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tanker27
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OH.........yeah

Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:57 am

so umm FS Macbook Pro 17"

I am salivating now!
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:39 pm

Yeah, uhm...good luck on selling that. :lol:

I'm hoping these are out for real before December sometime, as my wife wants a laptop and she wants a Mac, so it'd be nice to put the two together. And if it's faster than teh G45 chipset in 3D stuff, it might be the perfect time for me to do the same. I'm not sure on teh second one tho.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:59 am

http://gizmodo.com/5061113

New notebook-focused event confirmed. Still hoping for nVidia-based graphics for the integrated chipsets.
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riviera74
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Re: OH.........yeah

Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:48 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
http://gizmodo.com/5061113

New notebook-focused event confirmed. Still hoping for nVidia-based graphics for the integrated chipsets.


Try this instead: http://gizmodo.com/5061113/apple-announces-macbook-event-for-october-14
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riviera74
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Re: OH.........yeah

Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:16 pm

I was just wondering something: why would anyone WANT to have nVidia graphics on a MacBook or MacBook Pro when an ATi/AMD graphics processor tends to have beeter picture quality and a cleaner signal to the LCD? I have heard (from quite a few people at my local Apple store) that an ATi card/chip works better with Mac OSX than nVidia does for that reason (drivers aside).

Does the MacBook deserve better graphics than the Intel GMA3100? YES! Is nVidia the best answer? Probably not. If it turns out that both the MB and the MBP are using nVidia graphics at the next refresh, I do sincerely hope it is not like the last ones where there were video signal issues on the MBP because the chips were faulty.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:38 am

riviera74 wrote:

Oh, I was missing the trailing slash for it to work - http://gizmodo.com/5061113/ works, too.

I want nVidia graphics in a Macbook because the alternative (at least in Apple's mind) is Intel, not AMD. EITHER is a huge improvement over the GMA.
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Thresher
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Re: OH.........yeah

Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:37 am

The rumor has been that Apple has been unsatisfied with intel's integrated graphics. nVidia is able to offer a better integrated solution. This is a win for the consumer, especially on the lower end machines.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:47 am

well that's nice - Apple is finally acting on something good for the consumer. I've been long unsatisfied with Intel's integrated graphics (the GMA950 is the only thing I don't like about my Mini. A Geforce 7x00 integrated solution would have been faster and was widely available at the last Mini refresh last year). Hopefully along with a Macbook refresh there will be a Mini refresh with a GeForce 8200 or 8300 IGP.

Actually, screw that. If this comes to fruition and the initial reviews are positive, I'm going to sell the mini and buy two Macbooks.
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Usacomp2k3
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Re: OH.........yeah

Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:49 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
Actually, screw that. If this comes to fruition and the initial reviews are positive, I'm going to sell the mini and buy two Macbooks.

Emptying out the 'ole savings account eh? :wink:
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:51 am

Nope, bonus. ;)
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Usacomp2k3
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Re: OH.........yeah

Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:56 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
Nope, bonus. ;)

Sweet.
 
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:39 am

Daring Fireball is reporting that the $899 device is not a Macbook, and that the entry-level machine (at $999) will be the same $1099 Macbook that's available now with a price drop. The $899 price point is for a 24-inch LED-lit display. A bit of a bummer, but oh well.

The new MB Pros are supposed to have a GeForce 9600M GT and (not his words, because he's never heard of it) support Hybrid SLI, and the higher-end Macbooks will have a 9400M (which is probably what nV will call the onboard video).
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SNM
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:59 am

I'm not liking the rumors much.

But, I guess we don't have to depend on the rumors here in the next few minutes.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:24 pm

I have fat fingers. How on earth am I supposed to use a FOUR-FINGERED GESTURE?

The whole Brick thing really did come true though, carving the enclosures out of aluminum, rather than using flat sheets. Odd. Gizmodo's feed has pictures.
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Usacomp2k3
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:33 pm

Leave it to Apply to "innovate" by going from 1 button to 0. *sigh* I hate tapping.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:37 pm

Yeah, i'm not real big on it either. Hopefully it has a PS/2 or Serial port so we can plug in a mouse.

I dunno, I may still go with the iMac for myself. Depends on Macbook prices.
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Usacomp2k3
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:38 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
Yeah, i'm not real big on it either. Hopefully it has a PS/2 or Serial port so we can plug in a mouse.

I dunno, I may still go with the iMac for myself. Depends on Macbook prices.

The Air retains it's single USB port.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:40 pm

yeah, which doesn't bother me because I'm not in the Air's target demographic. What really sucks is that most USB mice need two USB ports.

The Cinema Display is like an iMac wihtout hte motherboard or drives. This might be the first display ever with speakers that don't absolutely suck.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:48 pm

notice that they've moved to DDR3 memory, too. Good thing DDR3 prices aren't TOO bad, even if they're still quite a bit behind DDR2.

