Bad Optical Drive Replaced with a New MacBook Black!

Hello,
I just wanted to write and let you all know of my 1st experience buying a Mac computer. I needed a laptop, so I
decided on the MacBook. I saw BH Photo had some 1st generation
Macbooks at a decent price, so I took the plunge and bought one.
When it arrived, I tried loading Adobe's Creative Suite software,
however the optical drive keep rejecting the media. So I made an
appointment with an Apple Genius at our local Apple store. To my
surprise, after the Tech confirmed the drive was not working, he
asked me if it would be OK if he just replaced my whole machine. He
brought out a new machine which upgraded me to the 2nd generation
with a 2ghz duo core 2 processor, a full gig a ram, and a 6x
superdrive. Wow!
Well, when I arrived home, I once again went through the whole
process of setting up the machine. This time when I placed a cd in
the optical drive it made a horrible mechanical noise, like it was
taking a bite out it. I couldn't believe my bad luck.
Today, I took it back to the Apple Store, and again the Tech
confirmed there was something wrong with the drive. I really thought
that they would just replace the drive for me since they had already
upgraded my machine for free. However, the Tech asked me if I would
like the top of the line Black MacBook since I had to return a second
time. I couldn't believe it...I really had liked the looks of the
black MacBook, but could not justify paying nearly $200 just for the
black color.
Well, tonight I'm writing to you on my new MacBook Black laptop.
I've got the entire Creative Suite loaded on it along with Lightroom,
and I'm very happy with the performance thus far.
Apple has the best customer service I have ever dealt with...they
just might have won over a new customer for life!
Judgement of a company should not be solely on the mistakes they make, no company is going to be perfect, to me is a much better scale to see what they do about their mistakes...I love my new MacBook Black!
-Bryan
Salt Lake City, Utah

Awesome, another fellow BlackBook owner.
Coincidentally, I've found Apple's customer service is generally pretty good. I had to exchange my week-old Blackbook b/c of a slight seperation of the screen bezel (next to the iSight). They were really up-front "...this shouldn't be doing this...please have a seat, we'll exchange this for you right away...do you need us to transfer your data?" Wow. Not to rant, but this is a lot different than when we were at Best Buy a year ago and my g/f bought her Vaio (she teaches at a high school that is PC-only, no Mac at all). She uses her old G3 Lombard as a spare and it still runs beautifully.
The Vaio had a blemish on the lid (paint defect on the lid...bubbles) that we brought back the same day. No big deal, just want an exchange. The kid-manager-on-duty told us that it was "within manufacturer's specifications....restocking fee...etc." before even looking at it. We told him it wasn't a pixel, but a paint defect, and he could at least look at it before telling us to "pound sand." After a 10min demand for the store manager, they relented and exchanged the Vaio for us. Her Vaio just had an XP re-install this last weekend but is otherwise in excellent shape.
After our expeirence w/ my Macbook exchange (..."have a seat...transfer data..etc.") she bought herself a new Mac Mini and is anxiously awaiting it to arrive.
Happy Macs to all.
13" Core 2 Black Macbook Mac OS X (10.4.9) 14" Core Duo HP Notebook XP SP2

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Snow Leopard Install problems on Macbook Pro with bad optical drive

