got your C2D MBP? please tell us....

[Mlebout]

17's coming...

More accurately, those of us who ordered 17" macbooks a scant few hours after the apple store reopened have had to sit here and listen to people who ordered on Oct 30th or so have their MBPs show up. Which is frustrating beyond all belief.

Unfortunately the apple stores here in the Bay Area don't have any 17's (and wont until at least Nov 10th, according to Palo Alto and Valley Fair anyway), so I'm resigned to waiting. I would really like to see a weekend ship date, as I am going out of town Nov 10th, and I have a bad feeling that's when my macbook will show up at work.

For what it's worth, I just spoke to an Apple rep., she stated that my 17" will ship on 6th or 7th. It has been a long wait... considering I, as I'm sure many of you, have also waited for the upgrade to the MBP C2D prior to my actual order. Should have it for next weekend (2 day shipping).

I suppose part of the excitement is the anticipation...

 

[DHagan4755]

Do ya think Apple will have worked out the issues with uneven display brightness in the 17's?

 

[vectormasked]

Thanks again Multimedia for everything.

Well I just got back from another dealer and got my 2nd macbook pro.

I at least went to the first store to make them sign a document stating that I am in fact getting a full refund for the defective laptop i got from there. They said the exchange of the refund for the laptop would be on monday or tuesday and they couldn't accept the laptop back until then.
Now i have to wait until tuesday to give them back the damn laptop and get my refund. Just hope they don't make things more difficult by now giving the refund despite having signed that document.

Right now I am a bit scared to open the box of this new macbook pro. What to do, what to do.....maybe i should wait a few more days until I do in fact get the refund, so that i can open this new box. Coz if I don't open it, at least i could return it without much problems since it would still be sealed.

 

[mak96795]

Easier to take, then receive back

Thanks again Multimedia for everything.

Well I just got back from another dealer and got my 2nd macbook pro.

I at least went to the first store to make them sign a document stating that I am in fact getting a full refund for the defective laptop i got from there. They said the exchange of the refund for the laptop would be on monday or tuesday and they couldn't accept the laptop back until then.
Now i have to wait until tuesday to give them back the damn laptop and get my refund. Just hope they don't make things more difficult by now giving the refund despite having signed that document.

Right now I am a bit scared to open the box of this new macbook pro. What to do, what to do.....maybe i should wait a few more days until I do in fact get the refund, so that i can open this new box. Coz if I don't open it, at least i could return it without much problems since it would still be sealed.

Since it's much easier for someone or company to take your money, than it is to return it. I would wait until the check is in the bank before touching the box. Just my 2 grand or cents

 

[mak96795]

fw 800 worthwhile?

You can hook any number of FW and/or USB2 HDs off your MBP and each shows up as a separate volume. Easiest & Cheapest way to build them is to buy big ones raw from Fry's - 400GB are only $100 each on sale days - and buy the FW/USB2 cases for around $40 each - I like Acomdata Brand and put the raw drive inside - very easy to do yourself.

1. Hook it up
2. turn it on
3. you will get a dialog box asking you if you want to initialize it...
4. click on the "Initialize..." button
5. that launches Disk Utility automatically
6. click on the unmounted drive icon below your system volume in the left column
7. click on the "Erase" Pane Title
8. Volume Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
9. you name it anything you like
10. Press the ERASE button and in a few moments it mounts on your desktop as a separate volume ready for use.

NOTE: Always Unmount and Power Down before unplugging them from your Mac. You could lose all your data if you spontaneously unplug a FW drive from your Mac while its still mounted and powered on.

Retrospect Express HD 2.0 Backup Software is available from EMC and everywhere for $50 or less.

will getting an enclosure with FW 800 be worthwhile, often 10-30 bucks more than just usb 2.0/fw 400
how much faster will the 800 be? I assume it'll also depend on drive speed.

 

[Daverinfl]

will getting an enclosure with FW 800 be worthwhile, often 10-30 bucks more than just usb 2.0/fw 400
how much faster will the 800 be? I assume it'll also depend on drive speed.

From my experience with FW devices (pre-amps/analog-digital converters) you're not going to notice a difference connecting one drive up by FW800 vs. 400. Firewire is a great interface, and totally backwards compatable so I don't see why you can't plug a FW400 HD into your 800 port in the MBP. From what I've heard FW800 is great for running a series of devices all at high speeds but won't affect things much with just one device.

If someone is more knowledgable, please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[MichaelLatta]

From my experience with FW devices (pre-amps/analog-digital converters) you're not going to notice a difference connecting one drive up by FW800 vs. 400. Firewire is a great interface, and totally backwards compatable so I don't see why you can't plug a FW400 HD into your 800 port in the MBP. From what I've heard FW800 is great for running a series of devices all at high speeds but won't affect things much with just one device.

