I regret buying a macbook

[farqueue]

6 months into my macbook i regret having bought it.

Should have looked at a MBP instead.

So couple of questions before i upgrade:
1. Will i be able to use my 2gb ram and 160gb hd i have for my MB?
2. Is the X1600 obsolete?
3. How big and how much will the new MBP smaller portable cost?

 

[miniguu]

Just curious..why the regret?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

First off, why are you disappointed with your MacBook? We may be able to help you with it here.

1. Will i be able to use my 2gb ram and 160gb hd i have for my MB?

Yes, they are both compatible with the MBP

2. Is the X1600 obsolete?

Depends on how you plan to use it. For high-end gaming and extreme video editing, you may want to wait, but for the average user (a few mid-range games, low level editing), its fine.

3. How big and how much will the new MBP smaller portable cost?

If you mean a 12" MBP, there is a lot of speculation, but not much in the way of reliable information suggesting that it will be released. The current idea is a 12" top-end MacBook with up to 3GB RAM and a dedicated GPU in an aluminium case.

 

[igucl]

Yeah, I'd like to know what bothers you about your macbook. Also, why did it take six months?

 

[04440]

I bought a mbp c2d.. I waited a couple months and dealt with my stupid compaq.. So this mbp has amazed me.. If you need the speed you need to buy it.

 

[panzer06]

6 months into my macbook i regret having bought it.

Should have looked at a MBP instead.

So couple of questions before i upgrade:
1. Will i be able to use my 2gb ram and 160gb hd i have for my MB?
2. Is the X1600 obsolete?
3. How big and how much will the new MBP smaller portable cost?

I have the MB 2.0 with 2GB and 160GB Hitachi HD and I love this little thing.

At only $900 (refurb) it was worth it. I assume you miss the better video on the MBP. There are times I do too, especially for the occasional game, but at over $600 more for a refurb MBP, I couldn't justify getting rid of my Windows PC (even though I really wanted to). I kept it for the games.

I really bought the MB to replace my employer provided 3 year old Dell laptop. It castly out-performs the Dell on all my business tasks in OS X and Windows based applications. It is a great little machine, it hardly ever gets too hot unless I really stress it. (convert a Visio with 6000 elements to an Adobe PDF and it gets rather loud)

I will eventually get a MacPro or other upgradable Mac and my PC days will finally be done (Windows will live on in bootcamp for that occasional gaming sessions with my kids and grandkids).

Don't give up on the MB, it has plenty of great attributes.

Cheers,

 

[Max Payne]

I tried Need for speed carbon and I was pleased with the graphics. My friend was amazed, but both of us are not heavy gamers. I usually play 1 game per year so don't take my word for it. Yeah the specs are in my signature.

 

[ero87]

I bought a mbp c2d.. I waited a couple months and dealt with my stupid compaq.. So this mbp has amazed me.. If you need the speed you need to buy it.

... i don't think the MBP is significantly faster, am i wrong?

 

[thugpoet22]

i don't think that the macbook speed is mind blowing either compared to the macbook. It will render graphics better simply because it has a graphics card, but in the same respect it will not as portable as the macbook. The macbook gives you great speed with great battery life. And if i needed to render heavy graphics i would opt for a desktop that way i could always expand and grow with my machine.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

3. How big and how much will the new MBP smaller portable cost?

A million-billion dollars.







(its only a rumor and wouldn't get your hopes up)

 

[farqueue]

Yeah, I'd like to know what bothers you about your macbook. Also, why did it take six months?

Well firstly it is not as quick or as responsive i thought i would liked it to be even with a 2gb ram kit.

It has the CPU whining sound

I cant play Counter Strike 1.6 (about 40-50fps with bootcamp) or Counter strike source (7-8fps) - a game which i enjoy tremendously smoothly

Applications are like firefox takes about 4-5bounces before even loading

Widgets take long time to load - like 5 seconds to fully load (i only have weather, calender, dictionary and istatpro)

I lag when playing my mates dled HD movies

I get the occasional beach ball of death.

