Comments on David Alison's Blog: The monster is back and wants my MacBook

@Adam: yep, the MacBook Pro has the multi-touch su...

2008-06-15T18:00:00.000-04:00

@Adam: yep, the MacBook Pro has the multi-touch support. I've decided not to swap out the hard drive—more on that shortly.

If I'm not mistaken, dont the current pros have th...

2008-06-15T17:09:00.000-04:00

If I'm not mistaken, dont the current pros have the multi-touch trackpad like the air now? If that is the case, swapping the drive into the pro would leave you without that functionality.

@zen: This page is for youhttp://buyersguide.macru...

2008-06-14T11:38:00.000-04:00

@zen: This page is for you
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
The chance of a major upgrade for the Macbook pro in the near future is pretty low.

It is really unfortunate that they made changing the hard drive so difficult in the MBP.

@Welles: Very cool man - thanks for the heads up.

2008-06-13T23:56:00.000-04:00

@Welles: Very cool man - thanks for the heads up.

David,Just an FYI. Hitachi is releasing the Travel...

2008-06-13T18:54:00.000-04:00

David,

Just an FYI. Hitachi is releasing the Travelstar 7K320, a 7200 320GB laptop drive which has amazing specs including a power consumption approximately the same as the current 200GB models. OWC will have it in a week or two.

http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/en/menuitem.57ddeb9b412fed7ac41d3814eac4f0a0/

@Anon: I am leaning more towards going with the fa...

2008-06-13T15:36:00.000-04:00

@Anon: I am leaning more towards going with the faster/smaller 7200RPM/200GB drive and just sticking with that. Unfortunately I think my friend is backing out of buying my Windows machine so this may throw a wrench in the purchase. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

One thing that no one has mentioned is just adding...

2008-06-13T12:41:00.000-04:00

One thing that no one has mentioned is just adding an external drive to your MacBook Pro.

Understanding you don't want to "waste" the 320 hd - it seems to me that for the time and trouble, you'd be better off going to a 2nd hard drive.

But I also think you're going to want to identify a "primary" machine - probably our MacPro to hold your picture library, music etc.

Doing that - you may find that your MacBook Pro won't have near the storage requirements you think.

Good to see someone agrees with my principle too; ...

2008-06-13T08:47:00.000-04:00

Good to see someone agrees with my principle too; when I need it I'll buy it but until then I can wait :D
Thanks for posting the post Dav, I've got a MBP 2.4GHz from 07 with a 160GB HDD but with my 60GB of music, huge digital camera photo collection and windows partition it's getting... cramped :P so I'm looking into getting a new HDD but am not sure what to get yet... 320GB's cost alot for someone on a University student budget... I'm still trying to decided external or internal... Thanks for all the info everyone though :)

@Zen Lunatic: That's the age old tech question; bu...

2008-06-13T00:22:00.000-04:00

@Zen Lunatic: That's the age old tech question; buy now or wait for the next generation. This is an even more challenging problem with Apple products because they don't reveal their plans until just prior to release.

My philosophy on tech purchasing has always been buy what you need when you need it. Computers are not investments that return cash by themselves; they depreciate pretty quickly. You get the value out of computers by using them. If it can make you more productive or just plain happier because it does cool things then you are sacrificing that productivity or joy to save money by waiting.

It's very hard to quantify productivity or joy so there really isn't a formula that makes this an easy answer. I do know this though: as I've gotten older I've really started to appreciate that time is my most precious and limited resource. I can always make more money but I can't make more time - I get what I get.

The question for you is how much time do you want to burn not having that MacBook Pro so that you can optimize that money?

Hope this helps man...

Hi DavidI am in the market to for a new MBPbut wit...

2008-06-12T23:50:00.000-04:00

Hi David
I am in the market to for a new MBP
but with the high price tag am thinking of waiting for the next revision of the line as it may have a blu-ray drive, better processor etc, I just want to get more bang for my buck. What are your thoughts?

Sorry a typo. They said "No". I bought mine refu...

