What the HELL happened to the Mac Book Pro????

R

Ronster

Well-known member
So I am not happy with the new Mac Book Pro

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=MTE4NDY

scroll to the bottom to see their connections

I am in the market to buy a new computer and have no clue what to do here. I was holding out for a new Mac Book Pro to come out in hopes they would put more connections on and instead they took away Express Card Slot

sure you have a super fast computer

but how are you suppose to make this computer work with your HVX 200 and external hard drives?????????

here are the connections:

* MagSafe power port
* Gigabit Ethernet port
* One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
* Mini DisplayPort
* Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
* SD card slot
* Audio line in
* Audio line out
* Kensington lock slot

first off there is NO express card slot...how are you suppose to download p2 cards??????? Somebody please let me know

You have 1......1 firewire 800 slot....how are you suppose to hook up drives? do we go with USB now instead of firewire connections?????? How pathetic is that.

Mini Display port that works with really no monitors other than a mac external monitor

What happened to Apple? Did they forget who their customers are????????

an SD card slot....what am I going to do with that?

Suggestions please

Ronster
 
There are a few other threads on this. They may have some info for you there. But it does suck either way. That's why I use an elcheapo Dell for offloading and do everything else on my Mac.

But the 17" still has one I believe. But that thing is expensive.
 
Then don't buy it. There are several options, including getting a used existing MBP, or someone's older G4, or (like filthrich points out) my favorite way: get a Windows laptop, especially a Lenovo R or T series ThinkPad, get everything you want in an offloading laptop for 2/3 the price or so, and get back to work. You get fw400, expresscard, PCMCIA (no Duel Adapter! yay!), internal interchangeable hard disk bay, interchangeable batteries, gigabit ethernet (connect the laptop to your mac desktop and use the Lenovo as a card reader... heck, put a Duel adapter in the expresscard slot and it'd be a two-slot reader). Or put an eSata adapter in the expresscard slot and go to SATA drives...

Point being, reward the manufacturer that gives you what you want. And don't reward the one that doesn't.
 
Last edited:
I have a 15inch macbook pro (the new one, but before these ones, it has the card slot) and the slot is useful for EX1 and EX3 sxs cards. I usualy use a fw drive for P2 via the camera for HVX200.

I always use fw drives, and daisychain them. I regularly have RED drive > hard drive > computer and it works fine. I also capture tape and off other solid state devices through a hard drive.

You can daisy chain loads together with fw its not a problem.
 
barry as always good advise...I went ahead and bought the macbook pro but the one with the express card slot

I just bought the last one they had

its funny how the pc is such a good downloading device. But I need my computer for editing and all the other things I do

Of course I bought the duel adaptor and I have 4 gigs of ram so I need to reboot after every download....so annoying....I hope they come out with a fix soon
 
Panasonic has updated their drivers to solve the 4GB problem. Make sure you're running the latest drivers.
 
Last edited:
I have no clue as to why ANYONE would want to buy a computer from Apple. They have basically no modern connectivity to speak of, only "Apple this" and "Apple that," their internal specs are only so-so, and they cost a mint. What on Earth for bother with them, then?
 
frankoferko said:
I have no clue as to why ANYONE would want to buy a computer from Apple. They have basically no modern connectivity to speak of, only "Apple this" and "Apple that," their internal specs are only so-so, and they cost a mint. What on Earth for bother with them, then?
Click to expand...

Hi Frankoferko,
you sound like a windows man ?.. most of us Mac owners are like Volvo owners..and there's lots of us out here across the globe...
Every platform has it's place, Mac has just decided to dump what they consider obsolete, and will not make them dollars, maybe they are correct ?, expresscard is their current flavour.
I have four working Mac,s and two Windows boxes, all have their purpose, yes (Mac's) they are expensive but when you've cut a program on a 8core Macpro with FCS2, you will see why many of us buy them.

Personally I buy what will get the job done, mix that with what the budget and client will pay for , that's my simple rule. Windows or Mac, Sony or Pana , who cares, it all becomes Techno junk after a year or so..

cheers
Tom k
 
frankoferko said:
I have no clue as to why ANYONE would want to buy a computer from Apple. They have basically no modern connectivity to speak of, only "Apple this" and "Apple that," their internal specs are only so-so, and they cost a mint. What on Earth for bother with them, then?
Click to expand...

