New 15″ or new 17″ MBP?

[Jeremy Garchow]

[PDPost] ” I’m also the same guy hoping that Steve Jobs doesn’t roll out a new MacBook Pro at MacWorld on that same day because then I might have to return the one I expecting!”

No worries as the current crop of MacBook Pros are really nice, however it pans out for you. You will have a nice and fast machine.

[PDPost] “I know I’d need to get a SATA II Express 34 card (about $100) to used the drive with the MBP, but I was wondering what your experience was with FW800 on a MBP when the FW400 is tied up?”

It’s not recommended. It is best to separate the FW devices so the io can have full control of the bandwidth. I would (and do) keep the io on the internal bus and then get an express34 card to hook up either your SATA drives or FW800 drives. I got the expresscard from Sonnet and it’s sweet.

If you keep the io and your drives separate, you will be a happy person, otherwise you are asking for problems.

Jeremy

[Pat Defilippo]

Thanks, Jeremy!

I found the Sonnet SATA PCIE 34 Card for $110 delivered just before 1/1 and I just checked now and it’s still the same cost.

Do you know if Sonnet makes a FW800 Card as well? I couldn’t find one online, but I did find a SIIG FW800 PCIE 34 Card for $80 delivered.

It looks like I’ll be editing at an event in ‘Vegas with the new MBP from 1/23 through 1/26, so I might end up buying the Sonnet SATA next week. That’s provided the backordered SATA II drive, expected to be in around 1/15, gets delivered on time. I might have to buy both 34 cards just to be safe if I end up bringing my 500gb FW800 external drive instead.

You’re right – even if Steve Jobs rolls out a new MBP on Monday, this is still an awesome machine! The only thing that I wish it had was a larger HD or even a same sized 7200rpm one. I ended up going with option of the 160gb 5400rpm drive. If he rolls out a 250gb 7200rpm MBP on Monday, it’s return time!

Also, Jeremy, did you go with Matte or Glossy? In retrospect, did you pick the right one?

Thanks again for your help!
-Pat

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[Jeremy Garchow]

[PDPost] ” I ended up going with option of the 160gb 5400rpm drive.”

Me too.

[PDPost] “Also, Jeremy, did you go with Matte or Glossy? In retrospect, did you pick the right one?”

Matte. I was in Dubai early last year and I truthfully had never seen a glossy screen. Every laptop over there had one. I sat down to browse the web at a co-workers of mine and i didn’t like it. It was too shiny. Any overhead light catches it and reflects. This is not to say that the glossy sucks, I’m sure some people love it, as has already been said, it just wasn’t what I wanted.

Jeremy