Hi everyone I just wanted to give a user experience review of the macbook pro 15" core i7 machine after extensive use over a 1 week period. I will not be discussing technical stats as there are plenty of threads, but just my observations over the smaller more day to day aspects.
1.) The Screen - 15" standard glossy
I feel like the screen is fine, and the upgrade to hi res and/or matte is not necessary in my case. my g/f has the 15" matte screen, and when using it indoors, I dont see or really notice reflections in either. Right now I have 2 standing lamps and a desk lamp facing it and I can only see a slight reflection of my hands on the bottom of the screen. At full brightness the reflections are nearly gone so not a big issue.
2.) Temperature - the heat is much better than older models keyboard wise. I see a lot of people stating how the i7 gets really hot...and it does, but the keyboard stays only slightly warm. However where the hinge meets the screen gets really hot as logically that is where the vent is. the only part that worries me is that if I run some heavy programs, theres a plasticy smell that comes out.
3.) Speakers - I feel like the sound is much better, comparing it to a 2008 8600gt model it sounds clearer and louder. I usually plugged notebooks into external speakers, but its not as necessary in this case. I am listening to pandora now, and the speakers arent out of this world but more than acceptable.
4.) Keyboard/Trackpad - so this is actually kinda annoying. I hate the big track pad. I bought a bluetooth mouse cause I cant stand it. One of the major problems is that it takes too long to click, and this may be the difference in milliseconds, but its annoying. you have to lift your finger off to click, if you try to click with a second finger sometimes the trackpad doesnt recognize the first finger and moves your cursor. tap to click option does help, but then you lose tactile feed back. Another main issue is that when you type if you lean your palms on the palmrest, you thumbs cover the corners of trackpad, and if you lift your thumbs when typing then it will recognize this as movement and a click, so when I type it will mess up move the cursor higher, and I will type in an area I dont want to.
5.) 2 USB ports - doesn't really bother me. I dont really need to be plugging in a ton of things, and for my purposes my external monitor has a built in hub anyways.
6.) SD Card reader - complete crap, who thought having the sd card stick out was a good idea? that means I have to take it out each time so that when I throw it in my bag, I dont damage the card and/or the reader. I would have liked to use the 32gb sdhc cards for a backup file storage, but this is not an option now.
7.) power charger - good looking, but somewhat more annoying than the older magsafe plugs, you can flip it either way, but if you flip it with the arm forward you block the ports, if you flip it back it sometimes gets tugged out. Unless you have the powerblock right behind your laptop, it will tug to the left, and its not a problem cept the plug is still hard and the plug still wants to flip around when you plug it in.
8.) sharp edges - hasn't bothered me yet...they are indeed still sharp but I guess my typing posture doesn't cut into my wrists.
9.) the case itself - People say that it feels more solid...I actually feel like its more flimsy. When I grab the case out of my incase neopreene sleeve there some give to the case lid, and it feels like if I grasp too hard I will dent my case.
10.) Aluminum discoloration - I am terrified of this happening, and it looks like it might happen. I been working quite a bit and typing quite a bit this week and though it seems like it might be my imagination, there seems to be a slight discoloration where my left palm touches the aluminum, its lighter and its clearly an outline of the heel of my palm.
1.) The Screen - 15" standard glossy
I feel like the screen is fine, and the upgrade to hi res and/or matte is not necessary in my case. my g/f has the 15" matte screen, and when using it indoors, I dont see or really notice reflections in either. Right now I have 2 standing lamps and a desk lamp facing it and I can only see a slight reflection of my hands on the bottom of the screen. At full brightness the reflections are nearly gone so not a big issue.
2.) Temperature - the heat is much better than older models keyboard wise. I see a lot of people stating how the i7 gets really hot...and it does, but the keyboard stays only slightly warm. However where the hinge meets the screen gets really hot as logically that is where the vent is. the only part that worries me is that if I run some heavy programs, theres a plasticy smell that comes out.
3.) Speakers - I feel like the sound is much better, comparing it to a 2008 8600gt model it sounds clearer and louder. I usually plugged notebooks into external speakers, but its not as necessary in this case. I am listening to pandora now, and the speakers arent out of this world but more than acceptable.
4.) Keyboard/Trackpad - so this is actually kinda annoying. I hate the big track pad. I bought a bluetooth mouse cause I cant stand it. One of the major problems is that it takes too long to click, and this may be the difference in milliseconds, but its annoying. you have to lift your finger off to click, if you try to click with a second finger sometimes the trackpad doesnt recognize the first finger and moves your cursor. tap to click option does help, but then you lose tactile feed back. Another main issue is that when you type if you lean your palms on the palmrest, you thumbs cover the corners of trackpad, and if you lift your thumbs when typing then it will recognize this as movement and a click, so when I type it will mess up move the cursor higher, and I will type in an area I dont want to.
5.) 2 USB ports - doesn't really bother me. I dont really need to be plugging in a ton of things, and for my purposes my external monitor has a built in hub anyways.
6.) SD Card reader - complete crap, who thought having the sd card stick out was a good idea? that means I have to take it out each time so that when I throw it in my bag, I dont damage the card and/or the reader. I would have liked to use the 32gb sdhc cards for a backup file storage, but this is not an option now.
7.) power charger - good looking, but somewhat more annoying than the older magsafe plugs, you can flip it either way, but if you flip it with the arm forward you block the ports, if you flip it back it sometimes gets tugged out. Unless you have the powerblock right behind your laptop, it will tug to the left, and its not a problem cept the plug is still hard and the plug still wants to flip around when you plug it in.
8.) sharp edges - hasn't bothered me yet...they are indeed still sharp but I guess my typing posture doesn't cut into my wrists.
9.) the case itself - People say that it feels more solid...I actually feel like its more flimsy. When I grab the case out of my incase neopreene sleeve there some give to the case lid, and it feels like if I grasp too hard I will dent my case.
10.) Aluminum discoloration - I am terrified of this happening, and it looks like it might happen. I been working quite a bit and typing quite a bit this week and though it seems like it might be my imagination, there seems to be a slight discoloration where my left palm touches the aluminum, its lighter and its clearly an outline of the heel of my palm.
