[VicVega]

Macbbook Pro was giving me issues the other day. Rebooted it and the screen never came back on. It’s 2.5 years old, never an issue before.

Going to bring it in to see if they can fix it. Otherwise have to replace it.

If it has to be replaced, anything I should make sure the new Mac has? Should I replace it with 17 vs 15?

Just your thoughts, thanks.

[tubebender]

I ordered extra Ram on my iMacs...

[Ole Okie]

Had you installed Snow Leopard or downloaded this new fix?

I have a 15” MacBook Pro that’s a little over 3 years old, and would probably opt for a 17” next time if the weight is manageable. But mine is performing without any problems.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Apple has very reasonable repair policies. My son’s G4 PowerBook, age 5+, developed a screen issue. A total rebuild (involving fixing anything that’s found to be subpar) had a flat fee of something like $325. Your newer machine shouldn’t be much more. If you like your machine, that’d be a great way to get it back, assuming one of the Apple Store Geniuses can’t fix it right then and there.

On the other hand, the current crop of Mac laptops is super delectable. I would not fault you for upgrading. I’m sorely tempted myself... but am holding out for quad-core.

[Swordmaker]

If it has to be replaced, anything I should make sure the new Mac has? Should I replace it with 17 vs 15?

My thoughts: Don't buy memory upgrades from Apple. Too expensive. Buy a minimal RAM configuration using one socket if you can and then upgrade with Crucial or other top line RAM supplier.

I would not upgrade to a 17" laptop... I have enough trouble toting around the weight of my 15"! I know they are lighter now, but a 17 is always at least one pound heavier than a 15" and after schlepping one around an airport in a hurry to catch a connecting flight, that pound gets heavier and heavier... at my age, I would seriously be considering the 13"... it's a pound lighter than the 15"

[TXnMA]

"Should I replace it with 17 vs 15?"

~~~~~

I have (and constantly use) both 15 & 17" MacBook Pros -- and the 17" has the 1920 X 1200 pixel ultra-resolution display. Some "+/-" points to consider about the 17" MBP:

• + The Utra-res screen allows me to run two full-sized pages side-by-side. Right now I have the FR "My Comments" page on the left (with the "Forum" page "behind" it), and FR's "slave" screen for the selected thread on the right. That is a real convenience.

• - The higher resolution for a given screen size, the smaller everything (including text) appears. Today's my 72nd birthday, and I am finding that some smaller online font sizes are getting hard to read on the UHR 17". Fortunately, the Multi-Touch keypad allow you to "zoom in" with a "pinch out" gesture -- and Safari has a text-size tool you can add to the menu bar.

• - the 17" MBP is definitely chunkier to carry around. Sometimes when I'm sliding it out of the case, it feels like it wants to slip out of my fingers.

• - (...a point not often discussed...) The 17" probably will not fit your 15" carrying case, and all the 17" cases I have seen are much bigger, heavier, and clunkier. For traveling, my 15" with its sleek Targus soft leather case is much nicer.

• + I am a cartographer mapmaker) who does lots of GIS work making composites of overhead imagery with map feature overlays. The ultra-res 17" works great for my purposes -- and the LED backlighting allows me to work in the field doing archaeological surveying with GPS coordinates, waypoints, and routes displayed live, on a georeferenced map/aerial image. Nice!

• - I do lots of "PowerPoint-like" presentations (directly from Canvas) using video projectors. Projector technology seems to lag behind laptop display sizes, aspect ratios and resolutions. I have to "throttle back" to using less than the full capability of the 17" UHR MBP screen (smaller page sizes) -- because most projectors you encounter will not match the resolution or aspect ratio -- or both... The 15" seems to "match up better" with more common projectors.

~~~~~~~~~~

The 15" MBP is, for me, my "all purpose tool". The 17" serves more specialized needs..

...just $.02 from a guy who started with a 16K Apple ][+ -- with a Radio Shack cassette tape for a "hard drive -- and who is very happy with both sizes of MacBook Pros... '-)