Some questions for MB/MBP owners (to help me and others decide which one to get)

[dpope]

Hi All,

I am, as many readers of this forum, close to buying a MB or a MBP and I would like to ask some questions to help me narrow down the choice. If you feel affronted that I am so bold as to produce a questionnaire just for my own personal use then bear in mind that many other's probably have similar questions. My main issue is wanting easy portability and battery life (and also money though I can afford an MBP its not cheap) but I don't like the idea of a second rate graphics card.

Can I ask for responses from MBP and/or MB owners to the following questions:


1. Machine details: (e.g. MBP 2.16 + 1 gig ram, etc...)

2. Average Battery Life:

3. Average Standby Life (or %rate/hour of battery on standby):

4. Heat problems?

5. Do you like carrying your laptop with you everywhere (cafe's, work, etc...)? If so, can you do so comfortably with the MB or MBP or is it too heavy/bulky?

6. What problems have you had with the laptop?

7. If you're used to comparable price/spec PC's how does it compare (this is not flamebait please don't treat it as such)?

8. Would you recommend this laptop or something else?

9. How good is the display (viewing angle/etc...)?

10. If you've ever run Linux on it, how compatible is it?


Maybe a general questions that somebody could just answer once for my benefit:

How upgradable are the MBP's and MB (video card memory, hard-disk, etc...)? I mean after you've purchased it not before hand - if I get an MBP and decide later to upgrade my GPU from 128 MB to 256 MB can I do that?


Other potential purchasers might want to append questions of their own.


Thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer some of these

 

[risc]

1) MacBook Pro 15" 2.0 GHz, 128 MB VRAM, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB 5400 RPM HDD
2) 3 1/2 hours, screen brightness on full, using wireless
3) No idea - I have never ran the battery down in standby mode
4) No - it runs much cooler than my older PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz, it gets warm under full load never hot
5) It's a notebook I have no issues carrying it anywhere I need it
6) None, it's the best notebook I've ever owned
7) N/A I wanted an OS X notebook, I've compared the price of similar spec'd Windows notebooks though and I think the MacBook Pro is great value
8) See #6, I'd have no problems recommending it to anyone who wanted an OS X notebook
9) I have the matte display, it's great, very bright, and has an amazing viewing angle
10) OS X is a UNIX-like OS I have no need to run Linux on it when I can just use 1 of the many free/open source software repos for OS X (MacPorts, Fink, etc)

 

[risc]

Maybe a general questions that somebody could just answer once for my benefit:

How upgradable are the MBP's and MB (video card memory, hard-disk, etc...)? I mean after you've purchased it not before hand - if I get an MBP and decide later to upgrade my GPU from 128 MB to 256 MB can I do that?

The RAM in the MBP is easily upgradable, you can upgrade the HDD if you don't mind taking the machine apart. The RAM and HDD are easily upgradable in the MB. You can not upgrade the video RAM on an Apple notebook.

 

[generik]

1. Machine details: (e.g. MBP 2.16 + 1 gig ram, etc...)
MB 2Ghz stock ram 80gb HDD

2. Average Battery Life:
3-4 hours

3. Average Standby Life (or %rate/hour of battery on standby):
Days? Didn't really time.


4. Heat problems?
None at all, this one is excellent.


5. Do you like carrying your laptop with you everywhere (cafe's, work, etc...)? If so, can you do so comfortably with the MB or MBP or is it too heavy/bulky?
Nope, it is quite portable.


6. What problems have you had with the laptop?
None.


7. If you're used to comparable price/spec PC's how does it compare (this is not flamebait please don't treat it as such)?
All Macs are overpriced, trying to convince yourself that they aren't is a delusion. A friend of mine got a similar Samsung laptop with a slightly slower processor, same harddrive, same memory, with 256mb of VRAM.... for 20% cheaper than my MB. Take what you will from it.

8. Would you recommend this laptop or something else?
Depends on who, definitely not to another geek.

9. How good is the display (viewing angle/etc...)?
Not that great, colours seems "off" no matter how much time I spent calibrating the display. Too bright for my liking.

10. If you've ever run Linux on it, how compatible is it?
No, didn't run Linux.. it is like even worse than XP.

How upgradable are the MBP's and MB (video card memory, hard-disk, etc...)? I mean after you've purchased it not before hand - if I get an MBP and decide later to upgrade my GPU from 128 MB to 256 MB can I do that?

No. The only upgrades you can do for the MBP currently are basically the hard drive and the RAM. And even the for hard drives they involve some very risky disassembly...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

1. Machine details: (e.g. MBP 2.16 + 1 gig ram, etc...)

15" MBP 1.83, 2GB RAM, 100GB HD (7200 RPM)

2. Average Battery Life:

3 hours

3. Average Standby Life (or %rate/hour of battery on standby):

No idea.

