Finally buying a MacBook Pro

I have finally decided to go with the Mac Book Pro for my next computer and am getting one tomorrow hopefully.

I just wanted to ask if someone could shed some light on what the LED backlighting thing is on the 15inch models as the 17inch ones do not seem to have it.

Does it make a huge difference to the picture quality?

Also if you had the extra money would you opt for a 17inch over a 15inch one or is a 17inch laptop a little on the big side? Is there much difference to picture space to justify the large price jump?

Jason.

I use a 17" with a 1920x1280 display and couldn't use anything less. Very nice for coding.

I don't think the LED makes a huge difference in image quality, I think it provides better battery life and is more "green" friendly.

They're very expensive. I can't justify buying when I could get a non Apple Laptop, same spec or better for less money.

I got myself one of these earlier in the year- better than a macbook pro if you ask me...

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/cgi-bin/ToshibaCSG/jsp/SUPPORTSECTION/discontinuedProductPage.do?service=UK&toshibaShop=true&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&PRODUCT_ID=119355

Congrats, QuickSilva! Can`t say anything about the LED backlighting - if my 17" PowerBook G4 has it, then I might never noticed it. ;-)

Amon & Cygnus: If somebody buys an Apple notebook, then he or she probably wants to use OS X and applications for OS X. This leaves non-Apple hardware out of the loop. Besides that, it is very debatable that "the same specs" also sum up to the same feel or experience in the end. And once somebody pulled your notebook off the desk by accidentaly running across the power cable, you will pay any additional price for a feature like MagSafe (which only Macs have).

By the way, I had a Toshiba Satellite notebook once: Their technical support sucks in just every possible regard. I would not buy a Toshiba computer again or recommend buying one to anybody. In my experience, the same is true for Gericom and Hewlett Packard, by the way. Dell has very good support, though.

So far, I cannot say anything bad about Apple, because in the last 2 years I never had an issue with Apple hardware and so far they are still providing me with software and driver updates. And even according to soe of the most critical german computer magazines, their technical support must be very good. ;-)

I can only repeat what I've said before: In the end, all computers and operating systems suck. Only Macs suck less than the others.

Just gget the 15" one and spend the extra £300 (for the 17") screen on something nice, or put it towards a new PC! :-)

@Wini,


BWAHAHAah. Was that out loud? :O

(Sorry- i've had the opposite experience to you there, though I do respect your response since you get a better view of a companies service if you gather several customers together...)

Quicksilva already mentioned he wanted to run XP on it too.

my MacBook Pro 17' with 8600GT simply rocks...

Stick a beer mat under one corner, then. -_-

Led backlight gives darker blacks and less light bleeding.

Ok, so I have to ask, can it cook eggs, and, can it cause a power outage?
(re: Temperature/Battery Life?)

Still lookin' into MacBooks myself, just need to see where-abouts I should lay the line when it comes to the two above concerns.

What about disk space, is the default 160gb enough for most users or is it worth upgrading?

And also the screen, glossy or not? I must say that the glossy screen looked pretty sexy in the store but for practical use I`m not so sure.

I assume that I can use a PC mouse too if I need to, the Mac one is about £50!

Jason.

160gb is enough for most, unless you are backing up your music or DVD collection. Mac HD upgrades are usually extortionate given current drive prices.

You can use a USB PC mouse, and I recommend it because that 2nd mouse button is useful.

For a Macbook Pro, upgrading the hard drive yourself involves a bit of unscrewing parts and taking a bit of it apart, and it will void your warranty if you do it yourself. You might want to keep that in mind if you're planning to use one as a full time desktop replacement.

The regular Macbook hard drive is really easy to upgrade by comparison.

Oh and on the right-button mouse thing, I find it just as easy these days to just put a second finger on the touchpad when I want to right-click. It's intuitive enough that find myself automatically trying to do the same on other people's laptops.