I've tried this (refer to article below) to install Snow Leopard on a Macbook Pro with a bad optical drive, but I am not able to choose a wi-fi network, or install disk after startup. Is there something else I need to do?
To use Remote Install Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server:
Insert the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server Install Disc into the optical disc drive of the other computer.
If the other computer is a Mac, open /Applications/Utilities/Remote Install Mac OS X. On Windows, choose "Remote Install Mac OS X" from the Install Assistant.
Read the introduction and click Continue.
Choose the install disc you want to use, and click Continue.
Choose a network connection: AirPort, if you are using an AirPort network, or Ethernet, if the other computer is on an Ethernet network and you have an optional Apple USB Ethernet Adapter connecting your MacBook Air or Mac mini to the same network. Click Continue.
Restart your MacBook Air or Mac mini and hold down the Option key as it starts up, until you see a list of available startup disks.
Click Continue in Remote Install Mac OS X.
If you chose AirPort as your network in step 5, on your MacBook Air or Mac mini choose your AirPort network from the pop-up list.
If the network is secure, you will be prompted for a password. You can enter a private network name by choosing the ellipsis (...) and typing the name.
If you chose AirPort as your network in step 5, when you see the AirPort status icon indicating signal strength, click Continue in Remote Install Mac OS X.
You can now reinstall software, reset your password or run Disk Utility using instructions from the User's Guide.

Are you able to connect the two via Firewire cable? If so you can boot the MBP into Target Disk Mode. Then boot the other computer from the OS X installer disc. The installer should detect the hard drive of the MBP as an eligible target destination.
If you have a spare hard drive or at least 10 GBs of usable space on an external drive, then you can create a small 8 GB partition on that drive. Then clone the installer DVD to that partition using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can then boot the MBP from that partition using OPTION boot: Start the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the cloned DVD then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4.Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external partition.
Source means the OS X Installer DVD.
Message was edited by: Kappy

MacBook Pro Repeatedly Loads Purple & Teal Stripe, Gray, Light Blue, Bright Blue and Bright Blue Stripe Screens Instead of OS after Optical Drive Replacement by Apple (PICTURES INCLUDED)

