Comments

farss wrote on 10/17/2007, 2:55 PM
The current Macbooks are another example of Apple's appallingly bad engineering thanks to their 'function follows form' mantra.
Simple example. That metal case is the heatsink. Great until it doesn't get enough air around it.
On the upside, it seems airport security don't check Macbooks very carefully as there's no way you can access anything inside one.

By the way, the Dell M6300 can be had with Vista or XP.
We'd buy something else but it's the only notebook qualified for our needs plus ones like the Sager are uber attractive but little to no local support.

Bob.
Coursedesign wrote on 10/17/2007, 6:34 PM
Sorry, but Wired = morons. You can't beat dual SLI, 7950 GTX cards in any game using video cards Apple offers.

Ummm, Wired denies that they are morons. As stated above, they said "best in class," not "best at any price." But I'm sure they'll accept your apology, if it comes from the heart :O).


Macs had / have crappy power cords that burn out sometimes, rip easily.

That is true, so two years ago they started shipping all notebooks with MagSafe cords that can't rip (because the magnet holding the power plug will let go first).

deusx wrote on 10/17/2007, 9:41 PM
No applogy will be issued.to Wired. I noticed "best in class", and we all know that's just a meaningless marketing term. What class is that exactly? I'm comparing Mac book pro with other laptops that cost the same or less, and other machines are faster as long as they have nVidia 7950GTX card in there ( even if the CPU is slightly slower ). LIke mine, which costs $500 less than same spec $3000+ Mac book pro.

If by class they mean a Mac book pro, then of course, between a 17" and 15" version of Mac book pro, the winner is Mac book Pro.

We both know it's nonsense.
George Bush is the bestest el presidente ever in his class. ( now you prove that isn't true, see how it works )

Cords still rip and burn. Just for fun I went to WIRED and here is the article from just a week ago: ( Isn't is ironic says Alanis )

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/macbook-pros-to.html#more

Seems that exactly these MagSafe cords are the problem.

Mac book Pros are good laptops, but they were competitive to PC counterparts, on price, for only about 2-3 months, when nVidia 8000 series came out. Then prices dropped and the difference is again, just too much. It's the exact same hardware.

The best one can do is research well, buy based on what they need / budget, and pray they don't get a lemon(ade) or Apple juice.
Coursedesign wrote on 10/17/2007, 10:48 PM
I pulled out the WIred issue, and the class was "Mainstream laptops."

How does your nVidia 7950 compare with the nVidia 8600 in MacBook Pro notebooks?

I certainly agree with you that Mr. Shrub is #1 in his class. The question is if we can agree on what class that might be. :O)

The other Wired note certainly looks to be an indication that MacBook Pros should be running on battery power when handled by cavemen. I have one of these in daily use since early 2006, with frequent pulling and reinsertion, with no problemo of course.

Another factor not mentioned in this thread is the quality of service. Apple has a commanding lead in this area, in every substantial study from the last several years (and I'm not talking about any studies done by Mac publications).

Btw, Apple offers discounts and bennies for NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) members.

NAPP is a great organization, with bennies also at B&H and many other suppliers.

deusx wrote on 10/17/2007, 11:28 PM
>>>How does your nVidia 7950 compare with the nVidia 8600 in MacBook Pro notebooks?<<<

7950 is still the fastest card. The only advantage of 8000 series would be DirectX 10, which isn't really needed yet. If needed down the road, my sager's card is upgreadable ( another + over most other laptops )

But for video editing either card will do, the real difference is with games which I don't play these days anyway. It's the quad core that sager offers now, that would be its major selling point ( for just $3000 ).

Can't comment on service, I've been lucky not to need any so far.

"Mainstream laptops" is quite open to interpretation. What makes a $3000 mac book pro mainstream, that doesn't make a $3000 sager mainstream. I don't think either one is mainstream. To me mainstream would be Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Lenovo, etc.... at $2K or less.
Coursedesign wrote on 10/17/2007, 11:54 PM
MacBook Pro notebooks range from $1,999 to $3,799.

The graphics card in all of them now is nVidia 8600M GT, which seems to be a kickbutt card that dramatically speeds up the dozens of pro and semipro video applications that use GPU acceleration today.

PC Magazine said:

The Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch is the only 17-inch laptop that can be labeled as both a thin-and-light laptop and a desktop replacement. [...]

Isn't DirectX 10 required for Vista? If the 64-bit version of Vegas Pro requires Vista 64 (which seems 100.00% certain), then the MacBook Pro will be the only one of these that won't need an expensive upgrade or total replacement.

Too bad MacBook Pros are only for suckers... :O)

deusx wrote on 10/18/2007, 5:27 AM
I know the price ranges, but I'm trying to be efficient.

$3000 is what you'll pay for exactly the same hardware as $2500 sager 5791

Vegas doesn't use GPU acceleration, games and apps that do will benefit from 7950 as well, which is still the fastest lsptop video card you can get. The only better option would be one of the quadro cards, because , even though they are basically same hardware, they can use pro drivers, and better take advantage of openGL, and things like that.

If you need DirectX10 today, you can get the same card that Mac gives you, in that Sager, it's actually a cheaper card, so you'd be saving anoither $100 over the Macbookpro, and you wouldn't need to upgrade anything.

I only mentioned 7950, becasue that's what I have, and is currently the fastest card.

You menton that dell 1720, but which one, they can range from under $1000 to $3000. Anyway, we both know that there is no way a $3000 Mac book pro can beat a $3000 2.66 ghz quad core sager, Same price, big difference in performance. And sager is heavier, so you get exercise too. It's a win win situation.