Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MBP relability

D

DarkDTSHD

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 3, 2006
43
0
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Hello people,

I was looking at video clips at the YouTube site and came across this one user (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ateale) who was having problems with his screens. His last generation 15", MBP 15" and a MBP 17".

Some one replied and suggested he turn off the backlighting. That the band of brightness along the bottom edge was due to backlighting. Ateale, the original poster, hasn't replied to tell us if turning off the backlighting solved his problem. Has any one had problems with the screens on their MBPs? Is this just an isolated incident? I know some Dell laptop owners ran into this too but got it solved.

Any reliability issues I should be aware of with the MBPs? This would be my first. I've always been a PC guy. But have respected the thought behind the design of the Mac OS X, Mac apps and hardware. Wanted to give the MBP a try. How are the new iMacs?

Thanks.
 
I bought one of the last CoreDuo MBP's last year, having also read of problems various people had had. I needed a new machine to take over from my ageing 12" PowerBook, and took the plunge.

I've not had a single problem with the MBP. Very impressed with it's speed, love the widescreen display and backlit keyboard (amazing how useful that can be!). Don't regret buying it for a single minute, it's a lovely machine.
 
jwkay said:
I bought one of the last CoreDuo MBP's last year, having also read of problems various people had had. I needed a new machine to take over from my ageing 12" PowerBook, and took the plunge.

I've not had a single problem with the MBP. Very impressed with it's speed, love the widescreen display and backlit keyboard (amazing how useful that can be!). Don't regret buying it for a single minute, it's a lovely machine.
Click to expand...

That was fast!! Your reply. Any way thanks for replying.

No problems at all? Good to know. And you've been happy with your screen? No bright bands of light along either the bottom edge, left, right or top? :)

Maybe that guy was just unlucky. Hehe! :)
 
You have probably noticed that threads about MBP issues have all gone dead. These things are working very well now. Same for the MB barring some stuck CD/DVD issues, an occasional airport issue and some bumps caused by the 10.4.9 update.

These machines are quiet, fast and reliable.
 
This is about the point in the thread where Multimedia jumps in and warns everybody not to buy until Santa Rosa, and somehow manages to get in a plug for an admittedly excellent (but irrelevant to the thread) Sony HDV camera.

Multi?
 
I have the same problem with my LCD as well. It's pretty annoying. I will probably send it in once they fix the problem.

Nuc
 
DarkDTSHD said:
No problems at all? Good to know. And you've been happy with your screen? No bright bands of light along either the bottom edge, left, right or top? :)
Click to expand...

Screen appears fine to me - a revelation compared to the old 12" PB! Much brighter and a lot better viewing angle.
 
Went through a few systens

2.0Ghz CD MBP w/ 128MB X1600 - no issues
2.16Ghz CD MBP w/256MB X1600 - no issues
2.0GHz CD Black MB - no issues
2.33Ghz C2D MBP w/256MB X1600 - no issues..

No issues with all my systems..
 
DarkDTSHD said:
Any reliability issues I should be aware of with the MBPs?
Click to expand...

I got a "rev1" 15" MBP. Yes, I know all about "rev1" Apple products but it was time for a new machine and I didn't feel like waiting around for the merom (Core 2 Duo) machines.

There's been some issues but overall I'm still impressed. Luckily the issues I've had have been resolved or I've been able to work around them.

* whine - I used the "load the CPU" trick until the CPU card was replaced under warranty.
* battery - Not that I ever noticed a problem but it was replaced by Apple.
* screen warp - Meh. The latches still work so it's a cosmetic thing.
* airport dropouts - I use a little hack I developed that pings the wireless router I'm connected to in order to prevent dropouts.
* heat - See below.

In all other respects, the machine has been perfect. The screen is awesome but I run it at low brightness because it sucks battery life otherwise. The power cord thing has saved my machine from certain doom on a few occasions.


Heat... now there's a tricky one. The last laptop I owned was powered by a 10Mhz 80x86. As you might imagine, it didn't get hot at all. My wife has had an iBook for a while now and it doesn't get hot unless you're charging. I knew the MBP would be hot (metal case and all) but I didn't realise just how hot. There's a reason they don't call these things laptops anymore ;)

I run a tweaked version of FanControl optimized for heat instead of noise. Sure, it makes my machine noisier but 99% of the time that's not a problem (due to background noise levels). The few times it is a problem, I can just move the slider to make the machine quiet but hot. I have Bootcamp installed for gaming and a little applet that sets the fans on full and reboots to Windows. The fan settings stick until you turn the machine off so this lets me play the most demanding games without burning my legs off.

For comparrisson, Apple's algorithm won't spin the fans to full speed until your system gets around 80-90 degrees. Thanks to FanControl, my fans hit full speed at 60, keeping the machine quite bareable in almost all cases. To get it really hot now I have to be playing a demanding game (ie. stressing the CPU, GPU and HD) while charging the battery.
 
ericssonboi said:
Went through a few systens

2.0Ghz CD MBP w/ 128MB X1600 - no issues
2.16Ghz CD MBP w/256MB X1600 - no issues
2.0GHz CD Black MB - no issues
2.33Ghz C2D MBP w/256MB X1600 - no issues..

No issues with all my systems..
Click to expand...

No problems with 4 systems. But, you must have known I would ask...why did you go through 3 MBPs and one MB if you had no problems? :)

So far, pretty much every one that's posted is happy. With absolutely no problems with their MBPs. 1 with the screen issue. 1 guy with quirks he's managed to work around. Overall, seems MBPs are fine. Looks like I'll still be picking up a MBP.

Do any of you also have experience with iMacs? How are they in terms of relability and quirks? Or have they been working flawlessly? :)

Thanks.
 
DarkDTSHD said:
No problems with 4 systems. But, you must have known I would ask...why did you go through 3 MBPs and one MB if you had no problems? :)

So far, pretty much every one that's posted is happy. With absolutely no problems with their MBPs. 1 with the screen issue. 1 guy with quirks he's managed to work around. Overall, seems MBPs are fine. Looks like I'll still be picking up a MBP.

Do any of you also have experience with iMacs? How are they in terms of relability and quirks? Or have they been working flawlessly? :)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Bad timing i must say..
I sold the first MBP planning on upgrading to the bigger video card..
I bought the new system within one week and they released the C2D.
I pretty much sold the system right away and found an amazing deal on a Black Macbook.. something i couldn't turn down...

I got bored of the Black Macbook after 6 months and posted it up for sale for fun and received lots of offers... The Macbook was good.. but i was having too many pageouts (even with 2GB ram).. Another reason was the small hd.. it only had a 80GB HD.. and if i was going to upgrade it to a 120GB.. mind as well use that money on a better system..

If C2D was not released soon after I purchased the 2nd Macbook Pro.. I would have kept it..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back