Interested in a MBP, but...

I'm interested in a MBP, but just wondering which one would be the best for the following:

- Will use Windows XP most of the time, but interested in seeing what Apple's OS is all about.
- Windows apps for software development will be used 8-12 hours a day.
- Will be used at the office 6-8 hours, and the rest of the time via various wifi's... home, t-mobile at Starbucks, free wifi at Panera's (coffee shop)
- At the office I will be using an external LCD via DVI connector. Currently, I use a 24" Dell wide LCD. Ditto for mouse and keyboard at the office.
- I do quite a bit of photo editing.

Must be fairly light because I take it everywhere, office, home, clients, on the road, etc.

I probably won't buy won till Merom gets on board.

Curious which one would be the best for my needs.

 

i would say that you should go with the 15.4" macbook pro. its bigger screen (then macbook) and high resoultion will be good for coding, and the smaller size then the 17" will make it easier/nicer to tote around as often as you will.

 

i would stick with xp... 95% of people now use it, it's your probalby your best bet. windows will do photes just fine and everything else. you probly could get one for a bit cheaper than the mac.

but be warned Apples are not 'better' quality for say than a PC, just look at the problems with the apples. that's not to say they are not all bad but that they have a fair number of problems just like PC's.

good luck

 

oh and i code on my cel M just fine you don't need a powerful computer to do that.

 

I wouldn't dump your money into a MacBook untill you've had experience with OS X - I would try a used Mac or a Mini first and see if you like the OS first before putting your eggs into OS X. I would imagine that the one-click button on the MacBook would get quite annoying while running in Windows.

 

You can run XP and Windows apps natively on a Macbook Pro with Intel Core Duo. You can get a two or three button mouse and program it to do the usual functions you're accustomed to (scrolling, right-clicking).

I have been using my new MBP for a few days and LOVE it. This is my first Mac experience and I'm totally convinced and about halfway through the learning curve on the new-to-me OS.

I'm pleased with all the little intuitive extras that OS X offers. The Dashhboard is way cool and I'm almost weaned off of right clicking.

I think you'd be pleased with a Mac, but it would be nice for you if you could "try before you buy" - do you have any friends running similar stuff to you under a Mac? My hubby, who is a SW engineer is watching me carefully in my adaptation. He said if it works out well for me he might switch, too.

We have been using Windows for over 15 years and PC's for almost 20. My first experience with a Mac has been very positive so far.

 

If you are going to use Windows mainly then forget it. If you are willing to switch then I say go for it. Most people that switch can no longer stand Windows for more than a few minutes.
As for the other things you mentioned Macs are great. When you plug the Mac into your Dell monitor all you have to do is close the lid and then click the button on your external mouse and automatically OS X will pop up on the monitor in native res without any calibration or other user interaction. That will be all there is to it. Mac also is good for photo editing, but in many ways Windows can be just as good, but with a little more effort. In the end, Windows can do everything OS X does, it just requires more effort and user intervention.

 

If you are going to be buying a mac you need to be open to osx. Its fine if there are things you need windows for, or even if you end up using windows more than osx, but if you are only buying a machine to run xp it would be wise to get a pc. (asus v6j is a 15" that is the closest thing to a macbook pro in pc form) or possibly upgrade to apples new OS when it comes out which should support xp with no flaws.

 

Why would you buy a Mac if you were going to be running XP a majority of the time? It really makes no sense. I'd wait for Vista before considering switching to OS X, if you were ever planning to do that.

 

I was wondering that too, running XP the majority of the time seems to be a waste of the premium money you're going to be paying for the mac notebook.

Oh and yes, there are plenty of programming software out for the Mac, as well as open source alternatives.

Find a PC alternative, don't buy a computer just to see what some OS is about, if you want to see what some OS is about, go to a Apple Store or Apple Reseller, they will be more than happy to give you a demo of their products. If you like the demo, than get it. Oh yeah, you'll probably hear the "no virus crap" from the people, just tell them you already know that and you want to know the software stuff. I'm sure you know the hardware stuff already.

