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weg said:
Since everybody is convinced that the MBP probably even isn't a revision A but an intermediate revision, I would really tell her to wait a little bit. At the moment I don't really see any benefits of buying a MBP: Native software is not yet available, and there will probably less problems with the next revision. As you said, she doesn't need it now, so stop her ;-) (there's even another reason for that: Do you want your girlfriend to have a better computer than yours? ;-))

I believe now is as good a time as any. Waiting won't solve the "I now have the latest/greatest" sickness that everyone seems to have in this day and age. Waiting for Memron won't solve the issue, because as soon as you buy any technology, there's usually some revision down the line that will make most people say, "damn, I just bought this thing and now they've something better." Let her enjoy the Mac experience by letting her get what she wants when she wants it (with the exception of money pit purchases). Native software isn't yet available but its coming. There's nothing really wrong with the current revision either....no show-stoppers, that is.

I usually don't mind someone offering purchasing advice, as that advice is USUALLY pretty good, but I've also had someone offer advice that I followed where I didn't purchase something based on his recommendation and it turned out that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Someone told me not to buy a Dell once and I didn't get the machine I wanted. I ended up using a roommate's machine (the same one I wanted) and it was NICE. I ended up getting one and have been happy ever since. Same thing happened with a Toshiba.

Most of you guys are power users and expect the world from a computer. She won't know the difference between revisions or native binaries.

Just my .02
 
To the "Never buy Rev. A" guys

I buy Apple products now for a very, very long time. Most of the items I bought from Apple were all Rev. A products, this includes:

Powerbook G3
Powerbook G4
iPod 1G
iPod mini 1G
Macbook Pro

I never ever had any issues with any of those products ever!
All of them are still working perfectly fine.

I had only one Rev. B product, a Powerbook G4, that had some minor issues with a broken power cable and a very small crack next to the hinge.

So to those people who talk so much about about Rev. A problems, please answer following questions:
Did you ever own a Rev. A product?
And what was the problem with it?

And if you follow the news here closely, you hopefully realise, that there are major issues with later revisions, i.e. with the high resolution screen of the later G4 powerbooks.

At the end of the day, I don't think that the Rev. A are worse than any other revision.
 
Hmm. Where to start except to say that this thread inspired me to create a user account, after enjoying months of some pretty educational tidbits re macs.

My basic question is: would this discussion even be taking place if the girlfriend was in fact not a girlfriend but a guy friend? Looks like the original poster was genuinely concerned about rev A issues, but others have chimed in with things like "she won't know the difference" and "girlfriends tend to like cute things - steer her towards an iBook instead - it's got the cute factor covered."

I've seen so many people posting here who are ordering rev A products, sight-unseen, even though they already have perfectly good machines already (and sometimes more than one...or two.) Talking about taking scraping together the finances, encouraging undergrads who want to surf the web and check email to "go ahead and get the MBP - it's AWESOME..." and cheering for getting the parents of a high schooler on board for a $2000 machine even though he's not allowed to use it unless they're standing over him as he's typing and it will be kept in a closet when they're not all chained together in the same room.

How is that unleasing the mighty power of the MBP?

I see a lot of goading for people to get what they want, when they want it. People are encouraged to question how they will use their new machine, but I've never seen a line of posts quite like this.

The woman wants to get a machine. Why does she need permission? Why is she any less qualified to make this decision for herself than anyone else?

Considering intelligent questions regarding finances, intentions for its use, and possible hardware glitches are fine things to consider.

Questioning whether a man should "let" his girlfriend buy something she wants with her own money to replace an aging piece of equipment, talking about bait-and-switch because that silly girl won't know the difference, and steering her in the direction of a fluffy pink iPod to satisfy her need for "cute" are not appropriate.
 
uvula said:
Questioning whether a man should "let" his girlfriend buy something she wants with her own money to replace an aging piece of equipment, talking about bait-and-switch because that silly girl won't know the difference, and steering her in the direction of a fluffy pink iPod to satisfy her need for "cute" are not appropriate.

He wanted to talk her out of it, if possible, not lord it over her. Hell, I think she should've just came home with it just because she wanted it.

If they were married, it'd be a different story, IMO. The wife and I consult each other before making major purchases. I know other married couples don't live that way but it tends to equal things out in our household.

You do bring up some other good points though.
 
student_trap said:
hey guys, check this out...

