Stepping up to the plank...

[Circus Monkey]

...and about to jump! After hours of agonizing over dozens of laptops, I've come to the conclusion that the Higher end 15" Macbook Pro is ideal for me. I don't care for the chip upgrade, I don't do much resource intensive stuff, so its not really a big deal to wait until late sept/early oct for a merom.

But I have a few questions for those with the MBP already.

1) I will be getting 1 GB (1 DIMM) of RAM and will install another 1 GB stick in a few years. Do those that currently have 1 GB find it to be too little for their general purposes? (keeping a couple of web browsers open, watching a movie, iTunes etc.) What about running bootcamp?

2) Is AppleCare worth getting?

3) How are the speakers on the MBP? Are they good enough to watch a movie?

4) Does the MBP come with pre-installed OS X? Does it come with a *****load of spam already installed on it? Will I need to reformat it?

5) Apple says it will take 1-3 business days to ship. So how long does it usually take to get to my front door?

6) How do I resist the urge to make sweet sweet love to my MBP the first night I get it?

 

[Oofie]

1) I have 1.5gb ram in mine, and I think its enough for my needs. I only do web surfing, music and sometimes photo editting. I usually have 400mb free. I havent tried bootcamp though.

2) Yes, I think applecare is worth it especially for portables.

3) Speakers are not too shabby, but I use a pair of Grado headphones if I use it to listen to music.

4) Yes, it does come with OS X already, it also comes with a number of programs. Check them out first then you can delete them, or you could reformat if you think you dont like anything installed.

5) I dont know, I ordered from Macconnection

6) Sleep in different beds, thats what I did

 

[Circus Monkey]

Any other opinions?

 

[zane]

1gig of ram is definitely enough ram for what you do but it would be a good idea to upgrade in the future and with applecare always get it if you can afford it.

 

[pianoman]

1) I ordered 2GB of RAM just because I like to have the most a computer will hold. This way I don't have to worry about it. Right now it's using the stock 512 which definitely is not enough for multiple windows. So, 1GB should be good, 1.5 would be better and 2 would be fantastic.

2) Wait until the year-long service period has expired. Every new Mac comes with one year of AppleCare, so don't buy until just before it's been a year since you bought it.

3) They are decent. I would not rely on them for providing sound in a big room (living room or family room) but good enough for a den or dorm room. If you're watching the movie from far away, you might be disappointed with the speakers. If you are watching it with the laptop on your lap, you'll be fine.

4) OSX is installed on the computer. There is no spam. You will never have to worry about spam or viruses or adware or anything else that you had to worry about on a PC. Reformatting should not be necessary, but to install Bootcamp, you will need to partition - see Apple's instructions on their website - I haven't done this and I don't plan to do it, so I'm not familiar with the procedure.

5) I don't know. I picked mine up at the store.

6) I'm not answering this one.

 

[bearbo]

1) I'd add another 1GB, I've just got mine, and planning to order the ram today.

2)if you look at this page, doesn't it imply that no matter when u buy applecare, it extend the warrenty to 3 yrs, not add another 3 yrs?
but to reply the OP's question, yes, def. applecare

3)it was beyond my expectation for laptop speaker, altho i'll probably still buy a pair so the room can be filled w/ sound

4)i wouldn't reformat the HD if i were you, most of the stuff on there are useful. there are trial of MS office and trial of iwork, i'm assuming you need one of them, you can delete the other easily and purchase the one you like... the rest of apps are quite useful. and no, no spam (like AOL pre-installed on HP)

5)apple are usually pretty good about keeping up w/ their estimation, if anything, they're being conservative.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

1) I recommend at least 1.5GB of RAM. Don't wait a few years to install more RAM. Just find a 1GB stick with lifetime warranty as cheap as you can. Really worth it.

3) The speakers kinda suck. And probably not loud enough for watching a movie (and enjoying it).

5) It takes as long as it takes. Usually less than a week.