17" MBP in hand!!!

[odedia]

Hi all MBP 17" owners and congradulations!

I would like to ask you a favour, can you please download and play about 10 minutes of the demo of the game "Otto Matic"? Playing this game on my MBP made it almost impossible to touch for being so hot, so I think it can be a good test of heat (including heat from the GPU, unlike tests in a terminal windows which only test the CPU). The demo itself is already a universal binary.

Here's the link:

http://www.macgamefiles.com/download.php?item=18985&title=Otto+Matic+(Demo,+27+MB)

Would appriciate the feedback.

Thanks!

Oded S.

 

[bigandy]

Because the only language I speak is English and I don't need Office test drive and I also only use one printer, so I don't need ALL the drivers.. I save about 10 GB by doing a fresh install.

how on earth do you save 10Gb doing a fresh install? The printer drivers and other languages only take up 2.3Gb or so...

 

[knifegun]

Sorry for the dumb question but how do you run the pixel test? I just got my 17" MBP and love it. It also got a bit hot last night.

Heya everyone,

I'm new here... my first post!

I picked up the 17" today, from Eaton Centre Apple Store!

My first impression was... meh. Why I said so? cuz I felt it became a part of me already. yes, it was that quick.

I'm not an avid apple OSX user, but I used it in school before, so I know my way around a bit.

I'm not fullly aware of the porblems the 15" has. but from my perspective, the 17" I have is pretty good! It ran HOT a little earlier today, I was charging it and such... though it doesn't burn. But it was hot. like.. HOT.

it whined a bit... maybe because the fact that it was hot due to the battery charging.



now Im running it without connecting it to a power source/outlet, and it runs much cooler, though I'm running it under batter saver mode. So thigns are a bit slower. I felt very little heat. and compltely silent too.


the 17" isn't that much bigger than the 15.4" when I looked at in store. So I was like.. I'm glad it isn't that big. Then after I opened it up, usin' it and such.. I took #2. I came back and was like.. WHOA. damn, my MBP is HUGE. it's gonna stick out.... bugt oh well.. gotta live with it. It might be a bad thing....


I ran pixel test, I don't think I see any dead pixies... which is a good thing.


anyway, I'll be posting pics later.

THANKS JARED FROM APPLE STORE EATON CENTRE, YOU ROCK! Thanks for holding out the 17" for me!


btw, my spec is as follow:
2.16
120 @ 5400
1GB of RAM (I plan on upgrading it to 2GB, as I'm a photoshop user)

I also plan on getting an external drive as my scratch disc, so my internal drive would have less chance of being ghe first drive to die. hell, I don't like it when the word drive and die is together in a sentence.

if you ahve any question, feel free to ask here. I don't usually reply to PMs. I've got another forum to mod.

 

[calicardiff]

It's a mall in Toronto, Canada UP NORTH!

Wow, another Apple Store in Canada - and close by my office - might have to be a long lunch today

 

[hidea]

Sorry for the dumb question but how do you run the pixel test? I just got my 17" MBP and love it. It also got a bit hot last night.

I use Pixel Check

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11661

 

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Go over to ArsTechnica and read the thing about the silicone grease issue... Unless Aple has dispatched their thugs to tke out the guy. I'm not buying a thing until I hear confirmation that this has been fixed. I don't feel like voiding my warranty to fix what is Apple's mistake.

Any word on heat with the 17"?

May I ask that you install the Otto Matic demo game and play it for a few minutes and then report how hot the machine is?

When I played that game on my 15" MBP, the machine was impossible to hold after 10 minutes!

Here's a link to download the demo:

http://www.macgamefiles.com/download.php?item=16999&title=Otto+Matic+Demo+(OS+X+Users)

Thanks!

Oded S.

 

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Nanosaur, Worldbook, MS Office Test Drive, MarbleBlast, etc. First thing I do when getting a new puter is wipe the drive and start over, then use Monolingual after it's set up to get rid of language junk.

how on earth do you save 10Gb doing a fresh install? The printer drivers and other languages only take up 2.3Gb or so...

