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Why are people still buying the MBP.......?
- Thread starter yellowmunky
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For many the new MBP offers everything they need and want, and so I can see why folk continue to buy.
I'm waiting for Merom, though. I'm also hoping there will be other tweaks and improvements. I desperately want a MBP, but the current lineup doesn't quite do it for me - so I'll wait.
I'm waiting for Merom, though. I'm also hoping there will be other tweaks and improvements. I desperately want a MBP, but the current lineup doesn't quite do it for me - so I'll wait.
revisionA said:
retire the macbook pro name?? what are you talking about it just came out in January.
As a former user of a 1GHz TiPB who finally had his purchase request at work approved, I jumped at the chance to get the MBP. Of course, I jumped in January and had it ordered in June, so it was more of a slow crawl than a jump.
But now I have it - not the specific one I wanted, but it's 2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 256MB VRAM, etc. And it blows my old one away. I love it. I don't need sheer horsepower most of the time, but it's nice to know it's there.
I don't have the moo.
I have only the slightest hint of a whine, and even that is only occasional.
So for me, this was fantastic. Would I have gone with the MacBook instead of the MBP if they'd actually asked what configuration I wanted? Maybe. But I like the bigger screen on the MBP.
Sure, I could always wait for the "next great thing" but who knows if I'd ever be able to get it. And by then, the next great thing would still be around the corner. In the end, this fit what I needed and I'm very pleased with it.
But now I have it - not the specific one I wanted, but it's 2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 256MB VRAM, etc. And it blows my old one away. I love it. I don't need sheer horsepower most of the time, but it's nice to know it's there.
I don't have the moo.
I have only the slightest hint of a whine, and even that is only occasional.
So for me, this was fantastic. Would I have gone with the MacBook instead of the MBP if they'd actually asked what configuration I wanted? Maybe. But I like the bigger screen on the MBP.
Sure, I could always wait for the "next great thing" but who knows if I'd ever be able to get it. And by then, the next great thing would still be around the corner. In the end, this fit what I needed and I'm very pleased with it.
yellowmunky said:Is the heat really that bad? Can it be used comfortably on ones lap without scorching them? Can it be left on for days and days at a time and not cause issues?
How bad is the whine noise? Is it more annoying than laptop/computer fan noise? When is the noise more noticeable?
I really want to buy one asap for work but keep getting put of my ideal machine as it has 'issues'
Thanks,
Pardon me, but perhaps what you need is a sliderule and some graphing paper. This is the finest machine I have ever used despite the fact the a device requiring energy to operate produces heat (duh!)
Overrated
Folks, the heat and noise complaints are really overblown.
I have used a number of laptops over the years, and I can tell you that the Macbook I now own is on the lower end of the spectrum for noise and heat output.
I have or have used the follwoing laptops:
A number of Dells, including the Dell LAtitue 610 I am writing this post with, as well as a TiBook 550, my new MB Black and an iBook 600 Rev A.
Of all of them Only the iBook was quieter and cooler. The MacBook comes in a close second.
Yes it will have some heat, all notebooks do. Yes you will occationally hear the fan come on. Apple did a good job trying to muffle the noise though. The Dell I use sounds like Jet Engines were put in to cool it. Luckily, I finally found something to drown out the sound of the Air Conditioner!!
If you need to do audio work, this laptop may not cut it, but for everything else, I have found the MacBook to be of the standards Apple has set and consistantly met for quite a while now.
Max.
Folks, the heat and noise complaints are really overblown.
I have used a number of laptops over the years, and I can tell you that the Macbook I now own is on the lower end of the spectrum for noise and heat output.
I have or have used the follwoing laptops:
A number of Dells, including the Dell LAtitue 610 I am writing this post with, as well as a TiBook 550, my new MB Black and an iBook 600 Rev A.
Of all of them Only the iBook was quieter and cooler. The MacBook comes in a close second.
Yes it will have some heat, all notebooks do. Yes you will occationally hear the fan come on. Apple did a good job trying to muffle the noise though. The Dell I use sounds like Jet Engines were put in to cool it. Luckily, I finally found something to drown out the sound of the Air Conditioner!!
If you need to do audio work, this laptop may not cut it, but for everything else, I have found the MacBook to be of the standards Apple has set and consistantly met for quite a while now.
Max.
miniConvert said:
I'm in a holding pattern for about 6mo before I can grab a MBP, so what upgrades do you think are going to be worth waiting for the Merom update?
I'm just curious.
Oh, and yes, its a vocal minority screaming about the moo/hiss/fart etc. if it were a real problem affecting the majority of the user base, we would be seeing more action by Apple.
The old G4 Aluminum PowerBooks get very hot too (I still use one.) So it's probably not that big of a difference.
I hate to break the string, but I had three MacBook Pros and ended up returning them all because when using the keyboard extensively (i.e. doing documentation for an hour or more), the top of the MBP was hot enough to make my palms sweat. The bottom was extremely hot too, but I didn't mind because I used mine on either a table/desk or an iLap notebook stand.
