Macbook Pro Help Please

[DarkerThanBlack]

Dear all,

This is my first post as i am now one with the world of Apple after buying my first Macbook Pro and i must say i am loving the experience. Saying that i need your advice to see if some issues i am having are really that and if they justify me bringing it back to the store so here goes.

1) I love the clarity of the speakers but have noticed that when at full volume there is very noticeable distortion. is this normal, am i just driving the speakers to hard. Even when i put the speakers to a level that prevents the distortion (call it there maximum volume) it seems very low. is the just poor speakers in the range or a problem with my computer. It also seems to be slightly pitch related as there is no distortion a lot of the time but certain notes/pitches will set it off.

2) When i first got it i had it in my lap and it was the quietest laptop i have ever had. Unfortunate i noticed that when i put it on a flat, desktop surface it developed a low pitched hum. i believe this is due to some vibration being amplified / aided by the surface it is sitting on as when i hold certain parts of the laptop it disappears. this seems apparent as when i hold the screen i can feel a vibration running through it and when i hold it a certain way the noise is reduced dramatically. again, is this a common issue or something to get looked at.

3) And finally. Very rarely Cd's can get stuck in the slot drive and take a few attempts to remove via the eject button. is this normal.


Sorry for the rant and i look forward to hearing back from you.

 

[fteoath64]

Congrats on the purchase. The MBP is the second best laptop I had. Still my PowerBook 1.67 (circa 2005) is the best laptop I have ever used.

1) Its normal. The speakers are OK a bit lacking and sound thinny. Those tiny laser punched holes are way too small and does cause distortion. I dont think it can move enough air at max volume.

2) You should not get vibration. Did you get a 7200 rpm disk ?. If so, that might be the cause, my stock 250 hitachi 5400rpm was dead silent. I upgraded to a Seagate 500GB 5400 rpm drive and it is silent and vibration free as well.

3) Yeah, those slot based DVD drives needs good qualiy cd/dvd to be inserted. Use soft-eject rather than the key. It works all the time. I think the key has a lag sometimes. It registers but we tend to hit it a couple a times as it take mechanical setup to eject the disk.

PS: For (2), you might want to take the disk out and re-seat these. It might eliminate the vibration. Those people in china put the machines together in a hurry due to high demand. I dont think there is proper QC on these machines...

 

[bartelby]

3) Yeah, those slot based DVD drives needs good qualiy cd/dvd to be inserted. Use soft-eject rather than the key. It works all the time. I think the key has a lag sometimes. It registers but we tend to hit it a couple a times as it take mechanical setup to eject the disk.

You need to hold the eject button down for a few seconds. This stops accidental ejection.

 

[DarkerThanBlack]

Update

Hi guys, thanks for all the help so far. I think I have found the causes of most of these issues. With the desk Hum it does seem to be the HD (yes I have the 7200rpm disk but I have had similar drives in other laptops that make less noise and cause no vibration) but I can live with that although it is annoying. If anyone else has the same drive with no vibrational noise I would be very interested to know.

As for the speaker issue it seems to be the loud volume causing the keyboard to vibrate as when I hold the keys lightly to prevent movement the buzz stops. This is a real issue as I listen to a lot of music and it's driving me nuts. Not what I expected from such an expensive product.

Finally the drive not ejecting issue seems to be that the dust cover at the entrance to the drive has come loose and when the disc is ejected it gets caught around the edge preventing the disc from exiting. Definatly back to the store with this.

I still really like the laptop and OSX but quality control seems a bit off. Also I hope the speaker / keyboard issue isn't universal as it could be a deal breaker for me. I would hate to have to give it up but who has heard of a laptop that can't play music without making other parts buzz (the buzz is also present when at half volume so I don't think I am over reacting). This is especially the case with such an expensive computer.

Anyway, hope this helps others with similar issues and I look forward to hearing your replies.