 

[Multimedia]

Thank You For PiXel Check Hidea

I use PiXel Check

Thanks for PiXel Check. I never knew it existed.

And here's the link to Monolingual to get rid of all languages you don't use that are embedded in all sorts of places taking up unnecessary space. Just freed up 2.4 GB with it by only removing all languages except English which are embedded in all sorts of applications.

 

[61132]

What kind of case are you using for the 17mbp? I currently have a US Luggage case for my pb15, I like it a lot and they currently dont make one for the 17 inch models. Its a great case, has a neat retractable shoulder strap, just wont fit a 17inch, I might return my 15 inch mbp for the 17. Case needs to have room for cd's and power adapter/cables

 

[skippy64]

What kind of case are you using for the 17mbp? I currently have a US Luggage case for my pb15, I like it a lot and they currently dont make one for the 17 inch models. Its a great case, has a neat retractable shoulder strap, just wont fit a 17inch, I might return my 15 inch mbp for the 17. Case needs to have room for cd's and power adapter/cables

I have also been looking around tonight for a suitable case to take the 17" Mac and came across this

http://www.peli.com/cases.html
(look at the medium cases link)

I had also been looking for a 'combi' case design that could take both laptop & camera gear but so far I have only come up with this
TENBA PRO DIGITAL 2.0 - GEMINI ( scroll down the page to find it )
http://www.teamworkphoto.com/tenba.html

If anyone can come up with further suggestions it would be appreciated.TIA

 

[hidea]

I have a question...

to the other 17" owner, or maybe the 15.4 owner can answer this too..


is there a 'big' gap between the keyboard and the screen when the laptop is closed? (folded). it seems that the left part of my screen has some gap when it's closed up, more so than the right. like.. whhen I apply a bit of pressure on it, it would bouce up a bit.

 

[61132]

just bend the screen, i had that problem on both my powerbook and this mbp. Bending the corners of the screen solved the problem!

 

[MovieCutter]

I have a question...

to the other 17" owner, or maybe the 15.4 owner can answer this too..


is there a 'big' gap between the keyboard and the screen when the laptop is closed? (folded). it seems that the left part of my screen has some gap when it's closed up, more so than the right. like.. whhen I apply a bit of pressure on it, it would bouce up a bit.

No, but why on earth does this matter? I don't get why this is an issue with people?

 

[buddhahacker]

Initial thoughts

Well,

I've been using my new 17" MBP for 3 days and 4 nights. I have found that it is Fast and is a huge improvement over my old 15" PB.

HEAT: I have found that it gets very hot on the bar above the keyboard. The rest of the MBP is cool to warm even when pushing the processor and the hard disk. I was actually expecting more heat from the 7200RPM drive. I have found that when I charge the laptop while using it and/or when I have it placed on a soft surface such as a couch or bed it does get much hotter. This isn't a problem for me since I use a lapdesk.

WinXP: I took exactly 6 minutes to prepare the MBP to install XP and create the driver CD. XP was installed 34 minutes later. The install was nearly flawless. At one point after the main OS load the laptop hanged but a forced reboot fixed that problem. The wireless, mouse, CD and USB ports work fine. I have not tried reading a DVD or buring one. I have noted that there are a few ? marks in the hardware device listing. Remember that the "Delete" key works as a backspace by default so you will have to use a keyboard remapper to fix this issue or use a USB keyboard. I found Keytweak and this appears to work fine.

BATTERY: Excellent on OS X. I readily expected 2-3 hours and I'm experiencing something over 3 hours per battery charge. However, when running XP the battery life is nearly cut by half. I seem to get 2 - 2 1/2 hours when running XP.

Running AVI Files: This was a huge problem. I move the software decoders off of my PB and it didn't work. I later found that I need the Intel version of these drives. I found them and they didn't work. I found another set and these didn't work. Then I found that I had to include an AC3 decoder, too. This was something I didn't need with my PB for some reason. Once this last file was downloaded everything worked flawlessly. Frontrow also runs the AVI files just fine including the preview feature. I will update this message with the working file names later tonight.

