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Who moved to a laptop and do you regret it?

A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 30, 2009
1,439
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I bought a 2011 MBP quad core top of the line i7. Installed 16gb of RAM and a 480gb ssd drive. I was trying to go the laptop-only route by also purchasing a thunderbolt display and mouse and keyboard i can use externally. After about 2 months, I'm selling off the MBP and the thunderbolt display because I just can't stand the fans running on the macbook pro all the time.

I work primary in virtual machines doing MVC programming, etc, lots of graphics and a ton of enterprise-level database stuff. I keep hearing about how good laptops have gotten, but am I the only one that is a bit disappointed from their performance? Or am I asking for too much?

Anyway, I'm back to my custom-built desktop PC and a macbook air as my laptop. Never been happier. Just wanted to hear other people's transitions to the notebook world.
 
Moved from a Mac Pro 2008 Octo to a 2010 13" MBA with all the fixings and I've never been happier about a computer. This laptop is the perfect machine.
 
netdog said:
Moved from a Mac Pro 2008 Octo to a 2010 13" MBA with all the fixings and I've never been happier about a computer. This laptop is the perfect machine.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty big downgrade of at least the processor. What do you do on the laptop?
 
Moved from an iMac and an MBA to just the MBA with the Thunderbolt display, keyboard and mouse.

I absolutely love the transition and like having only one machine and not having to keep two in sync.

That being said, I offer two more pieces of information:

1). As posted in another thread, my MBA barely leaves the desk. I use my iPad for almost everything portable.

2) my usage is way less than the OP. Everything I do is relatively simple and non resource demanding. So I rarely ever hear the fans spin up on the MBA. I can, however, imagine that this could get frustrating.
 
was the performance bad? or was the cooling system annoying you? cause performance wise i dont think it failed you at all sounds like the issue was the cooling system behind the laptop being an annoyance (i run a VM so i know what you're talking about in regards to the fan).

thing is it sort of expected. a PC has the space for airflow and doesnt require high RPM fans where as a laptop does when the airflow is needed to cool of the components...

personally i dont regret going the laptop route. also 99% of the time i have music playing so even when i running the VM or something else intensive the fans dont bother me as much as it would otherwise....
 
Back in 2008, I owned every Mac that was current that year except for the Mini. The Mac Pro was the 8 core. I sold all of them in 2009 and went strictly with laptops. Now I have a black MB and a 2010 MB. Love them both.
 
rpmor said:
was the performance bad? or was the cooling system annoying you? cause performance wise i dont think it failed you at all sounds like the issue was the cooling system behind the laptop being an annoyance (i run a VM so i know what you're talking about in regards to the fan).

thing is it sort of expected. a PC has the space for airflow and doesnt require high RPM fans where as a laptop does when the airflow is needed to cool of the components...

personally i dont regret going the laptop route. also 99% of the time i have music playing so even when i running the VM or something else intensive the fans dont bother me as much as it would otherwise....
Click to expand...

Ya it's just the fans. I guess my post is a little misleading. The processor with ssd and enough memory hard to tell a difference between the MBP and the desktop. I'm back to the MBP, glad I didn't sell. As soon as I started using the desktop again, all I wanted to do is work on the couch or outside. I'm back on the MacBook pro and I guess I don't see myself going back either now. Yeah fans are annoying, but that's a price I didn't realize I was willing to pay to be mobile.

Thanks all for your answers, I really appreciate it. Cleared my head and made me try the MBP one more time. Glad I did, definitely keeping it.
 
I loved my Macbook Pro + Monitor setup when I had to use it. That being said my needs are simply too great for a laptop and although I love the minimalistic setup, it wasn't practical for me and I got the Mac Pro you see in my signature.

I do a lot of 3D related stuff, programming, dabbling in visual effects, corel painter, Photoshop, Houdini, Maya, Zbrush, Unity 3D (I'm a hobbyist game developer) and a slew of other things.

If I didn't do all that though or only did some of it and not so much of the 3D stuff I'd like a Macbook Pro + Monitor setup again.
 
My schedule is very dynamic. When in the office I use my 2010 Mac Pro. Yet some months I'm traveling either by car or airplane. That gives me just the excuse I need to have a selection of new MBP's & MBA's.

At least 70% of my year is working with a MBP as my primary laptop. Since the nature of my work is best done on a laptop, I carry one every day. My 13" MBA suits me well when I don't need the power of my fully loaded SSD equipped i7 MBP's (17" & 15").

