Disappointed by the Macbook Pro: my experience

[student_trap]

Ok so I know that you guys are going to flare up over this, but hear me out:

I’ll start with the background. Nearly a year ago I switched from an old 550mhz Gateway PC running win 98 to a G4 Powerbook 1.5 Ghz running 10.3.7. I was ecstatic, and loved every element of my mac. If anyone ever asked me what ‘puter to buy, I would give a single reply: Macintosh.

In January this year though, things altered a little, the MBP came out, and like most others, I just wanted one. I had been looking at the magsafe powerconnector, the built in isight, and had been blinded by apple marketing. This is of course, until last weekend.

A Couple of weeks ago I switched my girlfriend from an old Toshiba laptop to a MBP. Rightly, she was over the moon, and my eyes turned a little green.

The first time I got to use the machine was over the weekend, and I have to say, it was a BIG disappointment.

Starting with the initial impact; when closed, the screen and the main part of the MBP were not directly parallel, but the screen seemed to rise up on one side. Next, the keyboard seemed to be a little more raised on one side than the other. Also, it ran so hot while idle, that it made my 12in powerbook feel cool - no easy feat! Becoming a little more picky, I didn’t like the reflective “Macbook Pro” sign under the display, compared to my powerbook’s matt “powerbook” sign, it seemed a little tacky. Finally, for all the macgsafe’s functionality (which was seriously impressive), it seemed a little dull due to the small status indicator light, not nearly as cool as the circular ring of light on the G4 power cables.

Now don’t get me wrong, this machine is awesome. The screen is something to behold - so crisp and bright, the isight is marvellous (much better now its built in) and it is faster (although for day to day tasks, its not that different). Also, none of the problems described above have any real impact on the machine technically, and indeed, this is a superior machine. The problem is, it just doesn’t feel as though it lives up to the hype.

The point is, I feel, that before the weekend I was looking to upgrading my powerbook, simply because of the hype and my marketing fuelled desire to own one, whereas now I’ve seen it in reality, I see it as a laptop void of its previous charm, and indeed, for a £1800 ‘puter (my girlfriend bought the high-end model), I expected more in terms of its build quality (uneven display/keyboard etc).

To conclude, I am very excited of what may come over the next year or two thanks to the switch to intel. And the current MBP’s are super machines technically. However given the choice at the moment, I’d take my final revision PPC powerbook any day, its slower, granted, but it just feels more solid. The MBP just doesn’t seem like the ‘step-up’ I assumed it would be, I’m sure in time it will be something to behold, but at the moment, I’d only upgrade if I was seriously out of date (like my girlfriend used to be).

Thankyou for reading, please add your comments,

Student_trap


P.S. I’m not sure how relevant this is, but I was chatting to a couple of Genius’ at the apple store on Saturday for about half an hour (for some reason they weren’t as busy as usual), and they said that they on the whole felt similarly, and that they will continue to use G4 powerbooks behind the Genius bar for a while yet.

 

[brikeh]

I too had the chance to play around with a MBP at my local Apple store and it didnt blow me away, the screen was georgeous tho! I noticed the whinning noise(annoying!!) but it didnt seem hot or anything like that.

 

[the Helix]

...

Me too.

Back in late January, I so wanted to buy the MacBook Pro to replace my trusty ol' TiBook 1Ghz. But after I calmed down from the marketing perspective and all of the enthusiasm that I felt from reading so many reviews about the MB Pro, but after actually using the machine (my older brother purchased the 2 Ghz model), and believe me it is a sweet notebook! - anyway, after using it, I still opted for the Hi-Res last revision PowerBook.

Realistically, for the actual work that I have to do now, the PB is more useful for me now. Oh, but I wish that it would run as fast as a MB Pro! But no matter how much I want the MB Pro and tried my best to convince myself to buy it, I realized that I just cannot reliably run all the apps that I need on it. And the ones that do run, sooner or later usually had some anomaly in its functioning.

I will surely purchase a MB Pro in about 2 or 3 years, but for the moment, I am attached to my new Hi-Res PowerBook DL.

 

[portent]

"Rev. A"

I'd like to thank all of the MacBook buyers for having the courage to buy first-revision Apple hardware. Without your intrepidity and dedication, the bugs would never get worked out.

Still though...Apple had fit-and-finish issues with the first aluminum notebooks back in 2003. You'd think they'd have figured out how to build an aluminum shell without gaps by now.