However, I have the feeling you'll end up liking Mac OS X more in the end, I have met many people who went OS X and never looked back at Windows, and the latest person I have seen is Georgine *above post*

No thats wrong and right.... it requires WAY MORE EFFORT and tons of user intervention with Windows... thank you.

Oh and yeah, no one give me any crap about "well if you set up windows right with the right software (antivirus blah blah) you don't have to worry about that stuff, well quite frankly I don't think I should have to setup that kind of stuff anyways and devote hours to setting up the registry,system prefs, antivirus update scheduling, updating all software to latest version, windows update schduling, spyware scanner scheduling, installing drivers or everything I have, troubleshooting driver issues, remove all that crap PCs manufacturers preinstall/reinstall fresh XP copy

OS's should come out of the box all ready to go! (no the bloatware PCs put on right away dont count)....and guess what Mac OS X does just that!

Plug in your stuff, Drivers already installed.
All the programs you could need for everyday use. Already installed.
Security. already done.

the only two thing you have to do, hit the apple icon and do software update and hit ok, other than that its already setup to check for updates once a week, and customize your stuff. (wallpaper etc.)

Most people decide to go ahead and install firefox so I guess thats the only thing you probably have to install, if you like firefox that is.

 

I agree. Except for the part about Vista. When Vista finally releases and has most of Tiger's features, Leopard will be out that will surpass it. As long as MS is as big as they are they will always be a step behind. They should really do some spin-offs, make the company more agile.

 

Don't waste time waiting for Vista. Get Vista SP1 when it comes out.

 

If you have ever used a linux/bsd/unix and you liked the experience, then you will love OSX

 

I really don't have any friends who are running a MAC. Most of them are devoted Windows users so they stick with the usual Thinkpads, Sony, HP, Dell, or Acer.

I forgot to mention that the other reason to purchase a MBP is to test our software (Windows only) on it with Bootcamp. When we first started selling our software 20 years ago, we got lots of requests for a MAC version. Just not enough to make it economically feasible. Now, I just want to make sure it works ok because I anticipate questions coming soon...

There are a number of reasons the MBP appealls to me compared to the competing Windows offerings...

- I really like the simplicity of the selections. Almost every other Windows vendor (except perhaps ACER) has an adnaseum number of configurations to choose from. I wonder how many people put off their purchase because they can't decide how to configure their system.

- There probably isn't any correlation, but I've got an ipod that I listen to podcasts daily on, and I really like the thought that went into the design. If I like an ipod that much, then might I also like a MBP?

- Size and weight is smaller and lighter than competing Windows vendors.

- Not happy with the brightness of my current Dell D820, and I've heard very good things about the MBP 15.4 glossy screen.

- Just read where Apple was the highest rated computer company in customer satisfaction.

- Considering using the MAC OS X for photo and video editing because I've heard some very good things about their software (iLife).

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

There need no correcting, you spoketh the truth.

Glossy is the way to go, I feel weird using matte these days.

Trust me, I got the Macbook and the screen on this thing is BRIGHT! it's brighter than my Nintendo DS lite screen and those things are bright as heck, I like bright.

My only concern is how you feel about heat thats all. Something keeps telling me that your the type that might be bothered by that kind of thing, correct ME if im wrong.

cheers

 

The heat *did* take me by surprise. It's not horrible though. my kb and wrist rest does not overheat.

My hub is a SW engineer and he's watching this switch carefully. He's considering a switch to Mac for next upgrade and wants to see how well it works. I'm not going to get into Windows yet, but I might play around with it for him to see how some of his compiling and emulations tools run under bootcamp. If he can get the same sw to run for him on a Mac, he's pleased with the intuitive design of the machine itself.

He's been a hard core Dell man for years. He's on his fourth or fifth now since 98 or so. All have been upgrades or additional machines. His current laptop is getting old but still works well for him. He just upgraded RAM and hard drive this year.

I'm really liking how seamless things seem to be on this machine. The only thing I have left to do is transfer my .pst file over and I'm just trying to decide how I am going to do it. I have a couple options, just trying to decide which one is less messy for me.

The screen is gorgeous. I have the matte screen and I'm very pleased. There's NO glare at all.