I've scoured the iFixIt tear down, but are there any "First Looks" or "Quick Reviews" out there yet for the 17" Unibody? Please post links to any reviews you know of. Thanks!
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Reviews of the 17" MBP...
- Thread starter Colin Guinn
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The first batch to be built and shipped have only been in users' hands for less than two days...I'm afraid that you're going to have to wait!
We arnt expecting a dissertation or degree level essay, but a quick review and some benchmarks would be appreciated. Noones done a Geekbench benchmarking yet, which wouldn't take long but would be really accurate and useful.
They haven't posted a full review and/or video yet, but one should be coming soon. Keep checking for CNET's review of the 2009 17" MBP.
Benchmarks
UFOGoldorak ran a Geekbench, Results Here...Thanks!
And here are his Cinebench Results compared to his 15" Unibody...
Here are some Cinebench results compared with my current 2.4 15" MBP both with 4GB ram
CINEBENCH R10
****************************************************
Tester : UFOGoldorak
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo
MHz : 2.4
Number of CPUs : 2
Operating System : OS X 32 BIT 10.4.9
Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT OpenGL Engine
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>
****************************************************
Rendering (Single CPU): 2599 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 4741 CB-CPU
Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.82
Shading (OpenGL Standard) : 4390 CB-GFX
****************************************************
CINEBENCH R10
****************************************************
Tester : UFOGoldorak
Processor : Core 2 Duo
MHz : 2.93
Number of CPUs : 2
Operating System : OS X 32 BIT 10.5.6
Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT OpenGL Engine
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>
****************************************************
Rendering (Single CPU): 3376 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 6460 CB-CPU
Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.91
Shading (OpenGL Standard) : 5806 CB-GFX
****************************************************
UFOGoldorak ran a Geekbench, Results Here...Thanks!
And here are his Cinebench Results compared to his 15" Unibody...
Here are some Cinebench results compared with my current 2.4 15" MBP both with 4GB ram
CINEBENCH R10
****************************************************
Tester : UFOGoldorak
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo
MHz : 2.4
Number of CPUs : 2
Operating System : OS X 32 BIT 10.4.9
Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT OpenGL Engine
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>
****************************************************
Rendering (Single CPU): 2599 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 4741 CB-CPU
Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.82
Shading (OpenGL Standard) : 4390 CB-GFX
****************************************************
CINEBENCH R10
****************************************************
Tester : UFOGoldorak
Processor : Core 2 Duo
MHz : 2.93
Number of CPUs : 2
Operating System : OS X 32 BIT 10.5.6
Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT OpenGL Engine
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>
****************************************************
Rendering (Single CPU): 3376 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 6460 CB-CPU
Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.91
Shading (OpenGL Standard) : 5806 CB-GFX
****************************************************
Yeah, I think most of us would settle on just a nibble.
We already know the hardware (CPU/GPU) is fairly solid since the 17" shares a lot of the same bits as the 15". I am most interested in the display quality like the viewing angles, backlight bleed, black levels, graininess, etc. Since it appears the 17" MBP has a couple extra speakers over the 15" I'm curious how it sounds. I'm sure the bass will be lacking, but it should sound pretty good.My old $10 pocketable transistor radio from the 1970s still sounds better than any MBP built-in speakers. Doubling the tinny-sounding MBP speakers will probably make them doubly intolerable.
The only thing the MBP speakers are good for is the computer's warning bleeps and the start-up gong.
Have you actually heard them? The speakers in the 15" MacBook Pro (Unibody) are actually quite good.
If you look at the ifixit guides, the 15" speaker is actually an oblong or oval speaker, the 17" are two little round speakers, probably the same speakers as the older 17"?
I was kind of interested in this because the speakers in the dell studio laptop that I'm replacing with a MBP sounded horrible. My mother in laws 17' MBP from last year actually sounds leaps and bounds better than my old dell.
it cant be that bad if there's barely any complaints voiced for it.. usually u would hear that right away before any review.
Take a look at this picture. You can see two speakers per side plus an additional fifth speaker. Those speakers look larger to me than the speakers in the 15" unibody.
I'm sure the 17" sounds better than the 15". I actually didn't even see that 5th speaker. I wonder why they placed it there? Its not even by the grills, maybe a little teeny tiny subwoofer?
HAS ANYONE else experienced this yet ?? >>
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....11149&tstart=0
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http://discussions.apple.com/thread....11149&tstart=0
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Can't be found?
Its not a "real" subwoofer in the sense of subwoofer, but it does produce more low end frequency tones. The speaker placement design is similar to the MacBooks except with more speakers.
