The speed increase would be marginal and not worth the bragging rights for the extra $300.
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Just got a new MacBook Pro - here's my review!
- Thread starter Simon Young
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The speed increase would be marginal and not worth the bragging rights for the extra $300.
Nope, I did too!
Only when I went to Newegg to buy the 2x2gb RAM and bigger hard drive, did I realize my mistake I still love the machine though.
Well I made my decision...
I decided that getting the new machine had more pros than going with the old one. It wasn't as easy a decision as I would have liked...I would have thought w/ any brand new Mac purchase I'd be over the moon. I'm tired of waiting and just want a solid computer to do my work on. I am excited to be getting this don't get me wrong, can't wait!
In the end the cons of a glossy screen won out over the Nvidia timebomb issue. Originally not happy w/ the loss of FW 400...when I did more research I found its not actually going to make a difference anyways. Some people aren't in the loop abo how FW works in previous models....you're either daisychaining outside of the box or within. There's only one bus so its not such a big deal. The new machine is just WAY solid compared to the build of the old one w/ warping issues. I'll learn to live w/ the chiclet kybrd I'm sure and this new one will be much better equipped when Snow Leopard is released. I'm sure it will take advantage of the DDR3 RAM and possibly the larger L2 cache and faster GPU. Since I was planning on 4gb of RAM anyways I went for the faster 2.53 but didn't think it was worth the money to upgrade to 2.8; I did however do a BTO w/ the 320gb 7200rpm HD.
Like I said it wasn't easy, there's alot of things I loved about the old one but I had to make a decision and am moving on. This will last me until the 2nd revision of the Nehalem MBPs are released whenever that is.
I decided that getting the new machine had more pros than going with the old one. It wasn't as easy a decision as I would have liked...I would have thought w/ any brand new Mac purchase I'd be over the moon. I'm tired of waiting and just want a solid computer to do my work on. I am excited to be getting this don't get me wrong, can't wait!
In the end the cons of a glossy screen won out over the Nvidia timebomb issue. Originally not happy w/ the loss of FW 400...when I did more research I found its not actually going to make a difference anyways. Some people aren't in the loop abo how FW works in previous models....you're either daisychaining outside of the box or within. There's only one bus so its not such a big deal. The new machine is just WAY solid compared to the build of the old one w/ warping issues. I'll learn to live w/ the chiclet kybrd I'm sure and this new one will be much better equipped when Snow Leopard is released. I'm sure it will take advantage of the DDR3 RAM and possibly the larger L2 cache and faster GPU. Since I was planning on 4gb of RAM anyways I went for the faster 2.53 but didn't think it was worth the money to upgrade to 2.8; I did however do a BTO w/ the 320gb 7200rpm HD.
Like I said it wasn't easy, there's alot of things I loved about the old one but I had to make a decision and am moving on. This will last me until the 2nd revision of the Nehalem MBPs are released whenever that is.
INTRODUCTION
So on Saturday I picked up a new 15-inch MacBook Pro (2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB@5400 rpm) from my local Apple Store. It replaces a 'Rev. A' 17-inch PowerBook G4, which has brought me nothing but joy and productivity over the past five years, but is now pretty long in the tooth (it doesn't even have USB 2.0). I recently had a 17-inch MBP on 14-day trial - I returned it due to screen and sound quality issues - so I knew roughly what to expect from the new MBPs. Let me start by saying that the new machine does not disappoint. I was most concerned about going from a 17-inch matte screen to a 15-inch glassy/glossy one, but my fears have so far proven unwarranted.
BUILD QUALITY
With a couple of tiny exceptions, every aspect of the design and build quality is exemplary. The precision unibody case is beautiful and feels sturdier than a very sturdy thing. There was a little bit of discolouration in the aluminium between the trackpad and keyboard, but I wiped it with a slightly damp cloth and it seems to have faded. Not a big deal. Also the left-hand edge of the lid has a tiny imperfection, like a small rough patch of metal, which isn't visible during normal use. Again, no biggie, but surprising given the overall quality. The LCD screen is seated fairly straight and I don't appear to have any dead pixels. I have what appears to be a speck of dust in one corner but it is only noticeable if you go looking for it. Not enough for me to take it back! The lid itself closes perfectly uniformly - no gaps like the old MacBook Pro - and the magnetic latch is incredibly satisfying to use. The keyboard and ports are all solid and beautifully integrated.
