diameter of the two round shafts. The "thin" ones look like the one shown in the example, and will sometimes fail to make an electrical connection if put into a "fat" outlet, whereas the "fat" versions won't fit into the "thin" outlets. Ideally, carry one of each, but if you have problems, try looking in your hotel room's bathroom for an outlet, as there's frequently a 110v/220v outlet for shavers in there (sometimes built into the blowdryer) that can help you out.
3) How does MBP handle Airport security and x-ray machines? I if I do take it, ill use a case and keep it as a carry-on, but I am concerned about all the electronic security perhaps having an effect on the components?
Regardless of where you go, you should expect to have to pull the laptop out of your carry-on and have it take a ride (in a tray) through the X-Ray. This exposure doesn't have any adverse effect on any brand of laptop that I'm aware of.
-hh