I never once had to "wipe up" the wrist-rest area on my last gen 15" PowerBook, or any of my work notebooks (ThinkPad T60, T42, T40, T23 and Dell Latitude C600), like I did with the MBPs. And for the record, the T60 is also dual-core, so I don't accept the arguement that the MBP has to have temp's measuring over 110' on the keyboard area simply because "it's a faster processor".
Now .. if I was just surfing around (where the majority of the interaction with the MBP was two fingers on the trackpad), the MBP was OK. If I just used it for short runs (i.e. wake it up from sleep, use it for 15-30 minutes, then let it go back to sleep), then it was bearable.
But using the keyboard for an hour plus (where your hand is constantly laying on the wrist-rest area), it was unusable for me, so I ended up with a MacBook. I have no problems with the keyboard heat.
I never once had to "wipe up" the wrist-rest area on my last gen 15" PowerBook, or any of my work notebooks (ThinkPad T60, T42, T40, T23 and Dell Latitude C600), like I did with the MBPs. And for the record, the T60 is also dual-core, so I don't accept the arguement that the MBP has to have temp's measuring over 110' on the keyboard area simply because "it's a faster processor".
Now .. if I was just surfing around (where the majority of the interaction with the MBP was two fingers on the trackpad), the MBP was OK. If I just used it for short runs (i.e. wake it up from sleep, use it for 15-30 minutes, then let it go back to sleep), then it was bearable.
But using the keyboard for an hour plus (where your hand is constantly laying on the wrist-rest area), it was unusable for me, so I ended up with a MacBook. I have no problems with the keyboard heat.
FWIW, my partner has a 1.67 G4 15" PB and it felt significantly cooler to the touch on the top (keyboard area) and moderately cooler on the bottom when compared to any of the MBPs I had. (This is after waking both up from sleep and surfing around for 10-15 minutes.) I always considered the G4 PB as hot (mostly on the underside), but the MBPs I had were a lot hotter.madmaxmedia said:
aristobrat said:
I have to feel like yours is a case of bad luck- the areas on my mbp where I lay my wrist and the keyboard never get hot- warm, yes, but quite comfortable.
aristobrat said:
Interesting, thanks for posting your experience. My PB is warm but not bad at all on the top, never to the point of discomfort.
It gets pretty hot on the bottom. I use it in my lap sometimes, but usually it's on a table, etc. I also have a Lapinator pad for watching movies in bed, etc.
Experiences seem to vary with the MBP. I'll still try one when I can afford it down the road, but anything significantly hotter than my PB would be a significant problem IMO.
aristobrat said:
I dont know, even when I am really pushing my powerbook G4... it never gets above a temperature that I would consider moderately warm. the keyboard I would place at a slightly warm. going to the apple store, and trying out a MBP that had been on all day, it didnt seem that warm at all. and I know that people there arent really pushing them, but they are seeing some consistant use, and they are on all day.
Im not denying that you have a hot mbp... but perhaps they are not all hot.
there seems to be some real variance in the heat performance of the MBP.
The heat issue probably varies greatly. Maybe it's because of varying amounts of goo used. Maybe not. I won't dwell on the heat issue.
My problem is the whine. That issue is ubiquitous in all MBP, but different people react to it differently. Notice how the people who complain about the whine and exchange their MBPs for new ones, always report that their new MBPs whine as well. Does every single one of these people, including me, have such a severe stroke of bad luck where two or three machines they got all exhibit the whine? Or, rather, is every single one of these people more annoyed by higher-pitched sounds (I know I am)? The latter sounds much more reasonable. So, I am not saying the whine will keep anyone away from the machine, but for some it is so annoying that they'd rather wait until Apple fixes it (and I hope it does) to use this powerful, gorgeous machine. The whine, nonetheless, is in all machines. I had this confirmed by the head manager and head technician of the local store--a rather large store with many employees. But, as Apple representatives, they couldn't recognize this quality of the MBP as a defect. But, they did give me a full refund with no fees, for amity's sake.
The worst kind of post in this thread is that by someone who never owned a MBP--much less two or three--claiming (with quite a bit of false confidence) all sorts of things about the machine. The whine is there. It may be overblown in terms of what percentage of users just can't stand its high pitch, but it is definitely not so in terms of what percentage of the machines are afflicted with the whine.
My problem is the whine. That issue is ubiquitous in all MBP, but different people react to it differently. Notice how the people who complain about the whine and exchange their MBPs for new ones, always report that their new MBPs whine as well. Does every single one of these people, including me, have such a severe stroke of bad luck where two or three machines they got all exhibit the whine? Or, rather, is every single one of these people more annoyed by higher-pitched sounds (I know I am)? The latter sounds much more reasonable. So, I am not saying the whine will keep anyone away from the machine, but for some it is so annoying that they'd rather wait until Apple fixes it (and I hope it does) to use this powerful, gorgeous machine. The whine, nonetheless, is in all machines. I had this confirmed by the head manager and head technician of the local store--a rather large store with many employees. But, as Apple representatives, they couldn't recognize this quality of the MBP as a defect. But, they did give me a full refund with no fees, for amity's sake.
