Seriously impressed with the speed of my MBP

[Mojo67821]

I thought I'd start this thread to let people know that besides the heat issue, my MBP is pretty impressive as far as speed.

It's a 15 inch with 1.8 processor and 1.5 gigs of ram.

The other day I was running Final cut express, title motion pro, soundtrack, loops, coreduotemp, virex and had a few firefox windows open. I was using expose to switch back and forth quickly, and I didn't have so much as a hiccup. After a minute it started to all sink in, and I was just thinking that my windows machine probably would have crashed before I even got all of those programs open.

Occasionally a program takes a tad longer to open than I would like on my MBP, but it wasn't until I had all of this stuff running at once that I truly began to appreciate the power of the coreduo.

Anyone else had this happy experience with their duos?

 

[jhipolito]

I thought I'd start this thread to let people know that besides the heat issue, my MBP is pretty impressive as far as speed.

It's a 15 inch with 1.8 processor and 1.5 gigs of ram.

The other day I was running Final cut express, title motion pro, soundtrack, loops, coreduotemp, virex and had a few firefox windows open. I was using expose to switch back and forth quickly, and I didn't have so much as a hiccup. After a minute it started to all sink in, and I was just thinking that my windows machine probably would have crashed before I even got all of those programs open.

Occasionally a program takes a tad longer to open than I would like on my MBP, but it wasn't until I had all of this stuff running at once that I truly began to appreciate the power of the coreduo.

Anyone else had this happy experience with their duos?

VERY nice to hear.
I realize that with my first-generation Mac Mini, I will see MAJOR improvments.. It's also obvious I'll see this happen over my first-generation TiBook as well.
However, I've also been using a P4 2.8 PC... (1 gig memory)... I'm wondering with a core duo how it will compare...
OH, and wish me luck.. I ordered my MBP (17" 2.16 w/2gig RAM) yesterday! I HOPE I get it by the 7th..
Congrats! I want to experience what you're experiencing as well!

 

[Mojo67821]

VERY nice to hear.
I realize that with my first-generation Mac Mini, I will see MAJOR improvments.. It's also obvious I'll see this happen over my first-generation TiBook as well.
However, I've also been using a P4 2.8 PC... (1 gig memory)... I'm wondering with a core duo how it will compare...
OH, and wish me luck.. I ordered my MBP (17" 2.16 w/2gig RAM) yesterday! I HOPE I get it by the 7th..
Congrats! I want to experience what you're experiencing as well!

It is pretty sweet. I can't even imagine what it will be like when they get more cores into a processor (I've heard as many as 8 or more possible).

 

[ksz]

Since I have 3-year old Aluminum PB 15", I can hold out a little longer for Merom-based laptops and I expect to get the fastest 15-inch model Apple has to offer. It will replace both my Aluminum PB and my Dell Inspiron 6000. I've already placed an order for Parallel's Desktop for Mac. Let's hope I can pack it with 4GiB of memory and at least a 160GB hard drive, providing both operating systems plenty of physical hardware.

Anyway, it's good to see that Intel is not only pursuing Performance Per Watt, but also Efficiency Per Instruction with the new microkernel.

 

[lamina]

The new Intel Macs are absolutely friggin no-holds-barred F A S T. To be honest though, for day-to-day operations (definitely not what the original poster talked about), I don't notice much of a difference, as compared to my 17" 1.67 2GB RAM PowerBook.

However, the truth is in the numbers. When converting videos, my 17" Intel iMac 1GB RAM gets about 40% more frames converted per second than my PowerBook.

 

[dmw007]

I also have been impressed with the speed of my 2GHz MacBook Pro. The word "fast" just does not begin to describe the zippiness of this machine.

 

[mattcube64]

The new Intel Macs are absolutely friggin no-holds-barred F A S T. To be honest though, for day-to-day operations (definitely not what the original poster talked about), I don't notice much of a difference, as compared to my 17" 1.67 2GB RAM PowerBook.

However, the truth is in the numbers. When converting videos, my 17" Intel iMac 1GB RAM gets about 40% more frames converted per second than my PowerBook.

Actually, I was kind of curious about that. Right now, converting videos on my Windows PC hogs all the CPU power, and takes FOREVER. I usually can only get a single movie converted by leaving the computer on throughout the night while I sleep. With the coreduo, and its "true-multitasking", will I be able to run basic apps such as Safari and iTunes while converting in the background? Thanks.

