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How are your macbooks holding out?

M

M-apple-T

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 14, 2008
55
0
I was thinking about getting a macbook, either the base or the 2.4ghz.
I was debating for a top of the line imac or base line macbook pro. (mainly because I wanted to game)
But after long debates to myself I realized if I bought a macbook I would have enough money (or save a little more) to be able to build a gaming machine if I wanted. Or xbox 360 it is.lol
But I wanted to know if anyone had any problems with the macbook. What are the common problems I may run into.
And does it slow down at times? If so what programs do slow them down. Also what are your specs?

thanks
 
I've had mine for 2 weeks now, so i'll give you the short term perspective at least. I LOVE IT. Obviously this is only based on 2 weeks of experience, but for those 2 weeks it's been running 24/7 converting video, ripping dvds, and downloading bit torrents. I've restarted it once (just after i installed all the programs i needed, and all the updates). Other than that it's been running the whole time, and i'm without a complaint so far. I've got the 2.4 white. I've got 2 gigs of ram, but i'm planning on upgrading to 4 in a little while just because it's so cheap to use aftermarket memory.
 
M-apple-T said:
I was thinking about getting a macbook, either the base or the 2.4ghz.
I was debating for a top of the line imac or base line macbook pro. (mainly because I wanted to game)
But after long debates to myself I realized if I bought a macbook I would have enough money (or save a little more) to be able to build a gaming machine if I wanted. Or xbox 360 it is.lol
But I wanted to know if anyone had any problems with the macbook. What are the common problems I may run into.
And does it slow down at times? If so what programs do slow them down. Also what are your specs?

thanks
Click to expand...

What do you mean by slow downs? When it reaches the hardware limit its slows down, but its the same with all Macs.

And no problems to worry about.
 
rossignol292 said:
I've had mine for 2 weeks now, so i'll give you the short term perspective at least. I LOVE IT. Obviously this is only based on 2 weeks of experience, but for those 2 weeks it's been running 24/7 converting video, ripping dvds, and downloading bit torrents. I've restarted it once (just after i installed all the programs i needed, and all the updates). Other than that it's been running the whole time, and i'm without a complaint so far. I've got the 2.4 white. I've got 2 gigs of ram, but i'm planning on upgrading to 4 in a little while just because it's so cheap to use aftermarket memory.
Click to expand...

Sounds really nice, but hows the heat with it on that long?

eXan said:
What do you mean by slow downs? When it reaches the hardware limit its slows down, but its the same with all Macs.

And no problems to worry about.
Click to expand...

When I say slow downs I mean, do some apps run slower than others?
 
I've had my BlackBook for about a month now and I have to say it is just as good as my MBP. It does tend to show fingerprints more now then it did the first week but it's not that bad.

I have 60GB left on it and I have a 50GB partition on it running XP mostly just for newsgroup stuff. It has been 21 days since I last reboot the computer and I always just put it to sleep instead of shutting it down. I am still running the base 2GB ram that it came with and have not maxed it out once. I could not go 21 days with XP on my old machines telling me it is low on ram.

Two minor comparisons with the MB and my MBP:

MB doesn't have a very good viewing angle especially in dark screens.
MB screen isn't as bright as the MB but it it nearly comparable in the quality of images and colors.

I would not trade my MB for anything, very happy with it.
 
ive had it for a month....best laptop ive ever used other than maybe a macbook pro cuz well obviously. But yeah amazinggggg and fast. It will last me a long time
 
MB vs MBP Screen

Thanks for the interesting input. In particular:

hexonxonx said:
Two minor comparisons with the MB and my MBP:

MB doesn't have a very good viewing angle especially in dark screens.
MB screen isn't as bright as the MB but it it nearly comparable in the quality of images and colors.
Click to expand...

As for the first point, I've seen this elsewhere on these boards. Since the angle of my line of sight while working on my PB is roughly between 89 and 91 degrees, I'm guessing this won't be a problem:eek:. In fact, considering some of the wandering busybody eyes that go past my desk, this might be considered a feature:cool:.

As for the second point (I'm sure you meant "as the MBP"), I guess the screen would be OK if you maxed out brightness, realizing that your battery life is gonna take a hit.
 
Had mine for 17 months. Use it at home mostly although I do take it on planes with me when going on vacations. I just added a 250G HD to give it a bit more "breathing space". It gives more than adequate performance when ripping/converting DVDs, editing movies in iMovie or working with photos in iPhoto. I'm glad you don't expect to game on it because its no good for that.

If you take care of it, it should last a long time.
 
I have a blackbook for over a month now... and this is the best investment I have done in a while, if you are not planning on gaming the macbook is the one...
 
M-apple-T said:
Sounds really nice, but hows the heat with it on that long?
Click to expand...

Not near as bad as my Powerbook. I sleep with the Macbook right near my head, and I never wake up to the fan noise (maybe I'm a heavy sleeper). When I'm studying at my desk, and my Macbook is on running handbrake, the fan kicks on about every 20 minutes for only about 2 minutes. Of course it's only running handbrake, but that alone is still pretty processor intensive. My Powerbook has the fan running constantly when it's running handbrake. I'm guessing that's pretty common with Powerbooks considering the memory on it is maxed out at 1.25 gigs.
 
