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What are the reasons for owning a MBP

S

surjavarman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 24, 2007
645
2
I wanted to know what some of the reasons for you are for owning a MBP.

I have a 2011 MBP13 and I suffer from major buyers remorse. I recently had to use my old thinkpad for matlab and it caught me by surprise just how easy it was for me to do everything. I came to realize that I just don't like the touchpad and the keyboard of the MBP. And the gestures doesn't make up for superior tactile feedback of the thinkpad. Even with bettertouchtool. I miss how I can just see all my programs that are open in windows and I can just hover my cursor over them and close them instantly with my middle mouse button. What do I have to do in OS X? I have to go in to app expose or MC. Then I have to find the window that I want to close. Then I have to click it. And then I have press CMD+Q. My thinkpad also has an IPS screen and everything looks much sharper and the colors look better. I spend more than 2 hours to configure my MBP13 to look exactly like that IPS screen in terms of color reproduction and I finally gave up.

I bought the MBP13 primarily for its design. After using it I could add another feature to the list. 1) It works better with my airport express when streaming music. So its basically the aluminum design and airplay of the MBP vs the rest of the thinkpad. I basically don't like anything else of a mac.

But I also have buyers remorse because the MBP15 and the MBA. I keep thinking over and over again. Should I have gone for the Hi-res glossy MBP15 or should I have waited a month for the new MBA? Can anyone help me please
 
love my mbp 13. sorry to hear you don't like yours. my reasons won't be yours, so i don't really see the point in listing them. return the computer if you are within the two week window or sell it for a small loss and get a computer you like. osx isn't for everyone. neither is the mbp 13. it's great that we have choices. take advantage of them :)
 
I agree that you should just return the MBP if you are not happy with it. I have always been a Windows user but my first Mac arrived on Thursday. I have been very happy with my choice but I made sure that I had all of the software that I needed before the MBP arrived. Personally I think that people should use what they like and it sounds like you like Windows. Perhaps a Thinkpad X1 would be a better choice for you.
 
I can't return it because I used it for more than a month. And I couldn't anyway because I bought it from the online apple store and it came from china.
 
surjavarman said:
I can't return it because I used it for more than a month. And I couldn't anyway because I bought it from the online apple store and it came from china.
Click to expand...

Okay so now your options are to sell it or make the best of what you have. You can install Windows on your mac with Bootcamp or Parallels.
 
Return it. A Mac isn't for everyone. The learning curve can be a bit steep, and some things take a leap of faith to overcome.

Switching to a Mac, even in my extremely technical field, is one of the best computing decisions I've ever made. The amount of work I can get done, and the speed with which I can do it, is astonishing. It just takes some getting used to.
 
I got mine so that I could support a local pop & pop store (Steve & the Woz).
 
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So for what kind of people is the macbook? And why do I see it in virtually every movie and tv series or around campus?
 
surjavarman said:
So for what kind of people is the macbook? And why do I see it in virtually every movie and tv series or around campus?
Click to expand...

I'm a grad student in Engineering. I'm doing a LOT of 3D modeling, number crunching, Finite Element Analysis, and obviously a lot of writing. It keeps up remarkably well. WAY better than my old quad-core i7 Dell or even my old desktop. The MBP completely replaced both.
 
I began to hate Windows so I switched to Ubuntu. Used it for a year but it kept locking me out so i sprung and bought a Mac. I got the pro because I wanted the best they made and something that would last me a long time. It's been the best decision I've made and it's still running strong at 2 years old.
 
I just really really love OSX, and it's a major plus that software and hardware are optimized for each other. I guess what I really liked at first was that I DIDN'T notice the operating system. I'm not being constantly bothered by problems with the OS, be it viruses or various software updates from different applications or the nagging "buy this expensive antivirus software" notifications. If anything needs to be updated, Apple does it in one smooth, quick install. Especially with the new full-screen features in Lion, whatever I'm working on is right there, and everything else just fades into the background. Because of that, I find myself more focused and productive.

I guess for me, the old cliche has held true: It just works.

Of course, if things like these never bothered you before, it might be hard for you to appreciate the differences. Aesthetically, Apple designs very nice pieces of machinery. MacBooks are sexy, sexy laptops. They're well-built and designed to last. As a student running around constantly, that's something I really enjoy.
 
