Which Macbook Pro?

Hello. I'm really close to pulling the trigger on the new MBP. Would appreciate your advice on which model to get (2.2GHZ or 2.4GHZ). I like everything about the cheaper model except the 120gig hard drive. It seams for a computer of this price the HDD should be larger. I don't do heavy duty graphics or games. The most intensive applications I perform are ripping DVD and converting them to .avi's. I believe any computer in this class can easily handle it.

Is there any real advantage to buying the 2.4GHz model, or should I just go with the cheaper model and deal with swapping out the hard drive later? Five-hundred dollars seems like a step premium for a sightly faster chip, more graphics memory that I probably won't use, and 40gig of hard drive space. I understand the HDD is not technically user replacable, however, I have seen detailed instructions on replacing the drive online. I think I'm technically competant in these matters and was wondering if this difficult from some who has done it. Also, is it better to swap it when new or wait until full when storage becomes cheaper. I would like to buy from Amazon to save on tax which is why I am not looking to buy from Apple were they could do it for me.

I'm a windows users who really wants to go to the other side.

Thanks.

 

Go with the lower end model...the 128mb graphics card will be fine for you...however you can upgrade the HD for $75 from the site to a 160gb HD....you will not be able to user replace the HD later on...

 

If I purchase directly from Apple, the cost of the 160Gig HDD will be $75 + sales tax of $175. Total cost of the HDD from Apple will be $250. I've seen several sites which illustrate detailed instructions on changing the HDD. Has anyone done this on a MBP?

 

Im also fairly positive that if you try and replace the HD yourself, it will void any warranty on the product...the sales tax is on the entire notebook, not just the HD

 

Yeah, if the only difference is the hard drive, get the base model and upgrade the drive later.

It is possible to upgrade the HDD yourself, but it is not easy (you have to take the whole machine apart, essentially). It might be worth having an Apple Authorized shop do the upgrade for you (or just buying the base model and paying for the upgraded drive now).

 

Another question I have is it worth purchasing the 2.33GHz MBP? I've seen these on line for about $2,150. How does that compare to the new 2.2GHz model?

Thanks
Mike

 

For your needs the old MBP should work well for you...the new MBP has updated Santa Rosa Platform, New LED Screen, and a brand new NVIDIA 8600m GT graphics card....since you dont need the new graphics card, or the slightly better processor, the only difference comes down to if you want the new LED screen(they are absolutely gorgeous).

 

The only benefit that would have would be the slightly faster CPU and more VRAM than the base model SR MBP.

But the LED-backlit screen on the new MBP is a significant improvement, and performance-wise, even the 128MB 8600M GT is going to be better than the 256MB X1600.

I would absolutely get the new base model SR MBP, if for no other reason than the LED-backlit screen.

You can also install the full 4GB of RAM in the new model vs. a max of 3GB in the old one....... when it comes down to it in the future, that extra GB of RAM will be a nice performance boost for you as well.

 

I believe I read somewhere here that it was recommended to swap out the drive immediately after purchase. If warrany service was required, then you put the original HDD back in. Would that keep the warranty in place? How else can Apple tell that you replaced the HDD?

 

They probably couldn't tell as long as y ou did a good job disassembling and reassembling it.

It's more just one of those things where you do take some risk, especially if you do damage something in the course of taking it apart or putting it back together (which is why it might be better to have an authorized service center do it).

 

its a big risk...but you already seem to have your mind set on saving 2 bucks by putting in the drive yourself....

 

Nobody has suggested this but I will - an external hard drive, especially with Firewire or FW2, is a good option. Neither 120 or 160gb is very big when it comes to storing movies. But it's plenty for ripping and then archiving the results elsewhere.

 

It's slightly faster, but negligable

 

I'm just trying to get the largest HDD possible without spending money on things I don't need. If I buy the higher end model, I spend $500 for essentially 40gig of HDD. If I upgrade the lower end model, I'm forced to buy from Apple and then I need to spend $250 ($75 for 40Gig addition drive space and $175 for NY sales tax.) As I said, I was planning to buy from Amazon which would be tax free and free shipping through my prime account. For my purposes, both machines would probably be the same based on my usage but in both circumstances there is significant cost to add 40gig.

