The new 17 MBP - My observations

[mmoran27]

It is extremely sturdy for a laptop of its size (which is huge compared to a macbook).

Resolution is nice, but my opinion of the screen is that it is of a poorer quality than the 15 in MBP. It appears washed out with poor viewing angles from above and the sides.

It is also extremely dim compared to the 15 in MBP. I had both on full brightness and it looks half as bright.

The build quality is excellent. It is by no means light compared to the macbook.

I would say that if you were waiting for the 17 inch refresh go for it.

For me, though I never liked 17 inch notebooks (too big).

 

[masterslacker]

So the extra 1 lb in weight is noticeable? Does the size make it feel awkward to move around with, on the lap as compared to the 15"?

 

[NATO]

Upgrading from a 15" Unibody MacBook Pro, I have the following observations:

Build Quality is excellent, as good as the 15" model, and just as sturdy

The Screen is gorgeous - colourful, sharp and vivid along with the lovely screen res (although some might find it a little too high resolution, it depends on your vision I guess). I didn't find it to be any less bright than the 15" model though - full brightness is still retina-burningly bright I have the glossy version though, I've read a few things which suggest the matte version is duller.

I actually don't notice much of a difference between the 15" and 17" in terms of size or weight which I find a little odd. The main thing you notice is the screen size when you open it, but closed it's not THAT much bigger than the 15".

Battery life is still a little early to say (I'm still running on the first charge), but so far it looks excellent.

Other than that, it's really just an upsized 15", so whatever you like/dislike about one, you'll like/dislike about the other.

 

[derek1984]

It is extremely sturdy for a laptop of its size (which is huge compared to a macbook).

Resolution is nice, but my opinion of the screen is that it is of a poorer quality than the 15 in MBP. It appears washed out with poor viewing angles from above and the sides.

It is also extremely dim compared to the 15 in MBP. I had both on full brightness and it looks half as bright.

The build quality is excellent. It is by no means light compared to the macbook.

I would say that if you were waiting for the 17 inch refresh go for it.

For me, though I never liked 17 inch notebooks (too big).

Did you get the Glossy or Matte screen?

 

[mac jones]

Half as bright?

 

[detz]

Resolution is nice, but my opinion of the screen is that it is of a poorer quality than the 15 in MBP. It appears washed out with poor viewing angles from above and the sides.

It is also extremely dim compared to the 15 in MBP. I had both on full brightness and it looks half as bright.

You might have a broken one, there is no way this is true.

 

[kastenbrust]

Also upgrading from the 15" Unibody here are my muses:

Im actually surprised at how strong it is, it feels so solid, i was expecting it to be flimsyer than the 15" but it simply isn't.

The screen is absolutely amazing, perhaps they are using two different screen brands because the Original Poster here mentioned that theres was quite dim, but mines much brighter than the 15" Unibody, its so bright it actually hurts my eyes when set to maximum literally! Perhaps the OP should review their automatic brightness based on environment settings.
Also on the screen the full High Definition resolution is simply stunning, i know on laptop screens there isnt much point watching HD movies because theyre smaller than 40 inches, but you can still notice a massive quality difference when watching 1080 movies compared to normal DVD's. Its really nice

I got 9 hours out of my battery using the 9400 card with Airport activated, Surfing the Web on Safari, listening to music on itunes, burning a few DVD's in toast, encoding some movies in handbrake and installing Windows 7 and uploading some new content to my site on CyberDuck, which i would say is about medium intensiveness on battery drain so i'm really impressed. I should mention i calibrated my battery even though in the manual it now doesnt mention anything about doing it like it does with other Macbooks However on Apples site it says you should, even with this 2009 Model.

Finally I should mention its no bulkyer than the 15" and no more difficult to carry around, it actually feels smaller on your lap than the 15" in terms of size because theirs less bezel around the screen and the extra 1lb weight isnt noticeable for me, but it might be an issue if your a 3 year old girl.

 

[amitdoc2b]

Also upgrading from the 15" Unibody here are my muses:

Im actually surprised at how strong it is, it feels so solid, i was expecting it to be flimsyer than the 15" but it simply isn't.

