trace -- good call on keeping your work machines offline. i've really enjoyed my mac experience since switching a few years ago. i mainly switched because i'm also a musician and pro tools wasn't too happening on pc yet.

btw, my broccolijet handle comes from one of my guitars...it's a gretsch sparkle jet in green. just an easy name to remember...hopefully this image is a little more comforting :)

http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?a=2&product=G6129TG

ah, much better! Thanks! Nice guitar, too. I always wanted a bike in that bass boat sparkel paint (my guitar playing skills never really took off).

you can no be serious about the "ugly icons" are you sure you were using the right computer, you can get software to customize all your icons if for some strange reason you hate them that much, but to be honest the icons in xp are terrible...so windows 3.1. Ok i'll give you the support thing with dell but as far as i know it's not the same deal in th uk, but i could be wrong... there is a solution for the mac though, if you live close to an apple retail store and you get a procare card (valid for more than one mac, so a good solution for an office) you can have same day service+repair (dependant on service parts in stock) i the real world though you'd have more than one computer in an office unless you are indie. macs have worked with multi button mice for a long time now, it's only recently that apple has started bundling them with their computers. It takes a little while to get used to a mac, but once you're settled in you can be really productive, the only problem is if you are used to autocad, it's not available for os x, but you could run it through bootcamp, but that's just using windows and you are trying to get away from that in the first place. from what i've heard autocad itself is out of date and autodesk is trying to get users to move on to their other BIM apps, one of the top BIM cad apps out there (archicad) is compatible with OS X and windows so that is great news. The only pc company giving apple a run for the money design wise is sony and maybe fujitsu's concept design otherwise it's all pretty dire and there are too many things wrong with that dell for me to go on about it on here.

a possible alternative to boot camp, switch between xp and osx without rebooting



[url=http://www.link.com]http://www.wired.com/news/technology/computers/0,70604-0.html?tw=wn_index_1url]

oh yeah that is awesome, will try it out once i get my macbook pro. need to run rhino and maybe some microstation just incase.

think you meant the one above

yeah, thanks, my bad

so has anyone run rhino on this mac book pro yet????

stock price jumped 10% by close yesterday.

why do you want a mac if your plan to run windows anyway.

just bought a dual core m65 from dell

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/precn_m65?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz

$2500 include delivery, dual core 2.0, 3 g ram, 80g -7200 hard drive. NVIDIA Quadro® FX 350M open GL, and it has a strengthened case and hard drive that i dont think the pretty apples have. 15.4 in screen which i will be very happy with. its certified by all the software guros [alias, catia, etc]

its 6.2 lbs but you can take the cd burner out to lighten the load by a lb.

if i go on the road, not to work i will opt for a small light and pretty thing lika an apple but if your using it for a real workstation, i dont think you can even begin to talk about any other product except the dell workstation notebook [precision line] - your fooling yourself if you think it is only an operating system that makes the difference.

Many people have asserted that it is gamers that are going to jump on this, not current Mac users. I think the architectural community and other design-conscious folks tied to PCs because of one or two pieces of software (and/or their offices) are the ones who are really ready to take advantage of this opportunity.

more on this...

I installed Boot Camp and Win XP Home on my sister's new MacBook Pro yesterday without a hitch. Took about an hour and works like a charm. She doesn't need to run windows, but I was just doing it as a test because I'm interested in running such a setup to run Rhino, AutoCAD, Maya, etc.

ryan-

i'd be interested if you could do a render time comparison in rhino or maya. or even just comment on how smoothly the software runs and see if you run into any hitches.

frem001 - I'll look into Apple's Procare card, but I am guessing it's a big fee for that. And regardless if an office has several computers, to have one missing, with all it's files, is a huge loss.

Money will decide. I am eyeing that Dell M90. Not quite as pretty as an Apple, but damn close (imho - it is a computer, after all). If I can get warranty coverage and a comparable system for within a few hundred bucks, I might bite, if not I'll stick with tried and true.


