does office 2004 work with OS 10.5.7 and....

[krissel]

Actually there are lots of 17" MBPs with those specs and the 15" can also be ordered with that processor.  Google it and you'll find them for sale.

Here's a guy unboxing his (although he must have opened it prior because on mine there was a thin plastic film between the keyboard and screen for protection during shipping):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn0DQxOGxbM

[sandbox]

Thanks all,

kris try the dollar store for glasses, don't laugh they work!

I will be venturing into my shopping spree pretty soon. There's a trip to make and ends to tie up before we leave.

Paddy I like small, one of my kids has a Macbook 17" and I'm not interested in it even though it was offered.

Since I got the OLPC netbook I've grown to like little computers. A 13 inch MBP works fine for me. And at home or in the office I can plugin a large LCD if needed. I plug my iBook in but the video card is too small for such a large screen.

Which brings me to one issue that haunts me. I'm interested in the MBP because of the video card, otherwise I'd buy a plastic Macbook. But while reading something somewhere, they mentioned that the MBP will be getting a upgraded video card soon.

Is the video card any good in the new MBP offerings? Do you feel they need to be upgraded?

anyone can ring in on this question, it's really one of the prime reasons I'm replacing my hardware. Both my Primary Macs are limited to 1024x768

[Paddy]

Ah, you're right Kris - it's just not on offer right now and when I checked everymac.com I didn't see it at first, forgetting that there were the BTO high end models:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macb...body-specs.html

It's the previous high-end BTO model. A nice deal, considering the current high end one is $2599, though the new one takes up to 8GB of RAM. Older one has the Express card slot, new one the SD slot...

The BTO option now is the 3 GHz model.

Anyway...one word about monitors, if you're thinking of buying the 13" MBP and hooking up an external monitor at times; not all monitors will work with a mini-display port to DVI connector. With our Viewsonic monitor, we had to use a mini-display port to VGA connector to get it to work. This is not an unknown  problem with this particular monitor and the MacBooks.

The video cards in the MacBook Pro are very good - as I noted, Pete plays WoW on his and is very happy with the frame rates etc. He says it runs circles around the video card he had in his old G5 (which was a Radeon 9600, which should have been reasonably good). So, no, from what I've seen, they don't need upgrading!

[krissel]

We don't have a dollar store around here.  

But I usually get my reading glasses from the drug store rack.  They're not too shabby.  


As to the little MBP, I don't play games but so far it seems to be pretty responsive in all it has been asked to do.  My 15" MBP has a 512 card but it also is the NVidia model that has been a problem for many.  Apple claims the 2.5 Ghz model is not affected but I'm doubting that. Time will tell.

[sandbox]

The drug store will do, but they'll charge you more than a dollar for the same glasses.

I looked at the macbook pro while in the Apple store and the aluminum felt and sounded like plastic.
They're lighter than this iBook too.

Here's a question you many not be able to answer, how do I address moving Virtual PC into Leopard?

QUOTE(krissel @ Jul 13 2009, 05:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We don't have a dollar store around here.  

But I usually get my reading glasses from the drug store rack.  They're not too shabby.  


As to the little MBP, I don't play games but so far it seems to be pretty responsive in all it has been asked to do.  My 15" MBP has a 512 card but it also is the NVidia model that has been a problem for many.  Apple claims the 2.5 Ghz model is not affected but I'm doubting that. Time will tell.

[Mayo]

If you prefer the "old style" anti-glare screens word has it in the past day or so that Apple is seriously considering offering the option on its smaller portable Macs. I've read speculation that new models could appear as soon as this fall.

I don't doubt that Apple will expand the anti-glare option beyond the 17" MBP. The recent return of Firewire in the 13" MacBook Pro shows that Apple was listening to all those folks who squawked when the MacBooks lost Firewire. I think that the uproar over the "glassy" screens was louder and more prolonged than the Firewire imbroglio, so it makes sense to me that "anti-glare" )apparently Apple's new preferred term for "matte") will become the screen option that "glossy" used to be.

