Best Macbook Pro Setup

[freestyleguy128]

Ok...I will be getting a Macbook Pro as soon as the merom chip is released and I want some input from anyone in this forum. What do you think is the best way to set up a mbp for desk use. A wireless kb and mouse...just a mouse...a stande...etc. Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Apple Corps]

Ok...I will be getting a Macbook Pro as soon as the merom chip is released and I want some input from anyone in this forum. What do you think is the best way to set up a mbp for desk use. A wireless kb and mouse...just a mouse...a stande...etc. Any input is greatly appreciated!

Desk use for doing what?????

 

[freestyleguy128]

Desk use for doing what?????

I need a laptop so that I can take my computer to school, but when I am at home, I want to use it as I would a desktop.

 

[jaxstate]

On the bed with a nice fluffy pillow. I've yet to use my MBP on my desk at home.

 

[Josias]

Simple, yet cool and nice:
A MBP, preferrably 15" and a BT Mighty Mouse. 15" to not make it look too big, and the 17" not as portable for school as the 15". On a small wooden desk, either natural wooden color, or white as the tables in Apple stores. You have very few wires. If you can, avoid external speakers, get some good quality Sennheiser headphones if needed. MBP speakers are great BTW. If possible, have just the MagSafe cord running out from the MBP. Get a nice modern lamp, preferrably with some brushed glass as cover, and brushed steel for the stand. The lamp is just to make it look nice, the MBP has backlit KB and an extremely bright screen (get a glossy one). Don't get a mousemat. Though it makes a sound while the mouse moves over the table, it looks so much nicer/cleaner. A nice black chair, not too big and focused and comfort, yet more to fit in with the cleaniness of the excisting setup. Remove any papertrays, tools or other objects from the desk. It's just you, your MBP, your mouse, and possibly a lamp for decoration, not for lighting.

Advanced, yet cool and nice:
Pretty much the same as above, except a few changes. The desk must be very large. There must be much space leftover. You need a 23" ACD, and a Apple BT KB, NO iCurve FFS! No iCurve! The MBP is on the left side of the ACD, with mouse and KB directly in front of the ACD, at a comfortable distance to the display. The MBP is used for iTunes and windows not in use. ACD used for main tasks. The MBP placed at a slightly crooked angle, whatever you prefer. The chair must be a bit beefier and comfier, yet not too big, it must not steal the Apple products thunder. You place these speakers a the ACD, with the subwofer UNDER the table, gives better sound, and look better. You still try to hide cables and any other objets that may smudge the cleaniness of the setup. You may wanna wire them to the desk. iGary has this way with cables and wired, he's very good at it. Perhaps you should PM him and ask him for advice.

This is IMO the two perfect MBP setups.

 

[freestyleguy128]

Simple, yet cool and nice:
A MBP, preferrably 15" and a BT Mighty Mouse. 15" to not make it look too big, and the 17" not as portable for school as the 15". On a small wooden desk, either natural wooden color, or white as the tables in Apple stores. You have very few wires. If you can, avoid external speakers, get some good quality Sennheiser headphones if needed. MBP speakers are great BTW. If possible, have just the MagSafe cord running out from the MBP. Get a nice modern lamp, preferrably with some brushed glass as cover, and brushed steel for the stand. The lamp is just to make it look nice, the MBP has backlit KB and an extremely bright screen (get a glossy one). Don't get a mousemat. Though it makes a sound while the mouse moves over the table, it looks so much nicer/cleaner. A nice black chair, not too big and focused and comfort, yet more to fit in with the cleaniness of the excisting setup. Remove any papertrays, tools or other objects from the desk. It's just you, your MBP, your mouse, and possibly a lamp for decoration, not for lighting.

Advanced, yet cool and nice:
Pretty much the same as above, except a few changes. The desk must be very large. There must be much space leftover. You need a 23" ACD, and a Apple BT KB, NO iCurve FFS! No iCurve! The MBP is on the left side of the ACD, with mouse and KB directly in front of the ACD, at a comfortable distance to the display. The MBP is used for iTunes and windows not in use. ACD used for main tasks. The MBP placed at a slightly crooked angle, whatever you prefer. The chair must be a bit beefier and comfier, yet not too big, it must not steal the Apple products thunder. You place these speakers a the ACD, with the subwofer UNDER the table, gives better sound, and look better. You still try to hide cables and any other objets that may smudge the cleaniness of the setup. You may wanna wire them to the desk. iGary has this way with cables and wired, he's very good at it. Perhaps you should PM him and ask him for advice.

This is IMO the two perfect MBP setups.

Wow...thanks...I already have a desk and black chair So do you think I need a keyboard or just use the one on the MBP with a bluetooth mouse? Also...I will be gaming so I want to get a mouse from radtech cuz they are supposed to be great.