The screen is absolutely amazing, perhaps they are using two different screen brands because the Original Poster here mentioned that theres was quite dim, but mines much brighter than the 15" Unibody, its so bright it actually hurts my eyes when set to maximum literally! Perhaps the OP should review their automatic brightness based on environment settings.
Also on the screen the full High Definition resolution is simply stunning, i know on laptop screens there isnt much point watching HD movies because theyre smaller than 40 inches, but you can still notice a massive quality difference when watching 1080 movies compared to normal DVD's. Its really nice

I got 9 hours out of my battery using the 9400 card with Airport activated, Surfing the Web on Safari, listening to music on itunes, burning a few DVD's in toast, encoding some movies in handbrake and installing Windows 7 and uploading some new content to my site on CyberDuck, which i would say is about medium intensiveness on battery drain so i'm really impressed. I should mention i calibrated my battery even though in the manual it now doesnt mention anything about doing it like it does with other Macbooks However on Apples site it says you should, even with this 2009 Model.

Finally I should mention its no bulkyer than the 15" and no more difficult to carry around, it actually feels smaller on your lap than the 15" in terms of size because theirs less bezel around the screen and the extra 1lb weight isnt noticeable for me, but it might be an issue if your a 3 year old girl.

You're right.. its amazing how many 3 y/o girls own 17 inch MBP's.. and then come on this forum and complain about it!! LOL

 

[Sir Cecil]

my opinion of the screen is that it is of a poorer quality than the 15 in MBP. It appears washed out with poor viewing angles from above and the sides. It is also extremely dim compared to the 15 in MBP. I had both on full brightness and it looks half as bright.

Then you must have a faulty unit. None of those things are apparent in my new 17". I have never seen a finer laptop screen.

 

[Mark2000]

He's complaining so much about 17" notebooks in general and how much he dislikes them, I don't think he actually owns one. Maybe saw them together at the store?

 

[goblues27]

Dim Screen

I was in the Apple Store today and saw a new 17" glossy on display. They only had one to play on. I noted, like the previous poster, the screen seemed very dim and washed out. It sat next to a 15" which was noticeably brighter. I also have my own 2.4 15" unibody. The brightness was up fully and autodimming was turned off. I even restarted the machine. I didn't make mention to the staff... but there must be something wrong with it.

I would definitely love one for the resolution... if I had the money, that is. (and the screen were fixed).

 

[kastenbrust]

I was in the Apple Store today and saw a new 17" glossy on display. They only had one to play on. I noted, like the previous poster, the screen seemed very dim and washed out. It sat next to a 15" which was noticeably brighter. I also have my own 2.4 15" unibody. The brightness was up fully and autodimming was turned off. I even restarted the machine. I didn't make mention to the staff... but there must be something wrong with it.

I would definitely love one for the resolution... if I had the money, that is. (and the screen were fixed).

i assume you turned off auto brightness and turned the brightness up to max when you did this comparison between the 15 and 17" in store?

 

[NT1440]

I got 9 hours out of my battery using the 9400 card with Airport activated, Surfing the Web on Safari, listening to music on itunes, burning a few DVD's in toast, encoding some movies in handbrake and installing Windows 7 and uploading some new content to my site on CyberDuck, which i would say is about medium intensiveness on battery drain so i'm really impressed. I should mention i calibrated my battery even though in the manual it now doesnt mention anything about doing it like it does with other Macbooks However on Apples site it says you should, even with this 2009 Model.

9 hours while managing to burn a DVD or two!?

DAMN!

This crappy toshiba gets an hour and a half.

 

[kastenbrust]

9 hours while managing to burn a DVD or two!?

DAMN!

This crappy toshiba gets an hour and a half.

Haha well i just did a battery test after installing Windows 7 using bootcamp, and i left the computer ALONE with NOTHING RUNNING in Wndows 7 and got 1 hour 50 mins battery life. So much for better notebook battery management Microsoft!! Thats nearly 1% a min!!

Microsoft SUCKS

Now i realize truly how much better OS X is.

