Disappointed with Macbook Pro

[hkriffraff]

I recently upgraded from my 15" 1.25ghz G4 Powerbook with 1Gig RAM to a 15" 2Ghz Macbook Pro with 512MB RAM.

The MBP has a brighter screen, better speakers, better backlighting and the iSight. But in practice, it seems a tad slower -- or at least no faster than the powerbook. I typically have Mail, Safari, Adium, Skype, iTunes and a bunch of widgets open. There is occasionally some lag with dashboard and with placing my cursor on new apps. I know I have less ram, but even so, I had really expected this machine to be a much faster one.

And as I whined about in a past post, I have so far not been able to install Windows XP on this machine, which was my main incentive to upgrade (I can use bootcamp to partition and then load the Windows setup CD, but when I'm prompted to hit enter to continue with the setup, it doesn't seem to register any response). Can't get past this and Apple doesn't provide support.

Can it be that Rosetta is slowing down the machine drastically? And is it common not to be able to install XP?

 

[yellow]

1) you need more RAM.
2) there is typically a lag time after hitting Enter and the WinXP installer doing anything.. are you being patient?

 

[Clix Pix]

I recently upgraded from my 15" 1.25ghz G4 Powerbook with 1Gig RAM to a 15" 2Ghz Macbook Pro with 512MB RAM.

The MBP has a brighter screen, better speakers, better backlighting and the iSight. But in practice, it seems a tad slower -- or at least no faster than the powerbook. I typically have Mail, Safari, Adium, Skype, iTunes and a bunch of widgets open. There is occasionally some lag with dashboard and with placing my cursor on new apps. I know I have less ram, but even so, I had really expected this machine to be a much faster one.

And as I whined about in a past post, I have so far not been able to install Windows XP on this machine, which was my main incentive to upgrade (I can use bootcamp to partition and then load the Windows setup CD, but when I'm prompted to hit enter to continue with the setup, it doesn't seem to register any response). Can't get past this and Apple doesn't provide support.

Can it be that Rosetta is slowing down the machine drastically? And is it common not to be able to install XP?

Rosetta is very demanding of RAM; you need to install more RAM pronto, especially if you want to attempt to install Windoze. I have a 15' PB (rev e) with 2 GB RAM and a 15" MBP with 2 GB RAM. There is no question that the MBP is faster. The programs which are universal binary really zip along and even the programs which are running through Rosetta still move along at a fairly good clip. I have not installed Windoze and have no plans to do so. In your situation, since it in itself is very RAM-intensive, that is why Windoze is not even installing because there is insufficient RAM to do so.

Get more RAM. Your MBP will thank you.

 

[yellow]

In your situation, since it in itself is very RAM-intensive, that is why Windoze is not even installing because there is insufficient RAM to do so.

I'm not so sure that it true.

512MB is enough to install BootCamp & Windows XP.

 

[hkriffraff]

512MB is not enough RAM to install Windows?? I've hit enter at the Windows Setup Screen and waited for up to 20 minutes and still nothing happens. I've tried quitting as well and nothing happens either. It seems as though none of the keystrokes are being registered.

With the MBP, it sometimes feels a bit slow switching between Safari tabs. This is a universal binary program isn't it? And sometimes there's some lag getting a cursor to show on the Wikipedia or Dictionary widgets, for example.

 

[Collin973]

Ram would definitely be helpful. My 12" Powerbook has a little lag and it has 768 MB, but it's older so its understandable. I honestly think more ram would be helpful. The processor can only speed things up to what the memory can handle.

 

[SilentPanda]

Are "Enter" and "Return" two different keys on a Mac keyboard? You might try both the one on the numberpad and the one on the main part of the keyboard. It really shouldn't matter but... heck why not?

More RAM while nice won't help you install Windows. Do you know if the Windows disc is working at all? The media could be bad. Also keep in mind it has to be Windows XP Pro or Home Service Pack 2. Also read through the installation guide for Boot Camp in case you haven't to check to make sure you have everything in order.

http://images.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/pdf/Boot_Camp_Beta_Setup_Guide.pdf

 

[yellow]

Are "Enter" and "Return" two different keys on a Mac keyboard? You might try both the one on the numberpad and the one on the main part of the keyboard.

This is a MBP, so there's no numberpad.

512MB is not enough RAM to install Windows??

That is incorrect. 512MB is sufficient for WinXP.

 

[SilentPanda]

This is a MBP, so there's no numberpad.

Oh yeah... drat.

 

[yellow]

Did you try fn+Return?

 

[hkriffraff]

Just tried it again with fn+return... still no luck

 

[yellow]

<shrug>

Worked for my MBP.

Do the arrow keys work?