 

[musicalmcs8706]

Wow...thanks...I already have a desk and black chair So do you think I need a keyboard or just use the one on the MBP with a bluetooth mouse? Also...I will be gaming so I want to get a mouse from radtech cuz they are supposed to be great.

The MBP keyboard is really nice, but I have a full size keyboard that is great as it's curved so my hands fit better. Plus it has the numberpad and the extra media buttons. However I'm an organist/pianist, so I'm extremely careful of my wrists as I don't want to hurt them.

 

[poppe]

I'm getting an iCurve for my setup for sure... To me it makes the thing just look beautiful.

If you can get an iCurve and a 30 ACD man... with BT keyboard and mouse... talk about sexy...

 

[rickvanr]

My personal preference is just a mouse.

 

[Temujin]

MBP speakers are great BTW.

I totally disagree. Check out this clip http://www.temujin.dk/speakers.mov

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

I'm going to college, so I recently picked up a 15" Macbook Pro and I've made some upgrades since its purchase...

For one, I invested in a 20.1" widescreen ViewSonic LCD Monitor (it's a fantastic monitor, especially for the price) - I like using my Macbook Pro while it's closed, although sometimes I open it to have two displays running simultaneously...

Next, I picked up an iCurve - I think it's a must, not only to keep the Macbook Pro cool (temperature-wise) but also for cleanliness/coolness factor .

Eventually, I purchased some Soundsticks II and a Bluetooth Mighty Mouse/Keyboard as well. I've got a universal iPod dock too, to keep that looking nice. I'll post some pictures once I move into my college apartment.

Good luck with the purchase! Let us know what happens!

 

[david06]

Apple wired keyboard. I have to plug other stuff in by USB anyway so there's no reason to deal with batteries for a keyboard.

Logitech MX1000. Tried the Apple Bluetooth mouse. It's typical of a bad Apple product. It sacrifices any sort of function for its form. I was tempted to throw it against a wall but gently turned it off and set it aside instead. Tried the Mighty Mouse, it's pretty nice, but the scrollball gets clogged. Nothing compares to the MX1000.

iCurve to bring the computer to the level of the external display + keep it cool.

Dell 2405/2407 display (don't have this, but want one and might be getting one soon.) Unless you're loaded, then get an ACD. They're pretty but overpriced.

External speakers. Klipsch 2.1 in my case and they're great.

As of now, gigabit connection to a 1.5TB RAID5 server in my basement. Going to college soon so probably will be replaced with 1 or 2 500GB external drives. But some sort of external storage is nice to have.

 

[poppe]

I totally disagree. Check out this clip http://www.temujin.dk/speakers.mov

I've heard mixed reviews about the speakers, but mostly that they are great. Not the best and something about Alienware still dominating or something.

Inregards to this link. Please explain... Why does this show the MBP has bad speakers?

For one. It got pretty loud to me.
and Two. What kind of camera/microphone were they using. I can take my bose couple grand sound system, and use my 200 cannon to record the sound and it sounds like an orginal atari... So it doesn't really much make sense to me, so can you explain?

 

[david06]

No matter how good a laptop's speakers are, they still have no hope of competing with good external speakers. If you're planning to have s setup with external mouse/keyboard/monitor/whatever why not have real speakers as well?

 

[poppe]

No matter how good a laptop's speakers are, they still have no hope of competing with good external speakers. If you're planning to have s setup with external mouse/keyboard/monitor/whatever why not have real speakers as well?

Oh yeah that is very true, I'm just curious to the validity behind MBP's speakers Suck.

But on a ultimate MBP setup there is no doubt you need External Speakers.

 

[Temujin]

I've heard mixed reviews about the speakers, but mostly that they are great. Not the best and something about Alienware still dominating or something.

Inregards to this link. Please explain... Why does this show the MBP has bad speakers?

For one. It got pretty loud to me.
and Two. What kind of camera/microphone were they using. I can take my bose couple grand sound system, and use my 200 cannon to record the sound and it sounds like an orginal atari... So it doesn't really much make sense to me, so can you explain?

If you have access to a MBP it makes sense. Try "Vicky" or any other voices in Speech. Use the internal speakers and a set of headphones or whatever and compare. The test makes the crappy quality of the speakers very noticeable. The sound is all distorted and resonates through the case.
The poor quality is less noticeable when listening to treble intensive music and very noticeable when listening to music with plenty of bass.
These speakers just can't handle bass, especially at a higher volume setting.


I did the recording with my Sony HC90E Handycam which is very capable of recording audio.

 

[Killyp]

I don't get quite the same level of distortion on my MBP, but I have noticed the same kind of thing...

Going back to the OP:

Keep it simple! Simple is beautiful!!!

I use no external mice or keyboards, only external speakers and a printer. Check out my setup in the 18 & Under setups thread in the Picture Gallery.

 

[Josias]

Well, if you want a cool setup, I'dadvise you to go with either the big package, or just the MBP with a BT MM.