54 replies to this topic

[R. Mansfield]

If you haven't considered it, perhaps the Apple recycle & reuse program http://store.apple.c...use_and_recycle might be worth looking at. They may not give you exactly what you would like for the computer but it is an option.

Greg, thanks for the link. They seem to be comparable in price for what gazelle.com would give me. If I can't easily sell it to someone locally (I don't feel like dealing with eBay or Craig's List), I may just one of these other options.

[Julie Falling]

Rick - I have two 1TB Mercury On-The-Go Pros (from OWC) that I use for TimeMachine. At any given time, one is safely stored away, and the other is in use. I don't have room on my MBP for all the video we own, but that's not a big deal - I rotate stuff off and on. Our classical music & sermon collections fit, and that's more important.

My the way, I love the little On-The-Go drives. They're bus-powered (no plugging into an outlet) and nearly silent. Plus they're compact. My husband uses full-sized drives in a "toaster" (like the NewerTech Voyager) for TimeMachine, but the thing has to be plugged in, and the drives are noisier.

I'll be back later interviewing everyone about their Retina MBPs. I think that's the direction I will be going, but not for at least a year. Unless something bizarre happens, I won't replace my machine until it's 5+ years old. By that time, Accordance may take advantage of the Retina display, and I hope, I hope, that the price will have come down. The whole idea of spending $3000+ on a laptop is daunting! I might have to start rotating sermons, too, rather than go for the 750GB drive.

Julie

[Rick Bennett]

quick story:

I too have a late 2008 15" Unibody MBP and instead of upgrading last year, maxed out the RAM (4GB), installed a 256GB SSD + 500GB HDD (7200) w/ an OptiBay. It was like a whole new machine and is still running strong.

But, with the impending update of the MBPs I was planning an upgrade. And, after considerable thought I ended up going with a 13" MBA (2.0 i7, 8GB RAM, 512 Flash). After about a month using it for development work I'm happy with the decision. I decided not to go with the rMBP because it is not upgradeable and in order to get 16GB RAM you have to buy the top model, which I couldn't justify $3,000. And, I primarily work from a 24" Cinema Display - which would mean that I would mostly not be using the Retina Display. So, the Air it is and it's been a smooth experience so far.

[Julie Falling]

Yeah - There's a genuine sticker shock with the Retina machines. That's why I'm waiting.

Our son has a masters in computer science and is employed as a programmer. When I was getting ready to buy my machine, he advised that I go with the faster MBP - said that when it was 5-years old it would still feel fast and I would not feel compelled to replace it. At nearly 4 years old, I'm still not feeling like I need to upgrade further. It may be a different story the end of next year. Until I'm forced to make a decision, I'm just going to keep collecting data and hope that the decision won't be a tough one. This is not a life or death thing, but a good laptop is never cheap. I think that's why we agonize over what to buy.

Rick - the Airs aren't upgradeable, either, are they? With the way Apple is going, I'm going to miss being able to improve my machines as they age.

Edited by Julie Falling, 27 July 2012 - 09:26 AM.

[David Garrison]

I have a mid-2011 13" Macbook Air, 1.8ghz Core i7, 4 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, and I love it. Except for the size of the SSD. I really need 500 GB. If anyone might be interested in purchasing this from me, let me know. I purchased it in April and it is in excellent condition.


Moderators: If this post is inappropriate or a violation of the terms of use, I'll be glad to take it down... or y'all can.

[Kevin Soars]

<p>Re: Julie Falling&#39; the Airs aren&#39;t upgradeable, either, are they? With the way Apple is going, I&#39;m going to miss being able to improve my machines as they age.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Juie, you, and others of course, might find this interesting:&nbsp;http://www.wired.com...ina-displa/</p>
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<p>Again, Moderators, if this post is inappropriate or a violation, etc. please remove and forgive me!</p>
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<p>Kevin.</p>
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[Kevin Soars]

<p>Sorry about that! ( I tried quoting just a part of Julie&#39;s post - the first time I have done this and as you can see I was not at all successful). The link should be:&nbsp;http://www.wired.com...ina-displa/</p>
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<p>I give up! Sorry.</p>
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[R. Mansfield]

Kevin,

When the original MacBook Air was released, the same thing was essentially said--that they were non-upgradeable by the end user. My wife had the original MBA, and I was able to upgrade her tiny 80 GB spinning drive with a 120 GB SSD.