I think im mostly unhappy about GMA950 and CD1.83


and its hotttttt at 60 degrees celcius even when surfing - has MBP C2D changed?

lastly as this is a new mac, it was an entry machine to experience the OS X world and i didnt raelly want to spend a lot on a MBP

but i am happpy with os x now. just that it needs M$ Office 2007 in UB!

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

Well firstly it is not as quick or as responsive i thought i would liked it to be even with a 2gb ram kit.

Chances are that going to a MBP won't solve this, as they are theoretically the same speed.

It has the CPU whining sound

This is a warranty problem, and totally annoying...

I cant play Counter Strike 1.6 (about 40-50fps with bootcamp) or Counter strike source (7-8fps) - a game which i enjoy tremendously smoothly

Weird, since I heard that the macbook could actually run most older games, even HL2.

Applications are like firefox takes about 4-5bounces before even loading

Widgets take long time to load - like 5 seconds to fully load (i only have weather, calender, dictionary and istatpro)

I lag when playing my mates dled HD movies

This is not normal, it should be much snappier.

I get the occasional beach ball of death.

This as well as the above could be because you have Rosetta apps running. Open Activity Monitor and check if you have any processes running Power PC.

I think im mostly unhappy about GMA950 and CD1.83

Honestly, only the gaming issue you mentioned is integrated graphics related...

You might want to have it checked out.

 

[roslee7]

macbook

actually i wanted to buy either macbook white or macbook pro but cant decide yet. I am looking for stylist look, cools look and might attract people when looking at my laptop. I dont bother about the performance but just for the great looks. s which should i buy ?

 

[brikeh]

actually i wanted to buy either macbook white or macbook pro but cant decide yet. I am looking for stylist look, cools look and might attract people when looking at my laptop. I dont bother about the performance but just for the great looks. s which should i buy ?

Hahaha....r u serious?

 

[countach]

Other than the games fps issue, I doubt the MB pro will be significantly faster. Loading firefox simply takes a certain time to load off disk, and its just a limitation of disks.

 

[junkster]

High-end 3D graphics aside, the MB and MBP benchmark almost exactly the same. Firefox--and other non-3D apps--won't be any faster.

In general, apps are noticibly slower to load on my MacBook than on my two year old Dell desktop. I think it's an OS X issue more than a raw performance issue.

 

[Cybergypsy]

I had the first macbook that came out week 19, I loved it but are waiting for the next big thing, Bought a old imac G4 and thought i would lose speed, funny thing at 800 m is this is FASTER them my macbook, so keeping this until the next big thing!!!!!

 

[panzer06]

Why?

High-end 3D graphics aside, the MB and MBP benchmark almost exactly the same. Firefox--and other non-3D apps--won't be any faster.

In general, apps are noticibly slower to load on my MacBook than on my two year old Dell desktop. I think it's an OS X issue more than a raw performance issue.

How much RAM do you have? I have a 2.0 Macbook w/2GB RAM and it is way faster than my employer provided Dell.

Cheers,

 

[brbubba]

I have to agree with OP. I have had my blackbook since day two and now regret not getting a MBP. I am very happy with the speed and all that jazz. Its the small stuff that annoys me.

1. The speakers SUCK. Worst speakers I have ever had to listen to, they just don't get loud enough. The MBP probably isn't a huge leap, but would have made things better.

2. I like the backlit keyboard on the MBP, I occasionally have a hard time finding rarely used keys when sitting in a dark room while watching tv. Not a huge issue, just a very minor gripe.

3. Graphics. The integrated intel graphics just SUCK. There is no other way to describe it. I don't expect to be playing the latest and greatest at 60fps, but I do expect to at least get decent framerates on lower end games for those rare times I dust them off.

4. The case feels cheap. Although it has held up it just feels like a cheap knockoff and on top of that it retains way too much hand grease.

I also had to pay for the 1GB of memory I upgraded to which, by the time all is said and done had brought my blackbook not too far off the retail price of the MBP. Now of course they include 1GB RAM and 120GB drive as standard with the blackbook, which makes it a much better deal in comparison to the MBP and which would have saved me quite a bit of cash.