PERFORMANCE
I'm not a computer expert so I'll just say that this thing is incredibly snappy. I don't know whether it's the better CPU, GPU or RAM - or a combination of all three - but the new MacBook Pro just flies. I'm sure there are dozens of benchmark sites out there covering performance in great detail, so I'll just leave it at that. The backlit chiclet keyboard takes a tiny bit of getting used to, but I'm already finding it just as easy to use as the old. The backlighting brightness varies a tiny bit on some keys, but that's just nitpicking. I really love the dedicated function keys for Dashboard, Exposé, brightness, volume and iTunes control. That will be old news to some folks, but hey. Also there don't appear to be any sensitivity issues with the keyboard, except for Caps Lock which doesn't respond half the time and needs a firmer, slower press. If it ends up bothering me I might see if I can get a replacement, but at the moment it's not an issue.
The trackpad - one of the things I was dreading - is actually not all that bad. I absolutely have to have a physical button to click, so I found the notion of a buttonless trackpad extremely daunting. The actual click is way too clicky for my tastes - stiff and noisy - but that may loosen up over time. Trackpad feel is lovely and smooth, just the right amount of friction. The gestures are kinda hard to get used to, but seem to work pretty well. Even after a couple of days, I still find myself putting my thumb in the wrong place for clicking, resulting in erratic mouse pointer behaviour. I'm sure that I'll get used to it.
The screen is incredibly bright and crisp, and colours are far more uniform than the last 17-inch MBP I tried. There is some slight dimming at the very bottom of the display, and some faint 'hot spot' stripes are visible from the side. But straight-on and during normal use, this is one of the nicest laptop displays I've used. My old PowerBook G4 screen looks so dim and yellow by comparison! The slight dimming at the bottom might be exacerbated by the typically poor vertical viewing angle. Whatever, it's acceptable to me given just how pure the rest of the screen is. And apart from the speck of dust (?) trapped under the glass, I've not been bothered by the glossiness. The glare seemed to be a problem in the Apple Store, but I have low lighting where I work and the brightness of the screen does prevent the odd reflection from being at all distracting. I'm not going to comment on colour accuracy as I'm a video editor and I know accurate grading can't be done on a laptop screen anyway. The way I see it, the glass cover gives a fair representation of how most users view video. Those of you working with print may feel differently.
Last, but by no means least, the sound quality on the new MBP is just great. Having found the odd electronic beeps and bloops on the old MBP incredibly distracting, I'm loving the audio this thing puts out. Listening with my trusty Sennheiser HD 595 headphones, the sound is punchy, dynamic, detailed and free from imperfection. Music from iTunes sounds amazing. Even the in-built speakers are pretty good: a tad brighter than my old laptop speakers, and a LOT louder. OK, so they're not going to win any awards and most pros won't spend a lot of time listening to them. But still.
CONCLUSION
As far as I'm concerned, the new MacBook Pro offers good value for money. I was in urgent need of a new system and, despite my initial shock over the news that Apple were dropping the trackpad button and using glass in every portable, I'm very happy with what I've ended up with. For every negative I can think of (stiff trackpad, small imperfections in display) the MacBook Pro offers many more positives (robust design, great performance, innovation).
Do I have any regrets? Well, had I ordered online I might have gone for the 7200 rpm HDD and perhaps the 2.8GHz processor. But the convenience and speed of buying in store - plus the removal of temptation - made this stock configuration a sensible purchase. I can always upgrade the HDD myself at some point, and I'm not sure the extra speed is worth it (for the work I do). Part of me wishes I'd held out for the hi-res 17-inch option in a few months, but I'm finding the 15.4-inch screen very easy to use. Besides, I can put the money I've saved towards a bigger, better quality external monitor. Finally, I don't regret buying a 'Rev. A' machine. My old PowerBook G4 was 'Rev. A' and hasn't given me a day of hassle in over five years. It is clear that a lot of thought and effort has gone into the new MacBook Pro, and I'm not going to wait another six months 'just in case'.
