New 17” MacBook Pro
 

It’s been announced days ago but I thought I’d post it.
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
It has the latest Core2Duo chip but no option for quad core.

I've got one on order, scheduled to arrive on the 11th of February. It has the option for a 256 GB Solid State Disc (SSD) and 8 GB of memory, but they are very pricey options now, and if you price SSD's and 8 GB of memory on the open market, Apple certainly isn't gouging at the prices these options are going for, as some have accused. When SSD's and the 8 GB memory comes down in price, I might retrofit mine. I certainly wish they had put in a quad core, but we can't have everything and Apple has certainly been extremely successful by not trying to be everything to everyone. I'm really looking forward to the 17" 1920X1200 LED screen though.

Has anyone put quad core into a laptop?

I do think that a quad core in a laptop isn't good. It would overheat very quickly (and Macbook Pro's already get hot quickly), and the battery would drain immediately.

I think if you need a quad core performance, you really should be looking at a desktop.

Now, about those displays and firewire... (I'm already glad they put the option for a matte display in it).
Although I'm not in the market for a new laptop, I far more pleased with Apple's upgrade to the 17" then the updates to the 15" Macbook Pro's and the normal Macbooks.

I thought that Lenovo, and maybe others did it. It would seem that the MBP 17" has a big enough footprint to do it, but Apple decided to come out with the slimmest 17" notebook, and perhaps cooling was an issue. One interesting thing is that this new MBP 17" doesn't have a user replaceable battery, but by doing that, Apple could use different packaging and now claim an 8 hour battery life and many years before the battery would need to be replaced. An Apple store can replace it quickly, and my guess is that several years from now, user replaceable batteries will be available.

Lenovo did do it with the option to put a QX9300 in a W700 model workstation laptop (has a mini tablet on it too...)

Lenovo - ThinkPad W700

See the options and you will see the option for a Quad Core processor.

But, the heat and power issues will be long gone once the Clarksfield Nehalem comes to mobile. Sure, the current one is the same TDP as the new one, but the new one uses 30% less power for the same performance. (unless you do distributed computing)

The Dell M4400 and M6400 laptops (Dell Precision Mobile Workstations) offer quad-core CPUs and up to 16 GB of RAM, but for that price you could built a monster Core i7 desktop editing workstation and have enough left over for a decent mid-grade laptop and maybe even a new white-space-compliant wireless lav!

I know Alienware offer quad core on their laptops. Mac is best IMO.

There is also the W700ds with a pull-out second 10" screen, but of course my X200 works for me....:)

X200 Tablet here buddy. I second that, Colin.

HP also has a quad core laptop that uses the new Mobile quad core cpu. It isn't cheap but a decked out HP quad core can be had for the same price as the dual core Mac Book Pro.

The HP is also a 18" laptop which means a little bit bigger so you don't go blind as quickly but you will break your back much earlier.

Due to the price difference of the cpu's and how Apple prices their stuff I would think a quad core Apple would be around $4,000.00. That may be the whole reason as to why there isn't one yet.

Are the quad core processors that are making their way into laptops the same ones that were supposed to be released in September and were designed specifically for laptops? If so, when do you think they'll start appearing in a more affordable form?

I'm surprised no one here has talked about the M-Tech laptops. They have quad core, DDR3 ram, and 1333 FSB in there laptops. All for a great price. Can't put the link because it is a buy direct site. I believe that is against forum rules (they are not a sponsor).