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Current Thoughts on the 15" 2.33Ghz?

A

aminadab

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 3, 2005
132
1
Portland, Oregon
Friends,

Those who have this model, what are your thoughts? I'm looking at them used, and eyeing a brand new one at my school's computer store. How do you like your machines? I'm really going for reliability over speed. Lastly, what is a reasonable price for these machines? My school wants 1799 for one brand new, sealed in the box. I hope it comes down a bit when/if (big IF??) the Penryns come out. It looks like these things don't go for much less used. I'm always amazed at how much MBs/MBPs maintain their value. Thanks for any comments/thoughts.
 
Mine is great. I bought it refurbed last April. The only problem was that I had one of the stressed batteries. Easily replaced by Apple, and no problems since.
 
I would wait for the impending update and buy it new. Better resale, better warranty and support. Plus you have a return window in which you can be very critical about the new machine (check for any warping along screen, processor whine, etc).

With the LED backlighting these are solid machines with most of the bugs worked out by now. The new MBPs should be even less buggy and run cooler, assuming they keep the enclosure the same.
 
Thanks for the quick replies! Anyone running leopard on it? Also, if they don't release the new machines soon, should I spend 1799 on a new one from my school or 1899 on a refurbished model from apple? Are these fair prices?
 
I've got one with leopard on it, it's about a year old and overall it's an excellent machine. Very quick, no major problems. I think they are more solid/reliable and even run cooler than the newer SR models (based on my own comparisons).
 
My MBP is running awesome. I even converted my friend and he is running the same machine. His is doing awesome as well.
 
another great review here. i've had it a year and use it everyday. and i have no desire to upgrade or ever feel i dont have enough speed.
 
Another positive. :) Running Leopard on my 2.33GHz MBP, and it works fine.

The only caveat is that the MBP 2.33 will only recognize up to 3GB of RAM, even if you put 4GB in. It will WORK with 4GB installed just fine and OS X will even report that the full 4GB are installed, but will only access 3 due to chipset limitations.
 
I am a proud owner of the afore mentioned, never had any major problems with it.
The battery on mine went dead after 10 months of use (defective) but Apple changed it right away at no charge. Other than that it's a beauty!

And it's running Leopard without any problems.

Great machine.
 
Typing on one now. I have heavily used it daily non-stop for about 15 months and have no complaints. It has served me beyond well with no problems. I have upgraded the RAM, HDD, and display (switched back), and had this computer open countless times. After all of that has never as much as missed a beat. It is a fantastic machine that I hope to enjoy for a long time.

The only reservation I would has is the lack of the SR chipset if I was buying today. This is pretty much a non-issue right now, but when 8GB RAM is possible/affordable in a notebook, it might make a difference for some applications. 4GB RAM in a notebook was regarded as largely unthinkable when I got mine (I think Apple's 3GB upgrade was $700), and a year later the market price for 4GB RAM is about $100...
 
Mine is fine. Some "scratches"/pseudo peel off at the wrist rests, but that's about it.

As always, the albooks/MBPs creek some, but that's not specific to the 2.33.

Other than that, I'm quite happy with the thing, and I won't be buying a new one soon. In fact, I am planning to keep this for at least a year more, perhaps even two (I mean, as a work machine).
 
April 2007 - MBPro 2.33C2D - 4GB Corsair RAM - Leopard 10.5.2

100% Satisfaction. Never been to the Genius Bar. Probably just getting AppleCare for battery/LCD but it seems I got a perfect one!
 
The only issue I have noticed is just a slight case warp above the cdrom slot. As if the Aluminum Metal can't withstand the rest of my wrists.

Anyone else notice this?
 
djinn said:
The only issue I have noticed is just a slight case warp above the cdrom slot. As if the Aluminum Metal can't withstand the rest of my wrists.

Anyone else notice this?
Click to expand...

Genius Bar can fix that with a wedge tool in less than a minute. It m ay be from pulling the laptop open when the latch isn't completely released.
 
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