I just called my local Apple store and they told me that it is impossible to upgrade a drive, even through Apple, without voiding the warranty. If the existing HDD is broken, they will replace it, however, they won't sell you a larger drive and install it for you. They won't even install a larger HDD if your existing HDD is broken under warranty. That sounds crazy. If they are willing to open the box to perform warranty service, why wouldn't they want to sell you a new HDD and charge an installation fee to put it in and maintain the warranty.

My thought was that I could purchase the lower end model and then have a 200Gig + drive installed by apple in a year or two. Being a PC person, I've never seen HDD swap that would void a warranty like this. I know I can add additional external drives, however, it somewhat defeats the purpose of having a laptop.

 

So, what do you think your going to do...Door A, B, or C ?

 

I can't guarantee it, but I think that whoever you spoke with at your local Apple store was incorrect. I'm pretty sure authorized repair centers can replace hard drives without voiding warranty.

The reason its a warranty voider is just because the current MBP design requires taking the whole machine apart to replace the hard drive. It's not that Apple inherently doesn't want people to do this; the newer MacBook chassis design makes it easy to swap out hard drives and Apple even provides instructions on this.

But until the MBP gets a chassis redesign, it's just a reality with the current models.

Either way, it's not impossible to do it yourself. This video from OWC does a pretty good job of illustrating what's involved:

http://www.macsales.com/clicks/fclick.php?id=96

Realistically, if you do it yourself, and ever do need to send it in for repairs, it just means you would need to remember to swap it back out again to play it safe.

-Zadillo

 

If I go with a Mac it will probably be Door A (low end model.)

Maybe I'll look at PC's again. I know there are many reasons to switch, however, I don't really see the value of spending $2k for a laptop that can't be easily upgraded without voiding the warranty.

I was goinig to pull the trigger today on the MBP, however, my conversation with the Apple store has got me thinking twice about it.

Still would appreciate anyone's first hand experience on swapping out the HDD. Thanks

 

Well, again, see my post above. I don't think the guy at your local Apple Store was necessarily correct; I'm almost positive that Apple Authorized Repair centers can do upgrades without voiding warranty.

And as long as you aren't squeamish about disassembling the machine, I know many people who do the upgrades themselves and then just swap the old HD back if they need to send it in for repairs.

It's just a reality with the current MBP design; it's a warranty voider because the current MBP chassis does not allow for simple hard drive swaps. If it's a dealbreaker though, then yeah, would definitely recommend looking at PC laptops that don't have this issue currently.

You can see the OWC video I linked to though to see if you'd feel comfortable doing the upgrade yourself or not.

 

Thanks for the video. Very interesting.

 

I did a bit more research on this.

I called AppleCare to ask about this, and they verified that as long as an Apple Certified Technician does the replacement, it won't void the warranty. The problem with asking people at the local Apple Store is that sometimes they don't know the details on this kind of thing.

Also, I looked through a few threads on this topic (replacing the hard drive without voiding the warranty).

The general consensus seems to be that, realistically, it isn't going to be a problem if you replace it yourself. Essentially, it sounds like for the most part, people who have swapped the hard drive out themselves and then later sent the machine in for repair for another issue haven't been denied service or had their warranty voided.

The consensus seems to be that the only area where you'd probably be screwed would be if, in the course of doing the swap yourself, you broke something, you may not be able to get it repaired under warranty, and could have your warranty voided.

So it seems like as long as you're careful, there isn't much risk if you do it yourself.

 

Thanks for your note. I got about half way through that video (when he was try to take the keyboard off and you hear all these cracking sounds) and I started thinking this is more complicated than I thought. If I did it once, I probably wouldn't want to do it again. I had seen several pictorials on changing the drive, however, the video is very informative.