A few days ago my girlfriend asked what that sliver box thing was on the floor, i told her it was my computer, my mac to be precise, and proceeded to show her a few things it could do (usual demo of expose and the like). suffice to say she wanted one (her laptop redefining what it means to be slow). Now people have said they've wanted a laptop like mine many times, but yesterday she asks me: "wana go apple store on saturday to pick up a mbp?", well i was shocked and envious, but obviously said i'd help her get started.
Anyway, i got to thinking, is it wise to be buying a mbp now, she doesn't technically need one, but wants one real bad (caught the mac-bug)! personally i'd stay away from a rev A, should i try and persuade her likewise (it seems wrong to turn away a potential switcher!), what would you suggest?

Jeez. You are so clearly envious of the fact that your non-techy gf will have a faster computer than you. You should be encouraging her to enjoy OS X in a nice silvery package, not pouting about your slower PB!
 
please note

My response was less towards the original poster and much more towards the posts that followed, initiated by other people.

Thanks for listening.
 
discoforce said:
It's great that you want to help her make a smart purchase, but there's a pretty big benefit to actually HAVING a computer than to be constantly waiting for one.

I'm not sure.. I really like the anticipation. As soon as I own things I start loosing interest in them.. ;-)
 
student_trap said:
A few days ago my girlfriend asked what that sliver box thing was on the floor,

How long are you two actually together, considering that she saw your Mac the first time just recently? Or did you want to wait until you are married before you'd show her your.... Mac? :D
 
uvula said:
...My basic question is: would this discussion even be taking place if the girlfriend was in fact not a girlfriend but a guy friend? Looks like the original poster was genuinely concerned about rev A issues, but others have chimed in with things like "she won't know the difference" and "girlfriends tend to like cute things - steer her towards an iBook instead - it's got the cute factor covered."...

Considering intelligent questions regarding finances, intentions for its use, and possible hardware glitches are fine things to consider.

Questioning whether a man should "let" his girlfriend buy something she wants with her own money to replace an aging piece of equipment, talking about bait-and-switch because that silly girl won't know the difference, and steering her in the direction of a fluffy pink iPod to satisfy her need for "cute" are not appropriate.

Welcom to Mac Rumors. Wa hoo, I like your perspective! I ululate for Uvula.

I do like that somebody asked a question like this on the forum. It expands my world. Personaly, my girlfriend thinks I am daft for owning and using a Mac... perhaps she just thinks that I daft in the head.
 
student_trap said:
hey guys, check this out...

A few days ago my girlfriend asked what that sliver box thing was on the floor, i told her it was my computer, my mac to be precise, and proceeded to show her a few things it could do (usual demo of expose and the like). suffice to say she wanted one (her laptop redefining what it means to be slow). Now people have said they've wanted a laptop like mine many times, but yesterday she asks me: "wana go apple store on saturday to pick up a mbp?", well i was shocked and envious, but obviously said i'd help her get started.
Anyway, i got to thinking, is it wise to be buying a mbp now, she doesn't technically need one, but wants one real bad (caught the mac-bug)! personally i'd stay away from a rev A, should i try and persuade her likewise (it seems wrong to turn away a potential switcher!), what would you suggest?


why the heck did you buy one then?
 
"Anything you can do, I can do faster."


Well I can understand how you feel, there is really no point in trying to sway her. I would tell you to inform her about the pros and cons and have her decied.
 
hi there,

i reicived my macbook pro on the 8th of march, this is my first mac ever and suffice to say ive been playing around with it since it arrived and i got to tell you this...its flawles, no whinings no screen issues, all pixels work and its DAMN FAST:D

everybody says "buhuhu no universal appz out yet" get a clue....their being released so no worries...in the meantime there is roseta that does the job...yeh i know some appz aren't supported yet....so what? i realy dont think your gf will use such advanced appz that she wont be able to run cuz of roseta....

yes it is a rev a product but so what? from my experience its just a monster and works perfectly

my sugestion get her into a mac even now....so your two mbp's can make love...:D

ciao
i hope this helps ya a little
 
so sick of hearing about 'rev A'.. or 'I'm waiting for rev B' rah rah blah blah, booooo. what a load of rubbish.

get the MBP. end of conversation.

most people that are "waiting for Rev B" simply cant afford or are too stubborn to buy a MBP now. (or have recently invested in an apple notebook perhaps)...?

Who's to say there will even be a REV B? pffft. have so read enough now.. :(
 
Cybix said:
so sick of hearing about 'rev A'.. or 'I'm waiting for rev B' rah rah blah blah, booooo. what a load of rubbish.

get the MBP. end of conversation.

most people that are "waiting for Rev B" simply cant afford or are too stubborn to buy a MBP now. (or have recently invested in an apple notebook perhaps)...?

