The new MBPs

They are very good, but do have flaws.

The issues:
1. Heat. The fan and cooling system is usually running too slow, this can be changed by software so not such a problem. The impacts I've found with the heat are (a) lockup, (b) wireless dropouts, (c) uncomfortable when on lap when overheating!
On batttery power the heat is fine, but when on AC power and especially when recharging the battery it's hot.

2. DVD drive sensitive to fingerprints.

Other than that the experience is very good.

The battery will report 4.5 hours, in general use it's slightless less.

I have a IBM Thinkpad T42 running XP and MS Office for work which I've used for 2 years, the user experience for the MBP is less frustrating, faster and longer lasting in rea use.
Don't get me wrong the T42 is the best laptop I've had. Practically bomb proof and with all the mileage it's still working and is trust worthy.

The MBP with OSX although a better faster experience, the heat issue (the T42 just turns the fan up) is also fixable but it appears apple is denying that the MBP has to create fan noise to prevent heat instability.

MBP 15" 2.4GHz Santa Rosa, 2GB, 160GB, matte screen.
 
Same setup as NickK but with glossy screen.

The heat can become very hot to the touch, although I've had no problems with it, just that it can be uncomfortable on my lap.

Also the DVD drive is very sensitive, I thought it was just mine, but looks like yours does it too and it can be annoying.

My battery seems to last for ages, usually I can get 4-5 hours out of it with listening to music some of the time, browsing and a bit of photoshop. I'm very pleased with the battery performance.

I'm was also very surprised at just how fast it is, things load instantly, boot up time is very quick, pretty much outdoes most Windows desktops imo.
 
Just to state that a small free application 'smcFanControl' has sorted out my heat issues - I forgot to mention this previously.
 
Sorry to put a downer on things but my 15" MBP had a matte screen which had a duller slightly yellowish tint towards the bottom 1/3 of the screen. Its not usually noticable until its on a white screen background, but unfortunately most webpages have white backgrounds. I had it exchanged once but it had the same problem so Im just going to claim a refund and wait till Leopard.

If you have no problems and have not noticed anyhting wrong with your screen, then don't do the test below as I guarentee it will bug you if it turns out your screen if defective.

----------------

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8048/test1ha8.jpg

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3/test2bn8.jpg

If u want to test it , dl the two images above and if the white squares appear to be different shades then there may be a problem. To check which monitor manufactuer you have, go to System Pref>Monitor>Colour and click the properties (cant remebr exactly which button as I dont have my mac here but it should bring up a list of properties). Scroll down to 13, and if your monitor manufacturer is 9C67 its LG, if 9C68 it samsung. Most of the problem screens have been found to be samsungs(both mine were).
The default colour profile is also far too yellow, calibrate your screen using SuperCal for a better colour profile if you work with images at all.
 
electric ant said:
May I ask where you got yours from? Mine were from Regent st apple store, and Meadowhall apple store , both dodgy samsungs.
Click to expand...

I ordered directly from Apple, the day they were released. So it came all the way from China.
 
electric ant said:
Ah right thats cool. Did you get any custom options like bigger hard drive etc.
And how long did it take to arrive?
Click to expand...

Nope all stock (2.4Ghz, glossy screen) as I am going to upgrade the RAM and HDD myself as it is cheaper.

It took just under 2 weeks to get to me from ordering. I think it may take longer now as there is a longer lead time. When I ordered it was dispatched in 3 days but now on the Apple site it says 7 days to dispatch.
 
No heat or wireless dropout problems here.

2.4GHz
17" Hi-Res Glossy Screen
4GB RAM
160GB (7200rpm) Hard Drive

Battery life is a reasonable 4hrs, and is probably the fastest laptop i've owned :cool:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The hardware is awesome. I don't get on with Mac OSX but thats another thread :p.

I've had mine, hmm about 3 weeks now i think. Coming from a dual core opteron desktop I have not been dissapointed! The only annoyance is the 5400rpm drive (the upgrade price is silly imo!)

The system is plenty fast, it feels roughly the same as my desktop in windows and does game probably better than my old rig. The 8600GT is a pretty good card (128 here btw) and it handles Quake 4 maxxed out like a dream.
Battery life is great in Mac OS (4.5-5 hours) but it drops a lot to about 3 hours in windows.
The dvd drive is naff though, a Matshita pile of poo! Fortunately USB-IDE adapters are plentiful and I'm able to use my old Pioneer externally.


Overall I'd say, the hardware is bang on. It feels very well put together, the backlit keyboard is a godsend and the screen is marvellous. Get one.
 
NickK said:
The issues:
1. Heat. The fan and cooling system is usually running too slow, this can be changed by software so not such a problem. The impacts I've found with the heat are (a) lockup, (b) wireless dropouts, (c) uncomfortable when on lap when overheating!
Click to expand...

Hi NicKK, what software do you use to control fan temps etc?

Cheers

Dan
 
I use smcFanControl but it's manually operated.

I'm considering writing my own that has automatic control so you set the temperature, it keeps it there.
 
Just picked up a 2.4c2d Macbook Pro, 2gb, 160gb7200rpm, highres screen.
Ill be swapping out the 2gb to 4gb soon though, the Apple store only had this spec of the 17" in stock.

So far so good, just installing all me apps and im loving it. :) Ill report back with battery life and any other findings.
 
i have feeling i might have screen problems, just had my 15" delivered and i can notice a slight difference between the top and bottom on the default profile. ive put it to the less yellow profile and i'm just getting used to it like that now. it seems better now becuase overall it was far too yellow. need to calibrate it properly anyways at some point for photo work.

other than that i'm finding it fine for the few hours ive used it.
 
Mine had a yellowish tint at the bottom, although not much. Some days it was fine but others it was quite distracting - depended on what I was doing on the laptop. It was a week 24 with a Samsung screen. In the end it bothered me too much and got it replaced. I now have a 15" 2.4GHz week 27 with a LG screen that is perfect :)
 
DreederOcUK said:
Just picked up a 2.4c2d Macbook Pro, 2gb, 160gb7200rpm, highres screen.
Ill be swapping out the 2gb to 4gb soon though, the Apple store only had this spec of the 17" in stock.

So far so good, just installing all me apps and im loving it. :) Ill report back with battery life and any other findings.
Click to expand...
see my post above :)
 
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