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My First Experience with a MBP

S

stevenfarrisohi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2008
29
0
Hi all! Today was my first trip into an Apple Store. I had to drive well over an hour to get there but it was worth the trip! Talk about a crowded store!!! The reason for my visit was to see and experience a MacBook Pro up close.

The first thing I saw was the MacBook Air! I had heard some negative press about it but I must say what a sweet piece of technology! Then I saw it...Like a kid in a toy store the MBP! I fell in love -- but now have a few reservations!

First of all this is a classy and well put together machine. I thought I would like the glossy finish but enjoyed the matte much more! The screen is GORGEOUS in both and the keyboard and trackpad were primo! The 15.4 is weighted nicely but oh my the HEAT! I am not joking in that I am concerned that is might be a fire hazard! I love the leopard interface but it seemed to run very sluggish and that surprised me! Opening MS Office took a considerable amount of time as well as other applications. I tried other MBP 's in the store and they were sluggish too? Hmmm? Final Cut Express seemed to take a minute for it to load...

On a side note --- I thought the IMac's were INCREDIBLE! and the cinema displays in the store were very overrated! So I am now convinced I am a PC to MAC convert - but a little apprehensive about the MBP as far as speed!

Any comments?
 
Hrm.. I would say that mine is anything but sluggish.

I haven't been using any heavy duty programs, though.. and I have 4GB of ram.
 
The Macbook Pros do get very warm, but I've never had anything catch on fire. :)

As far as speed, I think your experience is not typical. The MBP generally performs quite well. Microsoft Office is not the quickest Mac app ever to be created, regardless of hardware. Do you know if it was the 2004 or 2008 version? The older 2004 version is not Intel-native, so performance is a little slow at times. I use Final Cut Pro on a second generation MBP with 2 GB of RAM and it loads in just a few seconds.
 
My MBP is fast. never had an sluggishness. if you are worried about heat, download smcfancontrol to bump up the fan speed. it keeps my temps at a comfortable level.
 
Another thing to consider is that if the MBP was a demo model there is no telling how much crap it has accumulated throughout its time on the table.
 
MascisMan said:
Another thing to consider is that if the MBP was a demo model there is no telling how much crap it has accumulated throughout its time on the table.
Click to expand...

Bingo. That unit had probably been there for 8 months or more. Even though Apple is great about not loading the factory install of OS X with junk, I would do a clean, custom re-install of OS X when you get home, leaving out all the stuff you don't want. 4+ gigs of printer drivers is not exactly the best usage of space. Of course, MS Office is probably going to be hog no matter what.

Don't be fooled, these things fly.
 
I had the same experience with microsoft office. You can read my first impressions of the macbook pro here

And also about the post above... the computers reformat every time they are restarted and are completely "fresh" so they do not accumulate junk.
 
I would say the heat is a mostly non-issue. Certain places do get a little toasty (right above the keyboard), but I don't think hot enough to burn you or anything. Kinda like touching a 25W light bulb. I run mine closed and attached to a monitor (therefore less venting through the keyboard). No problems with that. The CPU temp is 178 degrees right now as I'm running HandBrake, but everything else seems really normal. The bottom of the case is 92 degrees. The most important thing is to put the thing on a hard, flat surface.

As far as performance, they fly. No anti-virus crap to hold you back, and the dual-core processors are the shiz-nit. You might wait for the next upgrade because I noticed that some Windows notebooks have Intel Core 2 Quad processors in them. The 2GB of memory is enough for most anything that doesn't involve editing HD video or something. If you do that, don't waste time with anything but a Mac Pro.

I would advise getting as much hard drive as you can afford. I REALLY wish I had the 200GB 7200 rpm in here. I actually wish notebook drives could hold a terabyte, but oh well for another year or so. Don't get me started on the lack of Blu-ray Disc drives. :)

I'd say you can't go wrong with one. I would hold out for the next update to see what all happens. I missed out on an extra gig of RAM and an LED-backlit screen by 5 weeks. No biggie, but would've been nice for free.
 
I have the 2.2 ghz Mac Book Pro, and it *flies*.

I would suggest upgrading the RAM to 4GB if you are doing anything 'intensive' (like Photoshop!) but other than that, this is the fastest computer I've ever owned.

As previous posters note, you can slim down OS X's install somewhat, to save disk space if you need. Also note that replacing the hard disk is a pig of a job in the MBP, so be sure to get the biggest hard disk you can afford.

Upgrading the RAM however is a two-minute job (three screws to under and a plate to remove) and you can source RAM for considerably less than Apple want for it (I got a 4GB 'kit' for £56 UK Pounds from play.com in the UK).

As for heat, the only place - in regular use - that my MBP gets warm is above the keyboard; I'm currently sat on the sofa with the MBP on my knee and it is not uncomfortable at all - however, I were doing anything very processor intensive (ripping a movie or something) then I'd probably leave it running on the desk!)
 
stevenfarrisohi said:
So I am now convinced I am a PC to MAC convert - but a little apprehensive about the MBP as far as speed!

Any comments?
Click to expand...

I've never had problems with the speed of my MBP, and it's only the 2.2 GHz model. Especially if you upgrade to the 2.4, you won't have problems.

Glad you had a good experience :)
 
I'm gonna go ahead and beat this horse to death as well....MBP's fly. Voted fastest Vista laptop available...pretty ironic, and something us Apple fans love to mention :cool:

Realistically, you should upgrade the RAM through OWC or Crucial regardless of if you need it or not. RAM is so cheap these days that its foolish not to. I would rather have the RAM and not need it than the other way around.

I agree that replacing the hard drive is a bit of a pain, but if you follow the directions from any of several different websites then you should be fine. Just be sure to stay grounded and keep track of all the screws!

As far as waiting for a new MBP....poke around in the Page 2 forum. You can join the rest of the people waiting for it. A couple of them might snap if another Tuesday goes by without an update :p
 
I think that what the OP is experiencing as "sluggish" is the program load times on OSX. This is true - if you are used to a modern and well-equipped windows machine (esp. running Vista, ironically), load times are much quicker in Windows due to the caching of certain programs in RAM (if there is enough RAM in the system). The several second program load time is not something a well-maintained windows machine would experience.

On the other hand, OSX programs, once loaded, are incredibly nimble and the OS is very quick when it comes to navigation, switching between open programs, etc.

I'm sure I'm going to receive a flood of insults and disagreements, but that's just my experience. BTW, program load times in OSX don't seem to be impacted significantly by how much horsepower a machine has - quad core Mac Pros seem to be just as susceptible to this phenomenon. That's just the perspective from one user who uses both OSs and is running well-equipped machines on both sides...
 
My MBP is sluggish, but only because I fill up 2GB rather quickly. I'm thinking about getting 4GB soon.

And the Air is pretty sweet, yeah. Most likely going to be my next computer, when SSDs are more of a standard (and not so pricey anymore).
 
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