Coming home to Apple

[mjolnir]

Firstly, thanks to all these forums and Mac related news sites.

This Saturday I should have my MBP - I'm really stoked.

Yesterday morning I ordered a 15.4 MBP C2D (FA609LL/A) from Apple's U.S refurb store. Similar to DeathtoToasters in this Switcher's forum, I ordered my MBP at 0630 CDT. By 0640 CDT, I had the order confirmation in my email inbox; by 1330 CDT I had a FedEx tracking number; by 2359 CDT my MBP was in the FedEx distribution center; and by 0640 CDT the next day, it was on it's way to the distribution center nearest me. I was very impressed with this speed - almost seemed as though it was sitting on a self just waiting for a home.

Currently, I have a Dell Inspiron 5100, 2.4GHz P4, 1Gb ram, 80Gb HDD. It works well running primarily Linux - with a Windogs XP partition for the odd program. I've also run FreeBSD and Darwin. The Dell is aging gently; but aging none the less. So, it was time to retire it from professional service - no worries, I've got a good home lined up for it, as it's still very viable as a consumer-grade machine.

As with many of you on this site, and other Mac forums, I've spent an inordinate amount of time, energy, and brain cycles pondering: what to buy; when to buy; do I wait for a H/W refresh; do I wait for Leopard; etc., etc., ad nauseum. I've been researching this switch/purchase for about a year. If you're interested in my personal pro/con list and/or thoughts on this purchase, drop me a PM. My choice boiled down to two units - the Black Macbook or the 15 inch Macbook Pro. The MBP won.

My $0.02 - I did my research, got informed, asked questions, made my own pro/con list; and didn't sweat the small stuff (my definition, not my buddy's). I made up my own mind, and am happy with what I bought - very happy. I won't let anyone tell me that I chose poorly. By any metric I could cite, I'm already ahead of most folks by choosing an Apple. No matter what or when I bought, there will always be something better within, at most, 6 months. I know at least three professional software engineers and one professional musician that have G4 Powerbooks that run Tiger very well and serve them very well. So the odds are very good that my purchase will serve me very well for years.

Thanks again for everyone's input, it truely helps.
I'll post an update when my unit ships in this weekend.

 

[Aaagogo]

Woah, it seems that you are really really watching the packages' every movement. LOL I would too, but i got mine from a retail store and I was using my MBP for 2 days before deciding to commit to purchase.

Congrates on ur new purchase and welcome to MF

I suggest that you spend some money and get 2 sticks of 1gb ram from newegg or anywhere else and switch out the original 2 sticks of 512mb.

personally i feel that it's better for Leopard to be in it's 10.5.3 or later stages before it is truly running well and fully tweaked.

 

[cwa107]

Welcome to Mac-Forums, very nice write-up - it seems you really did your homework and made a very informed decision.

Anyway congrats and do share your first impressions. There is also a ton of information here and some very helpful members, so do stop back when you have questions.

 

[mjolnir]

Woah, it seems that you are really really watching the packages' every movement. LOL I would too, but i got mine from a retail store and I was using my MBP for 2 days before deciding to commit to purchase.

Congrates on ur new purchase and welcome to MF

I suggest that you spend some money and get 2 sticks of 1gb ram from newegg or anywhere else and switch out the original 2 sticks of 512mb.

personally i feel that it's better for Leopard to be in it's 10.5.3 or later stages before it is truly running well and fully tweaked.

LOL - yeh, DeathtoToaster's post got my curiousity going on how fast it would ship. ;-)

As for the RAM, the unit comes with one 1Gb SODIMM, so my immediate plans are for either another 1Gb or a 2Gb SODIMM from Crucial - always had great luck with those folks.

Good advice on 10.5.3 - I'll take it. It'll probably take me that long to get really comfortable with Tiger, anyway.

Thanks for the response and advice!

 

[mjolnir]

Welcome to Mac-Forums, very nice write-up - it seems you really did your homework and made a very informed decision.

Anyway congrats and do share your first impressions. There is also a ton of information here and some very helpful members, so do stop back when you have questions.

Thanks, I'll do just that - on both counts.

 

[Aaagogo]

a single 1GB stick will give you a total of 1.5GB. because in the 609 model

the config is 1gb 2 sodimm, 2 pieces of 512 each.

the 610 is 2gb, 2sodimm... but i don't understand why the max support is 3gb though.

 

[mjolnir]

a single 1GB stick will give you a total of 1.5GB. because in the 609 model

the config is 1gb 2 sodimm, 2 pieces of 512 each.

the 610 is 2gb, 2sodimm... but i don't understand why the max support is 3gb though.

I don't mean to squable; but the unit I bought has the 1Gb x 1 SODIMM configuration. You can check it out at this link: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA609LL/A
Is it possible you are thinking of the MacBook configurations, as opposed to the MacBook Pro configurations?