 

[bogiesan]

G5Dual2G vs McBookPro for animation

to take a contrary POV, see this thread at creativecow.net Apple Motion forum. The author, Mr Wiggins, develops filters and effects for Final Cut and Motion:

http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=8&postid=887896

> In the red corner, A G5 Dual 2G with 4G of RAM installed, A Radeon X800XT, OS 10.4.5 and the UNIVERSAL installed PPC version of FCS.
In the blue corner a MacBookPro 2Ghz Intel Dual Core with 2G of RAM, OS 10.4.5 and the UNIVERSAL installed Intel version of FCS
I used two Motion templates from my template page as tests:- http://www.peterwiggins.com/motiondownload.htm
Each downloaded of my website and run for the first time on BOTH machines.
Now for the science and I hope you are siting down.
Filmstrip template
G5 plays at minimum 17/18 FPS RAM preview took 15 seconds
MBP plays at minimum 23 FPS RAM preview took 14 seconds

Motion Wars template 300frames
G5 plays at minimum 2, max 4 FPS RAM preview took 1 minute 26 seconds
MBP plays at minimum 3, max 8 FPS RAM preview took 54 seconds!!!!

I thought the Radeon was meant to be a beefy card!!!!!
<

david boise ID

 

[lamina]

I agree. I am not impressed at all with the MBP. Of course the built-in iSight is awesome, and the processor is fast (in benchmarks anyway), there wasn't anything about it that totally blew me away. The screen is nice, but I don't notice much of a brightness screen between the MBP and my 17" PB.

There is a lot of hype and marketing around this machine. I see the wonder and magic in customers' eyes as they behold the MBP, but I really believe that it is over-hyped.

 

[cfd954]

I used to be a big windows user up until 2003, since then I have jumped back and forth between mac and pc quite a few times but it always seems that I end up back with a mac. With that in mind in the beginning of January of 2006 I made the switch from a very poorly built dell computer back to Mac where I intend to stay. I went to my local apple store and got the latest revision 15" Powerbook G4 after I decided that it had enough enhancements over the 12" powerbook that I had loved before to warrant the extra cash. I had that unit for a week when they introduced the MacBook Pro and I was overjoyed by the screen, front row and much faster processor and I quickly returned my powerbook and bought the MacBook Pro. I have now had my MacBook for a month and a half. The first one that I got had the screen and processor whine, so I returned it at a local store and got one that thankfully only had a processor whine. To make a long story short I have decided though that it is time to move on from the macbook, while it may have some advantages over the older powerbooks it does not exibit the stability that I have always loved about apple products. The MacBook Pro is a great laptop however it needs some time to have alot of quality control issues worked out so I am switiching to a 12" Powerbook and awaiting the arrival of the 12" or 13.3" MacBook Pro where hopefully the kinks have been worked out and apple again lives up to my high expectations.

 

[Koodauw]

Would you like some cheese?

The MPB is not perfect. It has some minor imperfections, so what. I think you should be complaining about how you fell for the marketing hype instead of the imperfections.

 

[dmw007]

Would you like some cheese?

Depends on the type of whine...er, I mean wine.

Seriously though, you raise some interesting points in your post student_trap.

That said, its getting harder and harder for me to not want to buy a new intel Mac portable (preferably a new intel based iBook/MacBook when they get released. ).

 

[mmmcheese]

Would you like some cheese?
...

mmm...cheese...

 

[thegreatluke]

While I agree that the heat output of the MBP is an issue, the others seem like nitpicking. Sorry.

We could also be annoyed by how the screen isn't big enough and how the processor isn't 8 GHz

 

[bah-bah'd]

I'm not buying a freaking macbook till they come with iProjector standard that can handle a 12"-100" throw at switchable 16:10, 16:9, 5:4 and 4:5 aspect ratios. and I want to beable to multi monitor with it so the main display can be the desktop and I can project movies on the wall while I work.

 

[The Senator]

MacBook Pro

this is the best computer ever made period. nothing is ever perfect, there is not a single computer better then this one. It rips threw any UB app. It will also fry your eggs for you in the morning.(all you mbp owners know what I'm talking about) Lets see the pb do that. You can cry and whine all you want but this computer is the winner. It may not be perfect, but CHICKS seriously love this thing.

 

[chris y.]

I have to say I wasnt disappointed at all by the MBP when I got a chance to toy with it at the apple store. The issues regarding the buzzing and the flickering display I noticed on the display model were enough to postpone my purchase, but there was definitely a lot to like about the new laptop (amazing display, great speed, nice keyboard feel, and sleeker appearance).

I was actually shocked that it looked and felt much sleeker than my 1.25ghz PB even though the spec difference didnt seem that drastic. Overall I think its a great step up from the Powerbook because it offers improvements in almost every area.

 

[T-Stex]

Overall I think its a great step up from the Powerbook because it offers improvements in almost every area.

I'd agree that it's definitely a step up. I'd have to agree with the OP here, in saying that it isn't a machine that blows me away. Maybe I just had my hopes up after all the hype, and everyone going crazy here, I'm not sure.

I had a MacBook Pro on order, and cancelled it and went with a 12" PowerBook, at a savings of over $1000. After having the PowerBook for a little over two months now, and playing around with the MBP for a little bit, I have to say that I'm not dissapointed in my choice. Don't get me wrong, the MBP is a great machine, but I'm glad I didn't get caught up in the hype (maybe I'll save that for the next revision, or the MacBook).