WOW they[ apple????] took the page offline ???! luckily i had copied it and emailed our it engineer ! >>>
Topic : MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
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Replies : 7 - Last Post : Feb 17, 2009 11:01 PM by: Teknolust Topics : [ Previous | Next ]
jaredegenes
Posts: 4
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Jan 30, 2009
MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 9:25 PM
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How disappointing is it to discover a flaw in a brand new product?
Anyway, I'm sitting here using my new MBP 17" which arrived early this morning.
I had used the battery up a bit earlier today, and am currently charging the laptop. The screen brightness is set to it's lowest visible brightness (one more down and the screen goes black).
I am experiencing a slight and intermittent flickering of the screen. At first I thought it was just in my head... Oh yeah, there are no fluorescent lights around me.
Anyway, on a whim I unplugged the power cord and the flickering immediately stopped. Plugged it back in and it started up in a minute.
By the time I finished this post the flickering stopped. What's goin on??
MBP 17" 2009 Mac OS X (10.5.6)
DerekS
Posts: 84
Registered: Apr 5, 2006
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 9:31 PM in response to: jaredegenes
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The screen dims slightly when under battery power...maybe the charger is bad and oscillating on and off?
Got a spare you can try?
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)
jaredegenes
Posts: 4
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Jan 30, 2009
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 9:46 PM in response to: DerekS
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no spares this is my only apple product
iainkay
Posts: 64
From: UK
Registered: Feb 1, 2009
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 10:12 PM in response to: jaredegenes
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If you have one locally why not pop in to your local Apple store and see what they have to say about it? Certainly sounds like a hardware issue and not something you will be able to fix yourself.
Also if you know any one with a spare adaptor from a fairly new MB or MBP it could be worth trying theirs' out to ensure it's not just the adaptor.
MacBook Pro 17" \ CPU: 2.66GHz 1066MHz FSB Core2Duo, RAM: 4GB 1066MHz FSB DDR3, HDD: 320GB Sata 7200rpm, GFX: 512MB nVidia 9600GT, Glossy Display Mac OS X (10.5.6)
Teknolust
Posts: 29
From: Portland, OR
Registered: Nov 3, 2007
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 10:23 PM in response to: jaredegenes
Helpful
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At work we had a few of the 15" models that had a similar flickering problem when the systems were first released. Strange thing, we found the flickering would only occur when the embedded (9400) GPU was being used. When we switched to the discreet (9600) GPU, the issue would go away. In our case the units were exchanged due to suspicion of a bad embedded GPU. I haven't seen the issue on any systems ordered in the past few weeks though. It potentially could be a different issue all together, but you might see if you have the same experience. Please do post what you find out with Apple.
17" MacBook Pro (Early 2009) Mac OS X (10.5.6) Intel Core 2 Duo 2.93GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB (7200 RPM), Glossy, 24" LED Cinema
prafferty
Posts: 49
From: San Francisco, California
Registered: Sep 23, 2007
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 10:44 PM in response to: Teknolust
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I have a 15 inch model too and notice the flickering when using the 9400 GPU. Do you think if I were to bring it in to an Apple Store they would exchange it? Were your replacement models free from this screen flickering?
2.4 GHZ Aluminum Macbook Pro (Late 2008 Model) Mac OS X (10.5.6)
Teknolust
Posts: 29
From: Portland, OR
Registered: Nov 3, 2007
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 11:01 PM in response to: prafferty
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We have probably deployed about 200 of the 15" MacBook Pro systems so far, and have only seen the issue on a handful of them. Fortunately the issue was discovered when the systems were imaged and had not yet been deployed. If you are having the issue, I would recommend that you report it to Apple.
Some people online were reporting that installing the NVIDIA Graphics Update 2009 (http://support.apple.com/downloads/NVIDIA_Graphics_Update_2009) would fix this problem. The update however was only available online briefly and then was pulled without explanation.
I really don't see how this would help though as we are not seeing the issue with all systems we are receiving. I figured there must have been a bad batch of 9400's that made it to production. It is really concerning if people are seeing the same thing on the new 17" models as well.
17" MacBook Pro (Early 2009) Mac OS X (10.5.6) Intel Core 2 Duo 2.93GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB (7200 RPM), Glossy, 24" LED Cinema
jaredegenes
Posts: 4
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Jan 30, 2009
Re: MBP 17" Screen Flicker While Charging
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 10:51 PM in response to: Teknolust
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I was using the 9400.
OH GOD I don't want to have to deal with Apple again, they TOTALLY botched my last laptop (thus the upgrade to the new 17"). Sigh. Thanks for the tip I will keep on it.
the screen dims on battery? I have that on the Macbook too? What about it?
The flickering... until theres wide amount of affected, one person doesn't conclude everyone have it.
The flickering... until theres wide amount of affected, one person doesn't conclude everyone have it.
so i guess ill ignore this one as well ???
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1911149&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1911149&tstart=0