MacBook negative reviews

Dewotter · 23 Apr 2011 at 21:45

Disco Boy said:
You absolute weirdo, who wants a 16:9 computer screen 800 is too few vertical pixels as it is.

This is why I took the Pro over the Air. I don't need anymore horizontal pixels, screens are wide enough.

Sure some may call it a weak refresh and I was annoyed at the screen res, it should have been 1440x900 but every other part of the system is an upgrade over my old 2008 Centrino 2 laptop. So while a few extra upgrades could have been made, I wanted a notebook, and I wanted OS X. Better I got this one and not the one last year as I'd be paying more than I did in 2008 for the same Core 2 Duo processor.

Faustus · 23 Apr 2011 at 21:47

HarryPainful said:
I bought a MBP 15 last year, the i5 one and was less than impressed.

The thing that bothered me most was how hot it got under normal use, under heavy use it was simply to hot to have on your legs, hands whatever.

Reviews are just opinion, and imo the MBP range of machines are way over hyped, over priced and painfully hot to use.

The imac on the other hand, great machines.

I'm with you on that one, I don't consider Laptops of any iteration or manufacturer come close as a replacement for a Desktop computer. In just about every category a Laptop is inferior to a Desktop. The only thing in a Laptops favour is mobility. However, if like me mobility isn't an issue then even that small advantage is cancelled out. Our Laptop rarely sees the light of day, it's simply there as an emergency back up.

Amp34 · 23 Apr 2011 at 23:14

theheyes said:
The review is quite frank, but it's not altogether unfair. Bluray would be a great addition (not just for films, but for backups) and getting more performance from an equivalent price PC laptop is a valid point.

Labeling DisplayPort as a "strange" Apple addition though is a bit much, and to give it an overall score of 2/5 is ridiculous. The MBP is not a 2 star computer by any stretch of the imagination.

It is essentially... Why have a connection that needs an adaptor for almost every single display youare going to use it on? Especially in an ultraportable which would (assumedly) be used whilst travelling/at work.

Faustus said:
If you read most Computeractive reviews for Apple products they are almost sycophantic in their love of all things Apple. It was for that reason I selected this particular review, though there are other reviews out there in a similar vein.

TBH that review read as some random off the street having a rant (and I'm not a big fan of Apple computers). They seemed to have missed the entire point of this sort of laptop (and by that I mean high power ultraportable). There are lots of uses for machines with lots of RAM and fast processors, without the need for a GFX card (although that is changing a little with the uptake of photoprocessing software that now uses GFX acceleration), they seem to have missed that and just had a go at the lack of dedicated card, without pointing out that it can save a considerable amount of battery life (again we could argue havign a switch, but why pay more for a dedi if you're not going to use it, as they pointed out you can get the next one up that has one...)

Just like the Sony S and moreso the X series, along with the Dell Vostros, it does what it's designed to do well. That being a long battery life, strudy ultraportable for those that need the performance for things other than gaming...

EDIT: And yep, 16:9 is the spawn of the devil and it keeps spreading! It's another prime example that this is meant to be a more professional/business oriented machine rather than a media machine IMO, 16:10 beats 16:9 in every situation but (debatably) films and potentially gaming.

Faustus · 23 Apr 2011 at 23:20

TBH that review read as some random off the street having a rant (and I'm not a big fan of Apple computers). They seemed to have missed the entire point of this sort of laptop (and by that I mean high power ultraportable). There are lots of uses for machines with lots of RAM and fast processors, without the need for a GFX card (although that is changing a little with the uptake of photoprocessing software that now uses GFX acceleration), they seem to have missed that and just had a go at the lack of dedicated card, without pointing out that it can save a considerable amount of battery life (again we could argue havign a switch, but why pay more for a dedi if you're not going to use it, as they pointed out you can get the next one up that has one...)

Just like the Sony S and moreso the X series, along with the Dell Vostros, it does what it's designed to do well. That being a long battery life, strudy ultraportable for those that need the performance for things other than gaming...

No, I think you have misread or misunderstood what the review was saying. It is supposed to be a NEW MBP when in reality very little has changed from it's predecessor - that is the point. Apart from a speed bump not much is new. It's predecessor got a reasonable review when tested.

Dewotter · 23 Apr 2011 at 23:26

Terrible review is terrible. Although remember who this is aimed at, when I subscribed to that when I was 15 every week it had a tutorial on putting photos on a CD. So perhaps we shouldn't worry what they say, though it is totally inaccurate.

Adrianr · 23 Apr 2011 at 23:31

Faustus said:
IApart from a speed bump what's new?

Price bump?

8t10 · 23 Apr 2011 at 23:49

Faustus said:
It's the same OS as the outgoing model, so what extra is that bringing to the table?

