Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook questions

twoodcc

twoodcc

macrumors P6
Original poster
Feb 3, 2005
15,307
26
Right side of wrong
i was wondering how the wireless range was on the new macbook, especially compared to the G4 ibooks and powerbooks. i currently have the last G4 powerbook, and my girlfriend's Hp laptop has way better wireless range.

thanks in advance
 
twoodcc said:
i was wondering how the wireless range was on the new macbook, especially compared to the G4 ibooks and powerbooks. i currently have the last G4 powerbook, and my girlfriend's Hp laptop has way better wireless range.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

i guess you are talking about wireless internet (correct me if im wrong)...I use my MacBook in a my room which is about a living room and 2 walls from the Airport and i get full bars
 
razzmatazz said:
i guess you are talking about wireless internet (correct me if im wrong)...I use my MacBook in a my room which is about a living room and 2 walls from the Airport and i get full bars
Click to expand...

yes i'm talking about wireless internet. thank you for your response. after scrolling though several threads, i finally found that people are saying that the Macbook gets great wireless range. i would like more comparisions to the last PPC powerbook though.

Another quesion: what about the Macbook battery life? how long does it usually last?

Thanks in advance
 
Well for me, the macbook is GREAT...

The my 12'' PowerBook was only able to get 1 bar if it was on my desk, 2 bar if it was on my bed and was always disconnecting. The access point is downstairs and all the way across the house.

My macbook on the other hand is able to get between 3-4 bars, and never looses signal. I am VERY happy about that. :)
 
MacBooks should get much better AirPort reception than PowerBooks/MacBookPros just because they are not aluminium, but plastic.
 
razzmatazz said:
Mine lasts for about 4 hours with wireless internet going and bluetooth off
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply. what brightness setting do you use?

wako said:
Well for me, the macbook is GREAT...

The my 12'' PowerBook was only able to get 1 bar if it was on my desk, 2 bar if it was on my bed and was always disconnecting. The access point is downstairs and all the way across the house.

My macbook on the other hand is able to get between 3-4 bars, and never looses signal. I am VERY happy about that. :)
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply. good to know that it's better than the powerbooks

QCassidy352 said:
my macbook's reception is not noticably different from what my ibook G4 (last rev.) got.
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply. so it's similar to the ibook? everyone always said that the ibook got better reception than the powerbooks anyway. good to know that they are still better

eXan said:
MacBooks should get much better AirPort reception than PowerBooks/MacBookPros just because they are not aluminium, but plastic.
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply. that is true, i just didn't think it was that big of a deal. but i guess maybe it is
 
My mother's MacBook gets reception in any room in our house, including the basement and the back porch. The router is located in the front room and I haven't turned the power up from its standard minimal setting. I'm sure I could get reception from the garage or farther if I boosted the power.
 
ChrisWB said:
My mother's MacBook gets reception in any room in our house, including the basement and the back porch. The router is located in the front room and I haven't turned the power up from its standard minimal setting. I'm sure I could get reception from the garage or farther if I boosted the power.
Click to expand...

wow. that seems a lot better than my powerbook. it seems it goes down to 4 bars when i go to the next room in my house
 
My MacBook seems to pick up a few wireless networks my old iBook G4 misses, so I will say it's slightly better than that.

As for battery: I've worked twice for 3 1/2 - 4 hours with wireless internet and several applications open a couple of times (even running AirTunes). Screen brightness just over 50% (which is way brighter than my iBook ever was) and Bluetooth off.

All in all, I'm very happy with both wireless reception and battery life (and most other things about my MacBook). ;)
 
twoodcc said:
thanks for the reply. what brightness setting do you use?
Click to expand...

When i unplug it it sets it takes 3 bars off the brightness and i leave it at that or sometimes ill turn it all the way up
 
thanks for all the replies, it seems that the Macbook is the laptop i'm looking for, at least as far as portability.

so now, what about watching and possibly editing video in HD? is it possible?
 
twoodcc said:
so now, what about watching and possibly editing video in HD? is it possible?
Click to expand...
Watching: Sure.

Editing: iMovie HD is a part of iLife which is bundled with every new Mac. If you want a bit more power than you can always get Final Cut Express HD, and it has been reported that Final Cut Pro runs fine (although Motion which also is a part of Final Cut Studio, does not).
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
Watching: Sure.

Editing: iMovie HD is a part of iLife which is bundled with every new Mac. If you want a bit more power than you can always get Final Cut Express HD, and it has been reported that Final Cut Pro runs fine (although Motion which also is a part of Final Cut Studio, does not).
Click to expand...

ok, but does the intergrated graphics come into effect when editing, or just cpu? if cpu, then i'm sure it can handle it better than my G4 powerbook. but what about watching? better than the latest 15" G4 powerbook?
 
Odd side note: windows on my macbook picked up a couple wireless signals that osx did not.
 
twoodcc said:
ok, but does the intergrated graphics come into effect when editing, or just cpu? if cpu, then i'm sure it can handle it better than my G4 powerbook. but what about watching? better than the latest 15" G4 powerbook?
Click to expand...

No, rendering is done only by CPU (im not talking about RAM previews in Motion, which uses GPU to render)

Viewing? Also CPU. Sure there are some video cards that support hardware MPEG2 or HD decoding, but not on Mac.

BTW GMA is not that bad at 2D stuff, it just sucks at 3D
 
eXan said:
No, rendering is done only by CPU (im not talking about RAM previews in Motion, which uses GPU to render)

Viewing? Also CPU. Sure there are some video cards that support hardware MPEG2 or HD decoding, but not on Mac.

BTW GMA is not that bad at 2D stuff, it just sucks at 3D
Click to expand...

ok, so the macbook will be fine at making movies with iMovie, dvds with iDVD, and so forth? compared to the MBP?

MattyMac said:
My mom has a macbook and I have a powerbook and she picks up networks that I dont :eek:
Click to expand...

good to know, cuz i have a powerbook and my wireless range is terrible
 
twoodcc said:
ok, so the macbook will be fine at making movies with iMovie, dvds with iDVD, and so forth? compared to the MBP?
Click to expand...

And Final Cut Pro, and DVD Studio Pro, and Soundtrack Pro, and LiveType and so on and so on. Motion wont run (or run at very low speed).
 
eXan said:
And Final Cut Pro, and DVD Studio Pro, and Soundtrack Pro, and LiveType and so on and so on. Motion wont run (or run at very low speed).
Click to expand...

well what i meant by "fine" at running iMovie and stuff is that my G4 Powerbook gets bogged down compaired to my intel iMac.
 
twoodcc said:
i was wondering how the wireless range was on the new macbook, especially compared to the G4 ibooks and powerbooks. i currently have the last G4 powerbook, and my girlfriend's Hp laptop has way better wireless range.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

If I have my last rev iBook G4, and my MB in the same place, the MB gets 2 extra bars of signal, and picks up networks that my iBook never saw:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back