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What is the story with MacBook Pros these days?

Chrispy

Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
2,270
524
Indiana
Hey all. I'm in a position where I have the money to get any one of the following...

A MacBook (any model)
A 15" MacBook Pro (lowest model) - I'm really interested in this most
An Intel iMac (either size)

I'm not really sure about portability or not... BUT if I was to go with a portable, I would probably go MBP. I have owned 2 macbooks and they had the whine and moo. My roommmate has a MB and it has the moo but the whine is almost inaudible.

The question, are people who are ordering MBPs lately getting them problem free? Do all of them still have the whine? I know they fixed the moo with a firmware update.. didn't they? If I was to order one, would I be likely to get one without the whine and moo or have those issues yet to be addressed. There have been some comments about people having ones that work just fine and others still talking about the whine. Since the MB appeared on the scene, all the attention seems to be on it anymore. What is the story on the MBPs today?

Also, if you had a choice between all those systems, which would you go for? I just can't decide! haha :) All I know is taking my work computer home every night is not going to cut it forever.
 
This is such an impossible thread... You're basically saying you have the money to buy any Mac in various configurations.

How important is portability to you?

How important is a larger screen?

How important are high-end graphics?

What are you actually going to do with the computer?
 
Yeah this thread is really open ended haha! I want to have the ability to use the iLife suite without worrying about slowdown. I may play an occasional game from time to time as well. I also want to be able to run the CS2 suite in the event I have to for work. I'm leaning towards portability just in case I need to bring it to work.. but it is not essential. I'm just trying to see if the MacBook Pro is even something I should consider at this time.
 
I have one of the first revisions of MBP and it doesnt have any issues. I love it.

If I put my ear right upto it I can sometimes hear a whiney noise... it's not an issue. my work 'thinkpad R52' is noisier.

get a MBP, you will not regret it, I promise you.
 
I have a 2GHz MacBook Pro (when the MBP's were speed bumped along with the 17" MBP announcement/unveiling) and it works without a hitch. No screen whine/buzz at all. There is a very sporadic (hardly ever) cpu whine/buzz but QuietMBP takes care of that nicely. I would not hesitate to scoop up a current revision of the MacBook Pro.
 
Chrispy said:
Hey all. I'm in a position where I have the money to get any one of the following...

A MacBook (any model)
A 15" MacBook Pro (lowest model) - I'm really interested in this most
An Intel iMac (either size)

....
Click to expand...

get the imac, the 20" model

you've had such bad luck with your macbooks that you should head for the product that has had the fewest reported problems

if you get a MBP then you're facing the thermal issue as well as the whine issue.....and people who have bad luck with computers tend to continue to have bad luck.....so just stay away from the MBP and your chances of happiness will increase
 
Macky-Mac said:
get the imac, the 20" model

you've had such bad luck with your macbooks that you should head for the product that has had the fewest reported problems

if you get a MBP then you're facing the thermal issue as well as the whine issue.....and people who have bad luck with computers tend to continue to have bad luck.....so just stay away from the MBP and your chances of happiness will increase
Click to expand...

Haha you are probably right. I have been thinking about the iMac A LOT and the only thing holding me back is portability. I could always get the imac and then get a portable down the road when they work out the bugs...

Keep the thoughts coming all. For others people sake as well as just mine. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who are curious about the current state of the MBP.
 
Well, I am about to buy a MacBook Pro, the lowest model, and have decided just to do it; I am taking the plunge.

I would just go for it like I am, and if you have any issues, then the real fun begins. :)

I honestly believe that there are at least three, more than likely more, good MacBook Pros for every bad one, so I come to the conclusion that the odds are with me. ;) :eek:

Good Luck!
 
I've got a 17" iMac and couldn't be happier. After maxing out the ram it runs insanely smooth. I keep around my old ibook for portability, its a good combo.

Chrispy said:
Haha you are probably right. I have been thinking about the iMac A LOT and the only thing holding me back is portability. I could always get the imac and then get a portable down the road when they work out the bugs...

Keep the thoughts coming all. For others people sake as well as just mine. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who are curious about the current state of the MBP.
Click to expand...
 
This "whine" issue is comical.

Loving my MBP, I don't know if I have a whine or not. The first two days, I heard a whine. Oddly enough, it didn't make my computer explode... it didn't overpower my iTunes, it didn't slow down the CPU, and after the first two days I was so enraptured by the machine and its features that the "whine" was gone.

Perhaps I have selective hearing... but I think the whine is a small issue that anal users have, don't let it stop you!

I've yet to furiously close Word because I hear a whine that may very well be anything else electronic in the room.

I think you should get one Chrispy, you'll love it.
 