17 inch March 26-29 (order date – shipping date) 2011 MacBook Pro, 256GB Solid State Drive, 2.3 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, 1 processer, 4 Cores, 256 KB L2 Cache per core, 8 MB L3 Cache, 8 GB Memory (8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB), AMD Radeon HD 6750M Video Card, Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 512 MB total of VRAM. 110 GBs of free/unused disk space remaining.
Full Specs are in subsequent post.
The issues described in the title continue even after I’ve reinstalled the operating system twice (Snow Leopard) and installed Mavericks (which is working fine and even faster). I’ve tried many commands to repair this.
If anyone has experienced any of the symptoms above or below, your advice and response will be much appreciated as well as marked. These are the details:
My Early 2011 MacBook Pro has had the typical blue screens, screen freezes and graphics issues since I bought it about three years ago but nothing like this and NEVER any load issues until about a month ago. That was when my superdrive replacement was put in.
Since then my MacBook Pro will go into hard freezes or kernel panics. Then I’ll have to power it down manually and power it up manually. It’ll then refuse to load the OS until after multiple tries. It started out just 2 or 3, then 4 or 5, then 6-12, then 20. Now it takes over 30 boots to load the OS. These boot issues also occur even if it doesn’t freeze, i.e.: when I shut it down or restart it naturally (via the Apple menu, etc.).
95% of the time it’ll load to a gray screen instead of the OS. 4% of the time it’ll load to a light blue screen. Then there are the others: the first time this happened it loaded to the striped purple and teal screen shown in the picture. This happened the next four times then intermittently for about 5 or so more times.
It also loaded gray flickering screens. Flickering screens also occurred right before it froze and had to be manually powered down and up. Then it began to load regular gray and light blue screens and all flickering screens stopped. And then bright blue screens a couple times intermittently for a few days, sometimes with lines. Sometimes it’ll load to a blank/black screen as well. I’d reset the NVRAM and SMC but it still continued, happening multiple times a day, each time taking more and more hard shut downs and hard power ons to finally load the OS.
Until I installed Mavericks, every time it finally loaded the OS Finder began indexing. After Mavericks this has occurred 95% of the time.
After talking to Apple Support they had me do a NVRAM and SMC reset again over the phone. The MacBook Pro refused to load the entire time we were on the phone. After the call it got worse. It froze over 6 times that day and at worse took over 30 boots to load the OS.
I finally had time to deal with it the next day when it froze again. After over 25 boots it loaded and I put in the Snow Leopard OS dvd and ran Disk Utility. I verified the hard drive and it said it was fine. Repaired the disk anyway and it gave this message at the end:
“Updating boot support partitions for volume required”.
Next I tried to start in safe mode and it just hung up for hours. Then started up in single mode and it loaded the OS. It then loaded normally for three times in a row. I reinstalled Snow Leopard. Everything loaded normally. I waited an hour or so and then I downloaded Mavericks. 5 or so hours later Mavericks was installed. Everything hardware wise was fine for a day and all software issues were easily fixable incompatibilities. My Mac was even faster with Mavericks. However, Photoshop did give a perhaps relevant message:
“Photoshop has encountered a problem with the display driver, and has temporarily disabled GPU enhancements. Check the video card manufacturer’s website for the latest software.
GPU enhancements can be enabled in the Performance panel of Preferences.”
(I have OpenGL enabled in Photoshop and it was already checked when this error occurred).
Two days ago I went to Disk Utility to repair permissions while logged in to a non-admin account. Verified and repaired the disk, then verified permissions. Everything fine. After repairing permissions however, it gave a weird error box:
"Unapproved caller, SecurityAgent may only be invoked by Apple software".
The box stayed “stuck” in the Disk Utility window. My MacBook Pro then failed to do anything. I manually powered it down and up. It loaded to a gray screen with the error message box again: "Unapproved caller, SecurityAgent may only be invoked by Apple software".
It then refused to load anything else but this message box on a gray screen even after rebooting it multiple times in safe, verbose and single modes and after resetting the NVRAM and SMC. I went online with an iPad and entered in the error and got some advice. I tried to run fsck and erase the /var/folders/ via single user mode but it still loaded to a gray screen with the error message. I just decided to skip to the end and Cmd-R loaded into recovery mode and reinstalled Mavericks again. That worked: the message has not appeared since.
Some people have said this error is related to a hard drive cable failure. I know that this cable was tampered with during the optical drive replacement procedures because I watched them do it.
Everything was fine for a day. Then yesterday my MacBook Pro froze while trying to open a VLC file. It took 12 boots to load the OS. I tried single mode once and verbose mode once. 10 times it loaded to gray screens, even in those mode. A Safe boot lead to a bright blue screen. Finally reset the SMC and it loaded on the 12th time.
Just five hours ago the same thing happened except it took over 30 boots to load the OS. Single, verbose and normal boots, NVRAM and SMC resets lead to gray screens. Safe boots lead to bright blue screens with and without lines (see pictures). Finally loaded on a normal boot.
I know I should have tried safe booting, verbose, single and recovery modes, disk utility, fsck and other command methods earlier this month but in the end, these methods have not solved the problem anymore than resetting the NVRAM or SMC.
There seems to be conclusive evidence that it’s a hardware problem, stemming from last month, the FIRST AND ONLY time my MacBook Pro was opened up. Maybe it’s the hard drive cable, but it could also be the graphics card and/or logic board (something that’s always been defective on this MacBook Pro, in my opinion). Many early 2011 MacBook Pro owners have given evidence to the latter possibility online.
The first time it started it seemed to stem from me using iPhoto and Photoshop a lot. I had both running continuously for about two weeks. This is another reason for suspecting the graphics card/logic board is at fault (in addition to three years of screen/graphics glitches). And since the card is soldered to the board and the board connected to the cable...I also have serious battery draining issues, something else that got bad after the Apple Superdrive repair. And the battery is connected to the board...
Also, since downloading Mavericks, windows from every app get blurry/fuzzy when I scroll or zoom in. I have read that this is happening to a lot of folks though for various reasons.
I guess it could always be the hard drive. I just don’t know. I’m taking it in to Apple, but can't right away because it’s not local. I know they’ll be able to run a test on the hard drive. I wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem (especially the purple and teal striped screen) before they start poking around, possibly creating another problem that goes beyond my Apple Care Plan allotment.

