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Keeping a new MBPro new!

M

maplestar

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 16, 2008
73
0
So, I'm about to receive my new 15" Macbook Pro (2.66 Ghz stock version) and before I receive it, I'd like to know the community's many tips on how to keep my MBPro running new, clean, and efficient.

I'd like to learn about common 3rd party software people use to keep their OSX clean (similar to CCleaner for Windows) and running smoothly. Also, anything battery related to keep it new...

Finally, what simple 3rd party apps does everyone use to increase the effectiveness of OSX. One example would be that one app (I forgot the name) that allows throwing away (uninstalling) applications to actually remove all of the application's files, not just the archive. Any other simple, but necessary addons out there that you would download immediately upon reinstalling Leopard?
 
I have the answer for your last question. You can download AppZapp or Appcleaner to cleanly remove apps. Also you should download and run monolingual. It removes all the languages but the ones you choose. I only kept English and it deleted like 4 gigs of other languages. :)
 
Wirelessly posted (BB 8900: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Cocktail.
 
Cool!

That's nice. So that pretty solves the Application remover and computer cleaner problem. Any more apps that you can't go without?

And what about any hardware related activity that I must do to keep my computer running well? Some people advise me to just shut down every once in a while or I think I have to power cycle my computer?? Any advice on that?
 
True

You're very right about the case. However, I personally don't like to cover up my Macbook Pros and Apple products. Kinda makes me feel that I'm not using it for half of its value. I'm ok with a few scratches and stuff.

Is there anything I need to do (this question goes into the Hardware section...but...) with power cycling? I looked around and it seems like I'll at least need to go through one battery cycle a month and I'll need to completely power cycle it whenever I want to recalibrate the battery sensor. But some say its bad to leave the computer plugged into AC beyond what I said above. Is one battery cycle above a month minimum OK or is there a better value?
 
The biggest problem you're going to have is the keyboard. It's going to get all shiny and greasy. I've done a decent job of preventing it on my 2.4 MB by wiping of the gloss after each use and weekly wiping the keys with a windex/water mix. It seems to help.
 
Wait...

With the case or regularly?

I've used Macbook Pros at the store and I have an Apple keyboard at home (which is made from the same material I'm guessing). I love the keyboard and the way they make the keys (individual, unlike other keyboards that have all keys slanted together) is amazing. One thing I realize is that with white keys, they eventually gather a ton of random particles of dirt that isn't really easy to remove. The Black keys in the Macbook Pro shouldn't have this problem though being black.

Any solution for battery?

And are there any other useful 3rd party apps you guys know?
 
The MBP is a pretty hard wearing beast compared with lesser laptops. Physically keeping it like new means a wipe with a soft damp cloth periodically to get marks off the case and buying a nice neoprene slip case to keep it in rather than just dumping it in your bag directly. This will protect against little dings and scrapes. My MBP is over 3 years old now and it still looks like new.

As for keeping the OS clean, I'm not too worried about applications which I have deleted as I don't tend to install all that much and OSX doesn't suffer from the sort of damage that a heavily used PC will go through. Others have suggested OnyX which is nice because it is free but frankly, I'm not sure I need it.

Just use your new Mac and be happy that you aren't stuck with Windows any more.
 
maplestar said:
Do you need a sleeve? I'm planning on getting the Marware Sportfolio Deluxe:

Click here for link to store.

It's made for the Macbook pro and has a special slot for it. Is a sleeve required?
Click to expand...

I have a Logitech back pack which I carry all my equipment in. It has nice pockets for my laptop and all the various other bits and pieces. I still put my MBP in its neoprene sleeve before putting it in the bag. Belt and braces some might say but I just prefer it and it also makes it less slippery to handle so I know I'm less likely to drop it if I just need to take the laptop to a meeting and don't want to carry the whole bag.

Like I said, my 3 year old machine looks like new. Generally, I don't baby it. It gets used every day and has been lugged all over the world. Get a slip case.
 
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