TaylorY said:
I just really really love OSX, and it's a major plus that software and hardware are optimized for each other. I guess what I really liked at first was that I DIDN'T notice the operating system. I'm not being constantly bothered by problems with the OS, be it viruses or various software updates from different applications or the nagging "buy this expensive antivirus software" notifications. If anything needs to be updated, Apple does it in one smooth, quick install. Especially with the new full-screen features in Lion, whatever I'm working on is right there, and everything else just fades into the background. Because of that, I find myself more focused and productive.

I guess for me, the old cliche has held true: It just works.

Of course, if things like these never bothered you before, it might be hard for you to appreciate the differences. Aesthetically, Apple designs very nice pieces of machinery. MacBooks are sexy, sexy laptops. They're well-built and designed to last. As a student running around constantly, that's something I really enjoy.
Click to expand...


Can't wait to get the 2011 15" MBP Hi Res Screen! :)
 
surjavarman said:
I wanted to know what some of the reasons for you are for owning a MBP.

I have a 2011 MBP13 and I suffer from major buyers remorse. I recently had to use my old thinkpad for matlab and it caught me by surprise just how easy it was for me to do everything. I came to realize that I just don't like the touchpad and the keyboard of the MBP. And the gestures doesn't make up for superior tactile feedback of the thinkpad. Even with bettertouchtool. I miss how I can just see all my programs that are open in windows and I can just hover my cursor over them and close them instantly with my middle mouse button. What do I have to do in OS X? I have to go in to app expose or MC. Then I have to find the window that I want to close. Then I have to click it. And then I have press CMD+Q. My thinkpad also has an IPS screen and everything looks much sharper and the colors look better. I spend more than 2 hours to configure my MBP13 to look exactly like that IPS screen in terms of color reproduction and I finally gave up.

I bought the MBP13 primarily for its design. After using it I could add another feature to the list. 1) It works better with my airport express when streaming music. So its basically the aluminum design and airplay of the MBP vs the rest of the thinkpad. I basically don't like anything else of a mac.

But I also have buyers remorse because the MBP15 and the MBA. I keep thinking over and over again. Should I have gone for the Hi-res glossy MBP15 or should I have waited a month for the new MBA? Can anyone help me please
Click to expand...

Unsure on your app issue, if you look at the dock you can see which applications are open and close right there without having to go into expose\MC. Just right-click on any app you don't want open and poof it's closed. The only thing that may not work on is if you have multiple safari windows open and you want to just close individual ones but than again I just use tabs so it's a non-issue.

As for the sharpness I'm not sure I have a 15" and it looks amazing so I can't comment on a thinkpad vs. what you have. But my biggest like is the multi-gestures on the device they make the laptop very enjoyable and simple to use (for me).
 
surjavarman said:
I wanted to know what some of the reasons for you are for owning a MBP.

I have a 2011 MBP13 and I suffer from major buyers remorse.
Click to expand...

Buyer's remorse affects us all at one time or another. Some people really suffer hard from it. It is common, but is rarely rational. If you bought your MBP without much consideration, it makes sense that you feel this way. You've said a return is apparently not an option, so for better or worse, you'll have to cope with this part of things.


surjavarman said:
recently had to use my old thinkpad for matlab and it caught me by surprise just how easy it was for me to do everything. I came to realize that I just don't like the touchpad and the keyboard of the MBP. And the gestures doesn't make up for superior tactile feedback of the thinkpad. Even with bettertouchtool. I miss how I can just see all my programs that are open in windows and I can just hover my cursor over them and close them instantly with my middle mouse button.What do I have to do in OS X? I have to go in to app expose or MC. Then I have to find the window that I want to close. Then I have to click it. And then I have press CMD+Q.
Click to expand...

...Or you could just use your secondary click on the dock icon and choose "Quit". If you have the secondary click, and tap to click set in your trackpad prefs, it's just a tap with two fingers. Kind of like the Windows "Right Click". A menu pops up and you choose quit. All of your running apps show up in the dock with a little light below them.

surjavarman said:
My thinkpad also has an IPS screen and everything looks much sharper and the colors look better. I spend more than 2 hours to configure my MBP13 to look exactly like that IPS screen in terms of color reproduction and I finally gave up.
Click to expand...

