MBP 17" less-defective than 15.4"

[Xander562]

Hey, i've been reading these forums for quite a while, and it seems that there are far less problems w/ the 17" than the 15.4" is this true? I am being guided more toward the more expensive 17" because of these issues. and there are rarely any threads that talk about the good side of the 15.4" so here's your chance all the 15.4" MBP owners out there! Convince me to buy the 15.4 rather than the 17"! i'm mainly concerned w/ heat and whine, from what i've heard there is less heat and no whine issues on the 17" model, is this true??? or are these problems fixed with the 15.4"? Please help me clear up these questions. convince me to buy either machine and i'll be a switcher by July!

 

[celebrian23]

The 17'' matte machines have display issues with more than a few of them. With the firmware they are running coolER, but how much has been dependant on the computer. Why buy one now? Wait until August. There's little reason to buy an MBP unless you cannot wait at this point- they're too close to the MBs.

 

[beaster]

My wife has an MBP 17". It's only been a week, but so far no heat/whine issues or screen issues. And it sure is fast!

-Sean

 

[azzurri000]

I don't own either machine, but the 17" is more expensive and less common than the 15", so in that respect it makes sense that you are hearing more about the problems with the 15".

 

[yah00z]

Let me be the first to say...

At this point, I really think that it's a gamble when buying any MBP. I own a week 20, 15.4 inch 2.0ghz MacBookPro with 1gig of ram, the 128 ati x1600 and the stock 80 gig 5400 rpm. I run the laptop with parallels running FreeBSD and Windows XP and I have yet to experience any heat issues. I have been using the laptop almost non stop since I got it last Friday. It's only been a few days, but this laptop has seen alot of use. Now that I am done with finals I am playing with my baby as much as I can before I go into surgery for my back.

Anyways, I have no CPU whine, no screen whine, and my idle temps are between 25 and 28 celcius. With 100 percent cpu usage (I run some bash scripts to really work the CPU and have them cycle on bolth cores), I only have been able to get it up to 62 degrees celcius.

However, my friend has a 2.16ghz 15.4 inch with 2 gigs of ram and the 100 gig 7200 rpm. His is a week 11. His idle temperatures are around 56 and when working the laptop he gets readings anywhere from 74-89 degrees celcius. So like I said, it's a gamble. However, at this point I really think apple has worked out the little problems.


And, for thoes who can hear the CPU change when "using the iSight camera". It has to do with the frequencys in which the processor and fan are operating depending on the use of the cpu. My friends you can hear it somewhat, and when I turn on the camera it goes away, and ALSO when I run CPU intensive programs or scripts, it also goes away. MANY laptops do that. In fact, most do. Listen to a Dell laptop one day. When I got this laptop, I thought it was the most quiet laptop I have ever owned. I owned a Dell Insprion 8000 before this, which was loud as hell. I also have farious dell workstations and custom-built systems that run pretty loud.

The Screen noise, however, was not right. I have seen a video of that, and it's pretty nasty. but if people are complaining about hearing a CPU, get over it. Nothing is perfect.

I love my macbook pro!!!

 

[iHeartTheApple]

Why buy one now? Wait until August. There's little reason to buy an MBP unless you cannot wait at this point- they're too close to the MBs.

We don't even know whether or not Apple is planning on putting Merom into the MBPs that early. Yes, Intel will have Merom out by August, but we don't know Apple's plans. We may not see Merom MBP's until November/December or at least until after the MacPro's (PowerMac replacements) are finally converted over to Intel.

Plus, I'm sure there will be bugs once the Merom MBP's come out anyways...at which point you would need to suffer through a similar process as we already have with the Yonahs. IMHO, I think that this is a great time (this summer, in general) to buy an MBP because Apple has been (hopefully) working towards fixes on all of the issues that we've brought up. More and more, we're hearing about people who are actually happy with their MBP's.

