New MacBook, missing firewire... go white or pro?

[sparklepuff]

I got a previous gen BlackBook. Agreed, it doesn't seem to be the sturdiest machine in the world but as I got AppleCare I don't really worry too much about it cracking 'cos they'll replace it. My MB was as powerful as the MBPs of its time, performance is great.

One thing that would put me off the new alu MBs/MBPs it the fact that the screen and trackpad are made of glass. Am I right about this? And if I'm right, do they really mean glass as in, you know, glass?

both are almost def plastic - no glass on my MB AFAIK.

[Nick the Zombie]

i know from owners that they replaced the first generation white enclosures... without disscussion... so i thought they changed the plastic mixture / material in the next generations that came up???

but it seems not, any more knowledge around???

the alloy ones rock, though, i would not want to miss the cardslot.

You may very well be right man, as I said to the person above. I hope you're both right!

Re: the alloy ones, yeah it is great, and the cardslot will definitely come in use for future expansion. I really hope to see some affordable sound cards coming out in that format soon.

[TRS80]

got my white macbook in Dec 2007; noticed some hairline cracks on the topboard and went in 1 day before the standard year warranty expired. they replaced the topcase no questions and were done in 2 days.

then i got applecare for 3 years; so if this or anything else happens again they'll fix it. so the 'crack' issue is sorted, and there's no stress signs on the topcase atm.

can tell you i love this notebook; have been giggin' with it at least 2x week since dec '07, and it runs live 7 like a charm.

only thing is- get applecare just before the one year mark passes on your machine.

i use a firewire external for gigs so the new macbook does not appeal to me.

when the applecare runs out in 2.5 years i'll look at what notebooks apple has; plus i like to buy equip that's been out for a while and most of the issues have been sorted.

i prefer the size of the macbook to that of the pro, so i'm annoyed the regular macbook dropped firewire. got pretty mad at some mac moron salesman at best buy when he told me mac didn't care about users like me, that users like me weren't important enough to consider re: firewire on the macbook. mac is just trying to force a sale on the pro.

[gjm]

got my white macbook in Dec 2007; noticed some hairline cracks on the topboard and went in 1 day before the standard year warranty expired. they replaced the topcase no questions and were done in 2 days.

then i got applecare for 3 years; so if this or anything else happens again they'll fix it.... when the applecare runs out in 2.5 years i'll look at what notebooks apple has...

I may not be reading this right, or even understand correctly myself, but waiting to buy apple care toward the end of your first years standard warranty does not give you an extra 3 years of cover, it only extends the warranty to 3 years from the original purchase date.

[scientist]

i have the first generation white macbook...had the crappy/discoloring top case problem and they replaced it no questions asked. about 6 months ago i replaced it again myself ($25 off of ebay) because it was discolored again and a crack developed along one edge. its a fine computer, but if you really care about appearance its pretty much impossible to keep it looking brand new.

[TRS80]

got my white macbook in Dec 2007; noticed some hairline cracks on the topboard and went in 1 day before the standard year warranty expired. they replaced the topcase no questions and were done in 2 days.

then i got applecare for 3 years; so if this or anything else happens again they'll fix it.... when the applecare runs out in 2.5 years i'll look at what notebooks apple has...

I may not be reading this right, or even understand correctly myself, but waiting to buy apple care toward the end of your first years standard warranty does not give you an extra 3 years of cover, it only extends the warranty to 3 years from the original purchase date.

Just checked my agreement, and you are correct. Thanks for pointing it out; I assumed applecare lasted 3 years from time of purchase of applecare, but I was wrong.

This thread got me looking again at the new models. I like the option for solid state drives and hope the price for them comes down before I am in the market for another laptop.

The next toy for me is an upgrade to Live 8 suite and an Akai MPK-25; hope they are both released soon. I hope my Mac keeps working well- it has been so error free with the Torq software (and Live).

[elemental]

Thanks for all the opinions and experiences peeps, I'm still undecided, though it looks like the new white MB will serve my needs pretty well. Will save me a few quid also!
However, I have grown a little attached to the sleek design of the new range... damn u Apple. The new mousepad is good aswell. Hmmmm...!