Memory and Storage

Quad-core: Four DIMM slots support up to 8GB of memory
8-core: Eight DIMM slots support up to 32GB of memory
Four direct-attach, cable-free drive bays with support for SATA drives

Connectivity and Expansion

Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Built-in dual 10/100/1000BASE-T
Gigabit Ethernet
Five USB 2.0 ports on Mac Pro
(two on front, three on back)
Two USB 2.0 ports on included wired keyboard
Four FireWire 800 ports
(two on front, two on back)
Three open full-length PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots

Audio

Front-panel headphone minijack and speaker
Optical digital audio input and output TOSLINK ports
Analog stereo line-level input and output minijacks

Yep, nothing modern here. :)

best
 
David S. said:
Memory and Storage

Quad-core: Four DIMM slots support up to 8GB of memory
8-core: Eight DIMM slots support up to 32GB of memory
Four direct-attach, cable-free drive bays with support for SATA drives

Connectivity and Expansion

Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Built-in dual 10/100/1000BASE-T
Gigabit Ethernet
Five USB 2.0 ports on Mac Pro
(two on front, three on back)
Two USB 2.0 ports on included wired keyboard
Four FireWire 800 ports
(two on front, two on back)
Three open full-length PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots

Audio

Front-panel headphone minijack and speaker
Optical digital audio input and output TOSLINK ports
Analog stereo line-level input and output minijacks

Yep, nothing modern here. :)

best
Click to expand...

So, you can build a system that is better than this for a lot less money with all of these features and more on a PC.

Remember, Mac parts are pretty much PC parts now.

You could get this board and have a 16 core system...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151085

16 Core - 16 Dimm Slots up to 128 GB of Memory.

Connectivity and Expansion

Built in Triple 10/100/1000Mbps
8 x SATA 3.0Gb/s w/ Raid (BTW, You could do ESATA, about 4 times as fast as FW800)
Most Motherboards have support for tons of USB ports.

All on a windows machine for way less money than the apple.
Go figure.
 
Not sure about anyone else, but the reason I buy Mac is because of the marriage between software and hardware. I like that one company makes both of these things and therefore is solely responsible for any problems I may encounter.

But to each his own. I'm glad there are multiple options out there and I don't understand why anyone would want one company to have a monopoly on the computer business. Mac people are weirdos, PC people are weirdos, Ford people are wierdos, Chevy people are weirdos, and GM people are... well... now Fiat weirdos.
 
HowdyDoo said:
Not sure about anyone else, but the reason I buy Mac is because of the marriage between software and hardware. I like that one company makes both of these things and therefore is solely responsible for any problems I may encounter.
Click to expand...

While there is some merit to this, there is some significant drawback. And that is exactly what we are seeing now with some of the Apple products. When the company changes directions you are FORCED to follow even if the change doesn't suit you. For those the travel and shoot on Expresscard, the removal of that slot in the Macbook is NOT something they want. But because they are tied to a single vendor, it's a change they will be forced to accommodate.

The MacPro is another, FCP cannot drive to monitors via the displayport. But Apple removed the DVI port from the Cinema Display. Thus forcing customers to use competitors monitors that have DVI ports. The Marriage of hardware and software can be a double edged sword.

HowdyDoo said:
But to each his own. I'm glad there are multiple options out there and I don't understand why anyone would want one company to have a monopoly on the computer business.
Click to expand...

Which one company would that be? Apple is the monolith in this argument. PC's are not a "company" but an architecture. I like many Apple products, but I think they simply drop the ball too often with their computers. And that trend goes back to the 2E and 2C.
 
Apple design and build for the "Masses" not the "Niche areas", sure there is a blending of Mac/Windows lately and as pointed out by Kit you can build a custom box that will "go like hell" with all the bells n whistles, if that could have the marriage of software n hardware as FCS/Mac OS then that will be the way of the future.
But, after all is said and done it's still "Techno junk" after a year or so, that is why some people find Mac hardware expensive, You have to get a return on your investment for your gear in less than that 12 months, if you can't, don't buy it.

Cheers
Tom K
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top