Who's to say there will even be a REV B? pffft. have so read enough now.. :(


THANK YOU! Someone finally said what I'm sure many of us are thinking. :)
 
unixfool said:
If they were married, it'd be a different story, IMO. The wife and I consult each other before making major purchases. I know other married couples don't live that way but it tends to equal things out in our household.

You do bring up some other good points though.

The husband and I do the same thing. Except in our case I'm the one who knows more about computers. For the OP, I'm going to assume that you're using "stop her" figuratively because of course you can't stop her (I'm guessing you don't live together and share finances since it seems like she just saw your computer) :). One thing is that she should check to see if the whining issues have been resolved. I have a MPB that whines (I'm getting it replaced) and it really is headache-inducing. My internet connection also drops every now and again. Also, if she gets it, I'd suggest that she also get some extra RAM (either from Apple or to install herself). I have the stock 512, and I could use some more. I'm going to get more in my replacement.

Are you guys students? If you are, I'd suggest waiting until the end of the semester. This is the middle of the semester and I think it's kind of an annoying time to do the PC to MAC switch. Not that there's SO much to learn, but still...
 
godbout said:
Hold on here... so this is a joke right? You don't want your GF to have a better computer than you? Alright so why she should get a MBP:

1) She has the money
2) She wants one (I could stop at this point...)
3) MBPs don't have any serious flaws that have showed up to date
4) All the apps that it sounds like she will run are pretty much native (iLife etc)
5)There is no point in waiting for an upgrade because the MBP will be overkill anyways
6) MBPs are awesome and come with everything she will probably need in the next 5 years (my buddies killed mine (see sig) in many photoshop tests (under rossetta))

Reasons not to get it:

1) might be overkill
2) 15" is pretty big?
3)... ummm... well.... I want one more than she does?

You should totally support this... it is an awesome deal and I am sure you will get many hours of play time with it... you can wait for the rev B. or when they have 64-bit CPUs or native photoshop or... insert dream here...

That is just my opinion obviously... maybe I am taking the post too seriously and this is just some humor :)


AMEN!!!
 
student_trap said:
hey guys, check this out...

A few days ago my girlfriend asked what that sliver box thing was on the floor, i told her it was my computer, my mac to be precise, and proceeded to show her a few things it could do (usual demo of expose and the like). suffice to say she wanted one (her laptop redefining what it means to.........


tell her to go for the intel ibooks which should be coming out.
 
hi again...

"Buy the most machine you can with your money..."

"Consider your needs before you make a decision..."

Seeing as how none of us know the answer to her user needs (maybe she has a lvl 60 undead warlock and loves dungeon raids), and none of us knows *anything* about the upcoming iBook/MacBook/new white thing...

Well, I've already said my piece.

I've also gotta wonder what the original poster's (powerbook?) was doing on the floor.

Again, thanks for listening - once again wondering what the direction of this thread would look like if the user in question was male. I see a LOT of people on this forum saying things like "Man, looks like the new mini sucks, but I'm gonna get one to stick in my living room anyway. Heck, I already have a 20" IntelliMac and a MPB, an Ice G3, and ten iPod models," and those people are encouraged to buy more and more, often before the products are even available in stores for a physical look and feel.

Personally, I'm in the camp of:
*evaluate needs
*see what the iBook has in store in we hope just a few weeks
*make a decision

In the meantime, get that laptop off the floor - that's asking for trouble!
 
uvula said:
Again, thanks for listening - once again wondering what the direction of this thread would look like if the user in question was male.

I don't think there's any reason to wonder: The tone and some of the suggestions would have been completely different. I'm thrilled you joined the fray and pointed that out.

uvula said:
In the meantime, get that laptop off the floor - that's asking for trouble!

Amen!
 
uvula said:
The woman wants to get a machine. Why does she need permission? Why is she any less qualified to make this decision for herself than anyone else?

Because girls are generally less intelligent when it come to technical purchases and are notorious for purchasing things just for accessory reasons.

There, I said it.
 
I am sure you will be envious when she is running 1080p trailers at full frames when your PowerBook will be running them at 0-1FPS. I have done this many times at the Apple store. Even the 17" PB cannot run these trailers yet the MBP runs them at full speed like a PowerMac. I am amazed by the speed of the MBP and love using it at my Apple Store (Only a couple miles away). My iBook seems so old compared to the MBP. Sucks being a poor college student.
 
Less "intelligent", or less "obsessed"?

And I guess the best way to educate her would be to steer her towards something "cute", and chalk it up to "awww, she won't know the difference anyway," rather than actually sitting down and going over the variables, thereby allowing her to make an intelligent decision for herself.

I continue to be boggled by this thread.
 
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