DVD drive the way to the future for MBP's... "Moddin

Now i dont want to sound old fashioned but looking at the new line of super thin laptops from all the PC makers did not really rattle my cage.

I mean they are just an evolution of the netbook "I am gonna get bashed for this statement". The MBP 2011 has a hell of a good CPU and GPU, now if we put this in the terms of ultra-books i dont think we will see MBP 2011 specs in a ultrabook for at least 2-3 years.

Now comes the punch line since ultrabooks dont have dvd drives there is no extra space that you can use to add any hardware. The dvd drive space in MBP is enough to put a mod for USB 3.0 a new kind of Wifi or even a new gpu "Thunderbolt" when and if available among other mods.

All in all ultrabook or even MBA's are not at all future proof and you cant really mod them "Small mods dont count"

 

Then again, if the MBA has all the necessary features you desire, and it's incredibly lightweight and thin, then the MBA is the ultimate hearts desire.

Now if they would only bring back the illuminated keyboard...... Haazaah!


To me, the MBA is the evolution of the MBP. While the netbook evolved from the Speak and Spell.


LOL
To each, his own.

 

I agree, netbooks came from something else and they are not evolving into anything other than being extinct whereas ultra books (which were also called ultra portables before Intel came up with that marketing slogan) evolved from notebooks. They existed long before netbooks and will continue to exist after netbooks die (which is already happening).

The types of mods that are also being discussed cannot currently be completed and may never be possible. Right now, the optibay mod is popular but that is about it. I haven't come across a solution adding extra ports, a thunderbolt GPU (which would require soldering onto the logic board unless you felt like running a cable from the left side of the MBP to the right), or anything else that was mentioned. Although the possibilities are there, they don't mean anything unless someone actually does it.

As previously stated, if a MBA provides everything for a user, there is no need for anything more. Most people don't worry about modding their notebooks and, if that is something they really want to do, they will look for a notebook that allows that type of activity without voiding the warranty. They will look for a notebook that has a second empty hard drive bay, one that has a removable optical drive that isn't built into the system, etc.

 

Not necessarily, given that ivy bridge is going to offer variable tdp chips, and that aint just turbo boost, but actual limitations on the tdp itself.

So an ulv cpu with a tdp of 17w, can lower its tdp to 13w or up it to 33w. So the clocks can vary greatly, and the power as well.

If apple is going to use this, there is a need to redesign its entire line up of mobility products.

Since the upper limit of the tdp needs additional cooling, meaning a dock or something dock like (for example a small bar that will have fans to kick the hot air out)

The best thing about that is that there will be 35w tdp quad cores, and as the ulv line there will be variable tdps in those things.

So in the end why I said all this?

Currently there is very little that you can do to mod a notebook, even less when you are dealing with a mac, there is no mxm slot, additions to the connections can only be done by a pro, with specific hardware.

A example is what happens in the alienware world, while they can change the cpus and gpus (if they are compatible), the only other things that they can do is to add egpus, and custom mod the case (basically paint the thing)

The same thing goes for the clevos or msi gaming line.

So yeah unless we go back to a more plug and play environment (boards with connectors and with peripherals that we can add) there is nothing much that we can do. And sincerely I never saw back then, and I doubt that I will see it in the future.

The lack of upgradability in notebooks is so notorious that there were some standards developed just to counteract this issue, epcie, express cards and now thunderbolt.

So yeah modding a notebook was never alive per se, and its even more of a remote possibility to happen on the thin and light landscape that we are going.

 

failure. you won't be able to pull off ANY of these mods in the macbook pro.

there actually isn't enough space to add additional USB hardware. the DVD's sata connector does not have the compatibility to add thunderbolt, a GPU, or a wifi chip (? why, or did you mean a 3g/4g chip?).

the only thing you can do with the DVD drive is remove it and replace it with another SATA device - another optical drive or a hard drive. It's meant to connect storage devices only.

Alternatively, you could just get a larger hard drive. it's hardly make-or-break.

 

Most of the mods i purposed would need some soldering. Thunderbolt GPU needs internal rerouted thunderbolt connector.

I did something similar with my old iBook G3 when i added Bluetooth and wifi router but that was a long time ago. I agree that notebook upgrades are very notorious but there are mods you can do to a MBP that you cant do to a MBA. Just imagine down you get sick of the audio that comes out of the MBP you can always put in a good USB sound card and hook it up to the speakers, hell you might be able to change the speakers also. I would imagine that doing the same in a MBA would be quite a challenge.

A MBP can be modded to include something like a 3/4G modem its not like you have to change the sim all the time.

 

Even then it likely won't work since MBPs aren't all that "mod" friendly anyway. You might be able to solder some things here and there but the logic board itself probably won't pick anything up let alone the system software. Besides, anything that requires soldering is way too much work and on the same level of modification as the MBA and ultra book lines. Having or missing an optical drive doesn't mean anything if you are going to open the notebook up, solder around the thunderbolt controller, and modify the case in some way just to add something (which is what would be done on a MBA anyhow).

 

rerouting thunderbolt? its a direct connection to the pch, you have to alter the logic board to do that, and inexperienced arent going to or supposed to try that.

the least complicated mod that also involves quite a knowledge is to solder the power cables of a USB or sound out to acquire energy or something from it. and that aint for the faint of the heart since that means it either works or dont and you will probably lose the logic board as a consequence.

people at the acer forums did that to a 3820tg to give them backlighting keyboards, so they caught a keyboard from the 3810t and hardwired a USB port (killing it in the process), however they dont have the software or hardware control to dim the light, to circumvent that some split the ribon cables of keyboard to a hard switch that they used in the place of kensington lock (it required also a chassis mod), so that they at least maintained the ability to switch it off. However losing a USB port wasnt the best thing, so they modded the cable to the speakers and split that so that they could keep the USB. The balance of things was, several logic boards replaced and to get a simple thing as a backlit keyboard.

This was the most extensive mod that I saw ever done to a notebook. And clearly it an average user wont do it, for the tech guys that did it wasnt a walk in the park.

So yeah modding a notebook is usually a bad idea.

 

the macbook pro is one of the least mod-friendly laptops in a sea of alternatives which also are not mod friendly.

I don't see how near-0 vs nearer-0 mod potential is a differentiation factor for you between notebooks.

 

Oh no not this topic again...