 

[crazydrumma]

congrats on the 17 inch. I just ordered my 15 inch MBP, and I was wondering, how do you do a fresh install? Is there already a previous thread on this somewhere? If so, I apologize ahead of time for my ignorance, but fresh installing and saving that much space sounds like a good idea...

 

[61132]

congrats on the 17 inch. I just ordered my 15 inch MBP, and I was wondering, how do you do a fresh install? Is there already a previous thread on this somewhere? If so, I apologize ahead of time for my ignorance, but fresh installing and saving that much space sounds like a good idea...

Easy, back-up any data you have on the mbp. Insert disc one of the OS X setup cd's. Open up the disc, select install OS X. It will ask you to restart.

Once the setup program loads, go to utilities in the menubar, disc utility. Erase the main disc.

Go back to the installer, get to the screen where there is an option to "customize" your system ( I believe it is in the lower left hand corner.)

Deselect anything you do not need.

Install!!


I Might have left something out, as this is all from memory. If I am wrong anywhere, someone jump in and correct me!

 

[jwp1964]

Curious...

I don't want people reading this thread to get th wrong impression. The machine is FANTASTIC. I'm still using it, flicker or not and I know that is an easy fix. Everything else is incredible. I had the MBP15 and can tell you that the heat difference is HUGE. It is running cool believe it or not. Same thing with the battery. It doesn't drop as fast as the MBP15. Whine, there is NO whine. I had a MBP15 and know what the whine sounds like, this machine doesn't have it. I tried it with the magsafe plugged in, plugged out. Ran photobooth and nope .. no whine.

Finally, the fans haven't kicked in once yet. Which seems to imply they did do something different here, right? As compared to the MBP 15 I mean. I hope it's an easy fix so the hot 15" out there can get fixed ...

eV

If you're using it how does that qualify as DOA? Not being a smartass...

 

[eVolcre]

If you're using it how does that qualify as DOA? Not being a smartass...

Because the screen is yellow. :-(

It flickers on and off randomly. I can still use it, but there's no way in heck this isn't DOA. Goes back tomorrow, priority assembly on the new one so I should have the replacment by Monday (per Apple).

Maybe not DOA umm ... IOA (injured on Arrival?)

eV

 

[jwp1964]

Got it...

Because the screen is yellow. :-(

It flickers on and off randomly. I can still use it, but there's no way in heck this isn't DOA. Goes back tomorrow, priority assembly on the new one so I should have the replacment by Monday (per Apple).

Maybe not DOA umm ... IOA (injured on Arrival?)

eV

Ok...bad LCD, but Book seems to work...sorry to hear you'll have to wait on a new one...good luck.

 

[Addo]

I managed to snap up a 17" today from CompUSA in New york! Went to the SOHO Apple Store this morning and asked if they had any 17's in stock and a very vague staff member said that they hadn't. I even noticed that they still had 17" G4's on the shop floor... Shortly after I ended up in Tekserve (an Apple reseller) and got a very curt 'no' judging by his tone of voice I think he meant to say 'NO - f*&k off'! Disheartened we ended back to our hotel and I thought I'd try CompUSA and see if they had any stocks - desperation!!? On the web site it said they had limited stocks. Turns out I got the last one - I was over the moon, the credit card had the wind knocked out of it (again) and the other half wasn't impressed that I've now spent over £3000 in 2 days!


Anyway, I've just got the stock 120Gb 5400 rpm drive version - I just need to throw another 1Gb stick to max the memory. just from powering it up and just messing around it completely knocks the living crap out of my 1.25Ghz G4 PB!!! Also in my opinion so far this 17" does NOT get noticably hotter than my PB and to my knowledge I've yet to hear the fans kick in maybe they have but I've not noticed?

On the whole, I'm happy and to round it all off I've just noticed that my FCP crossgrade got delivered at home yesterday so now I can't wait to get back home, reinstall OSX and get FCP up and running!

 

[Multimedia]

AVI Playback Drivers Links List

Running AVI Files: This was a huge problem. I move the software decoders off of my PB and it didn't work. I later found that I need the Intel version of these drives. I found them and they didn't work. I found another set and these didn't work. Then I found that I had to include an AC3 decoder, too. This was something I didn't need with my PB for some reason. Once this last file was downloaded everything worked flawlessly. Frontrow also runs the AVI files just fine including the preview feature. I will update this message with the working file names later tonight.