 

[jadekitty24]

Holy crap guys give the kid a break! He didn't come here flaming did he? He stated his opinion, which around here takes big balls. Lighten up! I hear more whining coming from you guys than I do the OP.

 

[dylans]

aluminum

mine has the "one corner up on the lid" issue too. i just came from a Thinkpad... and this is my first Apple... and man, i was spoiled with the Thinkpad construction. it would nice if Apple could beef up the lid to computer connection.

otherwise, this computer is frickin' sweet, and it's the best laptop i've ever owned

 

[Peligro]

I just wanna say I am so glad that I didn't listen to any of the crying, complaining and nit picking that goes on any boards or reviews dealing with the MBP.

I am very happy with my MBP. Ive read people complaining about screen tilt, magsafe, and various noises. All where blown WAY out of proportion or to be put simply just an opinion.

My advice after this whole expierience to all you is to never buy anything. Just stick with your old outdated machines for the rest of your life.

laters.

 

[silence]

Peligro I couldn't be more with ya..

So many users are just whining and moping about the most little, nitpicky issues. OK.. so you're laptop has a whirring noise.. have you ever actually owned a computer that doesn't??

We really should all focus on the good things bout the product, not sit and sulk about irrelevant points that have nothing to do with workflow.

Yes, i have a spankin new MBP (Rev D), and have experienced NO issues whatsoever. It is generations ahead of my last machine, and it outperforms a lot even with Rosetta. It even outperforms my girlfriends' dual PowerMac G5 - and mines a LAPTOP! Cant wait to see what its capable of once apps are universal.

Also, if you bought a RevA, how could u not expect glitches? I couldn't be happier with mine. Looks and performance wise - pure sex....

 

[dornoforpyros]

damn some people are never gonna let apple forget that they never got a g5 powerbook

 

[brikeh]

I just wanna say I am so glad that I didn't listen to any of the crying, complaining and nit picking that goes on any boards or reviews dealing with the MBP.

I am very happy with my MBP. Ive read people complaining about screen tilt, magsafe, and various noises. All where blown WAY out of proportion or to be put simply just an opinion.

My advice after this whole expierience to all you is to never buy anything. Just stick with your old outdated machines for the rest of your life.

laters.

Your happy thats fine, good for you but some people are having REAL issues. Outdated machines? Wow...
If I had plunked down 2k on something that gives me a headache and doesnt look right when closed or whatever I wouldnt be in denial I´d be pissed.

 

[lamina]

MacBook Pro

this is the best computer ever made period. nothing is ever perfect, there is not a single computer better then this one. It rips threw any UB app. It will also fry your eggs for you in the morning.(all you mbp owners know what I'm talking about) Lets see the pb do that. You can cry and whine all you want but this computer is the winner. It may not be perfect, but CHICKS seriously love this thing.

Dood are you serious? You take pride in the fact that your computer gets hot enough to cook breakfast? We arent crying and whining, we'll leave the whining up to the MacBooks. Also, I don't know about other users experiences, but when I bust out my 17" PB, I turn quite a few heads.

 

[Roba]

I am glad that i didn't read these forums before i got my MBP because it would have just made me super paranoid about my Mac. I am sure that the majority of people who have bought one are very happy with their purchases.

My Mac is great and i love my MBP.
I don't have any problems with mine and i am so glad that i bought mine when i did.
This is the best machine that i have ever seen and used and it is really a joy for me to use. This is my first time of ever buying a Mac and i am sure that it will not be my last time after this positive experience.

 

[generik]

Dood are you serious? You take pride in the fact that your computer gets hot enough to cook breakfast? We arent crying and whining, we'll leave the whining up to the MacBooks. Also, I don't know about other users experiences, but when I bust out my 17" PB, I turn quite a few heads.

Do you want a good computer or a head turner?

If you need to turn heads so desperately I suggest some cosmetic surgery down there *cough cough*

Not only will it turn heads WHERE IT MATTERS, it is functionally useful too!

 

[Peligro]

Your happy thats fine, good for you but some people are having REAL issues. Outdated machines? Wow...
If I had plunked down 2k on something that gives me a headache and doesnt look right when closed or whatever I wouldnt be in denial I´d be pissed. Enjoy your frying pan.

I understand that people are having problems. But people still have problems with the powerbooks and Ipods of all generations. What I was trying to say is that alot of these issues are blown way out of the water. The tilt angle and the magsafe, The heat are all PERFECT examples of this. My MB is far from a frying pan. Yes it gets warm. But I don't think it gets any warmer then the last gen of powerbooks. Let's face it, everyone thinks the powerbook line has ended it really hasn't! MBP are the latest rev of the powerbooks! I would like to get past all these "complaining" posts one day and start having fun...