If someone is more knowledgable, please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you are running a single drive enclosure you would have trouble maxing out FW400. If on the other hand you are using a 10,000RPM PMR disk you might manage it. Or, if you are using an external RAID disk you will want FW800. For example the LaCie Bigger Disk Extreme is internally a RAID 0 array in one enclosure and can sustain transfer rates higher than FW400 can sustain.

 

[DHagan4755]

Multimedia and everyone interested in the topic of the MBP having uneven illumination...

These pictures aren't the greatest but they give you a pretty good idea. I took these pictures with the camera in the perspective of where my eyes are looking toward the display. The top picture is the MacBook Pro, the second picture below that is of the Power Book G4 Rev. C 1.5GHz 17" display. Yeah, the PB G4 is dimmer but it's brightness is evenly dispersed.

And the view I see when the MBP is in my lap. The uneven illumination becomes far more apparent because I cannot open the display any more in my lap.

I don't think that the difference between matte and glossy matters with respect to even illumination. My is a matte display. I have seen a 17-inch glossy display (at a conference a few weeks ago) and it also had that 17-inch blotchy display syndrome that I experienced when I got one of the first 17's back after NAB in April of this year.

The impact this has on my eyes is straining. I say astigmatism, but I guess it could analogous to when you look through the viewfinder of a camera with the other eye open in a dark room. When you go to look at other things you feel like there's a hole in your right eye. It's hard to explain...

 

[joejoejoe]

Just got mine today... WOOO!!

I'm loving it.

Now all i gotta do is transfer alll my music.... and pictures.....

and i can't get my frickin airport express to work with my internet AND speakers at the same time!

Besides all that, its blazing fast and I AM LOVING IT.

 

[Clydefrog]

on mine its kinda-uneven, but when i look at the dimmer places at a different angle they are bright, but overall not at all really noticable

 

[QurazyQuisp]

This is weird... Fedex said it missed the cutoff, but I just checked again and it says it has arrived in alaska... Maybe I'll get it Monday after all...

Mine shipped out today... but it's already in alaska... My bet is the latest I'll recieve it is tuesday...

 

[njp142]

Can someone with a Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 120 GB hard drive let me know if their's is giving off a "Geiger counter" sound?

This is actually my second C2D MBP (the first one had a Fujitsu drive) and this one makes much more noise (but it would probably be normal volume level non-Apple machines) when accessing data.

 

[daneoni]

Yup mine is uneven as well, its time like this i miss my G4. The display isnt as bright but it was even and un-grainy (no "organic" look)

Mine basically feels like someone painted a think grey L on it. In other words. the left side and bottom area are dark and its quite visible. Not grossly but visible nonetheless. Sigh, its a great machine but the little niggles......

 

[funjon]

For what it's worth, I just spoke to an Apple rep., she stated that my 17" will ship on 6th or 7th. It has been a long wait... considering I, as I'm sure many of you, have also waited for the upgrade to the MBP C2D prior to my actual order. Should have it for next weekend (2 day shipping).

I suppose part of the excitement is the anticipation...

I've been waiting since mid September, yeah, it's been long.

The 6th will be good, that should get it here before I go out of town.

 

[Better2bRed]

Power supply

I asked in a earlier posting if I could use my MB cable to charge my MBP. Someone said yes and someone else said that the wattage difference could cause problems over time. Would this still be the case if the MBP was in sleep mode and the charger was only charging the battery? Would it damage to battery?

Can anyone help.

 

[5150 Joker]

New 3DMark06 score with the X1600 at 520/530:

3DMark05 score with the X1600 at 510/520:

 

[Multimedia]

FW800 Box Is Worth It

will getting an enclosure with FW 800 be worthwhile, often 10-30 bucks more than just usb 2.0/fw 400
how much faster will the 800 be? I assume it'll also depend on drive speed.

Yes. The transfers from inside out will be much faster - theoretically twice as fast. Only buy 400GB Seagate ATA/100 7200rpm with 16MB Buffers at Fry's on sale for $100 when you WAIT for the sale NOT now. Are you in a Fry's market? Where are you? Black Friday is less tahn 3 weeks away now. So be patient.

NOTE to Newbies: Please put your location in your CP so it appears with your name in your posts.

 

[miniguu]

Can someone with a Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 120 GB hard drive let me know if their's is giving off a "Geiger counter" sound?

This is actually my second C2D MBP (the first one had a Fujitsu drive) and this one makes much more noise (but it would probably be normal volume level non-Apple machines) when accessing data.

I have a 120GB Hitachi, and I don't hear any such noise from my HD...in fact no noise at all, apart from the "winding up" sound on startup/wake, and that sound is a lot softer than the one my 12" PB makes.