There's really nothing you can do to change this. It's one of the unfortunate realities of buying products online. Had you seen the screen before buying, you might have chosen a different option.

surjavarman said:
bought the MBP13 primarily for its design. After using it I could add another feature to the list. 1) It works better with my airport express when streaming music. So its basically the aluminum design and airplay of the MBP vs the rest of the thinkpad. I basically don't like anything else of a mac.
Click to expand...

The main reason to buy a Mac is for Mac OS X. The design is excellent, as is the build quality. This is something rarely replicated in a Windows based machine, but buying on design alone is kind of like buying a car because it's red. The main feature is and will always be OS X. If you don't like Mac OS X, then (and I'm not trying to be a jerk here) I'm not really sure why you bought a Mac at all.

surjavarman said:
I also have buyers remorse because the MBP15 and the MBA. I keep thinking over and over again. Should I have gone for the Hi-res glossy MBP15 or should I have waited a month for the new MBA? Can anyone help me please
Click to expand...

Now it makes a bit more sense. You don't have buyer's remorse, you have a case of buyer's envy. Apple releases new products and product refreshes all the time. Regardless of what you buy, something better and more exciting is going to come out shortly thereafter. Apple does this for a reason...they want you to buy more of their stuff, and it often works quite well.

From what you've said, a better screen isn't going to make a difference for you. If you don't like Mac OS X, then you won't enjoy using a Mac. If you want the latest, greatest, most enviable products on the market...then learn to like Mac OS X (because all of those products use it) and get used to spending money, because there's always a newer, shinier, betterer thing just around the corner.

Seriously though, give it a chance. It sounds like you've been more concerned with your buying decision than learning the new OS. At this point you can't change the buying decision, so don't stress about it. Make the best of your purchase, and you'll see there's a lot to like about the Mac.
 
Durious said:
Unsure on your app issue, if you look at the dock you can see which applications are open and close right there without having to go into expose\MC. Just right-click on any app you don't want open and poof it's closed. The only thing that may not work on is if you have multiple safari windows open and you want to just close individual ones but than again I just use tabs so it's a non-issue.

As for the sharpness I'm not sure I have a 15" and it looks amazing so I can't comment on a thinkpad vs. what you have. But my biggest like is the multi-gestures on the device they make the laptop very enjoyable and simple to use (for me).
Click to expand...
Well maybe thats the problem right there. The dock functions exactly like the taskbar in windows except it doesn't show you the windows of a certain app when you hover over it and middle clicking on the icon or windows (it doesn't show any windows so you can't click anyway) does nothing. Neither does middle clicking anything in MC. This is one of those things that makes OS X less productive than windows cause you need to take more steps do certain things and I have encountered this in basically every operation except spotlight.

And I asked about these things before I bought the mbp. I asked mac users how they would quickly open or close tabs in a browser and I was surprised by the responses I got. People told me to just aim for the X to close a tab, right click a link and then select "open in new tab" or select the tab and then press CMD+W. Well this is NOT the fastest way to open/close tabs!!! The fastest way is to configure BTT to allow middle mouse button and then hover over links tabs and use the middle mouse gesture. You need to go to voice or thoughts controls to be faster than that. Neither of those technologies exists.

It's like mac users just don't know about better and faster methods to do certain things. They are perfectly happy using their old proven methods because it just works and then they recommend those methods to me because it works for them.

I am still quite neutral when it comes to os x and windows though. But in my opinion windows is more productive yet OSX works better with my airport express.

Mak47 said:
There's really nothing you can do to change this. It's one of the unfortunate realities of buying products online. Had you seen the screen before buying, you might have chosen a different option.


The main reason to buy a Mac is for Mac OS X. The design is excellent, as is the build quality. This is something rarely replicated in a Windows based machine, but buying on design alone is kind of like buying a car because it's red. The main feature is and will always be OS X. If you don't like Mac OS X, then (and I'm not trying to be a jerk here) I'm not really sure why you bought a Mac at all.
Click to expand...