I'll probably have to sell the mini to get two of the mid-range ones, though... I was hoping for a $1600 outlay (way too optimistic), which is a fair bit less than $2400.
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Usacomp2k3
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:52 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
What really sucks is that most USB mice need two USB ports.

eh?
 
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:55 pm

Apple FAIL. :( Seriously, a $100 price drop on the same model and then new Macbooks at a $200 higher price? Poor college student can't afford that! :( $1k, that I could drop (ie $1099 - educational discount), but probably not more...
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Usacomp2k3
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:58 pm

I think Steve misunderstood here:
Q: No Blu-ray, and display port -- why no HDMI?
A: Steve: HDMI is limited in resolution. Phil: for typical computer use, display port is the connector of the future.

wikipedia wrote:
HDMI 1.3 increased that to 340 MHz which allows for higher resolution, such as WQXGA (2560x1600), across a single digital link
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 1:16 pm

SNM wrote:
Apple FAIL. :( Seriously, a $100 price drop on the same model and then new Macbooks at a $200 higher price? Poor college student can't afford that! :( $1k, that I could drop (ie $1099 - educational discount), but probably not more...

Ouch, that sucks.

I'm a bit disappointed, but I guess they have to pay for the R&D on the new case somehow. :(

We all should have been smart enough to realize otherwise, but the promise of a $800 or $900 Macbook was just too good to be true.
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SNM
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:55 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
We all should have been smart enough to realize otherwise, but the promise of a $800 or $900 Macbook was just too good to be true.

I wasn't expecting a cheap Macbook until the pricing lists came out (with the display being mistaken for a Macbook). I just wasn't expecting a price increase.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 3:23 pm

yeah, i can't argue with you there. I mean, technically what you would have gotten for $1100 is now $1000, but I kinda-sorta understand where you're coming from. Almost.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:33 pm

I'm actually fairly impressed, though I'm not ever going to be in the market for an MBP. The silver/black look is kinda Oakland Raiders, but it's something they've done before - the Titanium PowerBook G4's had black keyboards. But the upgrades are pretty substantial where they could be:

* 9600M GT has 32 stream processors and should be roughly double the speed of the 8600M GT
* 250GB and 320GB up from 200GB and 250GB
* Hybrid SLI (or some form of lower-power mode to extend battery life)
* 1066MHz bus vs. 800MHz bus
* Optional SSD's across the board

All at the same price as before. I don't see where you can be unhappy. The previous MBP's were kind of marginal for the price even when they were introduced. These are only outclassed by high-end gaming laptops that sell for more money (I tried to price an Alienware as close to the 15" $1999 entry model and I can't without putting an upgrade or two on the Macbook Pro - their 250GB HDD"s are 7200 RPM, but even if I bump the MBP to a 7200 RPM drive, it's still cheaper. I'm operating under the impression that the GeForce 8700M GT is fairly close to the 9600M GT. If I'm wrong, then the comparison is probably invalid).
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SNM
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:13 pm

A quick check says that the 8700M GT is a higher-clocked 8600M GT. So, uh, yeah.

In other news, I'm still bitter about Macbook pricing -- though looking for a comparable laptop it turns out the Apple tax isn't as high on the white model as I'd thought. I might still spring for it, but doing so will be hard given the points raised in the latest blog post. :-?
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:03 pm

Oh, OK. So it's even more slanted towards Apple.

The entry level macbook seems to compare similarly to the XPS 1330 on Dell's site - Less RAM and HDD space than the third tier 1330 (the one with the 2.1GHz/3MB CPU that matches the Macbook), but the Macbook is cheaper. Equalling out the RAM and HDD space brings some price parity. The "Apple Tax" is nearly non-existant, but I'd rather have the GeForce graphics.
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SNM
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Re: OH.........yeah

Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:17 pm

Well, the XPS 1330 is also a hell of a lot lighter, which matters far more than drive space to me. Still, OS X and all that. :wink: But I thought you could find a similar notebook for ~$600, and it turns out they go for more like $850, so.. *shrug*.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: OH.........yeah

Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:22 am

Looking more at that new LCD on Apple's site, it's occurred to me that this is the Macbook's all-in-one docking station-type thing. It'll charge your laptop (that's what the Magsafe connector is for), connect the display and speakers (I'm not sure if it's a USB audio device or if the Mini Displayport connection also has audio), and act as a USB hub so you can plug your keyboard/mouse into it, as well as any external drives for Time Machine or whatever. For $900 it better be one *fantastic-looking* display, but I can see the utility in it.

I wonder if refreshed iMacs and Mac Pros will have the same mini connector...
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