 

[amitdoc2b]

9 hours while managing to burn a DVD or two!?

DAMN!

This crappy toshiba gets an hour and a half.

bow down to the 17" unibody mbp.

 

[dmmcintyre3]

9 hours! 9 hours! My iBook when it worked with a new battery lasted 7. I wish my PB and the MacBook Alu had this battery technology but still removable. I think that Apple made it non removable because they are not wanting you to know how heavy it is.

 

[NT1440]

Haha well i just did a battery test after installing Windows 7 using bootcamp, and i left the computer ALONE with NOTHING RUNNING in Wndows 7 and got 1 hour 50 mins battery life. So much for better notebook battery management Microsoft!! Thats nearly 1% a min!!

Microsoft SUCKS

Now i realize truly how much better OS X is.

To be fair, im sure that there is more at play. That sounds like more of an issue than the norm.

 

[kastenbrust]

To be fair, im sure that there is more at play. That sounds like more of an issue than the norm.

My friend who i work with and also has a 17" gets exactly the same thing, perhaps Windows 7 isn't capable of dealing with Apples new battery tech and the new battery controller chip Apple is implementing? In any case Microsoft need to release an update to deal with this sooner rather than later.

 

[NT1440]

My friend who i work with and also has a 17" gets exactly the same thing, perhaps Windows 7 isn't capable of dealing with Apples new battery tech and the new battery controller chip Apple is implementing? In any case Microsoft need to release an update to deal with this sooner rather than later.

Eh, I wouldnt count on it. I don't think they will care about the slim marketshare that is 17' MBP owners.

 

[jmark]

I traded up from a 15-inch 2.53gHz unibody yesterday, partly because I was quite unhappy with the screen quality on the 15-inch. "Stagelighting" effect from the LED backlighting was *very* noticeable with dark images (such as a black desktop) on the 15-inch screen, at *any* brightness setting.

The 17-inch screen is significantly better, though not perfect. Some unevenness in backlighting can still be seen with a black desktop, but it's only noticeable at the highest brightness settings.

Default screen calibration seems quite "blue", and the salesperson in the Apple Store even mentioned other people having complained about it. Looks great to me after calibration though.

Opening the bottom (to replace the HD with a Hitachi 320-gig/7200rpm unit) would be a bit intimidating to non-technical people, and the information about screw lengths in the manual turned out to be slightly incorrect. My unit has three long screws, 7 short ones. The manual mentions two long, one medium. Presumably a minor design change done after the manual was sent to printing.

Was a bit disappointed that the included drive (320-gig/5400rpm) was a Fujitsu, instead of the Hitachi that was included with the earlier 15-inch unibody. My experiences with Fujitsu are that their drives are noticeably inferior in performance/reliability to Hitachi.

 

[goblues27]

yep!

i assume you turned off auto brightness and turned the brightness up to max when you did this comparison between the 15 and 17" in store?

Yep! Brightness up. Auto brightness off. Even restarted to see if there was a weird issue. The power supply was plugged in as well.

 

[detz]

If what you're claiming is true(I doubt it) then I would never bring the brightness past 50% on the 15". I have the 17" and I leave it at two from the top and that's pretty bright, I can't use it on full brightness so I can't imagine how bright the 15" must be with double the brightness.

I've added some pictures of the brightness and the viewing angle. I can read text from the side of the LCD, how can you possibly improve that angle? These pictures are two down from max for brightness.

 

[late show]

That glass of wine scares me so close to the 17"

 

[GDev]

Then you must have a faulty unit. None of those things are apparent in my new 17". I have never seen a finer laptop screen.

I visited an Apple Store today to take a closer look at the 17" MBP and immediately noticed that the screen was very dim. Brightness was set all the way up. A side-by-side comparison to a 15" MBP right next to it confirmed that.

The apple employee said that he had noticed the difference as well when setting up the machine. We also looked at a second unit on display and it was also much dimmer than the rest of the MBPs...

 

[NT1440]

That glass of wine scares me so close to the 17"

Just a spill thread waiting to happen.....

Have we met our quota this week?