I checked both of these before I purchased it. I was satisfied with the screen at that time but now I am not. My opinion changed. My thinkpad has a higher pixel density, a better range of colors and the technology of the screen is superior. You wouldn't know it until you do a side by side comparison. The screen is probably the reason I want to upgrade to any mac that just has a better display. As far as OSes goes. I was neutral about it both windows and os x before the purchase and I am pretty neutral now. Its difficult to tell which one I favor right now. Ideally I'd liked to use W7 with the improved airplay of OS X.

The sole reason I went for the MBP was its aluminum unibody. That was the absolute decisive factor.
 
boshii said:
Just return it. I don't see how we can talk you into keeping it. You're the user.
Click to expand...

I have the 2010 13" MBP. I love mine. I got mine coming from a large 17" gaming laptop (gateway with a 8800m gts graphics card). After having terrible customer service with them and Dell, I decided it was time to make a change. While I did have issues in the first 30 days the customer service with apple was superior to that of Gateway and dell (although, I think there is still room for improvement).

In addition I find the track pad entirely usable–this is not something I can say about ANY trackpad I have used previously (HP, Dell, Gateway--you name it). The gestures for toggling between screens has completely replaced my alt/cmd+tab use. I love two finger scrolling. The size is a real plus. Although it comes at slight, reduction in the gaming power I'm used to, the experience as a whole with this computer has been a whole lot more enjoyable.

Their are countless other things I could list about my my MBP that I like, but in the end, it's what you think about yours that matters. You may grow accustomed to it and love it... You may not.

Perhaps you would be better suited in upgrading to a newer thinkpad (perhaps not). Your call.
 
Choosing the MBP just for the aluminum? I would have never done that since you use the computer for what? You use a computer for what it does for you in the OS. The construction can't do anything for you in terms of the OS. Just think of it as a lesson learned.

Also, Apple products have a high resale value especially since you bought it recently. For the money you can sell it for, you can get a pretty decent Windows laptop.
 
surjavarman said:
Well maybe thats the problem right there. The dock functions exactly like the taskbar in windows except it doesn't show you the windows of a certain app when you hover over it and middle clicking on the icon or windows (it doesn't show any windows so you can't click anyway) does nothing. Neither does middle clicking anything in MC. This is one of those things that makes OS X less productive than windows cause you need to take more steps do certain things and I have encountered this in basically every operation except spotlight.

And I asked about these things before I bought the mbp. I asked mac users how they would quickly open or close tabs in a browser and I was surprised by the responses I got. People told me to just aim for the X to close a tab, right click a link and then select "open in new tab" or select the tab and then press CMD+W. Well this is NOT the fastest way to open/close tabs!!! The fastest way is to configure BTT to allow middle mouse button and then hover over links tabs and use the middle mouse gesture. You need to go to voice or thoughts controls to be faster than that. Neither of those technologies exists.

It's like mac users just don't know about better and faster methods to do certain things. They are perfectly happy using their old proven methods because it just works and then they recommend those methods to me because it works for them.

I am still quite neutral when it comes to os x and windows though. But in my opinion windows is more productive yet OSX works better with my airport express.



I checked both of these before I purchased it. I was satisfied with the screen at that time but now I am not. My opinion changed. My thinkpad has a higher pixel density, a better range of colors and the technology of the screen is superior. You wouldn't know it until you do a side by side comparison. The screen is probably the reason I want to upgrade to any mac that just has a better display. As far as OSes goes. I was neutral about it both windows and os x before the purchase and I am pretty neutral now. Its difficult to tell which one I favor right now. Ideally I'd liked to use W7 with the improved airplay of OS X.

The sole reason I went for the MBP was its aluminum unibody. That was the absolute decisive factor.
Click to expand...

Don't let anyone tell you that the main reason for having a Mac is OS X. If you put Windows 7 on it, I'm sure you'll be happy if that's what you like.
 
surjavarman said:
So for what kind of people is the macbook? And why do I see it in virtually every movie and tv series or around campus?
Click to expand...
Ease of use and general reliability.

As far as movies and tv shows, that's called product placement and is one of the main ways Apple advertises.
 
The touchpad and gestures are the reason for the Macbook Pro or Air,
can't understand how anyone could not like it?
 
I don't think I have the time to read all the posts. Sorry.
The only reason for me to go with MBP 13" over MBA 11" is because
-You can upgrade HDD and SSD
-Firewire 800
-SD Card slot
-Bigger&Glossy display
-Solid feel.
 
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