I'm so certain/hopeful that it will happen that I am putting-off a 13" MBP purchase for the time being; we don't actually need another Mac ASAP.

My new prescription computer glasses lenses will be ready Monday afternoon. They are optimized for how far away I sit from my monitor, which is roughly twice the distance of a book held in the hands. It makes a difference... On the other hand The Goddess really likes her Uber Pricey, Fancy-Smancy "bifocals" that gradually transition from near-to-far vision. She requires two pairs... I originally encouraged her to get a spare pair because without them she is lost and I didn't want to be 5,000 miles from home with an almost blind spouse, much as I love her... Now she tells me that she needs the second pair so she can find the first pair because she never puts them in the same place twice.

I am on the cusp of needing reading glasses but I'm not quite there yet... But I Know that a pair of those fancy glasses is in my future.

[sandbox]

Mayo I have wondered about the same matted option returning to the screen. I use my iBook on the beach/boat quite frequently. Or just sit at friends restaurants on the beach looking out the panoramic windows facing the water with the indoor lights overhead and know that the reflection would be hard to avoid.

I have a pair of Ray-Ban tri-focal lenses with the magnetic flip sunglasses that work perfectly. I don't need glasses for seeing at a distance so that part is pretty much clear, but for computer use or reading my sight is starting to fail. Actually I read books at 18" now so just the midrange lens is all I really need. Bi-focals don't work in grocery stores I've discovered. It seems that in those places the items are set to be read at 36-48 inches away. The midrange lens work perfectly again. It's such a pain to have to step in or back for items on the shelves because of bi-focal limits.

I have a pair of single lens dollar store specials at every desktop in my office. I use them for reading online. It's a relief to have a full lens rather than to be restricted to a thin line across the lens of a tri-focal. the tri-focal work well on smaller screens, but on large screens i find I have to move my head more.... rather than just my eyes. Am I making any sense?

[Mayo]

My wife loves her glasses; I don't recall what they are called (continuous lenses?) but they aren't bi-trifocals in the usual sense... They gradually go from close to far vision and my wife tells me that once she became accustomed to them they correct her vision in a way that feels very natural to her.  They should, for around $250 just for the lenses!

Considering the environments in which you use your iBook waiting for a matte option may be the way to go... If you decide to jump the broom sooner than later then you better start checking out the various anti-glare films on the market.

[sandbox]

I tried the (continuous lenses?) type, which are not recommended for professional drivers, by the way, because you diminish your peripheral vision. In the tri-focal configuration the sides of the lenses are set for long vision where the continuous lens go right across the lens and the sides of the lens are now for corrective reading as well. A driver of any type is now forced to adjust their head rather than their eyes when using the rear view mirror.

With a tri-focal you look down and to the center to read, a spot about the size of a cut penny is allocated for magnification, where in a continuous lens the whole bottom half of the lens is used and while your using the bottom half your peripheral vision is lost to you by design. I know folks concerned with fashion appreciate the continuous lens but they do take some time to get used to and have their limits. Your wife is probably not a professional truck driver or drives a motorcycle where she would need to look down to the sides in the mirrors, so the lens wouldn't be that burdensome, but I think if a person has both to test, as i did, they would would prefer the center-cut tri-focal lens for activewear rather than fashionwear.

[krissel]

QUOTE(sandbox @ Jul 17 2009, 12:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The drug store will do, but they'll charge you more than a dollar for the same glasses.

Here's a question you many not be able to answer, how do I address moving Virtual PC into Leopard?

We don't have any of those stores around here.  

Got a new pair of readers that at least lets me see the iTouch better. I used it at the folks the other night to log onto their wireless setup and download a couple apps. Still have to spend some time learning to use it.

As to VPC, I just dragged the VPC folder to my Leopard drive and it runs OK on the G4. You may have to drag the virtual drives as well if they are elsewhere.  Not sure how it will do on the Intel setup.  Will try it when I have my MBP set up and see.