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MBP Penryn 17" causing fewer headaches than 15"?

S

Sir Cecil

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 31, 2008
793
0
Seems this section is deluged in people's MBP Penryn 15" problems. Screen issues, heaphone output noises, buzzes... very off-putting reading to say the least. And what's most disturbing is these don't seem to be rare instances, but rather general issues that dozens of posters confirm the presence of.

I myself have an unopened 15" MBP here, after having had to take THREE back for different faults. My dilemma is whether I should bother opening this one and probably find another problem (yes, my confidence is that low), or should I consider the 17" version instead? The 17" seems to be the subject of much fewer complaints here, or is that just because far fewer people have one? What's the feeling around here as to the 17" being less problematic than the 15" at present?

I know the internals are much the same, but could it be they are made at different factories, or that the different production runs don't suffer the apparent batch problems being reported with the 15"? Maybe even the extra space inside the 17" helps avoid some issues by not having all the wiring/fans etc quite so closely cramped together? I've no idea, but if you have a 17", are you seeing many of the same problems that are being levelled at the 15"?

Thanks in advance for any opinions.
 
I'd say it's because the 15 inch model is more common. There are more people with them, so more people reporting problems. Go with the 15 inch, I've had no trouble with mine.
 
I'd do yourself a favour and not go lurking round forums looking for problems as it looks like alot,but put it into perspective of the amount sold,and the ones you don't hear about it's a drop in the ocean,PERSPECTIVE
 
aaronw1986 said:
Go with the 15 inch, I've had no trouble with mine.
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I wish I was so lucky! But judging by all the many people here who report three or four exchanges, there are hundreds of these things being returned. And that's just from people who visit this site!

I'm relatively new here. Is this scale of complaint against a particular model pretty typical, or are the number and variety of 15" complaints suggestive of more problems than usual?
 
Sir Cecil said:
I wish I was so lucky! But judging by all the many people here who report three or four exchanges, there are hundreds of these things being returned. And that's just from people who visit this site!

I'm relatively new here. Is this scale of complaint against a particular model pretty typical, or are the number and variety of 15" complaints suggestive of more problems than usual?
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So what you gonna do scare yourself out of not using one?if thats the case go buy a Dell or something at the end of the day it's your decision,stop looking for
problems otherwise your'll never use one
 
I have the 17". No headaches here. :)

If you're looking for an excuse to go bigger, then I say you've found it. Go for it! And get the hi-res screen, it's great! :D
 
+1 for 17" hi res. Bought mine two weeks ago. It's stunning....! No issues whatsoever. Shell out $100 to crucial or owc for RAM upgrade to 4 gb and go to town !
 
The display "quality" on the 17 hi-res is much better than the quality on the 15. Much less (none) yellowing, even lighting, and brighter.

As for the other issues, it's probably hit or miss based on the individual units. I've got both at the moment (trying to decide which to keep) and I love the screen on the 17" much better than the 15" but I love the size of the 15".
 
bcaslis said:
The display "quality" on the 17 hi-res is much better than the quality on the 15. Much less (none) yellowing, even lighting, and brighter.

As for the other issues, it's probably hit or miss based on the individual units. I've got both at the moment (trying to decide which to keep) and I love the screen on the 17" much better than the 15" but I love the size of the 15".
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Your 17" Hi Res MBP's resolution better be nicer than the 15" since there is no option for 15" Hi Res. Your comparison doesnt even make sense.

As for the built quality, its the same. People dont usually post a thread to say their laptop is perfect, you will see a lot more people complaining about their issues on these forums.

If you think that 15" is built differently than the 17", other than the components, then there must be 2 different assembly line over there in China. 15" for mediocre quality assembly line and exceptional quality built line for 17"

So tired of people looking for issues and when you look hard enough, you will start to notice every little thing that's not right about your computer instead of utilizing the things that work.
 
FarSeide said:
Your 17" Hi Res MBP's resolution better be nicer than the 15" since there is no option for 15" Hi Res. Your comparison doesnt even make sense.

As for the built quality, its the same. People dont usually post a thread to say their laptop is perfect, you will see a lot more people complaining about their issues on these forums.

If you think that 15" is built differently than the 17", other than the components, then there must be 2 different assembly line over there in China. 15" for mediocre quality assembly line and exceptional quality built line for 17"

So tired of people looking for issues and when you look hard enough, you will start to notice every little thing that's not right about your computer instead of utilizing the things that work.
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Pretty nasty sounding reply.

The 17" seems to have more even illumination and closer to a true white with less yellowing at the bottom issues. I've had 3 penryn 15" to compare with so I think it's a fair comparison. As I said everything else is about the same. I said nothing about better build quality for the 17".

It would probably work better if you read a reply before flaming it.
 
bcaslis said:
Pretty nasty sounding reply.

The 17" seems to have more even illumination and closer to a true white with less yellowing at the bottom issues. I've had 3 penryn 15" to compare with so I think it's a fair comparison. As I said everything else is about the same. I said nothing about better build quality for the 17".

It would probably work better if you read a reply before flaming it.
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i actually wasnt flaming you and if I came across as such, I sincerely apologize...

Just tired of people looking for issues...

again, a apology :apple:
 
bobbleheadbob said:
I have the 17". No headaches here. :)

If you're looking for an excuse to go bigger, then I say you've found it. Go for it! And get the hi-res screen, it's great! :D
Click to expand...