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them.
you were in the exact shoes as me. i had the 1st rev a 17" pbook (1ghz) lasted me almost 5-6 years now. i couldn't wait for the new 17" mbp so I got the same 15" mbp you got. 2.53ghz config. I love this thing. Night and day difference! I wanted the 17" for the high res screen as well. Thats the only benefit of owning one. The size of the 17" is too big to be a portable, which is the only downside. So I gave that up for a 15" and I am pretty happy. I been waiting 2-3 years now for a newly redesigned MBP and was so happy when they announced it last week. If they would have released a 17" mbp at the same time I most likely would've jumped on it. But oh well. I can't wait any longer. Sizewise the 15" beats the 17"!
good review!
About this, this is normal because Im not sure why, but Apple does this to prevent the Caps Lock to accidently turned on. Its the same for my MBP, sometime I just deliberately press a key multiple times to test how sensitive it is and the caps lock won't respond if I click on it continuously but it will respond when I click on it properly (as in when I need to use it)
Fcs
Hey Simon -
How does Final Cut Studio run on it? I'm looking into purchasing one primarily to use for editing as I travel a decent amount. I'm thinking of upping to the 2.8 ghz but if what you have is working well I might just stick with the baseline processor.
-J
Hey Simon -
How does Final Cut Studio run on it? I'm looking into purchasing one primarily to use for editing as I travel a decent amount. I'm thinking of upping to the 2.8 ghz but if what you have is working well I might just stick with the baseline processor.
-J
Thank god people are posting some good reviews ... I get sick of hearing people winge about everything, it brings down my excitement waiting for my 2.8 MBP to arrive
What do you think about the spacing of the keys? I am used to typing on a 12" thinkpad... I suspect it will take a bit of getting used to
What do you think about the spacing of the keys? I am used to typing on a 12" thinkpad... I suspect it will take a bit of getting used to
I would not say apple products provide good value for the money. You could spec out a Dell or HP laptop that is better for probably $700-800 less (after coupons). Bang for the buck was not apple's forte. They appear to me to consciously try to be known as a premium brand, sort of the way that Nike shoes aren't sold at Target or Walmart.
For many, though, the ceiling of their "bang" is higher than most companies' notebooks, but you do have to pay alot of bucks for it.
For many, though, the ceiling of their "bang" is higher than most companies' notebooks, but you do have to pay alot of bucks for it.
1) Your post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.
2) Your second paragraph is completely unintelligible. Please go home and learn proper English.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad some of you found my review helpful!
Speaking of which, there are a couple of weird things I've noticed about my MBP. I've started new threads about them here and here.
Ah, that makes sense and puts my mind at ease. Thanks!About this, this is normal because Im not sure why, but Apple does this to prevent the Caps Lock to accidently turned on. Its the same for my MBP, sometime I just deliberately press a key multiple times to test how sensitive it is and the caps lock won't respond if I click on it continuously but it will respond when I click on it properly (as in when I need to use it)
So far I've only tried Final Cut Pro and it runs incredibly smoothly. Working with 1080i ProRes video, it's like butter. The only benefit you might get out of the 2.8GHz processor is faster rendering, but I'm not sure the difference would be worth the extra money. I haven't had an opportunity to try Colour and DVD Studio Pro yet. I'm sure Motion benefits most from the graphics in the MacBook Pro.
Oh, I know. It's practically unusable. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to get any work done at all. If only I had 1680x1050 to play around with I'd be able to increase my productivity tenfold. Oh wait, that's a load of nonsense.FC @ 1440x900?
I've already adjusted to it. The spacing on the new keyboard is pretty much the same as on the old, just without tapered edges. The top surface area of the keys feels identical. The only thing that's slightly harder is pressing two keys with one finger/thumb, like when I try to alt+cmd+esc with one hand.What do you think about the spacing of the keys? I am used to typing on a 12" thinkpad... I suspect it will take a bit of getting used to
I'm afraid my camera skills aren't the best and the lighting in my work area isn't very good. I tried to take a couple but they didn't do the MBP justice by any stretch of the imagination. There are plenty of threads already with pics of the new MBP - mine looks just like theirs, dusty speaker holes and all.pics!!!
Speaking of which, there are a couple of weird things I've noticed about my MBP. I've started new threads about them here and here.
