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sobershea
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Posts: 2

Build or Buy a MacBook Pro? - 2008/08/10 14:26 I am going to make the switch from Windows to Mac and I know very little about Macs - though I have been reading/researching a lot online. I can get a MBP 17" at Bestbuy.com or I can "build" it at the Apple site. If you can bear with a few questions from a total newby I would greatly appreciate input from people who already use Macs. I am a bit geeky about my PCs but I don't know how things translate in a Mac world.

Question #1 is, how is the fan noise? This is really important to me. I currently have a Gateway with a very noisy/active fan. I can't play a simple game of Solitaire without the fan powering on/off frequently and I find the noise annoying. I did read that the MBPs run hot and not to leave them on your lap but I use a Targus Chill Pad so that won't be a problem. But a noisy fan could be a deal breaker. I don't do a lot of gaming - some though. And I do use Photoshop.

Question 2 is, the MBP at BestBuy is 5400rpm (250gb). If I "build" the Mac at the Apple site I could then get 7200rpm (200gb). Will the added speed keep the MBP cooler or will it make it run hotter, thus making the fan cycle on/off? The trade-off is 50gb on the hard drive...???

Question 3, The graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 512MB GDDR3 SDRAM. Does anyone know if this is discrete memory?

Question 4, the display is 17" widescreen TFT-LCD display with 1680 x 1050 resolution. If I build the Mac I have a choice of high resolution for $100. At the Apple site they don't even mention "TFT-LCD". The Apple site also doesn't mention the max resolution for the "high resolution". What is TTF? Does anyone have the high resolution? Is it worth it?

Question 5, I can get an additional 2mb memory for $200 if I build it online. Is it worth it or is memory simple enough to add later? The BIG issue here is that the salesman said the MBP is so "efficient" that I won't even know that I have less memory. True?

I really appreciate any help.

Thanks!!

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scott2
User

Posts: 169

Re:Build or Buy a MacBook Pro? - 2008/08/10 17:45 I can get a MBP 17" at Bestbuy.com or I can "build" it at the Apple site.

buy it online from an apple reseller like powermax or small dog so you dont have to pay sales tax.

Question #1 is, how is the fan noise?

dont think youll find the fan noise any louder than a similar windows notebook, jobs is picky about fan noise.

Question 2 is, the MBP at BestBuy is 5400rpm (250gb). If I "build" the Mac at the Apple site I could then get 7200rpm (200gb). Will the added speed keep the MBP cooler or will it make it run hotter, thus making the fan cycle on/off? The trade-off is 50gb on the hard drive...???

dont bother with the faster drive unless youre doing video editing or something when things go faster they make more heat.

Question 3, The graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 512MB GDDR3 SDRAM. Does anyone know if this is discrete memory?

yes it is.

Question 4, the display is 17" widescreen TFT-LCD display with 1680 x 1050 resolution. If I build the Mac I have a choice of high resolution for $100. At the Apple site they don't even mention "TFT-LCD". The Apple site also doesn't mention the max resolution for the "high resolution". What is TTF? Does anyone have the high resolution? Is it worth it?

if its worth it is an opinion. i wouldnt get it but i think the 17 is too big.

Question 5, I can get an additional 2mb memory for $200 if I build it online. Is it worth it or is memory simple enough to add later? The BIG issue here is that the salesman said the MBP is so "efficient" that I won't even know that I have less memory. True?

the salesman is an idiot you can never have too much memory but you probably dont need more than 2 gb to start. dont pay apples prices for memory they are way too high buy it from owc and do it yourself, it is pretty easy.

Post edited by: scott2, at: 2008/08/10 17:47

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Cacicedo
User

Posts: 387

Re:Build or Buy a MacBook Pro? - 2008/08/10 18:13 I can't believe the salesman said you wouldn't notice having the extra 2 GB. Was that someone at BestBuy? Whoever it was, he's a buffoon. Anyway, I'd not get the computer at BestBuy. They know very little about Macs. If you can get a new computer at Smalldog.com, then do that, as Scott says. I also agree that you should get the best RAM deal you can (check out this page), and install it yourself. Apple RAM prices are more reasonable than they were in the past, but even so, they're not the best deal you can find.

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sobershea
User

Posts: 2

Re:Build or Buy a MacBook Pro? - 2008/08/11 05:22 Thank you both for the quick reply. And you have definitely answered the question about RAM. My one really big concern is fan noise. I found a Mac store not too far from here, so I am going to go in to get a better look. I did look briefly at the 2 sites mentioned and it seemed their prices weren't much different than Best Buy. Except like you said, no sales tax.

What about new versions of the OS? Is there one coming soon?

Thanks again.

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