[Hands0n]

Really, I do. And if something develops over the next few days I may feel like celebrating and treating myself to one - of course with Parallels and an OEM copy of XP Pro.

But I wonder what, if anything, y'all know about the state of the Macbook Pro. Do I take the plunge now or is this the time of year to hang back a little and see what Steve Jobs has up his sleeve in this respect?

I'm thinking of the 15" 2.33GHz (or is the 2.16GHz going to be fast enough?).

Why? Its time to get portable with the Apple Mac ..... the Mrs needs a new laptop and I reckon to give her my XP Pro jobbie.

[Ben]

Wait! For the love of god, wait! :D

I'm desperate for one also, but somehow I've managed to stop myself for many, many months now.

The current MBP is little changed from the old PowerBooks. The MacBook got a nice update when it left the iBook behind, but the (obviously) far more expensive casing of the MBP has persisted.

However, this isn't my main issue - I'll happily take the old casing, but:
1) The developer conference in June is looking like a perfect time to announce MBP updates. It's just one month away now!

2) Santa Rosa is now shipping from Intel. The first Mac to feature this will almost definitely be the MBP, which means, for around the current prices, we should see brand new Core 2 Duo's with an 800MHz FSB and the possibility of built-in flash caching memory (Turbo Memory). SR also supports more RAM.

3) Steve Jobs has publicly said that Apple are moving to LED-lit screens. As it happens, Apple have, apparently, ordered a wad of 15 inch ones a month or two back. This could mean that next month we see an LED-lit MBP, improving battery life and meaning, hopefully, a nice evenly lit screen (gripe 1 with the current MBP screens).

4) The current MBP screens have been reported by many as being 'grainy' and having a very poor viewing angle. While many users are happy with their screens, many expect better quality for the money. A switch to LED-lit panels gives a pretty good chance that this problem will be eliminated.

5) There are still rumours of a 'new' pro laptop, most likely an ultraportable, that might, just might, be announced at WWDC next month. I think I'll still want a 15", but as WWDC is so close I'm going to wait it out just to make sure I don't fall in love ;)

So, five reasons to wait. Generally speaking, waiting for Macintosh updates is futile, but I believe that there's some genuine beef with the current MBP and that it has, by far, the best chances of receiving WWDC updates. For that reason it HAS to be best to wait until next month, and build up a nice pile of cash ready to do a job whether it gets updated or not.

In other words, get one before me and I'm gunna be mad! ;)

[miffed]

I might just make this a three horse race :p

Had my eye on one for a while now ....... just a case of justifying it to the bread knife ;)

[Ben]

Looks like I wont be the only one watching the text & pictures feeds from WWDC on Monday June 11th this year! :D I'm horribly excited already, and we're a month out. Gah.

Seeing feature-complete Leopard demo'd will hopefully be amazing.

Then, of course, after 1-2 hours of watching the drama unfold, we get to watch it in video when Apple release it :D Not that I can ever wait that long.

[3g-g]

For the love of God stop! Her indoors is wanting a laptop for her own purposes, and with all this talk... look what happened the last time, I just can't take it!!

[Hands0n]

Well thanks for the tip oh great and mightly Mac one :D I'll wait it out, even though its tying my stomach in knots doing so!

I really don't want to buy at the end of the line - something that I have a penchant for doing. And a wait of a month or so suits me too - I have most of the cash available, but there'll be more come June or whenever the new MBP comes out.

The cunning plan is this ..... Let Wife have my DGM Wintel laptop - its a good spec and use that as an excuse for completing my Macversion. Parallels has shown itself to be able to do all that I need out of a Wintel PC, so no need really to keep up the pretence anymore. I can convert over completely while not abandoning the Wintel platform completely - just feeling safer in that I won't have to rebuild my information platform twice a year, losing valuable data in the process. I'm truly fed up with that and it really has been the driver away from M$.

As for you two other gentlemen ...... last one to the Apple store is a banana :D

[3g-g]

As for you two other gentlemen ...... last one to the Apple store is a banana :D

Thank God it's only you boys in the south with Bluewater nearby! Apple has yet to make it this far north yet!

[Ben]

Mwuhahaha ;)

I'll probably order online unless there's a default spec that I like. If it does wind up that us three 'boys in the south' are going to the Apple store to purchase then I think it's only polite that you come down and join us! :D

[miffed]

Mwuhahaha ;)

I'll probably order online unless there's a default spec that I like. If it does wind up that us three 'boys in the south' are going to the Apple store to purchase then I think it's only polite that you come down and join us! :D

Yes , an AGM at the Apple store would be most fitting :D

[Hands0n]

Cor, now there's an idea :D A bona fide excuse for a bit of a knees up :D