[MacTechAspen]

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broadband cards, Biometric Fingerprint Reader, and Intergrated SmartCard access

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Wow, what a bunch of features I am glad I don't have to pay for. Such is the way. For me it is great they don't have a bunch of useless features, and for you the lack of the same features is a deal breaker.
I use bluetooth to connect laptop to the internet through my cell phone, I have no need for an external card, or the need to read a smart card. I have never once even wanted to remove the smartcard from my phone. As far as cameras go, I am not likely to use a camera with a smartcard, I prefer CF.
Biometric fingerprints? What on earth for? So you don't have to remember one single master password? Not a problem for me. Having a potentially wonky piece of hardware that could keep me from accessing data or even logging on to my computer doesn't sound at all appealing.

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There is no innovation here... None of this stuff is not already shipping by Dell

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So by innovation you mean following the pack? Bloat, in hardware or software, has never been Apple's strong point.

[griffman]

Without trying to pick one side or the other in the feature debate (as I see both sides have viable arguments), Apple has to strike a balance when designing the machine -- how many people will use feature X vs. how much cost will it require to engineer, build, and support said feature.
So while (insert feature X) may be very important to "you," if it's not judged (by Apple) as being important for "you and everyone else," then the odds are much lower than we'll see it as a built-in feature of the machine.
-rob.

[sk8erboi]

where's the 160 GB HD? perpendicular recording is here. let's have it.

[sereluna]

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At least two FW 800 ports. Only one in the machine

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I think we're lucky Apple hasn't done away with FW 800 altogether.

[astromino]

I do wholeheartedly agree with your comments on SmartCards. They are a required solution for many Government organizations. They resolve many of the standard security procedures for Gov. organizations.
Many GOV organizations do NOT allow the use of any computers that have internal WIFI, Airport or Bluetooth cards. Anyone working in security environments like at the DoD are prohibited from using any kind of wireless (even IR). So unless you can internally disconnect those devices, you won't be able to tap into that market.
A Fingercard biometric reader for doctors? Now talk about a good place to share all kind of diseases /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif I would stay away from any doctors who use such common devices - let them use smartcards instead! Also fingerprint readers cannot be used in many industrial environments like cleanrooms, and again smartcards are acceptable solutions.

[heisetax]

Contrary to sosme that have said that FW800 is dead& not used by anyone including the Pros, the inclusion of FW800 means that this model should be able to fill the Pro in its name. I'll continue to wait until the second geneeration of Intel processors are used in the Macs. By then MS Office & Adobe CS3 may be shipping.
For many the 17" Intel Mac Book Pro purchase is still a year or more off in the future. But it is still good to see a new 17"Intel Mac portable.
For many people an Intel processors means lower prices. For the Mac User it has so far meant higher prices.
Bill the TaxMan

[MacTechAspen]

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The government has been requireing this [biometric fingerprint readers] technology for many years and has been purchasing it from Dell

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Do you have any links you can show us to prove this assertion? Dell (nor Apple) is on the NSA list of evaluated products for secure use.

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With Verizon selling the service, and Dell offering the card internally, I'm going to guess that they know something more about the demand for the product.

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Why? The product precedes demand.

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What would you recommend for a walk up to a computer and instantaneously get access method? They don't want to have to enter passwords as they are moving from computer to computer (Doctors going from patient to patient in examining rooms).

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Why do they not want to enter their password? Entering a password at a terminal to sign into your account is as old as networks themselves. What does this have to do with an optical scanner on a laptop? A terminal is very different than a portable computer that is subject to dirt and abuse. I am a second generation computer guy, and while this stuff is not my bread and butter, it is my father's and I can write novels about the problems with biometrics. They have their place, and they are getting better, but the cute little Dell fingerprint scanner is a novelty, not a critical function.

