So on Tuesday I was having such a great day that at about 6pm, on the spur of the moment, I decided to drive 2.5 hours to the nearest Apple store and spend every last cent I have on a MacBook Pro.
Previously I was one of the people that was holding out for a smaller laptop, but I eventually concluded that I wanted the resolution of a 15" screen. Also, my friend had a 15" PowerBook and I realized that it really isn't as unportable as I thought. So, like I said, I just randomly decided to go buy one in the store. I had to have it there and then.
When I got to the store I specifically asked my "genius" about the alleged 'revisions'. Although he didn't confirm or deny whether any such revisions have taken place (and I'm still skeptical to this day that they have), he told me that I shouldn't worry about getting an old laptop. According to the serial it was built on the 9th week of 2006... I'm guessing that wouldn't be too high up the 'Rev' list that some people have been pushing, but I don't really believe in the revisions anyways.
The known problems that my laptop has: the heat and the whine. The heat is by far the most noticable one.. as soon as that thing has been plugged in for more than a few minutes it becomes ridiculously hot. If I run it on battery it's slightly less hot, but still ridiculous. Is it so bad that I can't use it? No.. I've gotten used to it.. it's kind of annoying to use such a warm keyboard, and you certainly can't have it sitting on bare legs for extended periods of time, but whatever.. it's a beautiful machine.
The second problem is the whine. Photo booth fixes it. However, I've either gotten lucky with how bad the whine is, the whine hasn't fully developed, or people are overreacting. You can choose which one you think is the case - I'll stop speculating right there. The whine that I experience is intermittent and not annoying unless you are in a DEAD silent room. If either the air condition OR the television is one when I'm using the laptop I can't even notice it.
But enough of the laptop's problems - I didn't want to be another person that comes on to complain about his laptop. The reality is that it's a fantastic machine - better than I had expected. My other Mac is a dual 2.7 PowerMac G5. Clearly the standards for performance are set pretty high, especially as that was my first Mac and I've never known anything else (specifically, anything SLOWER). The honest truth is that I don't notice my MacBook (the dual 2.0 with the 5200 rpm hard drive, by the way) being any slower. I haven't tried it for anything really intensive yet (I don't wish to use Photoshop with Rosetta unless I absolutely have to, I've got the PM for that, or I'll just install Windows). There are occasions where I think to myself "hmm.. the PM would have done that a little bit faster", but other than those moments, this thing is blisteringly fast.
Battery life: It's hard for me to comment. I haven't really tested exactly how long the thing lasts, but I would guess it's anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours. Confusingly, after I calibrated it, the amount of time it lasts actually seems to have gone down. I have no explanation for that.
Intel: most of the apps I use on a daily basis are Universal, but it has happened a few times that I'll totally forget to check whether the app is universal or not. So far the only apps that aren't universal are also apps that don't work with Rosetta, so I have yet to fully test Rosetta's capabilities. The longer I don't have to the better, as far as I'm concerned.
In general: fantastic machine. I certainly didn't expect to own a Rev A Apple computer, but I don't regret it for a second. This thing is gorgeous.. the screen is so bright, the speakers are pretty good. And on top of that, it'll keep me nice and warm in winter (ha ha). Honestly though, if anyone is on the fence, I'd go for it. Maybe I got lucky to only have one real issue whereas others have had more, but once you start using the machine for any amount of time you'll quickly forget about its quirks. I can't believe this thing is a notebook - it is truly a desktop replacer.
Once I can get my hands on a student copy of Windows XP I'll test Boot Camp and a demanding computer game to see how the video card is.
Previously I was one of the people that was holding out for a smaller laptop, but I eventually concluded that I wanted the resolution of a 15" screen. Also, my friend had a 15" PowerBook and I realized that it really isn't as unportable as I thought. So, like I said, I just randomly decided to go buy one in the store. I had to have it there and then.
When I got to the store I specifically asked my "genius" about the alleged 'revisions'. Although he didn't confirm or deny whether any such revisions have taken place (and I'm still skeptical to this day that they have), he told me that I shouldn't worry about getting an old laptop. According to the serial it was built on the 9th week of 2006... I'm guessing that wouldn't be too high up the 'Rev' list that some people have been pushing, but I don't really believe in the revisions anyways.
The known problems that my laptop has: the heat and the whine. The heat is by far the most noticable one.. as soon as that thing has been plugged in for more than a few minutes it becomes ridiculously hot. If I run it on battery it's slightly less hot, but still ridiculous. Is it so bad that I can't use it? No.. I've gotten used to it.. it's kind of annoying to use such a warm keyboard, and you certainly can't have it sitting on bare legs for extended periods of time, but whatever.. it's a beautiful machine.
The second problem is the whine. Photo booth fixes it. However, I've either gotten lucky with how bad the whine is, the whine hasn't fully developed, or people are overreacting. You can choose which one you think is the case - I'll stop speculating right there. The whine that I experience is intermittent and not annoying unless you are in a DEAD silent room. If either the air condition OR the television is one when I'm using the laptop I can't even notice it.
But enough of the laptop's problems - I didn't want to be another person that comes on to complain about his laptop. The reality is that it's a fantastic machine - better than I had expected. My other Mac is a dual 2.7 PowerMac G5. Clearly the standards for performance are set pretty high, especially as that was my first Mac and I've never known anything else (specifically, anything SLOWER). The honest truth is that I don't notice my MacBook (the dual 2.0 with the 5200 rpm hard drive, by the way) being any slower. I haven't tried it for anything really intensive yet (I don't wish to use Photoshop with Rosetta unless I absolutely have to, I've got the PM for that, or I'll just install Windows). There are occasions where I think to myself "hmm.. the PM would have done that a little bit faster", but other than those moments, this thing is blisteringly fast.
Battery life: It's hard for me to comment. I haven't really tested exactly how long the thing lasts, but I would guess it's anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours. Confusingly, after I calibrated it, the amount of time it lasts actually seems to have gone down. I have no explanation for that.
Intel: most of the apps I use on a daily basis are Universal, but it has happened a few times that I'll totally forget to check whether the app is universal or not. So far the only apps that aren't universal are also apps that don't work with Rosetta, so I have yet to fully test Rosetta's capabilities. The longer I don't have to the better, as far as I'm concerned.
In general: fantastic machine. I certainly didn't expect to own a Rev A Apple computer, but I don't regret it for a second. This thing is gorgeous.. the screen is so bright, the speakers are pretty good. And on top of that, it'll keep me nice and warm in winter (ha ha). Honestly though, if anyone is on the fence, I'd go for it. Maybe I got lucky to only have one real issue whereas others have had more, but once you start using the machine for any amount of time you'll quickly forget about its quirks. I can't believe this thing is a notebook - it is truly a desktop replacer.
Once I can get my hands on a student copy of Windows XP I'll test Boot Camp and a demanding computer game to see how the video card is.