I enjoy my iPad 3 for casual browsing at home, but it lacks the resources & file system I rely on. It simply is incapable of substituting for any of my laptops.

For my taste, nothing is quite as enjoyable as an exemplary MBP.
 
My first Mac was a 2011 17" MBP. I wanted to go the laptop + monitor route and it worked for a couple of months. But it just became to much trouble to load up the MBP every time I needed a mobile. I even bought a second power cord to keep in the bag. Actually load up was not the problem, hooking it back up to the monitor and keyboard (not an Apple so I need a receiver) and power was just a PITA. Many years ago I had a Dell laptop and docking station. Just slide the computer into the dock and everything was hooked and ready to go. Can't do that with the MBP.

So I got a new iMac when they debuted and couldn't be happier. (Well I could and if the new one has a matte screen option I am on it.)

Now my MBP stays in its bag until I am ready for it and out the door we go.
 
Herdfan said:
My first Mac was a 2011 17" MBP. I wanted to go the laptop + monitor route and it worked for a couple of months. But it just became to much trouble to load up the MBP every time I needed a mobile. I even bought a second power cord to keep in the bag. Actually load up was not the problem, hooking it back up to the monitor and keyboard (not an Apple so I need a receiver) and power was just a PITA. Many years ago I had a Dell laptop and docking station. Just slide the computer into the dock and everything was hooked and ready to go. Can't do that with the MBP.

So I got a new iMac when they debuted and couldn't be happier. (Well I could and if the new one has a matte screen option I am on it.)

Now my MBP stays in its bag until I am ready for it and out the door we go.
Click to expand...

With the thunderbolt display this is not so much a problem. Still not as easy as the dell, but pretty close. I keep the adapter in my backpack at all times. Hook two cables and throw it in my bag. Have another thunderbolt at work so it's working out pretty good.
 
aloshka said:
I bought a 2011 MBP quad core top of the line i7. Installed 16gb of RAM and a 480gb ssd drive. I was trying to go the laptop-only route by also purchasing a thunderbolt display and mouse and keyboard i can use externally. After about 2 months, I'm selling off the MBP and the thunderbolt display because I just can't stand the fans running on the macbook pro all the time.

I work primary in virtual machines doing MVC programming, etc, lots of graphics and a ton of enterprise-level database stuff. I keep hearing about how good laptops have gotten, but am I the only one that is a bit disappointed from their performance? Or am I asking for too much?

Anyway, I'm back to my custom-built desktop PC and a macbook air as my laptop. Never been happier. Just wanted to hear other people's transitions to the notebook world.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I think I may know the problem. Is the 480 GB SSD drive from Apple, or is it aftermarket? If it's aftermarket, TRIM support is not active. Snow Leopard and Lion enable TRIM support only for SSD's that are purchased from Apple. With an aftermarket SSD, it is impossible to for Snow Leopard and Lion to enable their embedded TRIM support. So, without TRIM support, your aftermarket SSD will be very fast when you first start to use it, but it will slow down a lot after regular use.
 
I bought the iMac G4 when it launched, sold it in 2009 and bought the 09' 13" MBP...love my macbook, but I do miss my G4 a little, even if its just for nostalgic reasons...it was a well designed machine....but it was becoming noticeably slow and buggy.

The MBP teamed up with my iPad is the perfect combo for me now.
 
I moved to my 1st MBP in 2008 and never looked back. No problems with the fans even when gaming really.

should have a 256gb SSD arriving tomorrow so getting excited now
 
ThomasJL said:
Hmm, I think I may know the problem. Is the 480 GB SSD drive from Apple, or is it aftermarket? If it's aftermarket, TRIM support is not active. Snow Leopard and Lion enable TRIM support only for SSD's that are purchased from Apple. With an aftermarket SSD, it is impossible to for Snow Leopard and Lion to enable their embedded TRIM support. So, without TRIM support, your aftermarket SSD will be very fast when you first start to use it, but it will slow down a lot after regular use.
Click to expand...

It is after market but trim is enabled. There are tools that let you enable trim on any non-apple ssd. I ran benchmarks and can confirm that it really works. I think it's just a mobile processor. I mean, I'm comparing it to a Mac pro.
 
