Windows XP would also be my choice of OS, as well (and a bit of an upgrade from Windows ME….*grin*)

Im talking Core Hardware..not Video Card/Sound Card stuff.

Alas, the XX20 series is what I can afford. The XX30’s available all seem to fall under the XPS line, and to trick those out comparably it looks like it comes up to another $300-400 over the 1520. Plus it appears that only the 1520 is available with XP 🙂

I tried.. I don’t think its compatible with the penryn MBP’s yet. I found another fan controller that works ok though

Install this: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23049/smcfancontrol

Your thighs will thank you. :xD

Apple doesn’t write its drivers. Esp its video drivers. Trust me on this; if it was up to Apple they would be writing their drivers from the ground up. ATI seems to take a decade to get their drivers to Apple. the difference is that Apple certifies and distributes the video drivers that ATI and NVIDIA puts out, which is far better then MS’s certified program that isn’t mandatory in any way.

That and even though Windows runs on a Mac the functionality is iffy. I have a C2D MacBook pro and most of the internal interconnect components are done via USB. So the keyboard, WIFI, Bluetooth, and I think the iSight (Camera) are done via USB. While this doesn’t sound like a bad idea; Windows XP is twitchy as hell when coming out of sleep with so many USB devices connected to something like 3 internal USB hubs. Invariably you will occasionally have a device fail to reinitialize or simply take a while to: yawn, look around, “Oh you want to do something” and start working again. Most PC’s don’t take this cheap approach to devices being connected to the mobo because they know that windows sucks with USB.

PS- Vista sucks less at it.

(Note: I do Dell warranty work and am a Dell Certed System Engineer, which is a fancy way of saying I know how to repairs pretty much anything made by Dell without fracking it up even further. :xP

I hear you, ive never spent as much money on a notebook as I did when i bought the MBP. The biggest thing I can say though about it. It is the fastest Windows Notebook ive ever had LOL.

Theres something to be said about a Hardware OEM also writing the drivers for the machine.

Excellent! I’m glad to hear from someone who has experience with the model I’m looking at. And I was feeling ever so slightly charitable towards Vista until I read this well-timed article. Oh yeah, that’s why I don’t want to go down that path.