SPECS OF MY MACBOOK PRO:
Model Name: March 26-29 2011 MacBook Pro (order date – shipping date)
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3
Processor Name: Quad-core Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:    2.3 GHz
Number of Processors:    1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 8 GB Memory (8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB)
HARD DRIVE: 256GB Solid State Drive
DISPLAY: MBP 17" HR Antiglare WS Display
AMD Radeon HD 6750M:
Chipset Model: AMD Radeon HD 6750M
Type:    GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width:    x8
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x6741
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-C0170L-573
gMux Version: 1.9.24
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.573
Intel HD Graphics 3000:
Chipset Model: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Type:    GPU
Bus: Built-In
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: Intel (0x8086)
Device ID: 0x0126
Revision ID: 0x0009
gMux Version: 1.9.24
Displays
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number:    C01111403GLDGKMAE
Manufacturer: DP
Device Name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code:    0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0406
Hardware Revision: 0001
Cell Revision:    1102
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 4583
Fully Charged:    No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 7765
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 276
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA):    -4487
Voltage (mV): 11306
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):    15
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    15
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake on LAN: No
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: No
GPUSwitch: 2
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):    15
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    5
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: No
GPUSwitch: 2
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed:    No
AC Charger Information:
Connected: Yes
ID:    0x0100
Wattage (W): 85
Revision: 0x0000
Family: 0x0085
Serial Number:    0x007ad8c5
Charging: Yes
Current operating system: 10.9.3 (Mavericks) ; Installed on 6/21/14
Previous operating system: 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard); Installed 4/4/11
        Reinstalled multiple times. Last reinstall: 6/21/14

I am going to replace my 3 year old MacBook Pro with a new MacBook Pro Retina display machine. I have been told by Apple that I can use the Migration Assistant ON MY WIRELESS NETWORK (no cables) to transfer data... I've read this can take AGES.. True?

I am planning to replace my 3+ year old MacBook Pro with a new MacBook Pro, Retina display... I have been told by "chat" on the Apple site that I can transfer my data wirelessly... on my network.. Is is a good option? I don't want to invest in cables if I can help it... since the old machine has firewire and the new one has thunderbolt! Will the wireless transfer take forever... as in 30-50 hours??? I've been hearing these horror stories...

Ralph Landry1 wrote:
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Wow, shocking in comparison. You have the patience of a Saint !

I synced my new iPad with my new macbook and when I tried to then sync my iPhone as well it says that all apps will be replaced with apps in my library. How do I sync without losing all of my existing iPhone apps?

I synced my new iPad with my new macbook and when I tried to then sync my iPhone as well it says that all apps will be replaced with apps in my library. How do I sync without losing all of my existing iPhone apps?

My guess is that you previously synced the iPhone with a different computer in the past. You will probably want to set up Home Sharing.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4620
Also see here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819

How can I sync my iPhone 4 with a new MacBook Pro without losing all my data and settings?

I used to sync my iPhone 4 with a PC running Windows XP until the hard drive died. Thankfully, I already had a backup of all my iTunes media (Songs, TV Shows, Movies, Podcasts, Apps, etc), so when I bought a new MacBook Pro, transferring my iTunes library was easy.
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Everytime I click on the tabs (to sync contacts, apps, music, et al), I get an error message that reads:
"Are you sure you want to sync apps? All existing apps and their data on the iPhone “Ryan's iPhone” will be replaced with apps from this iTunes library."
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Read through this helpful document on this subject: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141

Apple store installed optical drive replacement. It plays CD and DVD but will not let me change a DVD to .mp4 without stalling and or going very very slow. Can I fix the HL-DT-STDVDRW GA11NR?

Apple store installed optical drive replacement. It plays CD and DVD but will not let me change a DVD to .mp4 without stalling and or going very very slow. Can I fix the HL-DT-STDVDRW GA11NR? The Apple store is a two hundred mile one way trip.