 

[Gwardys]

I don't belive it's a problem with your MBP as much as a bottleneck.

OS X is a ram beast.
The feel in the operating system explodes in difference from 512, to 1024, and even more when you max out at two gigs.

Point in case. You don't have enough ram to open all of those applications, at least without some delay.

 

[thegreatluke]

Maybe you could plug in an external USB keyboard and hit "enter" on that?

That is very weird.

 

[JBot]

512MB is not enough RAM to install Windows

Windows Professional/Home has a minimum requirement of 128MB. however, 64MB is still supported, itll just limit performance.
How much space is available on your harddrive?

 

[marchcapital]

I recently upgraded from my 15" 1.25ghz G4 Powerbook with 1Gig RAM to a 15" 2Ghz Macbook Pro with 512MB RAM.

The MBP has a brighter screen, better speakers, better backlighting and the iSight. But in practice, it seems a tad slower -- or at least no faster than the powerbook. I typically have Mail, Safari, Adium, Skype, iTunes and a bunch of widgets open. There is occasionally some lag with dashboard and with placing my cursor on new apps. I know I have less ram, but even so, I had really expected this machine to be a much faster one.

And as I whined about in a past post, I have so far not been able to install Windows XP on this machine, which was my main incentive to upgrade (I can use bootcamp to partition and then load the Windows setup CD, but when I'm prompted to hit enter to continue with the setup, it doesn't seem to register any response). Can't get past this and Apple doesn't provide support.

Can it be that Rosetta is slowing down the machine drastically? And is it common not to be able to install XP?

like everyone else said here so far you need more RAM!! i have 1GB in my MacBook and will be putting another 1GB in when i install parallels and XP.

If you buy a Ford F-250 and stick a 4 cylinder engine in it and expect it to tow the same as an F-150 with a V6 Turbo your going to be in for a surprise.

 

[Killyp]

For the windaz thing, did you try BOTH the enter keys? Don't forget there's one above the shift key (the big one), but also one next to the LEFT arrow...

 

[Xander562]

at what point exactly are you getting stuck at during the setup, please give us a list of things you have successfully done so far during the setup,

my gues is that you are hitting enter in while in the blue screen? look at teh bottom of your screen when you hit enter, it whould tell you what is going on i believe, if i remember correctly after you hit enter it could be loading windows, which takes a long time, be patient just let it run, it should work, installing windows takes a good hour and a half to two hours.

 

[mmmcheese]

Yeah, if you only have 512MB of memory...upgrade. I went to 2GB from 1GB and found a big improvement (especially when Rosetta apps are running).

The upgrade is highly recommended.

 

[Clix Pix]

I wouldn't dream of running ANY machine with only 512 GB RAM. I think Apple is being unrealistic to stlll be selling machines that have only that much as their base. RAM is crucial for running OS X, for running an intel machine with Rosetta, and Lord knows, for running Windoze....

Get more RAM.

 

[Demon Hunter]

I have a 1.83 GHz MacBook, and I'm also disappointed in the performance. But it's the RAM; I only have 512MB. These Intel processors need much, much more.

 

[mmmcheese]

I wouldn't dream of running ANY machine with only 512 GB RAM. I think Apple is being unrealistic to stlll be selling machines that have only that much as their base. RAM is crucial for running OS X, for running an intel machine with Rosetta, and Lord knows, for running Windoze....

Get more RAM.

GB huh?

 

[Clix Pix]

GB huh?

LOL! See, I'm so used to thinking big that I automatically typed "GB" instead of "MB!" It's been a while since I've had less than 2 GB RAM in any machine....

Thanks for catching that!

 

[mmmcheese]

LOL! See, I'm so used to thinking big that I automatically typed "GB" instead of "MB!" It's been a while since I've had less than 2 GB RAM in any machine....

Thanks for catching that!

Actually, I wouldn't mind a machine with 512GB of RAM in it...I'm having memory issues with some research I'm doing, and there doesn't seem to be any really good solution to reducing the memory needs. Sigh. Maybe Virginia Tech will want to donate their old XServe grid to me when new Intel based ones are released. Now if only they knew who I was....I doubt a random email asking for their computers for free would get me anywhere.

 

[hkriffraff]

Basically I have 50 GB free. I've installed Bootcamp and created a 20GB partition for windows, then I install the Windows installation CD and restart the computer. The blue Windows screen comes up and it spends about 5 minutes loading files. The it says:

"Welcome to Setup... This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows to run on your computer... - To set up Windows XP now, press Enter - To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery console, press R - To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3."

I've tried pressing both Enter keys, both together with "fn", pressing R and pressing F3. Nothing at all seems to happen. Can this really be resolved just by installing more RAM?