4. Heat problems?

Nothing worse than my previous PB G4 AlBook.

5. Do you like carrying your laptop with you everywhere (cafe's, work, etc...)? If so, can you do so comfortably with the MB or MBP or is it too heavy/bulky?

15" isn't too bad. I wouldn't want anything bigger or heavier though.

6. What problems have you had with the laptop?

Inverter buzz...repaired by Apple. Now silent as a rock.

7. If you're used to comparable price/spec PC's how does it compare (this is not flamebait please don't treat it as such)?

Great value...two computers on one.

8. Would you recommend this laptop or something else?

I'd recommend this laptop with a Core 2 Duo i.e., wait until they are anounced.

9. How good is the display (viewing angle/etc...)?

Very sharp and bright. Easily use it outside in bright sun.

10. If you've ever run Linux on it, how compatible is it?

Not a Linux user, but Win XP with Boot Camp runs pretty well.


Maybe a general questions that somebody could just answer once for my benefit:

How upgradable are the MBP's and MB (video card memory, hard-disk, etc...)? I mean after you've purchased it not before hand - if I get an MBP and decide later to upgrade my GPU from 128 MB to 256 MB can I do that?

Like almost every notebook on the market it's not upgradable at all except for RAM, hard drive and maybe the optical drive. CPU and GPU are soldered in.

 

[miles01110]

1. Machine details: (e.g. MBP 2.16 + 1 gig ram, etc...)

15', 2 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM, 80 GB HD (15 Windows partition, the rest OS X)

2. Average Battery Life:

3.5 hours or so- brightness is turned down to around 75%

3. Average Standby Life (or %rate/hour of battery on standby):

Very small.

4. Heat problems?

No. Idle temperature (Running Mail and Adium) is around 35 degrees Celsius. Under a heavy load (calculating 10 million digits of pi) the highest I've seen the temperature go is 82 deg. C.

5. Do you like carrying your laptop with you everywhere (cafe's, work, etc...)? If so, can you do so comfortably with the MB or MBP or is it too heavy/bulky?

I frequently carry it around campus and internationally when I travel. I find it to be the perfect compromise between portability and size. I carry it in an Incase sleeve in a backpack most of the time, but just carrying it in the sleeve alone is not a hassle for me.

6. What problems have you had with the laptop?

The aluminum casing between the lid and the main chassis is not completely flush, but its only warping by 2 mm or so. I can deal with it.

7. If you're used to comparable price/spec PC's how does it compare (this is not flamebait please don't treat it as such)?

I don't buy Windows machines, so I can't answer this.

8. Would you recommend this laptop or something else?

The only thing I might recommend is waiting for Merom, as we're really close now.

9. How good is the display (viewing angle/etc...)?

Very good. I can read what I am typing at a nearly 90 degree viewing angle from above, to the left, and to the right. There is some color shift, but that's expected.

10. If you've ever run Linux on it, how compatible is it?

Have not done this.

 

[dpope]

First, thanks to everyone who responded. I would still like to hear more, particularly from more MB owners since a large part of this was to compare the two. I'm glad to see most people are satisfied at least with the MBP.

7. If you're used to comparable price/spec PC's how does it compare (this is not flamebait please don't treat it as such)?
All Macs are overpriced, trying to convince yourself that they aren't is a delusion. A friend of mine got a similar Samsung laptop with a slightly slower processor, same harddrive, same memory, with 256mb of VRAM.... for 20% cheaper than my MB. Take what you will from it.

8. Would you recommend this laptop or something else?
Depends on who, definitely not to another geek.

9. How good is the display (viewing angle/etc...)?
Not that great, colours seems "off" no matter how much time I spent calibrating the display. Too bright for my liking.

10. If you've ever run Linux on it, how compatible is it?
No, didn't run Linux.. it is like even worse than XP.

I can deal with the price hike for the nice look and for the native support for OS X. I'm not sure if this is bait but you might want to give Linux a shot before judging it so harshly. Its not for everybody and its not the polished OS X experience but its unbeatable for configurability and flexibility and I am not sure I can give it up for OS X (though I will definately use the latter a lot).

Can you expand on your "not for geeks" comment? I take it this is mostly aimed at the MB as opposed to MBP, right? Also, are the screens on the MB and MBP comparable since the MBP owners all seemed very happy with their screens.

Thanks again.

 

[Josias]

1. White 2.0 GHz MacBook with 1 GB Apple RAM and stock 60 GB HDD.

2. 8 hours using Word, brightness 1 bar. 5 hours using Safari with 4 windows and brightness 1 bar. Reduced to 4 hours if using MSN.

3. 45.000 days? No, it'll last forever if you turn Bluetooth off.