2008-06-12T23:23:00.000-04:00

Sorry a typo. They said "No". I bought mine refurbished so I could not upgrade the hard drive to 7200 rpm. It is killing me having one and not putting it in. With the whole warrantee voiding I am afraid the change it. I am still trying to figure out why they did not make it as easy as the 13in MACBook.

I work in the Windows world as a Microsoft Exchange Administrator and still having an issue with fully switching to MAC. I may need to use Boot Camp in conjunction with Fusion to do everything I need to do. But I am enjoying the challenge to get it right for me.

My main issue is we use Citrix Metaframe for remote access to my work network and the Citrix MAC client with Firefox does not work as well as the Windows client. My company does not have it setup to use Safari and Java, even though we have a few people with MAC’s.

@Maxpug: Thanks for that. When you asked if they c...

2008-06-12T18:48:00.000-04:00

@Maxpug: Thanks for that. When you asked if they could replace the HD for you and keep the warranty did they say "Np" as in "No problem" or was that "No" misspelled?

David,I have verified through calling Apple and at...

2008-06-12T18:33:00.000-04:00

David,

I have verified through calling Apple and at the retail store that replacing the hard drive yourself does void the warrantee. I did ask the Apple store at Fair Oaks Mall would they replace the hard drive and they said "Np". My MAC Book Pro has the 200 gig hard drive at 5400 rpm and I was giving as a gift a 200 gig 7200 rpm. I am in a pickle about what to do about replacing the drive in the Pro. The link below is a good step-by-step instruction on replacing the drive. It is totally different from the 13 in MACBooks.

Good luck. If you find a way to replace the hard drive and keep the warrantee please let me know. I would love the replace mine and keep it in warrantee.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Core-Duo/Hard-Drive-Replacement/85/8/

Hi David,Here's a place that will save you enough ...

2008-06-12T17:35:00.000-04:00

Hi David,

Here's a place that will save you enough to buy RAM for the new machine. I'm not connected with it in any way but have bought AppleCare for three Macs through them.

Apple wants $350 for MacBook Pro AppleCare, Mac-Pro will set you back $235.

http://www.mac-pro.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.502/.f

Cheers,
Jim

@DavidWestern Digital now has just introduced thei...

2008-06-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

@David

Western Digital now has just introduced their line of Scorpio Black laptop drives. These are 7200 RPM drives up to 320 GB in capacity. Hitachi also has announced a 320GB 7200 RPM drive (7K320). I'm using the WD Scorpio 320, but plan to swap to one of the faster 320 GB drives.

The WD Scorpio Black is available to order from the WD store, at least it was when I looked earlier this week.

@Ast: When I was 13 my parents bought my brother a...

2008-06-12T15:20:00.000-04:00

@Ast: When I was 13 my parents bought my brother and I a Pong console from Sears. My kids have it made. Makes me wonder what they'll be buying their kids when they are 13.

@Anon: Yes, my daughter is still in college, though my wife is a high school teacher so I (she) can get the academic pricing. I wouldn't mind a free iPod... hmmm... thanks man!

@g7whatever: I'm actually sharing my music library over my internal network now, being hosted from the Mac Pro with all it's disk space. My son and wife both use their Windows XP machines to access it - works great.

I put a subset of my music library—mostly the newer stuff I buy from iTunes—on my laptop so I have something to listen to just in case.

@Christian: Yep, my Mac Pro is a little bit of overkill, especially for RoR development. My theory of personal computing is there is no such thing as too much processing power, video performance, memory or disk space. I do dabble in other things outside of development - especially when I think about the hundreds of hours of home video I have of my kids and family that's still sitting on a combination of VHS tapes, 8mm analog, 8mm digital and now my hard drive. Some day I'll find the time to actually do something about that elephant in the room and I have a sense that the performance of the Mac Pro will come in really handy then.

I am rethinking the hard drive situation though. The 320GB drive I have that's targeted for the MacBook Pro is a performance bottleneck that is slightly noticeable. Maybe going with the 200GB/7200RPM drive is the answer.

So much to consider!

Hi David,same problem here with my two kids... :-O...