I didn't imply anything; I simply explained the terms of the ToU here because you had not specified what you were trying to do. Most such related questions are about copying protected content and I would not appreciate having my post removed with the obligatory email from Apple because I violated the ToU. In any case, you can find dozens of threads googling (or here) about the newer burners being slow copying content if it is protected. FWIW, if the DVD was produced by a commercial outfit, they may have used some sort of protection or an unusual file format - that problem has been discussed here previously.
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Using my iTunes library from an external hard drive to a brand new Macbook.

This seems to be such a simple thing to be able to do but I'm fearing it's not. Basically I've had an iMac for 3 years and during that time have built up around 165gb in my iTunes folder. So I learnt off the net how to move my library onto an external hard drive so that I can free up the space on my iMac and play my iTunes library from the external drive. So far so good. My iPhone 4 is obviously connected to my iMac and thats how I get my media on and off the phone. Here's where my problems begin.
I've just bought a Macbook Pro. Its obviously empty and has no media on it. I have paired my iPhone 4 with the new Macbook but obviously the iTunes library on my new Macbook is empty. I downloaded a couple of podcasts onto my new machine and tried to put them onto my phone but got a message saying that the podcasts I currently have on my phone (that are on there from my iMac iTunes library) were going to be deleted and the new ones would be put on. Still with me? So, if I could get my original 165gb library thats now on my external hard drive to be seen on my new Macbook that would possibly solve my problems. But I cant see a simple way of doing this. I've pointed the iTunes Media Location folder in the preferences on my new Macbook to the same folder on my external hard drive as is on my iMac but iTunes on my Macbook is not showing up my library. Do I really have to open every album into iTunes on my Macbook seperately? It seems such a stupid, laborious way of doing it. As if you cant have two Apple computers and run one iTunes library off an external hard drive so that its the same on both machines.
Help!
Message was edited by: Eels290776

Eels290776 wrote:
if my external hard drive is not connected to either of my machines, and I download something onto my iMac and then something different onto my Macbook, where are my machines going to be storing the new downloaded media
when the drive is not connected, +iTunes media folder location+ will default back to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music (or media)
and when I next connect the external hard drive how will I easily get the newly downloaded media onto the external HD
you'd have to point +iTunes media folder location+ back to the external via preferences > advanced > iTunes media folder location, then file > library, organize library > consolidate files
and essentially, to have it easily readable on both machines?
in that case it might be best to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external. then, on each machine, launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on the external.
note only one iTunes can access the iTunes library @ a time !
also, make sure the external is mounted on either machine before launching iTunes.
JGG

HT2693 I purchased Huawei Dongle and trying to connect with my NEW MacBook Pro (OS- Mountain Lion) USB port 3.0 but unfortunately it does not support. When I plugged in my the power is flowing in dongle due green light blinking twice in every 3 sec but no

Hi,
I purchased Huawei Dongle and trying to connect with my new MacBook Pro (OS- Mountain Lion) USB port 3.0 but unfortunately it does not support.
When I plugged in my macbook the power is flowing in dongle due green light blinking twice in every 3 sec but no connection found or diver shown.
Please let me know how I have to use it. I got some suggestion for USB hub 2.0 but It does not make any sense and driver installation.
So please suggest proper direction to use it and provide link to install any driver.
Thanks
Tauheed Ahmad

Yes Clinton I did same, but they were (Huawei customer support) surprised about this problem, They behave like they have no idea about USB 2.0 and 3.0 knowledge. They handsUp that reason I posted my problem in this forum.
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Think of it as the difference between a 200 HP and a 400 HP engine; both can drive at a certain speed with no issues, the difference is what happens if you floor the gas pedal.
The same is true between the higher wattage power adapter that comes with the iPad and the one that comes with iPhones; you can use the higher wattage adapter to charge and iPhone with no issue, but if you try and use the iPhone adapter to charge the iPad it may work, but it will take much, much longer.