The SSD cards on the current MacBook Airs can be replaced with third party (and faster) SSDs from OtherWorld Computing. I was at the point that I either needed to do that or just get a new Mac, and I opted for the latter option.

The retina display MacBook Pro that I ordered should arrive tomorrow. As in the Wired article you referenced above, they too are being called "un-upgradable." However, from what I've read, the SSD cards are not glued in--they just have a proprietary form factor. That would seem to indicate that there's at least a potential for hard drive upgrades down the road if a company thought it would be worth the investment to create replacements. Regardless, I went ahead and ordered mine with the 768 GB SSD, which is the largest that Apple currently offers.

Realistically though, the average person never upgrades their computer. You and I may have, but most people just go out and buy a new computer when their old one starts to get slow or if they run out of room. While it's nice to have an upgradeable computer, for Apple (or any other company) to make them available, they have to use mostly off-the-shelf parts. The inside of the new retina display MBPs are custom designed, which allowed Apple to do things they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. I think that's a pretty good tradeoff.

If I can keep my new rMPB for five years or so, I imagine it will be the last traditional computer I'll ever buy. I say that because by 2017, I'm sure there will be some hybrid device that is inbetween an iPad and a Mac. I think the technology that we've essentially been accustomed to over the last two or three decades is about to significantly change.

Edited by R. Mansfield, 02 August 2012 - 11:44 AM.

[Julie Falling]

Hey -

Read the article. It was useful. I really want the Retina display because, as we get older, clarity of print really becomes as issue. With an astigmatism, it's really an issue. By the way, age + astigmatism is a nasty combo.

Here, I hope, is the link to the article that you referenced.

http://www.wired.com...-retina-displa/

I have more than a year to make up my mind I hope.

I have upgraded every Mac that I have owned - Wallstreet PowerBook (bought used), eMac (2 of them), iBook, Dual G5 (bought used and now bordering on antique, doubles as a space heater), and now my MBP. We have liked being able to keep the sticker price down at the beginning. Apple charges way too much for the bump in memory and HD capacity. OWC sells great stuff for very rational prices, and gives good advice, too.

There may be some new offerings late 2013-2014. We'll see.

Julie

[Kevin Soars]

Rick. Thank you, that was very interesting. By the way, thank you for 'Other World Computing'. Others had mentioned OWC and I did not know what that referred to!

Julie. Thank you for writing out the link properly for me (I am glad you found it useful).

Rick and Julie. I don't know what on earth I did to end up with my unreadable contribution but I thank you both for your kindness in responding to it!

Kevin.

[Julie Falling]

Kevin -

I often try things and get unexpected results. The worst is when I say something that has an unexpected &amp; unintended meaning. It can't be unsaid. At least with a bunch of computer goobly-gook, you can't get in too much trouble!

By the way, I have tried, repeatedly, to post my picture on my profile with no success. I reduced and reduced the size of the image. It's now only 157 KB and less than 300x300, yet it won't upload. Any ideas, anyone?

It's not that I think everyone is just dying to see a picture of a 60 year old woman who was not beauty queen material even at 18, but the gray and white profile is mysterious, and I'm not. I really am NOT in a witness protection program.

Julie

Edited by Julie Falling, 02 August 2012 - 12:59 PM.

[R. Mansfield]

Julie, what format is your picture? I just changed mine using a jpeg image that is 389 x 460 and weighs in at 33 KB.

[Julie Falling]

It's a png. I'll try converting it and see what happens. Reduce the size, too?

[R. Mansfield]

Yours is already smaller in dimensions than mine. What's the dpi on your image?

[Julie Falling]

Got it. No longer a mysterious gray-scale shadow.

Thanks.