2008-06-12T14:41:00.000-04:00

Hi David,

same problem here with my two kids... :-O ;-)

As for the MBP - get it with a 7200 rpm drive with at least 200 GB and make it your primary machine.
Your Mac Pro is probably a waste of money for what i know you're doing with.
I switched to my MBP as my "real" primary machine about a year ago and i don't look back.
When i return home i sync my changes just for backup reasons to my imac using chronosync and that's it.
The MBP (i have the current "small" one with 2.4GHz C2D and 4GB of ram) is fast enough for any development work you and i do.

One thing to think about is using an airport extre...

2008-06-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

One thing to think about is using an airport extreme to create a somewhat NAS device to put your music and photos on. That way you can access them from both your tower and your laptop. You daughter would be able to access it as well, and your wife if she got a mac some day. There is a USB port on there just for that. Or you can network from the tower I am sure as well.

Hi DaveI would suggest : BTO with the larger HD av...

2008-06-12T13:42:00.000-04:00

Hi Dave
I would suggest : BTO with the larger HD available + Migration Assistant (Form a DIFFERENT account than yours !)
or
My Mac dealer sometimes suggest getting the mac with a standart-not-expensive HD together with an external HD (Bigger) and just swap the two disk (with no extra charge ...)

Then you would get a MPB with a big disk + an external one for bakup or else (consider FW400 at least)

Rgds

When you guy your new MBP bring your other daughte...

2008-06-12T12:46:00.000-04:00

When you guy your new MBP bring your other daughter (she's in college right?). Right now Apple is running an education discount which is good for $200 off the MBP and $110 off APP (that is good all the time). They also have a promotion right now that gets up a free 8 GB iPod Touch, after rebate, which normally costs $299. Need student ID and state ID to get discounts. AMAZING DEAL!

When I was thirteen, my parents got my a ZX Spectr...

2008-06-12T12:38:00.000-04:00

When I was thirteen, my parents got my a ZX Spectrum with all its 8-bit 48KB glory.

I always wanted to see how was a Macbook pro?Can y...

2008-06-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

I always wanted to see how was a Macbook pro?
Can you take some shots with backlit keyboard when arrived please :)

Thanks.

Migration Assistant is the way to go. I migrated a...

2008-06-12T11:58:00.001-04:00

Migration Assistant is the way to go. I migrated a 12inch PowerBook to an Intel MacBook without a hitch. It will also migrate your applications!!!! Everything in your user account. I've used it several times on other Macs and it's worked every time.

@Greg: I'm a died in the wool do-it-yourselfer but...

2008-06-12T11:58:00.000-04:00

@Greg: I'm a died in the wool do-it-yourselfer but after reading the steps required to replace the drive in a MacBook Pro I may just take your advice and let the Genius bar do it.

I think the steps you outlined match perfectly to what I need to do - thanks!

As with everything else on my Mac, I'll write about it here as I go.

@All: again, thanks for all of the great feedback....

2008-06-12T11:54:00.000-04:00

@All: again, thanks for all of the great feedback. A couple of things to clarify: the largest HD I can get on a MacBook Pro directly from Apple is 250GB (5400RPM). I can go with a 200GB / 7200RPM drive but that costs a bit more.

I upgraded the drive in the MacBook not long after I bought it to a 320GB model so it is considerably larger than anything I can get in a new MacBook Pro. For perspective my MacBook's 320GB hard drive has 204GB used right now, mostly in my digital photo collection and only part of my music collection.

I still have the 120GB drive that came with the MacBook so I may just pop that back in so that it's closer to the original state - my daughter doesn't have the disk space requirements I do. Yet.

@Paul Russo: Thanks for the tip on the external monitor—I do have some free—though the issue is I need the screen real estate when I travel and I don't have access to an external monitor.

@Joel: You sir are correct, RAM is cheap. I'll let my daughter just keep the 4GB in the MacBook and buy new for the MacBook Pro. Much easier.

Again everyone, I really appreciate the feedback! And yes, my daughter will be quite happy.