TED - did you get any discounts for the M65?

trace -

hit the dell site the day they announced the new 90/65 and got $500 discount - i see now they are about $125 - images of the laptop were not even available.

was going to go for the 90 but i carry my machine around daily - would rather spend the $$$ on a flat screen at home and a little less weight [2-3 lbs]

the 90 is the machine to go with - best video cards but my config was coming to $3200 so i went a bit cheaper; opted for the middle grad screen resolution as thats what i have now and its great. i read that the highest screen resolution is very difficult to read and most turn it down anywhay.

got the 3 year dell economy plan which came as standard with the order.

i was originally going to go with the m70 and went back to the site to place my order and surpise; two new dells with dual core.

it originally had a ship date of 25 april but called in my order and the guy was able to bump the que and i should get it this week [in the us and would not be in the states on the 25th]

the guy from dell said and did get me any discount that was available so when your reading [with coupons in hand] always call in the dell order and see if the guy can find you better savings.

thanks, TED. I am hoping to negotiate with them. I did it with my last workstation and got a free Quadro upgrade, free third hard drive, and some discount.

We'll see. I know with the home versions they have a 'manager's discount' (or they did), that was close to 30%, but that was the home side with all the discounts.

Yeah, my specs are coming close to $3600 now. I'd like to hold off as long as possible. Won't need portability as much, just to the coffee shop and occasional meeting, so big is good.

Let me know how you like it (I am sure there are others on here who would like to know to, as that is pretty much the sweetest laptops (M65-M90) on the market. I'd like to really hear about that graphic card.

Thanks

trace et al -

in that price range ($2500+), you may want to check out the lenovo IBM t60p - similar performance, better battery life, better build quality, and in many cases less money. bettery warranty/customer service as well.

.edu "friend of the university" discounts can knock the price down quite a bit.

so do you think t60p is superior over mac book pro? I have a t60p 2.16gz 1g mem ati v5200 256mb... I am struggle whether or not to return for the mac book pro. IMO, the only real diff is aesthetics, the fact the t60p can put 4g of memory, better custom service/warranty.... Is still too risky to swtch to mac pro for autocad/rhino/rendering. Price range is very sim as well for me(discounts)... actually macpro will be more expensive for the same specs...advice? thought?

I need a hi quality 17" screen and next day on site warranty (I believe the IBMs only have mail order? They didn't seem to have anything on their site about where service took place). Nice machine, but I'd have to put it a distant third (to Apple and Dell) in terms of looks.

Dell's new 7200rpm 120gb drive looks nice, too.

Thanks, though

IBM contracts with the same onsite techs that dell uses - and the onsite service (3 years) is standard, rather than an upgrade.

the real difference is their phone systems. With IBM, every time I've called I've had an understandable person (who could help) on the line in under 2 minutes.

even with dell's super - gold -plus $500 server support package, the phone system is a nightmare.

I like the IBM Black - very professional and never looks dated. Plus there's a fit and finish that even apple can't match, IMO.

I can see the screen being an issue, but for me 15" UXGA is the biggest I would want in a laptop (I like smaller and portable)

noguy: I guess it would all depend on how much you like OSX. at the very least I would wait till we get some user reports.

manamana - Dell's workstations come with 3 year, standard. I have gold tech support on my workstation (free) and I wait no longer than 5-10 minutes each time I call and it's always someone in the US, with superb manners and knowledge (I've had them walk me through reconfig my RAID system from a RAID 1 to a RAID 5, installing a hard drvie, etc., all things they aren't really supposed to offer).

I've never heard anything bad about IBM's laptops and I am sure you can't go wrong with them, I've personally just had great support from Dell's business side support (sooooo different from their Home support).

It was actually a tech guy that worked for Dell and IBM that told me the support for Dell was much better, otherwise I'd have no idea. Maybe it's changed (it was a year ago) or he was mistaken.

ACFA - I haven't "acquired" Rhino and Maya yet, but plan to in the next couple of months or so. There are some benchmark tests out there already and the results for the MBP seem pretty impressive. I would think that the general rule of thumb is that if it can play games pretty smoothly, that it could handle Maya, Rhino, et.al.

Anyone got 3D mAX or Rhino or Autocad running on these things yet? I'm thinking of getting one only if i can run these programs on,

thanks

Dude, you're gettin' a Dell.

if you get a dell it might just burst into flames....

oops.

jonhdoe: I have run all three prgms.... although, hmm how do I say this... I got a good deal on the software so that might change things as I have heard there are problems with legit 3ds..... I'd definately look into it further if that's the swing vote.