 

[T0mmyGunZ]

You can hook any number of FW and/or USB2 HDs off your MBP and each shows up as a separate volume. Easiest & Cheapest way to build them is to buy big ones raw from Fry's - 400GB are only $100 each on sale days - and buy the FW/USB2 cases for around $40 each - I like Acomdata Brand and put the raw drive inside - very easy to do yourself.

1. Hook it up
2. turn it on
3. you will get a dialog box asking you if you want to initialize it...
4. click on the "Initialize..." button
5. that launches Disk Utility automatically
6. click on the unmounted drive icon below your system volume in the left column
7. click on the "Erase" Pane Title
8. Volume Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
9. you name it anything you like
10. Press the ERASE button and in a few moments it mounts on your desktop as a separate volume ready for use.

NOTE: Always Unmount and Power Down before unplugging them from your Mac. You could lose all your data if you spontaneously unplug a FW drive from your Mac while its still mounted and powered on.

Retrospect Express HD 2.0 Backup Software is available from EMC and everywhere for $50 or less.

thanks for the info. still a little confused. ive been a long time windows user but i think im ready to switch for a MBP. i never needed external hard drives with my PC's and probaly wont with my MBP. but when you say the drive will popup on my desktop does that mean the MBP will consider the external and laptop all one big drive? isnt that the most optimal for it to be considered all one big drive?


sorry if i rambled. thanks for all the info

 

[SLAPSHOTW]

I asked in a earlier posting if I could use my MB cable to charge my MBP. Someone said yes and someone else said that the wattage difference could cause problems over time. Would this still be the case if the MBP was in sleep mode and the charger was only charging the battery? Would it damage to battery?

Can anyone help.

You can use the MacBook charger to charge the MBP even while it's running. There is definitely an Apple knowledge base article on this topic-- I'll try to find it a bit later.

 

[poppe]

New 3DMark06 score with the X1600 at 520/530:

3DMark05 score with the X1600 at 510/520:

My ignorance shows: What does all this mean?

 

[SLAPSHOTW]

isnt that the most optimal for it to be considered all one big drive?

The problem with setting it up like this is that if you RAID them into one big drive, your computer will need both drives present to work. This is a problem on a laptop; you'll need to bring that same external everywhere you go.

If I were you I'd keep the laptop's internal harddrive its own partition/unit, and then partition the external as you wish. You can even get a second external and RAID your two externals, but there are large external drives/enclosures that essentially do this for you (I believe LaCie sells such a unit).

-Matt

 

[wildmac]

Multimedia and everyone interested in the topic of the MBP having uneven illumination...

These pictures aren't the greatest but they give you a pretty good idea. I took these pictures with the camera in the perspective of where my eyes are looking toward the display. The top picture is the MacBook Pro, the second picture below that is of the Power Book G4 Rev. C 1.5GHz 17" display. Yeah, the PB G4 is dimmer but it's brightness is evenly dispersed.



And the view I see when the MBP is in my lap. The uneven illumination becomes far more apparent because I cannot open the display any more in my lap.

I don't think that the difference between matte and glossy matters with respect to even illumination. My is a matte display. I have seen a 17-inch glossy display (at a conference a few weeks ago) and it also had that 17-inch blotchy display syndrome that I experienced when I got one of the first 17's back after NAB in April of this year.

The impact this has on my eyes is straining. I say astigmatism, but I guess it could analogous to when you look through the viewfinder of a camera with the other eye open in a dark room. When you go to look at other things you feel like there's a hole in your right eye. It's hard to explain...

Crikey!! This looks like a deal-breaker for me. I went to Pasadena CA Apple store today, looking at the 17 MBPCD, and the uneven illumination was very obvious. I was going to go look at another Apple store, but it sounds like this is a common problem. If I get a 17" I'm going to be using it for photo-editing and design work, so I can't have it unven like that. Guess I may jsut get a black MB and use it for my basic traveling needs.

 

[Multimedia]

All Drives Appear Separately As Themselves

thanks for the info. still a little confused. ive been a long time windows user but i think im ready to switch for a MBP. i never needed external hard drives with my PC's and probaly wont with my MBP. but when you say the drive will popup on my desktop does that mean the MBP will consider the external and laptop all one big drive? isnt that the most optimal for it to be considered all one big drive?

I don't understand what the problem is. No they appear as separate drives. Each one you add to a chain of FW drives or multiple USB2 drives via USB2 hub(s) appears separately. That is totally logical. I dont' understand why you find that weird.

 

[iBorg20181]

This is weird... Fedex said it missed the cutoff, but I just checked again and it says it has arrived in alaska... Maybe I'll get it Monday after all...

Mine shipped out today... but it's already in alaska... My bet is the latest I'll recieve it is tuesday...

Absolutely! Mine arrived here in Minnesota the day after arriving in Alaska (in the am). Since tomorrow is Sunday, you should get it Monday - good luck! You're gonna love it!

iBorg