I read about the 3Gb max somewhere - seems you can put 4Gb in the unit; but only 3Gb will be recognized. Something about memory space overlap. There wasn't enough info in the article for me to fully grok the implications.

 

[mjolnir]

Well, my new MBP shipped in today, just before noon. I've read other's reviews of their refurb experiences; and recall one guy stated that you won't have the pleasure of opening the nice black box like you do when you buy it new. Perhaps they've changed things, or perhaps I got lucky and actually got a new unit. But my flat brown box actually containd the black box just like I've seen people purchase at the Apple store. Everything looks brand new, not a mark on it, and no dead pixels as far as I can see.

[edit] I just took a closer look at the About this Mac details. Seems I did get a free upgrade. I got was supposed to get only a 120Gb HDD. They shipped me a 160Gb HDD. Nice!!!

It's so sweet!!!!

I've only been on this new unit for about 10 minutes; but so far, I can definitely recommend getting a refurb.

 

[baggss]

I know at least three professional software engineers and one professional musician that have G4 Powerbooks that run Tiger very well and serve them very well. So the odds are very good that my purchase will serve me very well for years.

Agreed. My 1Ghz G4 iBook runs Tiger just fine and I expect it will run Leopard perfectly well. It'll be 5 years old in July.

 

[mjolnir]

Agreed. My 1Ghz G4 iBook runs Tiger just fine and I expect it will run Leopard perfectly well. It'll be 5 years old in July.

Excellent. Great to hear. I've only had this unit up for about an hour; and I have this gut feeling that I'll be loving it for many years.

 

[Wilco]

Thinking of getting the same machine.
Did it actually come with the DL DVD burner, in other words was it a refurbish of the current model or a previous model? The website indicates that it would be of the current model, but I didn't see the DL functionality in there...

 

[rixx03]

Congrats on getting a Mac!

And welcome to MF!

 

[KoDorSean]

great post mjolnir. Welcome to MF! I'm pretty sure you will be very happy with your decision.

 

[MattGiaco]

Welcome to the forums. I hope you're still in love with your MBP. I just bought a 15" MBP yesterday and as I said in another thread, it has made me fall in love with the Mac all over again.

 

[snoslicer8]

I read about the 3Gb max somewhere - seems you can put 4Gb in the unit; but only 3Gb will be recognized. Something about memory space overlap. There wasn't enough info in the article for me to fully grok the implications.

If I recall correctly, the 3 GB limitation comes as a limit with the Intel chipset used in the MBP. I know that the 64 bit C2D chip can address a total of 16 GB of RAM, but something about the FSB and everything else in between the CPU and the RAM slots on the MBP motherboard place this limitation.

 

[mjolnir]

Wilco,

Yes, my MBP is the "current" model, and came with the 6x DL DVD burner.
Interesting thing is, my model number is FA609LL/A; whereas the model number on a "new and current" unit would be MA609LL/A. I can only speculate that this single letter difference denotes a refurbished vs. newly manufactured unit. But as I stated in previous posts, it appears to be a new unit - black briefcase box and all.

Thinking of getting the same machine.
Did it actually come with the DL DVD burner, in other words was it a refurbish of the current model or a previous model? The website indicates that it would be of the current model, but I didn't see the DL functionality in there...

 

[mjolnir]

snoslicer,

That sounds about right, from what I recall reading. Honestly, I think 3Gb of Ram will very likely be more than enough headroom on this unit for its lifetime.

If I recall correctly, the 3 GB limitation comes as a limit with the Intel chipset used in the MBP. I know that the 64 bit C2D chip can address a total of 16 GB of RAM, but something about the FSB and everything else in between the CPU and the RAM slots on the MBP motherboard place this limitation.

 

[mjolnir]

Update ...

I've had my MBP for 9 days; and really couldn't be happier. I have used it for personal and work purposes (VPN telecommuting). The battery life kicks my old Dell 5100 six-ways-from-sunday. It runs much, much cooler than I expected - from the posts I've read on 'net forums; and runs much cooler than my old Dell. It has gone through several software updates without issue, too - including an Airport related update; and still sees my Linksys WRT54g, rock solid, and fast.

I also managed to load Kunbuntu v7.04 on it last week. My favorite OS, and my likely-to-be-new-favorite OS on one sweet machine - I can't help but grin every time I touch it.

Almost forgot to mention: I have an old Micro$quish Natural keyboard and Logitech Marble FX trackball - both having ps/2 connectors plugged into a dual ps/2 to usb y-connector. That usb-pigtail I plug into my laptop usb port when working at my desk. They are both recognized straight away by the MBP, and work great. Eg. no more plug 'n' pray - rather, truly plug 'n' play. This week I hope to get around to connecting my external HDD and external 8x DVD Lite-On burner via firewire. More on that later.

So far, so good.