I consider the review to be more than fair and balanced. I think Apple are taking their customers for granted with this refresh. The attitude appears to be "oh it's got the Apple logo on it so the punters will still buy it". Apart from a speed bump what's new?

Apparently the same OS is detracting. That review says the whole package is worth 2 stars. The refresh may be 2/5 but the whole package is certainly not a 2/5.

Apart from the speed bump they have gone down several new lines: They have stopped using Nvidia, now using Intel chipset for GFX and using another new Intel (+Apple) tech of Thunderbolt. Instead of drastically improving GFX they have drastically changed other parts of the machines. Some people will think this a good thing, some not. I think their attitude is actually "Lets snuggle up closer with Intel and see where it goes..." with a sign of good things to come, maybe Intel have some magic in the works which will be a huge update and only on the Mac. We just do not know.

The review is based on what it can see, which is fair enough. It lacks insight into what it can see and thus: it is misleading.

For the record: I did not like the new update to MBPs. I actually would prefer that if they were snuggling up with Intel, they told us all what they might be making (other than TB) and a GFX update was needed in greater capacity than the Intel 3000 if they want it to be taken seriously as a gaming laptop. (When will they ditch the super drive and give the 13 inch a dedicated gfx?)

pingwing · 23 Apr 2011 at 23:58

8t10 said:
For the record: I did not like the new update to MBPs. I actually would prefer that if they were snuggling up with Intel, they told us all what they might be making (other than TB) and a GFX update was needed in greater capacity than the Intel 3000 if they want it to be taken seriously as a gaming laptop. (When will they ditch the super drive and give the 13 inch a dedicated gfx?)

Its not aimed at being a gaming laptop there... Its supposed to be a "professional" laptop

Anyway the graphics card thing is that the 3000 isnt that bad overall but there just isnt space at the moment for both a decent processor and a graphics card (same thing of why the last 13" only had c2d and skipped the last i5's)

The super drive is still a really useful addition, get to watch films and things with it. The air is designed to cover the no super drive area

8t10 · 24 Apr 2011 at 00:19

pingwing said:
Its not aimed at being a gaming laptop there... Its supposed to be a "professional" laptop

Anyway the graphics card thing is that the 3000 isnt that bad overall but there just isnt space at the moment for both a decent processor and a graphics card (same thing of why the last 13" only had c2d and skipped the last i5's)

The super drive is still a really useful addition, get to watch films and things with it. The air is designed to cover the no super drive area

The 13 inch is not for games, but the 15 and 17 inch they like to make a big song and dance about it being very capable of playing games.

Other two paragraphs: Yes! The super drive goes and there is room! How often do you use it anymore? I may be slightly ahead of the time but I don't watch DVDs anymore, it is all through iTunes or similar. I'd rather have software downloaded rather than a disc, I'd rather have a USB stick than a disc. For me, it would be a much better to have a plugin DVD drive and all that space (and no more crunchy noise) with some more power in that area. Then use the plugin DVD player to watch DVDs. Please say it makes sense.

Amp34 · 24 Apr 2011 at 00:59

Faustus said:
No, I think you have misread or misunderstood what the review was saying. It is supposed to be a NEW MBP when in reality very little has changed from it's predecessor - that is the point. Apart from a speed bump not much is new. It's predecessor got a reasonable review when tested.

So it's not a "new" MBP because they haven't changed how it looks? That essentially what you are saying AFAIK? Almost all the internals are different and, much like a lot of other manufacturers, they don't change machines drastically every year (it could be argued that Apple rarely change anything drastically cosmetically). I assume the newish 15" MBPs didn't change much cosmetically either when they were produced?

8t10 said:
The 13 inch is not for games, but the 15 and 17 inch they like to make a big song and dance about it being very capable of playing games.

Other two paragraphs: Yes! The super drive goes and there is room! How often do you use it anymore? I may be slightly ahead of the time but I don't watch DVDs anymore, it is all through iTunes or similar. I'd rather have software downloaded rather than a disc, I'd rather have a USB stick than a disc. For me, it would be a much better to have a plugin DVD drive and all that space (and no more crunchy noise) with some more power in that area. Then use the plugin DVD player to watch DVDs. Please say it makes sense.

As you said the 13" isn't really for gaming, yet looking at the Apple store the 15 and 17" versions both have dedicated GFX cards, kinda like they are aiming them partly at the gaming market... Oh!

A CD/DVD drive is still vey important for a large majority of the population so it woud be a bit stupid to remove it, especially for the non gaming market that this laptop is essentially marketed at.

You know, if you hate the superdrive that much you could always *shock, horror* get a machine from another manufacturer! But in either case you'll be lucky to find a full fat ultraportable without a DVD drive.