Can Iuse non Apple display with a new MacBook Pro?

Can I use a non Apple display with a new MacBook Pro?
Special connections?

Only thing you need is a minidisplayport-to-? adapter ... plugs into Thunderbolt port. ? is replaced by VGA or HDMI or DVI.
I have used high-quality brand names (LG, Samsung) that were picked because I liked the display and have had no issues.
I will add that some threads speak of issues with some Dell monitors that work spottily if at all. But only from reading other threads.

Which optical drive is good for my macbook air?

which optical drive is good for my macbook air?

That's a bit like asking what type of car you should buy ...
I have used Apple's USB SuperDrive, and am happy with it.
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Why are none of my midi controllers not working with my new MacBook Pro?

I am running OS X 10.7.3
None of my M-Audio midi controllers are syncing with my new MacBook Pro.
They are all class-compliant and willl work on Mac OS X without the need of a driver is what M--Audio has posted on there website for all of my controllers.
I am using the following midi controllers:
Keystation 49e
Axiom 25
Trigger Finger
I purchased my new laptop all most 2 months ago and have not been able to start making music on it since. Lots of issues transitioning to Lion. I am still using my old macbook to make music. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

I had the same problem with my apps and your solution worked perfectly! You made my day (:

I can't sync my iPod Touch with my new Macbook.

I'm having trouble syncing my iPod touch with my new Macbook Air and I don't know what to do. I've managed to get all my music and films etc. off my old iTunes library but when I plug my iPod into the computer, it doesn't come up with the typical 'erase/replace or transfer' message that you get when you plug it into other computers. Someone please help because it is driving me insane. The iPod was originally synced with a Windows computer and I think this might be what is causing my problem but I really need help fixing it. Thanks!

sophie.aston wrote:
I'm having trouble syncing my iPod touch with my new Macbook Air and I don't know what to do. I've managed to get all my music and films etc. off my old iTunes library
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from old computer to new computer.
but when I plug my iPod into the computer, it doesn't come up with the typical 'erase/replace or transfer' message that you get when you plug it into other computers.
What does happen?

Any perfect audio hardware setup with the new Macbook Pro?

I'm still not sure if to go for the new Macbook Pro 2.8 ghz, or the 6 months earlier 2.5 ghz model (march 2008).
I love to go for the new Macbook Pro, but I'm not sure about my setup. Now I have:
- extern 7200 rpm bus powered LaCie firewire 800 hard drive
- Saffire with firewire 400 (thinking about moving to Apogee Duet)
Will the express card really help? I've read that if you connect a firewire 400 device to the express card, the firewire 800 won't work at 800 speed, but at 400? Also that a bus powered hard drive doesn't work, and that it needs it's own power to run with the express card?
Bottom line:
What would be the perfect audio hardware setup with the new Macbook Pro? I gladly invest in a different audio interface (or anything else) if it really fits and works as pro audio setup!

I've read that if you connect a firewire 400 device to the express card, the firewire 800 won't work at 800 speed, but at 400?
I don't think this is right. As I understand it, the advantage of having one of your devices on an express card slot is specifically so it is on its own bus.
Then both devices will operate on their own speed.
However, this is true for the older model Macbook Pros when you use both FW ports that are built in, because even though the machine has two ports, they each feed one firewire bus. So if you have a device plugged into each port, the one plugged into the 800 will only run at 400 speed because they're both on the same bus. Using an express card means both devices can operate at their own speed.
If you want the newer machine I think you should get it. Then you can buy a firewire 400 express card, plug your interface into that, and plug your FW 800 drive into the main firewire port. This will give you better performance from your peripherals than an older machine with both devices plugged into the built in FW ports.
Good Luck!

Bad Optical Drive Replaced with a New MacBook Black!

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