 

[debrey]

It's also interesting running Windows and OSX -- X boots up in less than 30 seconds, Windows in a bit over a minute (I'd say impressionistically).

I've been extremely happy with the speed. I can finally play those gigantic games in Civ IV...

-- David

 

[Mojo67821]

To be honest though, for day-to-day operations (definitely not what the original poster talked about),

I totally agree with you on this. Like I said, just doing day to day operations I didn't notice a huge difference. However, once I started to really test the machine, that's when it's speed really started to sink in. It seems to be able to handle several heavy duty apps at once without any type of slowdown, which is very impressive.

Plus, as a new mac user, using expose to seemlessly switch between these apps is pretty exhilerating.

 

[dmw007]

Plus, as a new mac user, using expose to seemlessly switch between these apps is pretty exhilerating.

Good point- this is the feature that probably wowed me the most when I first switched to using Mac OS.

 

[Temujin]

Actually, I was kind of curious about that. Right now, converting videos on my Windows PC hogs all the CPU power, and takes FOREVER. I usually can only get a single movie converted by leaving the computer on throughout the night while I sleep. With the coreduo, and its "true-multitasking", will I be able to run basic apps such as Safari and iTunes while converting in the background? Thanks.

Sure, no problems at all. I've tried rendering in FCP, converting a video in iSquint, using iTunes, surfing and other stuff all at the same time. OSX makes everything run smooth, the iSquint conversion and the render i FCP just takes longer to finish.

Check your Activity Monitor and you can see what I'm talking about.

 

[eRondeau]

Dude, I've got a 30-month old iBook G4 and it seriously impresses me every single time I open it up. (I was going to say every time I turn it on, but then, in all that time I've never turned it off...) Not a day goes by that it still doesn't amaze me in some way. My software demands are fairly mundane compared to yours, but since November 14, 2003 my little iBook has been absolutely rock solid in every way. I use it probably four hours a day on average and it has NEVER crashed, not even once. It has NEVER caused me one iota of stress in any way, shape, or form. We're talking refrigerator-like reliability here. (If the Maytag Repairman finds his job too stressful, perhaps he can start fixing iBooks.) So yeah, the MBP's are sweet, and I'm sure I'll get one someday. But for now, I remain seriously impressed with my aging (but cool-running) iBook.

PS -- I wish Apple made gas-powered string trimmers. I farted around with mine for two hours last night and still couldn't get the line to advance.

 

[dmw007]

PS -- I wish Apple made gas-powered string trimmers. I farted around with mine for two hours last night and still couldn't get the line to advance.

I am sure that Jobs will consider doing just that if you suggest it to him.

 

[eRondeau]

I am sure that Jobs will consider doing just that if you suggest it to him.

Yeah, he made out okay with my iPod idea....

 

[nospleen]

I also have been impressed with the speed of my 2GHz MacBook Pro. The word "fast" just does not begin to describe the zippiness of this machine.

How does it feel speed wise in comparison with your Powermac?

 

[BWhaler]

How does it feel speed wise in comparison with your Powermac?

I bought my wife a MacBook, and I own a 2.5 PowerMac, and I must say I am blown away.

Sure, the PowerMac is a great computer, but I must agree with the theme of this thread. The new Intel computers absolutely scream.

I wasn't going to upgrade my 1.67 17" PowerBook until mid next year, but after seeing the speed of the MacBook, I know there is no way I can make it that long.

 

[silence]

Anyone else had this happy experience with their duos?

I've had my MBP 2.0 w/ 2Gb RAM for almost 2 months now, and have never experienced a faster laptop in my life. In fact, it's faster than any desktop or laptop i've ever tried using.. with most universal Apps and System Preferences etc. opening within 1 bounce of the Dock! When powering the MBP on, startup speed is so fast i don't even have time to sneeze

Most of my "hardcore" computing needs are for graphics and multimedia, so I can't wait until Adobe CS3 is out.. It will be quite surreal having my laptop become even quicker after being owned for over a year!

There has been so much criticism about minor issues like heat and noise, which are actually worse on most PC's i've seen. With monster performance in such a small package like the MBP, i'd be expecting a LOT MORE noise and heat! If you are still considering purchasing a MBP, go and get one now!