[TRS80]

I'm feeling your dilemma. Since I need (want) firewire, looks like eventually I'll have to shell out and extra grand just for the privilege. Then again, I'll probably look at the sexy unibody, backlit keyboard, better & bigger display, and get over the ordeal pretty quickly.

[aisling]

i prefer the size of the macbook to that of the pro, so i'm annoyed the regular macbook dropped firewire. got pretty mad at some mac moron salesman at best buy when he told me mac didn't care about users like me, that users like me weren't important enough to consider re: firewire on the macbook. mac is just trying to force a sale on the pro.

While dropping firewire was a year premature (at least, imo), Apple is getting ready for USB 3 which is supposed to be many times faster than firewire.....By the time your ready to upgrade, you may end up at the second generation of USB 3 machines......which means your firewire audio interface will need to be addressed.

[Rahlo]

The new line of mac lappies do still have firewire, but it's a firewire 800 port only. You can get a FW 800 to FW 400 cable and totally run various brands of FW interfaces with it—bus power and all.

[sparklepuff]

The new line of mac lappies do still have firewire, but it's a firewire 800 port only. You can get a FW 800 to FW 400 cable and totally run various brands of FW interfaces with it—bus power and all.

Not the MacBooks, bro, not the MacBooks. Only the Pros.

[Rahlo]

The new line of mac lappies do still have firewire, but it's a firewire 800 port only. You can get a FW 800 to FW 400 cable and totally run various brands of FW interfaces with it—bus power and all.

Not the MacBooks, bro, not the MacBooks. Only the Pros.

Sparklepuff, thanks for setting me straight, man! In haste I misread the initial post.

Now I get what all the hubub is about. Curious move on Apple's part.

[mooncaine]

Thats one reason I do like the aluminium enclosure... feels real solid like it can take a lot of gigging!

Cracking might not be an issue, but I wonder if flexing, bending or denting will be an issue.

It's definitely an issue with my previous-generation MBP. I've gotten 2 "dings" on corners of the bottom half of the shell, where something banged against the MBP's corner and makes a permanent, curvy dent in the laptop. They are subtle, and I wouldn't have thought either one would matter, but:

The first ding is at the front right corner, right above the optical drive. The grey plastic trim around the MBP's edge snapped here, and because the laptop's bent at the corner just a tiny bit, the plastic wouldn't snap back into place. I filed it down a little shorter, and super-glued it into place.

The second ding is at the top left corner, near the power adapter. Maybe that's why the ~ and 1 keys stuck for a few days, and sometimes the Caps Lock and Tab... but that seems to have gone away (I hope!).

I admit I'm at fault. I should have been more careful. Now I know. Luckily, there are no serious issues with this.

The dents are so subtle that it's pointless to try bending or pushing to undent them.

I hope the new aluminium MBP cases are thick enough to resist such dents. The next MBP I get, I'll put some rubber skin or something similar on it!

[pulsoc]

I got a white macbook over a year ago, I have the funky discoloration around on the wrist-rest (probably from sweaty perv palms), but powerwise it has served very well. Over course, whith the pro you also get a separate graphics card...

[muthafunka]

The new line of mac lappies do still have firewire, but it's a firewire 800 port only. You can get a FW 800 to FW 400 cable and totally run various brands of FW interfaces with it—bus power and all.

About the FW bus-power, check it VERY carefully before you buy. Apple dropped the spec. on many of the pre-unibody MBs and MBPs and they will NOT run some interfaces ie RME Fireface 400, properly under bus power. RME went as far as changing the FW end of the FF but there are still various reported problems. I have a MBP 2.6, fully maxed-out, jacked-up pre-unibody MBP and it will not boot my FF400 unless I connect the FF power supply and boot it from that, which obviously defeats the object. I checked the newer unibody 2.4 and 2.53 yesterday and they will boot the FF from bus power but I wasn't able to test how well they actually ran in use.
Soooooo, the short answer, try before you buy, YMMV!