I've had mine for 5 months now, really disappointed about the case cracking, especially the keyboard. Mine has hairline cracks all around because of heat. If you have the budget and are not in any way a hardcore user, you should give the Air a look. Overall, all Mac notebooks suffer abnormal heat problems so, heat in the Air, shouldn't be a problem.
 
rossignol292 said:
Not near as bad as my Powerbook. I sleep with the Macbook right near my head, and I never wake up to the fan noise (maybe I'm a heavy sleeper). When I'm studying at my desk, and my Macbook is on running handbrake, the fan kicks on about every 20 minutes for only about 2 minutes. Of course it's only running handbrake, but that alone is still pretty processor intensive. My Powerbook has the fan running constantly when it's running handbrake. I'm guessing that's pretty common with Powerbooks considering the memory on it is maxed out at 1.25 gigs.
Click to expand...

How can it run the fans at max speed only for a couple of minutes when encoding a DVD continuously? What are your temps? Are you sure the CPU is maxed out all the time?

Samarium said:
I've had mine for 5 months now, really disappointed about the case cracking, especially the keyboard. Mine has hairline cracks all around because of heat. If you have the budget and are not in any way a hardcore user, you should give the Air a look. Overall, all Mac notebooks suffer abnormal heat problems so, heat in the Air, shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...

Where did you get that info? It seems like only a small % of Air users have overheating (core shut down) problems.

I had my MacBook for 14 months and have no issues. No cracking no CPU whine, no fried power cord etc. I max it out quite often too.
 
My Macbook, after 13 months of service, has been sent in four times for repair, most of the times due to shoddy manufacturing, another time for simple bad design. It's getting replaced tomorrow.

I would not recommend the macbook due to its substandard-quality hardware. However, I find the hardware issues a fair tradeoff for a more than adequate operating system. A substandard part that you may not like to live with is the display, which is pretty bad.

Aside from all this badmouthing, the Macbook now is as stable as it ever has been, after having gone through a slough of design changes to fix issues that have been brought up over the months. Mine is a revision B. Yours will be a revision E. If they hadn't fixed any problems between these revisions, they wouldn't be selling so well (Vista throws off the equation a fair bit though).

I'd give a 50/50 chance you'll be happy with yours.
 
I've had my BlackBook 2.4 Penryn since February 28, '08, and I'm totally in love with it at this point. I've never considered doing any gaming at this time, but I tend to have a gazillion windows open, three browsers going at the same time, 2-3 word documents open, and several university research sites up and running at the same time. Definitely upgrade your RAM to 4GB, and wear a seatbelt! No heating issues, and only (4) cycles on my battery life. I try to plug in as much as possible, and at my house I receive about (20) different WiFi connections. While on campus, I pick-up WiFi everywhere that I need it, with regards to my classrooms, library, and labs. Better than what I expected from my BlackBook. Easy sell for those Apple Store folks! :cool:
 
ki2594 said:
yeah the viewing angles on mine are perfect...idk what others are talking about.
Click to expand...
Try watching a movie that has some dark scenes in it, then try moving your head a few inches in any direction other than straight on. You will see what I mean. All MacBooks have this problem and they always have.

It's not noticeable if you just sit looking straight at the monitor. 20" iMacs also have this problem.
 
SFStateStudent said:
I've had my BlackBook 2.4 Penryn since February 28, '08, and I'm totally in love with it at this point. I've never considered doing any gaming at this time, but I tend to have a gazillion windows open, three browsers going at the same time, 2-3 word documents open, and several university research sites up and running at the same time. Definitely upgrade your RAM to 4GB, and wear a seatbelt! No heating issues, and only (4) cycles on my battery life. I try to plug in as much as possible, and at my house I receive about (20) different WiFi connections. While on campus, I pick-up WiFi everywhere that I need it, with regards to my classrooms, library, and labs. Better than what I expected from my BlackBook. Easy sell for those Apple Store folks! :cool:
Click to expand...

May I ask you why? I have 112 cycles on my 14 month old MB and I still get 4 hours of battery life.
 
Still LOVE mine after a year. I would cry if it was gone. I just came back from someone's house who was trying to sell me his Pro. He ended up buying a Blackbook.
 
Had my Macbook 2.0GHz for one year now. It has developed some crackly noise from the loud speaker when coming out of hibernation, but that is all I can complain of. It is working fine.
 
Have had black macbook for a year. No problems
Had the white one since Sept. No problems.
Black one gets lugged around. White one stays in the house.
 
I have a 2.0GHz Core Duo MacBook whidh I had for nearly 2 years. I had no problems with it until recently and the problem is that I can't connect to the Airport anymore and that means no internet for me on the MacBook. The Airport card has fallen off the logic board. :rolleyes: Other than that, it's the best computer I ever had. :)
 
Well, bought my blackbook back in December 2006 (First Core2Duo) and its still up and running as it did the first time I used it. Mine had absolutely no issues and has accepted Leopard and several other apps without hassle. It looks brand new 'cause I take care of her; runs smoothly and is good for for mild gaming.

Black ones seemed to be almost problem-free in comparison with the white ones; black ones had/have small 'peeling' problems (mine did just mildly and barely noticeable) and white one had/have the palm rest issue, the overall dirtiness, the case cracking and other few (which all my friends that have the white one suffer [about 8-10 of them]). Its totally worth it going black IMO.

Victor
 
(According to Blackmax and others in other threads) The macbook comes with one of four LCD panels

9C5E/5E9C - Chi Mei N133I1
9C5C/5C9C - Au Optronics B133EW01
9C5B/5B9C - Samsung LTN133W1
9C5F/5F9C - LG Philips LP133WX1

If you look in System preferences, open profile, then scroll down to 'apple display make and model information'. You can find out which one you have.

LG Philips is apparently the best, and its the one I have. I have no complaints at all with it, brightness, color and viewing angle are good.

all in all, I love my macbook, very fast and does the job. I have a 2.2Ghz refurb with 4gigs of ram and a 250 gig HD. Couldn't recommend it more.
 
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