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Selling after a year
- Thread starter Nychot
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The things people complain about I feel like could have been avoided if they had just tried one for 5 minutes in the store. I love the screen and I took a typing test in the store. At least for these two things, I can tell immediately if I'm going to like it or not. I type very lightly and appreciate that the keys do not require a lot of force to push down. At the same time I can see if you are a heavy typer getting a lot of fatigue from keys with such little travel.
I feel like general form factor is going to be the biggest issue for most people. I do not like large laptops. I never have. I find them cumbersome and difficult to travel with. I have a Dell Mini 9 that I used to run snow leopard on. I loved that computer for college. It fit in my jacket pocket! By all accounts it was terrible (1024x600 screen, cramped and missing keys with a strange netbook layout, slow 8gb pata ssd, 4 hour battery life) but it was lighter and more portable than anything else available to me at the time.
I feel like general form factor is going to be the biggest issue for most people. I do not like large laptops. I never have. I find them cumbersome and difficult to travel with. I have a Dell Mini 9 that I used to run snow leopard on. I loved that computer for college. It fit in my jacket pocket! By all accounts it was terrible (1024x600 screen, cramped and missing keys with a strange netbook layout, slow 8gb pata ssd, 4 hour battery life) but it was lighter and more portable than anything else available to me at the time.
Had mine for a year and thinking of going the same route for similar reasons. It depends how much lighter the next Macbook Pro is.
agreed. All of these complaints can be addressed by doing some actual studying about the product. oh well
My guess would be the next rMBP 13 would go from 3.5lb to 2.9lb, while the 15 would go from 4.49 to 3.9lb. The leaked rMBP images casing didn't seem that much thinner so doubt it be much less weight.
The 16GB is much easier. I had to modify the installer so I could remove stuff just to fit the base install. I had less than 2GB of remaining space. Do you have the mini 9 or one of the later ones? The documentation is still all up at mydellmini.com. Keep in mind you're limited to Snow Leopard as there was no support for the atom processor in lion or later. Also make sure to upgrade your RAM to 2GB if you expect it to be usable.
You would have to rip mine from my dead hands! I love this laptop. The size, weight, retina display and fanless design are all pluses for me. I have a 15" rMBP but use the rMB a whole lot more now. Everyone's needs are different though so if the screen size is a deal breaker better to get something with a larger screen. Most of the Tablet PC's I've worked on over the years (HP 1100, X60T, X61T, X200T and X220T and even my current Thinkpad Yoga 12) have had 12" screens. Even though my eye sight is far from perfect I like higher resolution screens so when many people feel the text is too small I'm accustom to it.
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I've come to the same conclusion - I had both the 2015 and the 2016 version, but since speed really hadn't improved noticeably for the new version, I eventually decided to pull the plug and choose a Surface Book instead. Yes, heavier, but not exactly a back-breaker, either. Much better screen, much better keyboard, more versatile dramatically faster, but also more expensive (although since I don't need an iPad anymore, that is somewhat relative). I even prefer the Touchpad of the SB (at least after decreasing the wake-up wait). I don't know why, but the TPs on both Macbooks felt much less responsive than on my desktop-replacement 15" rMBP and I found them somewhat annoying.
And for those who are saying that we could have realized that before we bought it: nope. The screen size was new to me and it took me a while to figure out that it's not working for me. Initially, it was a compromise I was willing to make, even when I had to decide on whether I'd get the 2016 version or not. The same goes for the Touchpad and, above all, for the keyboard. Those who've read my other posts on the subject know that I've hated the keyboard with a passion - I typed more slowly and inaccurately on it than on any other keyboard I've ever used before. I thought I could live with it with this being a secondary device for the road, but the more I had to work with it, the less enthused I was about it.
I'm sure lots of people can live with it or even like it, but I'm not among them. I'm truly looking forward to the new rMBPs later this year. Windows is and will never be my first choice as far as OSs go, so if Apple can offer me better hardware, I'm more than willing to go back, but Windows 10 is definitely not the hell people say it is here sometimes. I'm at least as productive on it as on macOS, but perhaps a bit less inspired.
I'm glad you agreed. Initially, I was impressed with the build, the screen, etc. But using it for some months I found it's just not up to snuff. The trackpad is truly a POS, not the quality, but the usage, and the same for the keyboard. And when I finish using the too small screen for a time. my eyes are blurry and I have to get used to the real world around me. I agree with this fellow that it takes time to really get a feel for the rmb. for me going on a year. I too got a couple of very light windows laptops -- the lenovo yoga 3 pro, and the lenovo thinkpad yoga. Both great. And windows 10 is fine. But I still prefer OSX. In any case testing the tmb at the apple store or best buy, which I did extensively before buying isnt really the same as owning and using it for far more time. It took me sa while to really see all the faults.
I don't know if that's entirely true. I think you can find yourself thinking this will work at the Apple store, but after a period of usage, you come to the determination that its won't. Don't get me wrong, ideally, its better to see if you can figure that out before buying, but its not always the case.
if my memory serves me well i seem to recall that last year a lot of people were disappointed with the macbook and the general response was to use it for a while and it would grow on you. i'm sure that it's grown on some people but obviously not everyone.
The rMB was controversial when it came out and clearly that hasn't changed. I certainly can't fault the OP for not giving the device a good, long try.
For me, the trackpad is my favorite ever. I mostly use a Ergo keyboard at work so the rMB keyboard is still a bit of a challenge (6 months into ownership). However, I've taken 6 plane trips in those 6 months and the portability makes the rMB a winner for me. Being able to store an actual laptop in the same place as the inflight magazine is really useful to me.
For me, the trackpad is my favorite ever. I mostly use a Ergo keyboard at work so the rMB keyboard is still a bit of a challenge (6 months into ownership). However, I've taken 6 plane trips in those 6 months and the portability makes the rMB a winner for me. Being able to store an actual laptop in the same place as the inflight magazine is really useful to me.
I've actually decided to keep it as back up to my new 2015 rMBP 8/256. A pretty fantastic machine and it doesn't seem much heavier than the rmb. Great keyboard, readable retina screen, and while its the same force touch tp, the pro works better for me.
I use the macbook docked 95% of the time, and every single time I use it as a laptop....I just want to use it more and more! I love the keyboard, but I can definitely see how it is awkward to use. People seem to either love it or hate it.
Makes sense.
For me, it's all about form factor, specifically thickness and weight. So with the RMB I was willing to sacrifice screen size and a foreign OS to get the lightest/smallest Windows 10 machine I could find. The RMBP is too heavy for my purposes, I've got a desktop replacement from my company, never leaves the desk, big heavy Dell, my RMB is my travel partner.
BJ