Advice re: upcoming mbPro purchase

[Sunshine_ftw]

Hello

I stumbled across this site while doing research for a new laptop purchase. I have been leaning mac for quite some time due to the recommendations of various close friends who have bought and been fully satisfied. Also, as a Senior in college, the portability & battery life are a huge plus (as opposed to my current Sony vaio vgn f660 which has hideous battery life w/o the extended battery).

There are a couple concerns. First, I am very likely looking at the cost of a macbook pro due to my evil gaming habits. (haha). I have been told than the non-pro macbook graphics card simply wont fare well with 3d graphics. A bit of research i've done seems to agree, though if anyone wants to tell me otherwise & save me some money, my ears are quite open.

The more serious concern (assuming I can cough up the extra $$ to cover the first) is that of buying a laptop now & having them release something groundbreaking (and cheaper) soon after. While not a huge deal, I experienced this with the 5th gen. 30gb ipods. Not very long after my purchase last year, Apple released the ipod Classics at a very affordable cost & much more storage space. ouch! So this is where I can use the most advice -- is summer 08 a good time to purchase a macbook pro or should I hold off until later in the year -- are there any rumors of updates that I ought to be aware of? If not, I prefer to buy soon & break it in before the semester & classes begin.

Thoughts?

~Laura

[notabadname]

If you wait for the next hardware release, you will always be waiting, but the laptops are both due an update as you mentioned. I think you will see less radical changes for the MBP due to some of the innovations it has now that the MB doesn't, such as the multi-touch pad, back-lit keyboard and LED back lighting on the screen. I think the LED back lighting is the most likely thing to be in the new release, and that has a significant impact on battery life. I think there is less dramatic change available in a laptop, as compared to the desktops. There are simple form-factors that drive it overall in shape and size, but color and material are easier to change.

As for gaming and 3D graphics - if that is important to you, and going to be a significant thing you do, then the Card in the MBP is what you will want. A MB could be very frustrating to a real gamer and 3D games, and even more so in subsequent years of your laptop ownership, because each year, the games seem to require ever increasing resources to run at decent frame rates.

If you buy, either model, check for the refurbished Macs at the Apple web-site. Their 15% discount is deeper than your student discount (although I don't know if you can get a free iPod with a refurb The student discount is 10%, and can't be applied to refurbished products. Full/same warranty comes as with non-refurbished products.

[Yuiichi]

I've heard rumblings of an event in September in which they're planning to update/upgrade both MacBook and MacBook Pro models. In any case, I'd wait until then if you can. I'm sure you can survive with that Viao for a while longer.

As notabadname suggested, the MacBook Pro is definitely the better choice given your gaming habits. It's dedicated graphics card, while not the best on the market, is infinitely better than what's in the MacBook. That MacBook might run current games on very, very low settings with an okay frame rate, but I wouldn't count on it. Games one or two years from now probably will not run on current generation MacBook hardware without some severe hacking.

In any case, wait until the next event and then make your choice. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll be happy!

[Sunshine_ftw]

Definitely grateful for the advice. The wait til September (or whenever the next event happens) seems like wise advice & unless something drastic happens, the Vaio should hold up as long as needed. It has various quirks now, but it still holds its own with stuff i'll need for college & i'll be too busy for gaming at first anyway.

I do have one other question -- in researching a bit, i'd noticed varied concerns re: the pro & overheating issues. At first I thought the issue was old, but I noticed comments from this summer as well -- is it still an issue that I should be aware of or did they pretty much get the problem adjusted? Obviously with any computer there will be some heat issues when running high-end stuffs, but considering some problems i've had with the Sony, it is a concern.

[Yuiichi]

Originally Posted by Sunshine_ftw

I do have one other question -- in researching a bit, i'd noticed varied concerns re: the pro & overheating issues. At first I thought the issue was old, but I noticed comments from this summer as well -- is it still an issue that I should be aware of or did they pretty much get the problem adjusted? Obviously with any computer there will be some heat issues when running high-end stuffs, but considering some problems i've had with the Sony, it is a concern.

You have to remember that these reports are probably very few in number, but appear to be a great issue due to the internet.

As long as the Pro is kept well ventilated (ie. on a desk instead of your bed) and isn't running a million processes on the hottest day of the year in the sun, I don't believe you'll have any overheating issues. There is always the chance of getting a faulty model, but AppleCare would cover that (purchase it - totally worth the money you pay!).

[houltmac]

To address the overheating issue: I run a MacBook Pro (see the specs in my signature) on my lap from 6PM-11PM daily. No issues at all. When I work the machine really hard on really hot days (during the day) on my lap I do notice it, and for that I have purchased an iLap (to arrive this week). Outside of that I have had no issues at all. In fact, the only overheating issues I see in my repair shop now are with PowerBooks and original MacBooks (other than the core-shutdown "issue"/"feature" with the MacBook Air.

[Sunshine_ftw]

Thanks for the comments on this issue -- that helps a great deal.

[baseballboy828]

Did you decide to wait until the fall, or Vaio make you cave and buy early?

[Sunshine_ftw]

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

Did you decide to wait until the fall, or Vaio make you cave and buy early?

haha, i'm waiting. That gives me more time to convince family members that I really need a macbook pro for grad school & they should definitely help me out. Shall see how that goes.