Mac now or Mac future?

Groovecake · Post by **Groovecake** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:32 pm

I see all this talk about how the Intel chips are going to be way better in 6 mohtns or a year or so. What exactly does this mean for the person who is thinking about getting a MacBook Pro now? Will there be big time buyers remorse a few months down the road or is it not going to be that much of a difference since the current MBPs are really fast?

Any advice is appreciated.

udp · Post by **udp** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:57 pm

Depends on how badly you need a new computer. I know that no matter which new computer I buy now it'll be far better than what I have and probably do what I need it to do. Any piece of technology is obsolete off the shelf unless you put it to work.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:08 pm

udp wrote:Any piece of technology is obsolete off the shelf unless you put it to work.

Moral of the story:

Mac now and Mac future.

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:14 pm

Yeah. whenever you decide to buy.... It's going to be old news in 6 months.
The downside of moore's law i guess

I'm still waiting for the ipod suppository

Digi V · Post by **Digi V** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:55 pm

if you always think about "what if" you'll never buy a piece of technology.

intels new chips will prob not arrive until 07, i can gurantee that.

the fastes these current Yonahs will go will prob be 2.33ghz

if you wanna wait for that, then do it.

if you need a laptop now the 2.1ghz is fast as fuck.

i'm runnign 2.0 and i'm as happy as can be.

ocp · Post by **ocp** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:14 am

Here's something I believe I posted in another thread (couldn't trace it):

"Intel's Next Generation Processor Dual Core 64-bit Merom Set for September Release?

So as the excitement from the announcement of the Yonah dual core processors from Intel starts to settle down, we start hearing rumblings of a September 2006 release for the next big update to Intel's mobile processor line, that being the dual core 64-bit Merom (Napa64) processor. This would mean Intel has a 64-bit mobile processor offering ready for the Windows Vista release that will offer a 64-bit version of the OS. Right now the latest Intel processor release features dual-core 32-bit processors. AMD of course already, and has for a long time, offered 64-bit mobile processors in the form of the Turion 64. AMD has been quiet of late about any dual core releases, if they could beat Intel to the punch on a dual core Turion 64 it would be pretty big for them -- but obviously Intel is going to try and cut off such a coup by AMD by getting Merom dual core 64-bit chips out as soon as possible -- and September is certainly a bit sooner than we thought.

The question for notebook buyers excited about the dual core 32-bit notebooks now, do you go for the current Intel offerings or wait 9-months for the 64-bit dual core offerings? And as always, the answer is buy something when you need it and can use it, technology will always march forward."

Yeah, I'm confused too!
It's a "good" thing not having the money for a new MacBook right now; makes it clearer.

Digi V · Post by **Digi V** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:12 am

yeh ocp, lucky you.

i needed the laptop badly, i've waited my own 9 months when apple announced the intel transition.

the fact is, fuck it, i need it.

i'll get another laptop a year or two down the road.

i highly doubt it coems out in september anyways.

i'll say late fall 06 or early 07

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:20 am

Digi V wrote:i'll get another laptop a year or two down the road.

Exactly. There is no 'perfect' time to buy a computer. Once you come to the realization that every 2-4 years you're going to get a new system all the timing panic fades.

The nice thing with a Mac is you'll get a decent return when you sell it on. I've either sold or handed down every Mac I've owned. (Still can't kill my 6.5 year old Sawtooth, which got handed down to the kids and still sees daily internet/email/msn/word processing use - hell, I even used it at Christmas to rip some vinyl and do noise reduction!

)

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:10 am

Another thing to think about for those of you that are PC users now is that what with the switch to Intel, I personally think Apple move far ahead in the laptop wars, but sits exactly where they were with the desktop. As in, if you can in fact stand being a dual platform user, an Apple macbook, with a roll your own PC is the best of both worlds IMO.
Basically, wait a bit until it's certain the macbooks smoke with audio, then get one, don't worry about speed, let the desktop handle the hardcore tasks. Use Apple for what they are good for, a killer OS and hardware stability. Roll your own PC's will probably always win the pure speed wars.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:37 am

polyslax wrote:
udp wrote:Any piece of technology is obsolete off the shelf unless you put it to work.
Moral of the story:

Mac now and Mac future.

Mac to the Future!

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:57 am

sweetjesus wrote:
polyslax wrote:
udp wrote:Any piece of technology is obsolete off the shelf unless you put it to work.
Moral of the story:

Mac now and Mac future.
Mac to the Future!

Has a nice ring to it.

wilxon · Post by **wilxon** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:05 am

technology is continually getting better, you cant wait around,

go with your instincts.

its not all about power, just mostly. a new laptop now should see you good for a couple of years.

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 12:00 pm

Machinesworking wrote:Another thing to think about for those of you that are PC users now is that what with the switch to Intel, I personally think Apple move far ahead in the laptop wars, but sits exactly where they were with the desktop. As in, if you can in fact stand being a dual platform user, an Apple macbook, with a roll your own PC is the best of both worlds IMO.
Basically, wait a bit until it's certain the macbooks smoke with audio, then get one, don't worry about speed, let the desktop handle the hardcore tasks. Use Apple for what they are good for, a killer OS and hardware stability. Roll your own PC's will probably always win the pure speed wars.

Sounds like a good advice, indeed!

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 12:06 pm

polyslax wrote:
sweetjesus wrote:
polyslax wrote: Moral of the story:

Mac now and Mac future.
Mac to the Future!
Has a nice ring to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfODSPIYwpQ

It's somehow related through this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtykAMSCw7A

Couldn't resist ....

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:26 pm

This maybe seems like a troll, it's not, but anyway...

I just don't get the appeal of Macs, not because I don't see where there might be an appeal but... I don't get it.

They come out with a piece of hardware and an OS to 'match it' at the same time. This makes me nervous. What about your software, is it forward compatible to that new OS (which always has some incomprehensible combination of alphanumeric designation) ?

They are so freaking expensive for what you get. For Live, they are demonstrably slower than PCs costing significantly less.

Peripherals are apparently difficult to find, and premium priced.

You are 'black boxed' out of so much of the configuration.

Now, I'm not saying that Windows systems are somehow much better and that there are no advantages to a Mac. What I'm saying is that if you are using your system primarily for Live, I don't see paying the premium price one pays for a Mac system. The nice aesthetic and the 'anti-corporate nicely designed underdog brand cachet' comes at too high a price.

Also as far as design goes, Intel... the instruction set for the Intel is hugely bloated in order to perpetuate the line, it's brute force linear for the most part up until the dual cores. RISC is one of those things that makes so much more sense, and Mac's original thrust was towards that, but at the end of the day it's the power per penny that makes a computer good to use. Now Apple has bitten the Intel bullet where they are maybe setting themselves up to run on most any hardware, but I'm not sure of the strategy there, either. I guess if they give away their OS for free, then that hits Microsoft hard, but are there suitable apps to supplant the Windows staples?