My Custom Built Macbook PRO

Alright, I'm very close to dropping about $4,000 on a brand-new Apple Macbook PRO and wanted to clarify if I'm making the right decision. I will be using my laptop for the upcoming school year, I'll be a freshmen in college. I will be majoring in Film and New Media which is post-production such as film editing and will be purchasing Final Cut Studio within the next few years. I plan to use my new Mac to its fullest potential, as i will have many programs loaded onto it aswell as a massive library of Music and a few downloaded films. Here are the specs on my custom Built Macbook Pro off of apple.com-

2.6GHz processor
4GB memory
250GB @ 5400rpm HDD
High-Res Glossy Display
AppleCare Warranty

 

4000 bucks for this! ... how? .. why? ....
please tell me you're not taking the extra 2 GB ram from apple? ...
apple care warranty is a good add on. Do have that. But I'm not sure whether taking the 512 MB video ram option is a bright idea either since there are widespread reports that all of the 512 MB isnt properely utilized.
Probably some other members could throw more light on this. But for sure, don't buy RAM directly from apple. Take the base 2 GB ram option and then buy ram from newegg or some similar site.

 

The 200mhz extra on the processor isnt worth the money, you wont see much of a performance upgrade.

Upgrade the ram yourself, apple grossly overcharges on their upgrades.

I'd replace the harddrive myself, even if it is tricky, but thats your call..

my 2 cents. I just got a MBP and im loving it, so everything is seems fine

 

If you are upgrading the RAM from the apple store forget it. Your wasting about a $100-$150. Get the RAM from Newegg and install it yourself (doesn't void any warranty). One other question, how long can you wait for your notebook, because an update is expected in the upcoming month. If you need it right now you can probably save a few hundred bucks and go for the high end 15.4" model, unless you need the screen space it should be more than enough.

 

I thought APPLE only updated the macbook's in like febuary at their conference thing they have every year? how big is the update supposed to be? What exactly are they updating, minor issues or an overhaul?

 

make sure to go for the student discount, on a macbook pro, the discount is over $200 and there is a very significant discount on apple care. as well as all of the different upgrades.

that machine will be more than capable for your needs and should be an excellent fit. I use mine for those types of things everyday, as I am an animation student, and could not possibly be happier.

 

They've updated the MBP in the summertime before. They'll update it to Montevina within a month or two. They may or may not make other changes along with the Montevina update. Here's some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino#Montevina_platform_.282008.29 . Faster bus speeds, faster RAM speeds, lower power consumption.

 

1) buy it a week or 2 before your school start.
2) buy the 2GB model, and replace it with 8GB ram from somewhere else.

 

dude, don't buy, a upgrade is bound to be here anytime soon, and all the 8600GT/8400GT cards are defective, so its a big no no if you ask me. :/

 

and don't go for the 2.6Ghz processor....go for the 2.5Ghz as both of these have 6mb cache and the 0.1Ghz increase isn't worth the money

 

Yea, like other people have said, wait a while.

Though I can't honestly see apple releasing a new generation in the summertime, it would make sense for them to wait until the student discount ends. Ship out all the old stock to students, and then start sellin the new stuff. Though I could be wrong, but you never know.

And yea, people say that the 512mb video card isn't technically worth it, and an extra 200mhz, will shave off a couple minutes on any rendering your doing. Not worth the ton of money more it costs.

Also wait to see when you actually need FCP, you might not use it at all in first year ( i didnt), and you might be able to buy it cheaper from the school store.

 

Yeah, i was wondering about that, i hadnt planned on buying FCP first year because I'm not taking any major classes. Where do you go to school sulkorp and whats your major?

 

I go to Ryerson University, up here in toronto. I'm in Radio and Television Arts, though I'm going into the TV side of things.

Other people I know in various film/tv courses, either in general/first year, would edit by hand (film), linear edit, use sometihng like vegas, avid, or use FCP. But generally in first year its limited to hand, linear, or vegas.

 

Are you sure the 8600GT is defective???
I was planing to buy a MacBook Pro 15" myself in like 2 weeks, but now you guys made me worry.

What about this upgrade? What are they gonna use instead of the 8600GT? Is there any info on this? From what I read they will only upgrade the 13" model, but I didn't searched that much on that issue.

 

Nvidia has said that a majority (if not all?) of the 8600 range is defective. Though it only happens after it gets alot of heat (eg lots of gaming[like 6 months worth~])

No ones sure whats going to happen right now, but probably the new MBP will have an updated version, which isn't defective.

 

OK, I remember jumping over some Nvidia "news" about defective video cards, just didn't care too much.

How long should I wait before they will update/fix the problem? Or should I say: when will the new MBP show up?

 

you shouldn't pay more than 1799 for a 15" macbook pro. any additional cost is basically just wasted money.

buy 2x2GB of memory from newegg, SELL your original memory. you can do this at almost NO cost. you should be able to sell your 2x1GB of memory for about $30, and you can buy 2x2GB of memory for maybe $40-50 dollars. I was personally able to sell my memory for $30 EASILY, and was able to buy 2x2 GB for $45.

it comes with an ipod touch. bonus. sell it or keep it and enjoy it. replace the hard drive later if space becomes an issue. again, buy it on newegg, but this time take it in to an apple authorized service center to do the job. don't take it to the apple store. "apple authorized service center". sell your original hard drive if you go this route.

also- apple care IS a good idea. you can buy it when you get it or any time during year 1.

 

$4000 is very heavy...I wouldn't recommend going that much. I personally would not bother getting the 2.5 GHz processor, its only very minimal improvements but at a pretty hefty price increase. For RAM, purchase it elsewhere in online stores like Newegg or NCIX, you can get RAM much cheaper than stock Apple RAM, and it runs perfectly fine, the installation process is easy and its cheaper, definitely.

I'd say get the stock hard drive first, then purchase another one from stores again like Newegg or NCIX and have an Apple Authorized Service Provider install it for you. Its going to be a small fee for the installation, but because Apple technically can void your warranty if you change the hard drive, I'd recommend paying the $20 or whatever service fee rather than have Apple refuse any service on your $2000+ notebook.

Also, there have been rumours (and they're pretty good ones) that Apple will redesign the MacBook Pro for Montevina (because I don't see why AppleInsider would have gotten any photographs; Apple wouldn't have them ready nearly a year early (because the next big upgrade is Nehalem in early 2009). The new design supposedly has a user-replaceable hard drive, so that might end the latter issue. All rumours though! We can only hope.

Hope this helps .