The worst kind of post in this thread is that by someone who never owned a MBP--much less two or three--claiming (with quite a bit of false confidence) all sorts of things about the machine. The whine is there. It may be overblown in terms of what percentage of users just can't stand its high pitch, but it is definitely not so in terms of what percentage of the machines are afflicted with the whine.
CanadaRAM said:
This brings up a question I have had in the back of my mind all week. I have had two MacBooks that whine and moo like crazy. All the MacBooks in the Apple store (5 of them) do it as well. However, it seems mention of the MBPs problems is dying off. Had Apple addressed that issue finally on the MBP?
I know there was a firmware update for it. Did that fix the issue for people? Also, are people who are ordering them online having a higher rate of success getting ones that are problem free? I know this was a lot of questions but I am curious what people are seeing now who are purchasing MBPs.
Here is a video clip with the whine sound in it from a black macbook. Turn up your volume so you can hear it as my cell phone camera is weak at picking up sound.
http://web.mac.com/chrispy0206/iWeb/Site/Movie.html
Egosphere said:
Right on Egosphere! I think some people simply cannot hear the whine. On my above post I have a video where the whine can be heard. If there are people on here who watch that video and don't hear anything then we will know haha. I think it is utter crap that Apple would release a product with such an issue and not allow customers to do a return when it is bothersome to them. Another strike against Apple support right now. Great post, I could not agree with you more.
I still blame Tiger for this... this is like when the dual processor G5 powermacs started chirping after Tiger was released. Some people could hear it and some people could not... they still it to this day as far as I know.
I just got a new 2.16ghz 15.4 macbook pro, it's a great machine, but i have to say it is far hotter then any laptop i've owned ( 7 of them ranging from just a normal ultra portable to my last which was a full on gaming laptop p4 desktop chip and dual 7200 rpm drives in a 15" enclosure ). The area to the left of the machine next to the keyboard where the holes/speakers are at, gets almost to hot to touch, now granted i wouldn't have my hands resting there, but no part of the machine should get to hot to touch. I'm thinking of taking it in to have it looked at. I'm actually worried about closing the lid after use because there is so much heat and so little space between it and the screen that i'm worried it could cause problems.
As far as the moo/whine, i haven't noticed that at all.
As far as the moo/whine, i haven't noticed that at all.
My 2 cents
I've had this MBP 15.4 1.83 since March.
True, it does get mighty hot sometimes, but a lot of people are forgetting a simple fact of the Al PB's and the MBP- their aluminum enclosures. If we all hearken back to high school science, we know metal is an amazing conductor, of both electricity and heat. My G3 900 iBook is incredibly cool to the touch, but it's made of a plastic. Anyway, the MBP is the fastest and nicest notebook I have ever owned (I've had quite a few), don't let the complaints of a few dissuade you.
Cheers,
Josh
I've had this MBP 15.4 1.83 since March.
True, it does get mighty hot sometimes, but a lot of people are forgetting a simple fact of the Al PB's and the MBP- their aluminum enclosures. If we all hearken back to high school science, we know metal is an amazing conductor, of both electricity and heat. My G3 900 iBook is incredibly cool to the touch, but it's made of a plastic. Anyway, the MBP is the fastest and nicest notebook I have ever owned (I've had quite a few), don't let the complaints of a few dissuade you.
Cheers,
Josh
Just as some others have suspected, I have been having people watch my video that shows off the whine. Some hear it clear as day while others hear nothing at all. With the volume up on the computer you watch it on, the sound is crystal clear to some of us including me. So, it turns out that some of the people saying their macbooks don't have the whine indeed may simply be unable to hear it after all.
RainForRent said:
I agree that people may be thinknig it's hotter then comparative laptops because the aluminum enclosure conducts the heat out better then plastic and this occured to me, but really the fact is kind of irrelevant to the discussion. It's probably good for the internal system as heat doesn't build up as much, but not so good if it's uncomfortable to the user ( not saying it is to everyone ). A few people i've seen have said it's uncomfortable for them to use, in my experience that wasn't the case as my hands don't rest where it was really hot, i'm more concerned about the screen as i mentioned.
I'm in no way trying to disssuade anyone from any purchase, i am just relating my experience. Also my laptop may in no way represent the majority of macbook pros or maybe it does i don't know. Without people reporting it, it is difficult to know. I think suggesting someone disregard people who have any complaint or mildly critical comment doesn't help. Everyones comments good or bad should be taken with a grain of salt, but by voicing opinions, it gives the prospective buyer a chance to evaluate it themsevles and if it is widespread hopefully encourage apple to try and do something about it.