An interesting side-note that I'm sharing in a few places here - I have a 15" 2GHz MBP that I got 2 weeks ago. No moo, but it did have the "whine". Now, there's various camps on what is really causing the whine, but it is there. Some people are annoyed by it, some aren't. I wasn't too annoyed, especially at work since it's noisy enough to drown out any whining (except from my co-workers).

Anyway, yesterday something that I though was a problem occurred - my power adapter crapped out on me. Just stopped working. So I went to the Apple Store for a new one while my IT department worked to exchange my old one.

Oddly enough, once I plugged in the new adapter - no whine. Hasn't whined now since I've had the new adapter, and I haven't changed anything. Activity Monitor shows no significant changes in CPU usage or anything.

So, did Apple alter the adapters to somehow fix the whine? Don't know. But there definitely appears to be a link.

I guess my point is, finally, I love my MBP. It's a beautiful machine - fast, sleek, nice screen - and now it's also silent.
 
I have one of the recent "Revision D" MBP's (15" 2ghz 2gb RAM) and the thing runs like gangbusters. No mooing, minimal whine (only when it's on the battery) and the thing just kicks such major ass I cannot believe it.
 
Do it . . . . do it

17" MBP

Rock solid, no issues whatsoever.
Any yes this is by far the best mac I've ever owned, going back to '92.
 
emw said:
Anyway, yesterday something that I though was a problem occurred - my power adapter crapped out on me. Just stopped working. So I went to the Apple Store for a new one while my IT department worked to exchange my old one.

Oddly enough, once I plugged in the new adapter - no whine. Hasn't whined now since I've had the new adapter, and I haven't changed anything. Activity Monitor shows no significant changes in CPU usage or anything.

So, did Apple alter the adapters to somehow fix the whine? Don't know. But there definitely appears to be a link.

I guess my point is, finally, I love my MBP. It's a beautiful machine - fast, sleek, nice screen - and now it's also silent.
Click to expand...

I dont have a MBP but I do have a powerbook and my power adapter did whine once...all night long. I wasnt there that night but my roomate had to unplug it b/c he couldnt sleep. It hasnt happened again since that night. I also have a power brick for my HP printer that has whined from time to time.

I could definitly see there being a connection.
 
After reapplying the thermal paste on my 15.4" MBP, it's my favorite computer ever ;) The heat was the only real problem I had. My other laptops "whined" much more than this one... but if it does bother you, QuietMBP will take care of it.
 
Uhh.. this is so hard! I have narrowed down my decision to portable computers only I think. I just have too much chance of having to bring it to work from time to time. I am trying to decide between a ThinkPad T60 with similar specs to the MBP or just going with the MBP. There is about a $600 difference so I'm tempted by the Thinkpad... so hard to choose!
 
MBP hands down. I love my MacBook Pro. As a student, price was a big factor. I was considering a laptop similar to the one my dad has (Dell Inspiron 510m). For a PC, it's quite good, but that's the limitation, it's a PC.

I'm really glad I got the MBP!!!
 
I'm off to college this fall and I made the switch. I have no freaking clue what rev. it is, but I got it on 5/5/06 and I've had zero problems. My old 2000 IBM Thinkpad A.. whatever it was, ran a ton hotter. This thing is amazing... I got the 2.0GHZ, before they bumped the speeds, and def. get 1GB of ram.. but I love this thing to death and I'm 100 percent happy that I took the plunge.
 
Websteria said:
I have one of the recent "Revision D" MBP's (15" 2ghz 2gb RAM) and the thing runs like gangbusters. No mooing, minimal whine (only when it's on the battery) and the thing just kicks such major ass I cannot believe it.
Click to expand...


Ditto on this comment about kickin ass. My macbook black is sooo freaking fast I can't believe it. Beats my Pentium D 930 desktop hands down in photoshop in XP bootcamp and blows away my G5. This thing is totally unbelievable.

I did however upgrade the macbook to a seagate 7200 100gb drive and added 2gb ram. Pentium D has 10k raptor and 2gb ram and G5 has 6gb ram.
 
Core Trio said:
I dont have a MBP but I do have a powerbook and my power adapter did whine once...all night long. I wasnt there that night but my roomate had to unplug it b/c he couldnt sleep. It hasnt happened again since that night. I also have a power brick for my HP printer that has whined from time to time.

I could definitly see there being a connection.
Click to expand...

God was that night awful.
 
I'm not bothered by the the whine when playing music or when my window is open. But with no sound from music or the street to overpower the whine it's a nuisance. Some people have better hearing than others, and some, mostly younger people, are able to hear higher frequencies better than others.

I'm 25 and equipped with a good hearing so the whine bothers me.
But I would still get the MBP today knowing all about the whine issue. The perfect casing, speed, screen and so on and so on outweighs the whine issue (most of the time ;)).

Get a MBP!!!!! (or if you have the time wait for Core2Duo, I would)
 
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