Macbook Pro 17" i7 as a desktop replacement?

Question

Two questions, please:
1 - I am thinking of buying the newest Macbook Pro 17" i7 as a replacement of one of my Windows desktops. I would use it 8-12 hours a day, 360 days a year hooked to an external monitor and, most of the time, using several Windows applications (no graphic software) under Parallels. I want a notebook in order to be able to readily grab it and take it with me in case of emergency (I am living in Japan). I also need the 17" screen because of its resolution. Is using this type of Macbook as a desktop replacement a good, if not viable idea? Or it can't stand many hours of work almost continuously while using Parallels? I am mainly worried about the heat and hardware wearing. My iMac heats up quite a bit when working with Windows under Parallels, therefore I suppose that a notebook would have more cooling problems.
2 - I've read that the new Macbook Pro 17" battery is not removable by the user. Since I would use it 95% of the time in my office out of the AC adaptor, I would have preferred to be able to remove the battery completely: can the Macbook Pro 17" stand many hours of work only with its AC adaptor? Somewhere I've also read that the provided adaptor is not powerful enough to power the hardware completely from the AC power line, so it would also have to use the internal battery power. Is this true? And when Parallels is used the battery power is almost halved or even worse.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Mario Cerutti

Answer 1

Mario Cerutti wrote:
Two questions, please:
1 - I am thinking of buying the newest Macbook Pro 17" i7 as a replacement of one of my Windows desktops.
The 17" MPB is a excellent machine, it's like a powerful desktop, but portable.
The anti-glare high res is most excellent and clearly awesome, I simply am in amazement each time I swtich to it from my older MBP 3,1.
I would use it 8-12 hours a day, 360 days a year hooked to an external monitor and, most of the time, using several Windows applications (no graphic software) under Parallels. I want a notebook in order to be able to readily grab it and take it with me in case of emergency (I am living in Japan). I also need the 17" screen because of its resolution. Is using this type of Macbook as a desktop replacement a good, if not viable idea? Or it can't stand many hours of work almost continuously while using Parallels? I am mainly worried about the heat and hardware wearing. My iMac heats up quite a bit when working with Windows under Parallels, therefore I suppose that a notebook would have more cooling problems.
The iMac's are hot and I don't like them for the fact that one can't remove the hard drive and they have glossy only display options making them unsuitable unless your living in dark hole.
Your sure placing a lot of stress on a laptop, basically making it a desktop with monitor and then your going to want a keyboard and mouse too..
The 17" most certainly can handle vm software with ease, I can even run a lightweight 3D game Cube 2 in Windows 64 bit in a vm and get over 45 fps. On a external monitor is another matter of course, output video isn't always as powerful as internal.
Of course you would have to purchase another Windows license, if you try to use the one from the iMac it will quit unless you go through all their hopps to transfer it.
I also need the 17" screen because of its resolution.
Just be warned the high res requires a bit more squinting, it's about 15% smaller UI with no scale option, but the quality is fantastic.
2 - I've read that the new Macbook Pro 17" battery is not removable by the user. Since I would use it 95% of the time in my office out of the AC adaptor, I would have preferred to be able to remove the battery completely: can the Macbook Pro 17" stand many hours of work only with its AC adaptor? Somewhere I've also read that the provided adaptor is not powerful enough to power the hardware completely from the AC power line, so it would also have to use the internal battery power. Is this true? And when Parallels is used the battery power is almost halved or even worse.
The battery can be removed, but doing so is a chore and will void the warranty/AppleCare.
There is no need to remove it and likely will not work without it, as there is even firmware for the battery now and that won't report to the OS and issues will likely develop.
The power adapter is certainly powerful enough to run the computer, it's that charging the battery won't go as fast while the computer is in use. I've not had a problem with it as 95% of the time it's hooked up to the power anyway.
Vm software is always going to take a lot of battery because your running two operating systems at once.
You just have to replace the battery before your 3 year AppleCare warranty has expired.
The MacBook Pro 2.2 15" and 17" are really portable desktop machines, needing power nearly all the time and used off power only occassionally between points.
If your on battery most of the time, then you should be looking at something like a iPad.