4. It never gets above 45-50 degrees celcius.

5. I bring it everyday to school to watch movies. It replaced all my schoolbooks and pencils etc. Just great! Eceryone's following my example.

6. VLC crashed once, and my trackpad button was kinda hard to press down, but a slam and it's been as responsive as ever.

7. You may will be able to get a higher specced PC for the MB price. Yet Mac OS X gets much more out of the power. As I say. There are two reasons to stay on Windows. 1. If you can't afford a Mac (you want). 2. You're a Windows fan boy.

8. MacBook now. MBP when they're updated.

9. The glossy screen on the MacBook limits the viewing angle, but I've managed 12 persons watching a movie on my MacBook. Though glossy does not give truer colors, and gives you reflection and lesser viewing angle, I'd chosse glossy, because it looks so much better.

10. Never have run Linux, but if you mean compatible with hardware: everything. If you have expensive Windows software, install Windows.

 

[dpope]

Do you have a choice of glossy vs matt screen when you get an MB or MBP? If so, can posters also comment on what they find more comfortable. I have a giant Sony 17" laptop which is relatively good as a desktop replacement (though it sucks as a portable) and whose most redeeming feature is a superb 1920x1200 screen with spectacular viewing angle even though its glossy.

 

[JAT]

Some of this stuff you could easily figure out with some shopping at the online Apple Store. The Pro has a choice of screen, the MB does not. The glossy has better color rendition, but reflects external light. The matte screen magically reflects next to nothing.

1. MB 1.83, upgraded to 1.25GB RAM, 60GB drive
2. Minimum 3 hours, often over 4
3. Days? Weeks? Haven't timed it, never a problem
4. No
5. It's my wife's mainly. She carries it to work, nowhere else. After I got a good bag, she stopped complaining about it. All laptops are heavy, 5-10# is something solid in your bag. Personal preference if that is too heavy
6. Logic board failure with the RSS problem, replaced 2 LBs in one week. Otherwise perfect
7. There are only 2 companies (Sony/Lenovo) with actually comparable laptops and they cost more. Other people seem to think Tosh or Samsung are comparable to Apple or Sony. Not. Dell might be able to put out something quality/spec similar at a cheaper price, but for 2# more.
8. I have recommended this to many people already. Best laptop I've ever used. I want a Pro for me, some of the features are important to me.
9. Perfect.
10. N/A

 

[risc]

Do you have a choice of glossy vs matt screen when you get an MB or MBP?

The MacBook Pro can be purchased with either a glossy (CTO) or matte screen. You don't have this option with the MacBook it comes with a glossy screen.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

1. MBP 17" 2.16/1gb/120 gb gd
2. 3.5 hr
3. iono
4. only when gaming
5. i carry it with a tibook and a wacom bt tablet
6. none
7. n/a
8. already did, boss has one now
9. nice and big
10. n/a

 

[dpope]

Some of this stuff you could easily figure out with some shopping at the online Apple Store. The Pro has a choice of screen, the MB does not. The glossy has better color rendition, but reflects external light. The matte screen magically reflects next to nothing.

Sorry, I figured out the matt vs glossy thing at the apple store after asking the question. I also did want to know which people preferred. I have a glossy Sony screen and its spectacular (with a great viewing angle) so I was wondering why people complained about the glossies. Anyway, thanks for all the info.

 

[MatthewCobb]

I have a glossy Sony screen and its spectacular (with a great viewing angle) so I was wondering why people complained about the glossies.

I hesitated for a very long time between the MB and the MBP, with the screen being an issue. I was mainly concerned about reflection. I borrowed an MB for a short time, and was convinced that there is no problem. The beast finally arrived (see sig) and I am VERY happy with it. The question about the MBP is: why? If you like aluminium, or you are doing lots of complicated video editing, you need it. If not, it's just money you could better spend on something else, IMHO. Finally, to answer a question you didn't ask - not only is the MB not as hot as the PBG4, it is also quieter. Fan turns on very occasionally, and when it does it is quieter than the PBG4. Buy one now!

 

[Foggy]

The question about the MBP is: why? If you like aluminium, or you are doing lots of complicated video editing, you need it. If not, it's just money you could better spend on something else, IMHO.

For me it is a simple one - screen size, the MB is too small. I did spend a while considering if I could live with it and do something else with the money but I dont think I could even go to a 15" screen again after my 17" Vaio. Now just waiting on the *£&$ing merom chips.

 

[miles01110]

I find the glossy screen on my MBP much brighter and sharper than one of my friend's matte screens. True color isn't much of an issue for me, however. The reflection isn't that bad. I work in some fairly high-light environments on a regular basis, and I find that while the glossy screen might be more reflective, the matte screen is just flat out impossible to see due to the light.