Same here. Go for the 17" and be happy about the screen size and clarity. It's actually not that much heavier (1.4 lbs.) and not that much bigger. Until you open it up and see that massive screen, and on the hi res version it's amazing. I wish you were able to do a mirgrate.

When i opened my apps up on my 17" for the first time the windows stayed the same size that was originally on my 15" and I never knew how much space could be on a notebook. I gained about 3 or 4 more inches, although the book is only 1.6" bigger.

RSC10 said:
+1 for 17" hi res. Bought mine two weeks ago. It's stunning....! No issues whatsoever. Shell out $100 to crucial or owc for RAM upgrade to 4 gb and go to town !
Click to expand...

+2 for the 17" hi res. And second the RAM upgrade.

p.s. Battery life is amazing on the 17"!
 
FarSeide said:
Just tired of people looking for issues...
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I can assure you those who are suffering from those issues are more tired of them than you. I'd say buying a Macbook Pro with a latch that can't be released isn't "looking for issues". Nor is having it replaced with a Macbook Pro with a totally non-functioning touchpad.
 
Sir Cecil said:
I can assure you those who are suffering from those issues are more tired of them than you. I'd say buying a Macbook Pro with a latch that can't be released isn't "looking for issues". Nor is having it replaced with a Macbook Pro with a totally non-functioning touchpad.
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If you had that much issues with your 15", then simply return to get the 17". Perhaps you will have a better luck
 
I got a brand new 17" Penryn MBP and it was pretty good, except for the high-pitched noise which gets emitted from the display. I sent it back in and I'll get a replacement tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. So far it seems all of them have this noise, only varying in the amount of noise emitted. See here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/465864/

At least I haven't found someone yet which explicitly stated that his Penryn MBP doesn't have this noise. Note that older people might not hear it, as the sound is very high-pitched.
 
Sir Cecil said:
I can assure you those who are suffering from those issues are more tired of them than you. I'd say buying a Macbook Pro with a latch that can't be released isn't "looking for issues". Nor is having it replaced with a Macbook Pro with a totally non-functioning touchpad.
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So why come on here looking for problems,all your've done is worry yourself out of using one ,if your that worried about it take it back and buy a Dell or something,unfortunately it's pot luck you may get issues but there again you may not. Its unacceptable yes but it's a chance you take. Granted people do have issues but in relation to how many are sold it's a minority
 
I have a 15 inch and its wonderful! Out of the 12 or so computers I own (sad I lost count) its my favorite (and sadly the only mac). The build quality for apple machines is much much higher then on the PC end.

Also, when you see a lot of these people post if you look at their "issues" theyre usually rediculous and petty. Everything from "my touchpad is slightly higher on the left then the right" to "my k key looks a little tilted". I know the theory is "I paid this much so it should be flawless!" but I would challenge you to look at any new 30k automobile on the lot and find one without one flaw.
 
chrono1081 said:
,Also when you see a lot of these people post if you look at their "issues" theyre usually rediculous and petty. Everything from "my touchpad is slightly higher on the left then the right" to "my k key looks a little tilted". I know the theory is "I paid this much so it should be flawless!" but I would challenge you to look at any new 30k automobile on the lot and find one without one flaw.
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Very well put
 
I had the Air, but returned it because it was working too hard when just running iChat. Then I bought the 15" Penryn (I already had a 15" PB) but wanted something faster for video editing. I exchanged it once due to yellowing issue, other than that is was "perfect". My second 15" was "perfect" and kept that for 9 days. Then I saw the hi-res 17" and had to have it. It was a little bigger, but that hi-rez screen is definitely worth it. I exchanged it and my first 17" was "perfect".
 
chrono1081 said:
Also, when you see a lot of these people post if you look at their "issues" theyre usually rediculous and petty. Everything from "my touchpad is slightly higher on the left then the right" to "my k key looks a little tilted". I know the theory is "I paid this much so it should be flawless!" but I would challenge you to look at any new 30k automobile on the lot and find one without one flaw.
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I'm afraid you don't know what you're talking about. Just take a look at http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook_Pro most of the things there certainly don't fall in the "rediculous and petty" category.

Only because you were lucky and got a good unit doesn't mean the other users are idiots.
 
the reason why u don't hear as many people complain about the 17" is that there aren't as many people with the 17"!

too silly...:)
 
PeterKW said:
I'm afraid you don't know what you're talking about. Just take a look at http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook_Pro most of the things there certainly don't fall in the "rediculous and petty" category.

Only because you were lucky and got a good unit doesn't mean the other users are idiots.
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Not to start a war but I am afraid I do know what I am talking about. Yes, there are people with real problems and its unfortunate but when you read half of the threads that are focused on tiny little things where people are pouring over their machines looking for any and all defects those are the people I am referring too.

For those with actual problems, return it to apple. Its very easy. Electronics, no matter what brands have TONS of flaws. Working as a tech for 10 years I can tell you literally there are a ton of defective machines out there and companies know this and will usually gladly take them back for an exchange.
 
This reminds me of the 15" powerbooks vs. 17"powerbooks.. where there were vertical line/heat/inverter issues on the 15" screens and no problems with the 17".
 
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