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Not everything does Bluetooth, especially on the phone with the phone companies locking us out and my piano people fearing piracy

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So... Your argument against bluetooth is that it prevents you from reading a card that you can otherwise read with a card reader? I am skeptical to say the least. Yes, not everything does bluetooth, nor does everything use SmartCards.
Be as disappointed as you like. Apple doesn't make products that are the end all and be all, they just make simple, elegant designs that work.
For some people Dell is the only answer. For me Apple is a better alternative, if for no other reason, OS X.

[uchuugaka]

you're all insane.
Fine set of features. (basically unchanged from the end-user perspective)
reasonable price.
quiet improvements will appear by summer's end.
for the investment, if it was already shipping with Leopard or some other bonus software, I'd say this is a good purchase. A large notebook with a long life ahead of it for whoever buys it.
It is a machine ready for producing stuff. (as long as that's not CS2 intensive stuff...)

[sereluna]

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reasonable price.

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Meh. It's going to be 3000 by the time it gets to Europe.

[sereluna]

Okay, it's already in Europe, at ~2900 depending on country.

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if it was already shipping with Leopard

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Do we have a predicted date for Leopard yet? By which time I might have raised 2900?
Edit: Someone's got to know this. Aren't they on PowerBooks too?

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1) what's the little hole/port/thing on the front of the MacBook Pro to the left of the catch?

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[cgrscott]

Yes, Adobe and yes I did overlook Apple's pro video applications. I'm in design-for-print so I'm waiting for Adobe's next regularly scheduled release of CS.

[bynkii]

"There is no innovation here. I was so hoping for broadband cards integrated as an option so I could connect via CDMA to my cell carrier. I have to use a PC Card for my 17" Aluminum but I can't even use that card in the MacBook Pro until someone comes out with a smaller card. At this time then, the MacBook Pro has less connectivity than my old one."
And if you are not a Verizon or Sprint customer in the US, or live in Europe, CDMA is precisely useless to you. So then Apple has to manufacture GSM and CDMA, and deal with the current transition going on in GSM - land with regard to high speed access. That would create far more manufacturing complexity than the current Cellular Broadband - requiring customer base is worth, and is what expansion cards are for.
"I was also looking for an optional Biometric Fingerprint Reader and Intergrated SmartCard access. Who isn't using SmartCards to transfer data to phones and cameras?"
Fingerprint access is a vertical market need, and it's not a particularly big one. If you need that, there are ways to deal with it, but again, building it in means it's something you're paying for one way or another, (either via actually getting the option, or higher prices dealing with yet another assembly line fork). As well, I don't use smart cards to get data to my phone at all anymore. It's all Bluetooth. Slower, but far more convenient and transparent. Every time you have an "optional" BTO feature that's a physical part of the machine, you have to decide, "force everyone to buy it, or fork the assembly process?"
"And what about the external LED to indicate WiFi access without opening the lid or turning it on?"
What good is WiFi to a laptop you aren't working on? What good is it if you can't get on it? What good is it if you, for various reasons, have to have WiFi disabled?
"None of this stuff is not already shipping by Dell."
We also don't have 23452435234 butt-ugly stickers all over the laptops. It's a good trade off. Just because Dell is doing it, doesn't mean Apple needs to.
"Apple used to innovate but I see nothing really new on this 17" and I was waiting so badly for some of this new stuff. As mentioned, until I can connect via a CDMA card, I'm SOL."
Well, again, what good is CDMA to everyone in Europe?

[pkeene]

Jonathan Ive must have run out of ideas on the notebook front. Too preoccupied designing cool new music and video players?
Peter

[Netizen_Kane]

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One way or t'other, this is the computer I've been waiting for to make my daily driver. The 15-inch was nice, but as I've said to others, once you get used to driving a Mercedes sedan, a BMW coupe is a downgrade, even if it's faster off the line and better at cornering.

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Actually, the 17" is not a sedan. It's more like the ML350 SUV -- heavy, massive and more than some of us would like to have to deal with. We would prefer a more nimble, fuel-efficient, easier to park Smart Fortwo Cabrio, but like the 12" MacBook Pro, they don't want to sell it, at least in this country.