MacBook Pro 15" 2.4Ghz i5 - Mini Review

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FreeStream

FreeStream

Soldato
Joined
10 Apr 2004
Posts
13,498
Right, picked one of these up for the bargain price of £1100.

I've used it for about 24 hours now and my view is very simple:

This is simply the best computer I have ever used. Period.
I've owned a 2007 MBP 15", 2009 MP, various other PPC machines and used all the others at points in time for comparison.

The only thing that lets it down is the glossy bloody screen, but thankfully issues with that should be minimal.

Apples stated 8-9 hours wireless productivity is also abit optimistic, Im at 50% screen brightness with Safari, Mail, MSN and iChat open and it's saying 6:00 after about 30 mins... [Although in fairness it does have a 500Gb 7200 drive in it now]

Build quality is perfect, no other word about it. The magnetic latch thing is abit too hard to open IMO but at least it won't fly open by accident. Also the ability to change HD and the battery (;)) is a huge plus. I won't be scared about buying an optibay.

The GPU change is seemless, although some apps [MSN, 1Password!?!] use the nVidia card, which seems silly. Anybody know how to solve that? Currently using gfxcardstatus to force the use of the intel, as I have no use for the nvidia atm.

Performance compared to my 2009 Mac Pro is about 1/3-1/2, handbrake does about 35-45fps encoding whilst the MP does 95-115fps.

And joy of joys the keyboard is sublime. It's so nice to type on it's ridiculous, no wonder most other manufacturers are copying the idea!

Trackpad will take some getting used to however.

Other than that it runs cool, quiet and perfectly - all that you would expect from an Apple product!

My advise, (even at proper pricing) is... BUY BUY BUY!!!
 
MM = Members Market, basically OcUK classifieds.

You won't be able to see it at the moment as you need a minimum number of posts. Details in the FAQ.


Cracking deal Concorde! :D

Lusting after an i5 myself, but can't justify the outlay. I got a stonking deal on a lightly used aluminium MacBook with all the options boxes ticked.
 
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Aw okay, never heard of classifieds being called that before :P

I dont have enough knowledge of computers to make that many posts any time in the future i dont think!
 
I'd keep an eye on estimated battery life when forcefully switching GPUs. I've found that when i started to force it into Intel when I thought it didn't need the NVIDIA chip, like browsing on chrome, i noticed the estimated battery life dropping.

The NVIDIA chip will sometimes use less power doing tasks that, yes, the Intel chip could handle, but would be using more power to do so. I've just started leaving it on automatic now.
 
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My MBP 17 I have the screen brightness at 1 or 2 . Sometimes a bit higher if it's sunny or bright light. Don't your eye burn out having it at 50% brightness?

I actually wish I could go even lower than notch 1, but it just turns the screen off.
 
whitecrook said:
My MBP 17 I have the screen brightness at 1 or 2 . Sometimes a bit higher if it's sunny or bright light. Don't your eye burn out having it at 50% brightness?

I actually wish I could go even lower than notch 1, but it just turns the screen off.
Click to expand...

Nah, above 50% yes, but below no.

You also loose dynamic range in photos the lower you go so I try to keep it as high as possible when doing photographic work.

1-2 is wayyy too dark, and I also start to see reflections even in the lowest light which does my head in!
 
Can i ask the following ?

How quiet is it ? I want something ideally silent...

And how hot does the underneath of it get on prolonged use ?
 
It's not silent, but it's blimmin quiet. You can't hear it really unless it's powering through some calcs, and even then it just sounds like a feint whir.

My CPU idles mid 30's, normal browsing etc, mid 40's, and when gaming etc going right up to 75+. At this point it can get quite toasty underneath. (i7 2.66 bte, not sure if i5 will be different)
 
whitecrook said:
It's not silent, but it's blimmin quiet. You can't hear it really unless it's powering through some calcs, and even then it just sounds like a feint whir.

My CPU idles mid 30's, normal browsing etc, mid 40's, and when gaming etc going right up to 75+. At this point it can get quite toasty underneath. (i7 2.66 bte, not sure if i5 will be different)
Click to expand...

My i5 idles 45-50C and loads at 75C, pretty impressive really.

And yes for pretty much all intents and purposes it is silent. I can hear my 7200 drive but not the fans until they reach 3000RPM (they hit at about 60C!)

I've never encountered a laptop this quiet. And it's pretty cool underneath tbh.

Had it on my lap for ages and it's certainly cooler than my June 2007 MBP!
 
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