Disappointed switcher **solved - Happy switcher now**

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

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Joined
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Liverpool
Well I've had my 2011 13" MBP for a week now, and I have to say the initial gloss has worn off somewhat. I've got long experience of Linux as well as Windows, so the OS change learning curve was insignificant. However, I have to say I'm immensely disappointed in the product, especially given its 'Pro' title and the cost.

As soon as you start using the machine above 5% CPU the temps are hitting the high 80s, the fan sounds like a jet engine and it's unstable as all hell. I've not seen so many apps needing to be force quit since Windows ME. It's literally barely above Alpha experience from what I've seen so far. :o

The graphics can struggle a fair bit on 1080p video playback, mostly when something else is open in the background. A £1,000 'Pro' laptop shouldn't have anything close to that kind of difficulty imho. I'm having to force quit apps two and three times a day - and not just 3rd party apps (like Thunderbird) but also parts of the OS itself (eg TextEdit).

I was in love with the machine at first, but I have to say it's starting to sour big time. I love the look and feel of the OS; I always preferred *nix over Windows, and since OS X has the extra polish and gloss I thought I'd finally found a Windows killer. How wrong was I? :(

Has anyone else found this, or am I alone? I've clean installed Snow Leopard btw, and still have issues. It seems a combination of unstable apps, and poor performance from the new SB chip (and possibly some bottlenecking from the 5,200rpm hdd). I am disappoint. :\
 
The myth that OS X is glorious and perfect is, well, a myth! However, I still love my 2010 15" MBP and it never struggles with video playback. I do get weird, ridiculous crashes from time to time, but have learned to live with it.

Having said that, I am not sure you should be having this many problems. Perhaps it is worth a trip to a local Apple store?
 
Sorry to hear you're having trouble Rainmaker.

I'll have to agree with SiriusB here; take a trip to the apple store or ring them up. If you still aren't satisfied with their answers to your problems and still within the 14 day cooling off period then ask for a full refund.
 
I would say the same, take it to an Apple store and tell them the problems you are having as they don't sound like something you should be experiencing on that machine. I've got a 2007 MacBook with a 2.1Ghz C2D and 4GB RAM running Snow Leopard and I can't remember the last time I had to force quit an application, so a machine of your spec should handle things easily.
 
There is something wrong with your machine.

My iMac that is less powerful than your new MBP can handle multiple HD video streams in Final Cut Studio and unless I am actually rendering video I can still use other apps.

As said OS X isn't perfect but there is no way a new computer should be acting like that.
 
It sounds like you have a serious hardware problem. I hardly ever heard the fans ramp up on my MBP when I had one. You shouldn't be getting the software crashes that you describe, I forget the last time I had to force quit anything.
 
The latest MBP do have fans that run louder and faster than previous generations - but you shouldn't experience so many force quits.

Since I brought my latest MBP two weeks ago - I've not had to deal with anything such as a force quit - Infact, I'm not even sure how I would go about "Force Quitting" :p
 
I also have the 2011 13" MBP and I am not experiencing the same problems as you. I just watched some 1080p videos (on Youtube) and it was fine. I also have not had to force quit anything since I have had it.

Yours does sound like something dodgy is going on. Mine is a base spec 13" but I do have a 7200rpm hd installed.
 
I'm either extremely lucky, or I do things different but I've never had problems with OS X.

I can't even remember the last time an app crashed, or I had to force quit something. That's not to say you are doing anything wrong, but it certainly points that the machine doesn't like something. Before you take it back, try a clean install of OS X, then update the OS with a combo update (the massive update done by software update after a clean install) and try again.

It could be the browser you're using (although you don't mention this), or a plugin that's causing the problem which I why I'll recommend the format first.

Certainly shouldn't struggle with 1080p playback. My old Mac Mini Core 2 duo does 1080p rips with no sweat. The laptops do run hot, but they shouldn't have 100% fan speed unless rending really tbh.

tl;dr - try a reformat, try a different browser, post what plugins you've installed (if any).
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

EVH, as I said earlier I have already carried out a full format and reinstall, followed up by Software Update. This didn't help any. Video stutters like crazy, and pixelates badly, when anything tries to open or run in the background. This is especially apparent using VLC, but also happens with QuickTime X.

I'm having to force-quit applications several times a day, so something is clearly up. :( When single-tasking the machine is actually quite decent, and I enjoy using it, but a £1,000 laptop shouldn't choke and die when you try to open a plain-text file while watching a movie. :o

I'll take it into the Apple Store and see what they have to say. Seeing as the CPU barely gets above 5% usage, and the RAM is half-unused, I'm suspecting the hdd may be faulty. That, or the new on-die gfx are just plain inadequate.

EDIT: I forgot to add, my trackpad doesn't seem very sensitive towards the bottom. Literally to the point where I have to make movements four or five times before the screen/cursor picks up the movement. As above I'll see what the Store has to say, maybe I just lucked out and got a duff machine.
 
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Not that another person saying it helps but it really does sound like a hardware problem. You shouldn't be having to force quit multiple programs a day on any computer, not just a Mac.
 
LordSplodge said:
You've got one built on a Friday afternoon, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Friday? Sounds like it was made by the contracting security guard over the Christmas holidays, whose covering for maternity leave, of someone that just returned from 6 months travelling, that suffers with parkinsons.
 
Well I just started a 1080i video converting in Turbo.264 which took the CPU to around 85% (the rest is taken care of by the gfx card), then launched not one but TWO high bitrate (13+ Mbps) 1080p rips. One was an MKV launched in VLC, the other a Subler remuxed m4v. [EDIT: Just realised one is 720p with a high bitrate, but the point stands]

The laptop is running smooth as ice - including seek, pause, play, sound, video output, expose etc. Well aside from the fans being over 6,000rpm at the moment but considering the workload I can forgive that!

osx-1080p.png


Yet yesterday I couldn't even play a single stream. Intermittent probably means a dodgy RAM stick or bad HDD sectors, maybe?... Either way it seems the machine IS capable, just stalling at times. At least I can rest a little knowing it's not a crap computer (no offence but my experience had suggested it was, thus far).

I'll let you all know what the Genius Bar comes back with. :)
 
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Hmm... Sorry to drone on, but the video I was converting in the screenshot above (MKV > MP4) will play fine in iTunes and QuickTime with the window maximised, but as soon as it goes full screen it goes into stutter-mode (normal audio, slideshow style images changing every few seconds). Weird. It plays perfectly in VLC, full screen or otherwise. I'll keep back the vid to show the Apple Store, but does anyone have any ideas?

I'm thinking bad codecs/filters, or else the integrated gfx is borked. GPU acceleration of HD files does still work on these machines (with only the Intel integrated gfx), as I've tested extensively (eg 40% CPU in VLC, 3% CPU in QuickTime). Maybe the gfx component of the CPU is screwing up, or just not very good at certain things?
 
I have an MSI laptop with a 1.4ghz dual core cpu and that can run 1080p. You must have a dodgy machine.

I can throw anything at my imac and it never crashes!
 
Yeah the original issues are all way beyond what the average mac can do (im thinking of macs 4-5 years old here)

Best move is to take it to the mac store show them whats going on and hope they can fix it :)
 
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