Well, I am back to this issue yet once again. I really need dual monitors now and I borrowed a buddies thunderbolt display to daisy chain two of them. It works great! Except now I'm out of space. I need a min of esata speeds, so I thought i'd get a thunderbolt drive LaCie - 2tb. But am I just taking the long way to a Mac pro? It seems like I need so many accessories to make this work vs just getting a mac pro and a laptop for the times I need to travel.
 
Last edited:
timesheet said:
Desktops are always the best Computers to work on. As laptops need to be handled softly with care, but whereas we can use desktop roughly and perfectly. I believe and would prefer desktops over laptops.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way. It's just my only option is to buy a new mac pro (I need OSX), but they might be discontinued. iMac is not an option as it's the same as the laptop, I need external devices to upgrade.

My other fear is that Mac Pro's aren't really power beasts anymore. Or possibly the new ivy bridge quad-cores will even out perform them. I want the best performance for my money. I don't want to pay almost 1k more than my current setup just to be slower than I am right now.

At the same time, I'm amazed at the ability of this macbook pro to handle dual displays, external thunderbolt drive 3 vms running and the only major issue is insanely loud 6k rpm fans running consistently (I can't imagine that's good for the laptop though). I guess it's either nostalgia or I'm stuck in the old desktop-ways.
 
MBP for me, after using a Tower with 2 monitors

aloshka said:
I feel the same way. It's just my only option is to buy a new mac pro (I need OSX), but they might be discontinued. iMac is not an option as it's the same as the laptop, I need external devices to upgrade.

My other fear is that Mac Pro's aren't really power beasts anymore. Or possibly the new ivy bridge quad-cores will even out perform them. I want the best performance for my money. I don't want to pay almost 1k more than my current setup just to be slower than I am right now.

At the same time, I'm amazed at the ability of this macbook pro to handle dual displays, external thunderbolt drive 3 vms running and the only major issue is insanely loud 6k rpm fans running consistently (I can't imagine that's good for the laptop though). I guess it's either nostalgia or I'm stuck in the old desktop-ways.
Click to expand...

I used to have a Dual G5 tower with 2 Apple monitors and a G4 PowerBook. When the programs I use required an Intel processor, I couldn't afford to upgrade everything at once, I went with the MacBook Pro.

Yes, I miss that my tower held more than one hard drive, not needing additional desktop drives, but Apple hasn't done a serious upgrade to the Mac Pros in years.

The current MBPs are screamers, with the SLOWER 15" MBP being FASTER than the fastest STOCK iMac. (Now, yes, it you have Apple upgrade your fastest iMac's processor, than the iMac can be faster).

And for those who want large capacity Hard drive in a MBP, but want SSD performance without the cost, Fry's has the 750GIG Momentus XT drive, which includes an 8BG flash drive, for only $119. You'll get most of the performance boost of an SSD, plus 750GB of 7200 RPM storage, at 6GB link speed, for a fraction of the SSD price.
 
I switched in 2006 when I bought the first Intel MacBook. Before then I was using an older basic Windows XP PC.

I loved the portability of the MacBook and still do. I love not having to worry about a file being on my desktop or laptop. Now with iCloud and DropBox, that may not be that much of an issue.

I do miss being able to game on it though. I've played a few games on my newer MacBook Pro but playing on a 13" screen is a bit tiresome. I think I may upgrade to something larger and get a keyboard to have a desktop at home. With that, I'll be good.

I do not have much power needs though. Aside from light gaming (Age of Empires, MAYBE The Sims 3, some old Dos Games, Lego games), I mainly just browse the internet and manage my finances.

Wow, boring. I should've just bought a $300 Lenovo.
 
aloshka said:
I bought a 2011 MBP quad core top of the line i7. Installed 16gb of RAM and a 480gb ssd drive. I was trying to go the laptop-only route by also purchasing a thunderbolt display and mouse and keyboard i can use externally. After about 2 months, I'm selling off the MBP and the thunderbolt display because I just can't stand the fans running on the macbook pro all the time.

I work primary in virtual machines doing MVC programming, etc, lots of graphics and a ton of enterprise-level database stuff. I keep hearing about how good laptops have gotten, but am I the only one that is a bit disappointed from their performance? Or am I asking for too much?

Anyway, I'm back to my custom-built desktop PC and a macbook air as my laptop. Never been happier. Just wanted to hear other people's transitions to the notebook world.
Click to expand...


Laptops is always better for business use not for personal use. you can use desktop any rough way you want but thats not the case with lappy........
 
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