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From MBA to MBP - Back to MBA?

K

kpdillon

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 26, 2011
54
0
So bought the MBA 13" 4GB version. Love the speed and size. Made me crave more (bigger screen, more power etc). So I ordered to build a 15" MBP. It arrived. I thought I would love it but I am having trouble getting past a couple of issues. For one, my palms/wrists get uncomfortably warm. On the MBA I didn't have this issue. I am running the exact same software (fusion with windows 7). Why is this MBP so dang warm? It's making me want to go back to the MBA.

Second issue is it's not nearly as snappy as the MBA. I assume this is because I currently have a 7200 RPM vs. an SSD and that if I swap out and put in the SSD it will start behaving as snappy as the MBA. True?

Appreciate any feedback.
 
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If you stick an SSD in a MBP, it should run faster than a MBA: faster processor
 
There are so many topics on this. SSDs basically quicken anything involving launching, opening files, booting, etc. They won't speed up gaming, photoshop, handbrake, etc. assuming you have enough ram (many people don't understand how to determine how they are on ram). The Air gets extremely warm if you're watching videos, playing games, or doing anything cpu intensive. The Macbook Pro is significantly faster. What applications do you frequently run?

Edit: my next laptop will have an ssd, but it's not the sole factor in performance at all.
 
shardey said:
Is it both palm rests that are warm?
Click to expand...

Yes both palm rests are warm. It's just uncomfortable compared to the air that I used for a couple of weeks that didn't get warm at all doing the exact same tasks.

----------
thekev said:
There are so many topics on this. SSDs basically quicken anything involving launching, opening files, booting, etc. They won't speed up gaming, photoshop, handbrake, etc. assuming you have enough ram (many people don't understand how to determine how they are on ram). The Air gets extremely warm if you're watching videos, playing games, or doing anything cpu intensive. The Macbook Pro is significantly faster. What applications do you frequently run?
Click to expand...

Yep, I got it. I know the SSD will make it snappy. I think I will try it. I have an SSD I can put in. I am just using a windows virtual. Giving it 1GB of memory. The air is comfortable to my palms, the mbp is warm and uncomfortable.
 
I think the battery is under what you are calling the palm rest.

However, as I recall from a typing class I took more years ago that I care to share, the instructor would come by and whack my hands if my palms were resting. Point being, "you holding it wrong..." - don't rest your palms.
 
ScoobyMcDoo said:
I think the battery is under what you are calling the palm rest.

However, as I recall from a typing class I took more years ago that I care to share, the instructor would come by and whack my hands if my palms were resting. Point being, "you holding it wrong..." - don't rest your palms.
Click to expand...

Fair point. But I also like to rest my palms there when I am not typing and doing more reading. I am guessing that this is not a unique issue to my 15" but perhaps I am just overly sensitive to it. I can accept that. I do love this screen though, will be nice when a macbook air comes out in 15" or hopefully ivy bridge will cool it down.
 
After I got my 2011 MBA 11", I virtually stopped using my early 2011 MBP 17".

I finally installed an SSD into my MBP and now I'm back to using my MBP about 70% of the time and my MBA 30% of the time (when I need a mobile computer).

The SSD spoils you, and it's too difficult to go back to HDD, even if it is inside an incredibly well designed MBP.

Read the thread on the MCE Optibay cheap alternative, and consider installing both a SSD AND your HDD in your MBP.
 
VMMan said:
After I got my 2011 MBA 11", I virtually stopped using my early 2011 MBP 17".

I finally installed an SSD into my MBP and now I'm back to using my MBP about 70% of the time and my MBA 30% of the time (when I need a mobile computer).
Click to expand...


Thanks VMMAN, great feedback! I think I will give this thing a spin with an SSD before giving up on it completely.
 
Yea, I really am enjoying the MBP 17" again since I installed the SSD.

You start to appreciate the better screen on the MBP, discrete graphics, and pure brutal raging speed of the quad-core Core i7. My GeekBench scores are about twice as high on the MBP than the MBA.
 
all laptops will get warm. go buy an hp ro dell then if ur whiny about "the palmrests get to warm"
 
randomrazr said:
all laptops will get warm. go buy an hp ro dell then if ur whiny about "the palmrests get to warm"
Click to expand...

Your response is not so helpful. My MBA does not get warm and this was not a thread about HP or Dell's.
 
kpdillon said:
Yeah, that is where my head is at right now. The air is not my dream machine but it will do for now I suppose.
Click to expand...

You have to let the MBP run a bit for it to finish the indexing. After I put in the SSD, my MBP got noticeably hot during the first couple of uses.
 
ScoobyMcDoo said:
I think the battery is under what you are calling the palm rest.

However, as I recall from a typing class I took more years ago that I care to share, the instructor would come by and whack my hands if my palms were resting. Point being, "you holding it wrong..." - don't rest your palms.
Click to expand...

You are correct - The battery and the HD are both under where one would rest their palms. I used to have the same type of teacher as well! :D
 
The battery and HDD should not get warm at all. I'm guessing the aluminium is conducting heat and is therefore warming your palm rests up. I get this a lot while playing games in Bootcamp. If you think you're up to it, I would reapply the thermal paste. There are plenty of guides on the Internet, and the replacement thermal paste (I prefer Arctic Silver, $12 on Newegg) is cheap and easy to install. Remember: Thermal paste is supposed to be a thin, even layer, not a huge dollop as Apple tends to do. The MBA is so thin that the heat generating components radiate heat before it can be transferred to the palm rest.
 
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