My biggest reason for not going to the MBP in the first place was the size. I loved the size of the old 12" powerbook, so I thought 15" would be way too big. Now I really don't mind and 13" even seems small. I guess next upgrade I can wait for the super slim MBP.

 

[aristobrat]

Should have looked at a MBP instead.

So couple of questions before i upgrade:
1. Will i be able to use my 2gb ram and 160gb hd i have for my MB?

Although the 160GB is compatible, the HD on the MBP isn't easily user serviceable, IIRC.

I just switched from a 1.83GHz CD MB to a 2.16GHz C2D MBP. I love the extra screen real estate, I love the backlighted keyboard, but I haven't noticed the applications loading any quicker.

After a reboot, going to the dashboard for the first time still takes the widgets 5-10 seconds to initialize. Firefox still takes a few bounces to launch the first time too.

On average, my C2D MBP feels a little cooler than my CD MB did, though. There are times where I can get the C2D MBP case plenty hot (importing 6000 pictures into Aperture), but it cools off quick enough.

 

[joshwest]

I have the MB 2.0 with 2GB and 160GB Hitachi HD and I love this little thing.

At only $900 (refurb) it was worth it. I assume you miss the better video on the MBP. There are times I do too, especially for the occasional game, but at over $600 more for a refurb MBP, I couldn't justify getting rid of my Windows PC (even though I really wanted to). I kept it for the games.

I really bought the MB to replace my employer provided 3 year old Dell laptop. It castly out-performs the Dell on all my business tasks in OS X and Windows based applications. It is a great little machine, it hardly ever gets too hot unless I really stress it. (convert a Visio with 6000 elements to an Adobe PDF and it gets rather loud)

I will eventually get a MacPro or other upgradable Mac and my PC days will finally be done (Windows will live on in bootcamp for that occasional gaming sessions with my kids and grandkids).

Don't give up on the MB, it has plenty of great attributes.

Cheers,

Same here bought my girl a 1.83 for 799 then threw a 120 gig HD and 2 gigs of ram and shes loving it. I figured opt for a lower model and throw the rest into the upgardes and now she has a good laptop for college that willl last her a good two years till shes out.

 

[xJulianx]

My MacBook pro 1.83GHz - 512MB RAM runs Counterstrike 1.6 perfectly. And thats under Crossover which gobbles up RAM. Not sure whats wrong with your MacBook but mines great with 1.6

 

[MACDRIVE]

farqueue, is this still the original MB you've bought? The reason why I ask is most people have had to get at least one replacement, if not several. I'm thinking you should come up with a reason to have it replaced with a new one. Aren't the Revision B's out yet?

 

[gabriel_uk]

I have to agree with OP. I have had my blackbook since day two and now regret not getting a MBP. I am very happy with the speed and all that jazz. Its the small stuff that annoys me.

1. The speakers SUCK. Worst speakers I have ever had to listen to, they just don't get loud enough. The MBP probably isn't a huge leap, but would have made things better...

My biggest reason for not going to the MBP in the first place was the size. I loved the size of the old 12" powerbook, so I thought 15" would be way too big. Now I really don't mind and 13" even seems small. I guess next upgrade I can wait for the super slim MBP.

Actually, the audio quality of the MBP speakers is surprisingly good to my ears, especially compared to my previous G4 PowerBook.

I have a 17-in MBP and don't find it big/heavy at all, although I don't plan to use it in-flight!

The bottom line is that there's got to be at least some reasons why MBP's cost a whole lot more than MB's.

 

[Craigy Boy]

I lag when playing my mates dled HD movies

Bout to get a Macbook and just wanted to make sure it can play high def content fine. I assumed it would, and was going to upgrade to 2gb RAM to just make sure. Does it defintely play HD ok? Or have others had it stutter too?

On another note while I'm here, and to avoid starting a new thread, was maybe going to go for either a 160gb harddrive or 200gb in the macbook. Now i've noticed 200gb is 4200 RPM not 5200 RPM. Is this going to make much difference in terms of speed etc?