May we please have the list of drivers with links to where we can get them for future reference? Not VLC?

You mean while in OS X right?

 

[Multimedia]

Great Story Of Perseverance Furthering Addo. Congratulations!

I managed to snap up a 17" today from CompUSA in New york! Went to the SOHO Apple Store this morning and asked if they had any 17's in stock and a very vague staff member said that they hadn't. I even noticed that they still had 17" G4's on the shop floor... Shortly after I ended up in Tekserve (an Apple reseller) and got a very curt 'no' judging by his tone of voice I think he meant to say 'NO - f*&k off'! Disheartened we ended back to our hotel and I thought I'd try CompUSA and see if they had any stocks - desperation!!? On the web site it said they had limited stocks. Turns out I got the last one - I was over the moon, the credit card had the wind knocked out of it (again) and the other half wasn't impressed that I've now spent over £3000 in 2 days!

Anyway, I've just got the stock 120Gb 5400 rpm drive version - I just need to throw another 1Gb stick to max the memory. just from powering it up and just messing around it completely knocks the living crap out of my 1.25Ghz G4 PB!!! Also in my opinion so far this 17" does NOT get noticably hotter than my PB and to my knowledge I've yet to hear the fans kick in maybe they have but I've not noticed?

On the whole, I'm happy and to round it all off I've just noticed that my FCP crossgrade got delivered at home yesterday so now I can't wait to get back home, reinstall OSX and get FCP up and running!

Great Story Of Perseverance Furthering Addo. Congratulations! You gotta tell us how fast FCS is after you get it rolling.

 

[LaRock2]

Extended Warranties?

Do you folks purchase the Apple Extended Warranty with your new MBP 17" units? If I'm hearing that some of them are arriving DOA & it's a pretty new design, I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to get the Extended Warranty. I'm just wondering what most of you did.

 

[Multimedia]

Always Buy Applecare For Mobile Macs

Do you folks purchase the Apple Extended Warranty with your new MBP 17" units? If I'm hearing that some of them are arriving DOA & it's a pretty new design, I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to get the Extended Warranty. I'm just wondering what most of you did.

You MUST buy Applecare for mobile Macs because they are way too fragile and can have problems anywhere along the 3 year timeframe. Plus Applecare is transferable to succeeding owners if you choose to sell it sooner. And it is a sales point. It is foolish to buy a Mobile Mac and not Applecare. Please do so always.

Now you don't have to do it right away if money is an issue. But you must exercise your option when first sign of trouble occurs after 90 days or at the latest within a year of the purchase.

 

[joshwest]

I managed to snap up a 17" today from CompUSA in New york! Went to the SOHO Apple Store this morning and asked if they had any 17's in stock and a very vague staff member said that they hadn't. I even noticed that they still had 17" G4's on the shop floor... Shortly after I ended up in Tekserve (an Apple reseller) and got a very curt 'no' judging by his tone of voice I think he meant to say 'NO - f*&k off'! Disheartened we ended back to our hotel and I thought I'd try CompUSA and see if they had any stocks - desperation!!? On the web site it said they had limited stocks. Turns out I got the last one - I was over the moon, the credit card had the wind knocked out of it (again) and the other half wasn't impressed that I've now spent over £3000 in 2 days!


Anyway, I've just got the stock 120Gb 5400 rpm drive version - I just need to throw another 1Gb stick to max the memory. just from powering it up and just messing around it completely knocks the living crap out of my 1.25Ghz G4 PB!!! Also in my opinion so far this 17" does NOT get noticably hotter than my PB and to my knowledge I've yet to hear the fans kick in maybe they have but I've not noticed?

On the whole, I'm happy and to round it all off I've just noticed that my FCP crossgrade got delivered at home yesterday so now I can't wait to get back home, reinstall OSX and get FCP up and running!

Good thing about getting it at CompUsa.. Better warranty.. you can return it for full refund after 14 days or swap it out.