My first almost-perfect Macbook Pro: no defects!

[PDE]

I've had quite a few mbps since they were introduced and pretty much each one has either had a defect out of the box, or developed one shortly after I got it. I'm very picky and there are quite a few things I refuse to compromise on, one of which is the display quality. I also hate sloppy build where I can see that it was just some tired, underpaid worker that couldn't be bothered to be careful during the assembly process. I don't accept any defect that could have easily been prevented with just a little more care during the building process. It's Apple's job to get me a high quality computer and I hold them to it.

My new penryn is as close to perfection as it'll get:

- It has near-perfect build quality with everything fitting as it should. The others I had always had some glitch somewhere: protruding or warped aluminum, strange-feeling trackpad button, unidentified sounds and squeaks, loose battery etc.

- The display is beautiful: evenly illuminated, sharp with no color tint anywhere - though it does have backlight bleeding on top and below that is visible under certain circumstances. It's the 9c81, LG.

- The keyboard keys are STRAIGHT (unlike almost all my previous MBPs where keys were often unevenly assembled).

-It's palpably COOLER than all my previous machines even though the internal temperatures of the CPU, GPU etc are just slightly less. This machine is the first one I feel comfortable using on my lap! It does heat up under intensive and prolonged use, but under normal, mixed usage it's really a lot cooler. I guess this is the result of the penryn chip?

- battery life is noticeably better - I have to test it further, but it seems like I'm getting maybe 20-30 minutes more than my previous 2.4 SR. Is this because of the new Penryn chip?


This computer is just great. I'm very satisfied and would recommend it to anybody, as long as you're lucky and don't get the yellow screen issue!

 

[MicBook]

good to hear you got a god one I wish more people who have gotten good ones would come on here and comment so as not to scare off other potential buyers hearing all the horror stories

 

[Schizophrenic]

what do you mean your "previous SR Penryn"? i read somewhere in the forum that the current penryn MBPs are also SR, Santa rosa is the platform and Penryn is the chipset, something like that

 

[PDE]

Oh, yes, sorry for being a little unclear. My last one was the previous chipset - Merom? Made a switch to the macbook air and sold my old MBp, but decided that the Air was too much of a compromise in my daily usage (plus there some issues with the ones I had and when Apple offered to replace the third one, I decided to go back to the MBP )- only lost $200 in the whole process. And that's a small price to pay for the upgrade to a cooler machine with multitouch and better battery life.

 

[scott9s]

This computer is just great. I'm very satisfied and would recommend it to anybody, as long as you're lucky and don't get the yellow screen issue!

I'm so glad to hear this, and I hope your experience becomes more common, and is what I'll see in a few days.

thanks for the review. Just for the fact of what to look out for. I think if one is to pay a premium for the Apple brand, we should we receive a premium product.

As a picky person myself, do you have Any suggestions on what to look out for? that would make a good post. How to do a thorough out-of-box inspection for defects? What are the normal defects and what to do about them?

 

[uNext]

It's Apple's job to get me a high quality computer and I hold them to it.

I thought I was alone.

Every single mbp i have owned starting with 1.83 core duo up to
my latest one 2.5 penryn have issues.

My current penryn is not balanced correctly. When i put it on a flat surface
it is not straight (warped alluminum)

I wish i ahd the same luck as you.

Going already on a 2nd mbp exchange in less than 14 days. Will be going back for a 3rd time APPLE quality down the drain lately. And will be doing so until i find the right one even though is their fault they still want to charge me open box fee if i decide to get my money back.

But overall is nice to know there is a chance of getting 2k worth of perfection or at least near it.

 

[tremendous]

I also hate sloppy build where I can see that it was just some tired, underpaid worker that couldn't be bothered to be careful during the assembly process.

if you were paid something like $5 a day, i'm pretty sure you wouldn't really be bothered about doing a careful job.

of course, the less defects, the easier it is to forget who built your computer.

 

[cujoe86]

For the amount of money we pay for these things, perfection is what should be expected. And also combined with a wait time of 4+ weeks from the order date there should be no excuses on Apple's part.

 

[Salty Pirate]

I am in the same camp. Not one single thing wrong with 2.4 Ghz Penryn.

My last 15" was the SR 2.4. Outta the box, it had the keyboard problem, the case was warped a little bit and the battery did not fit correctly.

I am very happy with this one.

 

[AndyMulhearn]

I am in the same camp. Not one single thing wrong with 2.4 Ghz Penryn.

My last 15" was the SR 2.4. Outta the box, it had the keyboard problem, the case was warped a little bit and the battery did not fit correctly.

I am very happy with this one.

Same here with my SR 2.6, well the case was warped and the screen didn't shut properly.

The new Penryn 2.6 I'm using is spot on.

 

[ChrisN]

Congratulations with your near perfect machine, it seems that I always get great quality machines but the pc people I want to convert always get a bit worse machines which leaves a bad taste in their mouth which is not good. Still congratulations.

ChrisN