As for not enough space to put a dedicated GFX card I doubt that, lots of other manufacturers (and Apple themselves in the last iteration) have managed to fit them in to machines of this size (screen size, thickness). My opinion is that they haven't gone with dedicated because it isn't really needed for the target market 13" MBPs are aimed at, alongside the battery life elongation and heat reduction its removal helps.

pingwing · 24 Apr 2011 at 01:02

8t10 said:
The 13 inch is not for games, but the 15 and 17 inch they like to make a big song and dance about it being very capable of playing games.

Other two paragraphs: Yes! The super drive goes and there is room! How often do you use it anymore? I may be slightly ahead of the time but I don't watch DVDs anymore, it is all through iTunes or similar. I'd rather have software downloaded rather than a disc, I'd rather have a USB stick than a disc. For me, it would be a much better to have a plugin DVD drive and all that space (and no more crunchy noise) with some more power in that area. Then use the plugin DVD player to watch DVDs. Please say it makes sense.

I give you they mention and talk up the 15 and 17 inchers games ability but that still isnt the target audience of any of them (mac's havnt really ever been targeted as gaming setups which is a shame as the mini with an ok graphics card would be amazing)

I LOVE dvd's, they are so cheap and versatile to watch (play them on my mac or ps3). Id be annoyed if the cd drive wasnt there as it'd make it more annoying getting cd's onto the mac, make doing installs more limited and the past few months mine's been broken iv missed it! (there's only so many times i can watch the first season of futurama as thats the only thing its been playing)

I think they'd kill more of a target market taking the dvd out than they would gain with a slightly better graphics card

Dewotter · 24 Apr 2011 at 01:08

Im a student living both st home and at uni. So I only have the once machine which is my 13" MBP. I'm not yet ready to say goodbye to the SuperDrive for a dedicated GFX. Maybe my next one will come without but right now it's still a worthy addition.

Faustus · 24 Apr 2011 at 11:52

Originally posted by Amp34 ...So it's not a "new" MBP because they haven't changed how it looks? That essentially what you are saying AFAIK? Almost all the internals are different and, much like a lot of other manufacturers, they don't change machines drastically every year (it could be argued that Apple rarely change anything drastically cosmetically). I assume the newish 15" MBPs didn't change much cosmetically either when they were produced?

Have you ever heard the saying "there's none as blind as those that will not see"? It's a speed bump, not a new MBP, lordy.

Faustus · 24 Apr 2011 at 11:58

Labeling DisplayPort as a "strange" Apple addition though is a bit much, and to give it an overall score of 2/5 is ridiculous. The MBP is not a 2 star computer by any stretch of the imagination.

The star rating was given simply because Apple have feted this as a NEW MBP when in fact it is little more than a speed bump. This same computer received good reviews in it's previous guise. Please try not to take things out of context, it really isn't helpful as it skews the debate.

MagicBoy · 24 Apr 2011 at 12:03

It's a Mac review written by a low-rent PC mag, what do you expect?

It's patently obvious they don't understand Apple products or Mac OS X. Marking it down for lack of Blu-Ray and USB 2 when the OS supplied doesn't support either is pointless! It's about the end user experience not a tick list of techie stuff.

Fatboyuk2 · 24 Apr 2011 at 14:46

Rainmaker said:
I got a new 13" and tbh the only thing I'd really have liked is a slightly higher res (preferably 16:9) screen and maybe the addition of page up, page down, home and end buttons.

Unless you can count the fact that Finder doesn't have Cut (WTF?!). But I digress. Overall very impressed and wouldn't swap it for another type of laptop (except maybe a 15") for the world.

what abouth the 17" :rolleyes:

Fatboyuk2 · 24 Apr 2011 at 14:47

Like all Mac computers this one runs the Apple Mac OS operating system, not Microsoft's Windows. This means Windows programs won't work with it make this lol

Rainmaker · 24 Apr 2011 at 14:47

Fatboyuk2 said:
what abouth the 17"

Not sure I follow. :confused:

theheyes · 24 Apr 2011 at 15:02

Faustus said:
The star rating was given simply because Apple have feted this as a NEW MBP when in fact it is little more than a speed bump. This same computer received good reviews in it's previous guise. Please try not to take things out of context, it really isn't helpful as it skews the debate.

Haha, I don't think my comment is likely to derail the thread! And anyway, I disagree - you could easily argue the review itself is skewed and out of context. It's overwhelmingly negative, which is fine since it's an opinion piece and I generally agree with some of the criticisms. But to grade it just two stars largely because it's not a massive improvement over the model it replaces? Is this a star rating of the MacBook Pro 13" 2011 model as per the title, or a star rating of the MacBook Pro 13" 2011 model for people who already own the 2010 version? If it's the latter, then it needs to be made more clear by the reviewer.

Fatboyuk2 · 24 Apr 2011 at 15:46

Rainmaker said:
Not sure I follow.

the 17" macbook pro wood you nor like that one two