Not to mention the fact that it's argueably pointless to chase the state-of-the-art in computer technology. Just as you've settled down with your new computer, you find out that there's a price drop to make way for the newer, better model. It's a vicious cycle. Just purchase whatever you want/need and be happy with it!

Anyway, that's my $0.02.

 

[Abstract]

There's no guarantee at all that just because Merom's are being used soon, that the computers will run less hot.

Merom's provide better performance per watt, but if you expect to buy a 2.7GHz Core Duo Merom or whatever it's gonna be called, the amount of heat produced by a 2.7 GHz is gonna be the same as the current MBPs do right now. Apple isn't gonna start selling 2.16 GHz Meroms. If they did, then THAT would result in less heat generated from the CPU. Otherwise, we're gonna have the same problem, possibly worse.

If you're waiting for rev B, you may as well wait for rev C or D, because when/if Merom's are put into the current MBP enclosures with the same logic board (and since you CAN put a Merom on the current or similar mobos, Apple probably will), they're gonna be pretty much "rev A" all over again, even if they're officially rev B.

Meanwhile, a rev B or C MacBook will be a rev B and C MacBook because I doubt they're gonna get Merom by rev B or C.

 

[Peyton]

I don't think so. I think merom (since it has the same socket as yonah) will be sodered into place as soon as they can be. As you know (or don't) Yonah's in Macminis are upgradable to merom because they are not sodered in, and this was a big story a while back.

I think Apple has to put these faster chips in as soon as they can because they are getting competition saying 'I have a faster chip, and I'm cheaper' besides that, the price of yonahs will have dropped so much by that point that merom is the only way to go (and they are calling it 'core duo 2' by they way.

I am waiting for the Merom 17inch, I think it will be awesome, I don't really care if it is a little warmer or cooler, 64 bit will be awesome and if they can have a hdd upgrade by that point, that would be great.

 

[n8236]

Your assumptions of 17" w/ less problems could be incorrect since there are WAY more 15.4" mbp buyers than 17", so the amount of issues w/ the 17" won't show up as often. But given the two are SO similar, almost identical in design, I wouldn't rule out any 15.4" problems being translated into the 17".

 

[chosenwolf]

I have owned both machines (Currently the 17") and I can tell you now that the 17" has substantially less problems than the 15.4"

Just off the top of my head:

1) No whine on the 17" when running on battery power (15" would WHINE very badly)

2) The 17" runs cooler than the 15" as it is larger and more heat can disperse (although my 17" gets hot)

3) Better Battery life - At least 30 minutes more when compared to the 15"

4) Other reasons, - FW 800, 8X DUAL LAYER superdrive, bigger display

I have no uneven backlighting issues with my 17" so it's either hit or miss. Also, the locking mechanism (magnetic latch) is horrible and leaves an uneven display when shut.

The machine is quick though =)

 

[iHeartTheApple]

If you're waiting for rev B, you may as well wait for rev C or D, because when/if Merom's are put into the current MBP enclosures with the same logic board (and since you CAN put a Merom on the current or similar mobos, Apple probably will), they're gonna be pretty much "rev A" all over again, even if they're officially rev B.

Meanwhile, a rev B or C MacBook will be a rev B and C MacBook because I doubt they're gonna get Merom by rev B or C.

Abstract, I agree completely. That's why I say that if you want or need an MBP right now, then just buy it already! Every new (read: not silent update) product will have issues. If the Merom's are going to run at a higher clock speed, then they'll probably put out a *similar* amount of heat. And, given that Apple does not consider their "excess thermal grease" procedures to be flawed to begin with, we will continue to receive hot MBP's.

I am waiting for the Merom 17inch, I think it will be awesome, I don't really care if it is a little warmer or cooler, 64 bit will be awesome and if they can have a hdd upgrade by that point, that would be great.

Peyton, I'm not sure how much of a difference the 64-bitness of the Merom will make initially...Maybe in the long run, but probably not anytime in the near future.