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Just got 17" UMBP. Few General Questions.

M

mcfields

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 4, 2009
22
0
Just made the switch from PC to Mac today. Few questions about my glorious new macbook pro:

1. Is it normal for the upper half of the trackpad to be harder to click than the lower half? I have to put a lot of pressure on my finger to click the upper half but the lower half clicks with greater ease (i use tap clicking so it doesn't really matter, but I'm just curious).

2. I messed with the brightness settings, but was too indecisive so I just put on auto brightness. So will the brightness change, say, whenever I walk into a new room?

3. Is there any noticeable improvement in using the 9600 videocard? Everything is running great and I'm not playing videogames, so would turning on the 9600 make any noticeable difference? If so is it worth the battery life?

4. I used to use firefox, so I was spoiled by add ons like linkification. Does safari have add ons? Does safari run better than firefox on macbooks at all (since apple makes it, I dunno)?

5. I'd like to keep my laptop on all night since I'm transferring files to it. Is this safe (it would be plugged in and would be closed)?

6. What's a good website for getting delicious 1900x1200 pictures for this beautiful screen?

Yeah other than that I seem to have this computer down. Love it, too.
 
mcfields said:
2. I messed with the brightness settings, but was too indecisive so I just put on auto brightness. So will the brightness change, say, whenever I walk into a new room?

4. I used to use firefox, so I was spoiled by add ons like linkification. Does safari have add ons? Does safari run better than firefox on macbooks at all (since apple makes it, I dunno)?

5. I'd like to keep my laptop on all night since I'm transferring files to it. Is this safe (it would be plugged in and would be closed)?

6. What's a good website for getting delicious 1900x1200 pictures for this beautiful screen?
Click to expand...

I don't have a UMBP, but I can do my best to answer these:
2. The brightness changes when the light condition changes.
4. Safari loads websites faster than Firefox.
5. Yes, it is. Make sure you have a RELIABLE surge-protector.
6. www.google.com
 
1. Yes. The trackpad is easier to click at the bottom as this is where you would normally click on a regular trackpad.

2. Brightness is governed by ambient light with that setting, so when the computer detects a change in light levels it will change the screen brightness.

3. Yes, at the cost of battery life. Might be a fair bit warmer too.

4. Firefox is available for the Mac and it's a great browser, I prefer Safari 4 but have no issues with Firefox, 3.5 beta is very quick.

5. Yep, no worries.

6. interfacelift.com
 
1. The trackpad hinges from the top, meaning that its best to click along the bottom edge. Most of the time I just use tap-to-click, although the physical click is nice for dragging sometimes. :)
 
1) Yes. The click button is at the bottom center. The top part just has a hinge that the entire touchpad swings on when clicking.

2) Maybe. The light sensor is located next to the camera and faces out at you. It's supposed to detect ambient light, but I've found that the screen will change its brightness if I move my head such that the sensor sees my dark clothes or hair and will decrease the brightness, and then will increase the brightness when my head is in front of the sensor.

3) For battery life, use the integrated 9400M. If you don't notice any difference when plugged in, then might as well use the 9400M, but using the 9600M isn't going to hurt anything. If your usage is light such that you don't notice any difference between the 9400M and 9600M, running the 9600M probably won't noticeably heat up the MBP either.

4) For the same reason people use FireFox instead of IE, you can use FF instead of Safari on a Mac.

5) Yes.
 
In what way would the computer perform better under the 9600? I don't see what that would significantly change other than gaming performance.

mcfields said:
In what way would the computer perform better under the 9600? I don't see what that would significantly change other than gaming performance.
Click to expand...

Also, does the illumination of the keyboard get factored into the automatic brightness?
 
mcfields said:
In what way would the computer perform better under the 9600? I don't see what that would significantly change other than gaming performance.
Click to expand...

The OS offloads as much of the graphics stuff onto the graphics processor, things like resizing windows, scrolling in coverflow, going through pictures, video playback etc., gets boosted by the use of the 9600M. When Snow Leopard rolls round it'll make even more of a difference.

The keyboard backlight is hooked into the screen brightness.
 
Yeah I don't mean to needlessly bump my thread but I just wanted to thank everyone for the replies. They were all very clear and helpful! As always the best customer support is other customers.
 
mcfields said:
5. I'd like to keep my laptop on all night since I'm transferring files to it. Is this safe (it would be plugged in and would be closed)?
Click to expand...

Just a note. You can't run your MBP closed unless you hack it with 3rd party apps or have external kb/mouse and screen connected to it.
 
Feng Shui said:
I don't have a UMBP, but I can do my best to answer these:
2. The brightness changes when the light condition changes.
4. Safari loads websites faster than Firefox.
5. Yes, it is. Make sure you have a RELIABLE surge-protector.
6. www.google.com
Click to expand...

What is a surge-protector?
 
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