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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > So I finally bit the bullet and got a blackbook

So I finally bit the bullet and got a blackbook
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rnp614
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Nov 30, 2006, 08:00 PM
 
Why is the menu bar so slow? Clicking the wireless icon takes a few seconds to show up! It didnt on my G4. I feel like my iBook G4 was just as fast for average computer usage (1.33ghz or so) AND was less of a ram hog. I have a gig of ram and i hardly have any free memory.
     
Z4cane
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Nov 30, 2006, 08:59 PM
 
Mine does not open that quickly either (I have 2GB of RAM).
     
rnp614  (op)
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Nov 30, 2006, 09:03 PM
 
Yeah is this BS a result of the OS not working perfectly with Intel yet? Why would the menu bar be snappier with a G4? Why is the system such a Ram hog?
     
Hi I'm Ben
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Nov 30, 2006, 10:19 PM
 
How long has it been running before you started complaining? Spotlight still indexing? Really my first MacBook (512 ram) did everything instantly in regards to menus. Also, the system will eat up as much RAM as you have as it needs it. The less you have, the less it will eat up.
     
rnp614  (op)
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Nov 30, 2006, 10:22 PM
 
How do I turn off this indexing? FYI I've had the comp since Monday.

Also, random question, anyone here try to run WoW with 1gb of ram? I'm guessing I'll definitely need the 2 for it to work smoothly.
     
cyrana
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Dec 1, 2006, 02:04 PM
 
My new 2GB 2GHz white MB does the same thing. (after over a week, too)
     
rnp614  (op)
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Dec 1, 2006, 02:18 PM
 
is it because OSX isnt native to Intel products yet?
     
megasad
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Dec 1, 2006, 03:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by rnp614 View Post
Why is the menu bar so slow? Clicking the wireless icon takes a few seconds to show up! It didnt on my G4.
The rest of the menu bar, both actual menu items and the other Menu Extras, are perfectly fine, yes? Just as fast as, if not faster than they were on your iBook? For me, it was AirPort Extreme that saw the start of this powerful slow AirPort Menu Extra. On my old G3 iBook (with the original AirPort card), it responded instantly. So, I've had this exact behaviour ever since Mac OS X 10.3.3 (May 2004), on multiple installs, on several different machines (12" PowerBook, eMac, MacBook, iMac Core2 Duo, probably more). Sorry I can't offer more help/advice than that, as far as I can tell, it is normal.

Originally Posted by rnp614 View Post
I feel like my iBook G4 was just as fast for average computer usage (1.33ghz or so) AND was less of a ram hog. I have a gig of ram and i hardly have any free memory.
Average use for you is Safari, Mail, iTunes, things like that? I noticed no difference in those going from a 1.25GHz G4 eMac to a 2GHz Core Duo MacBook, either. For iMovie work, DVD compression, compiling applications however, it is several orders of magnitude faster. Also, Microsoft Office is just the same speed and Adobe Creative Suite seems slighly more sluggish, at least in terms of user interface, and that's all down to them running via Rosetta. If you are using applications like those, ones that are still PPC only, then that is where all your RAM is going and I would recommend getting 2GB total. However, keep in mind that free memory is wasted memory and it's only a problem not having much left if your computer is having to access the swap files on your hard drive a lot; then things will slow down noticeably.

Originally Posted by rnp614 View Post
Yeah is this BS a result of the OS not working perfectly with Intel yet? Why would the menu bar be snappier with a G4? Why is the system such a Ram hog?
The AirPort thing seems unrelated to the processor and going by past experience (10.0 through 10.4), Leopard will make OS X run better on Macs in general, so hopefully there will be some improvement. Why your AirPort Extreme Menu Extra was so fast on your iBook, I do not know. And Rosetta uses so much RAM because it caches all the PPC code that it has converted so far so as to speed them up. If it had to convert PPC to Intel on the fly, with no cache, that would be even slower than it already is.

Originally Posted by rnp614 View Post
How do I turn off this indexing? FYI I've had the comp since Monday.
It really should be finished indexing by now, and after the initial run, said index is maintained on a file by file basis, so demands very little overhead. However, if you really want to disable it (and so be unble to search for any files on your computer) simply open the Spotlight preference pane in System Preferences, select the Privacy tab, and drag your hard drive's icon from the Desktop / Computer-Window to the exclusion list.

You like the MacBook otherwise? Or preferred your iBook? You still have the iBook around?
( Last edited by megasad; Dec 1, 2006 at 05:37 PM. )
BayBook (13" MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 1TB HD) // BayPhone (iPhone 4, 32GB, black)
     
rnp614  (op)
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Dec 1, 2006, 05:34 PM
 
Otherwise I love the macbook. The iBook was sold before I bought the macbook.
     
frankthetank966
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Dec 1, 2006, 06:42 PM
 
yea def. results of not working with intel. but it is overall a great computer.
     
cag17
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Dec 3, 2006, 01:53 PM
 
Mine takes a couple secs. to open also.
Don't be worried, I guess.
I also have 2gb of ram.
     
rnp614  (op)
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Dec 3, 2006, 03:36 PM
 
its a good thing this macbook is damned attractive!
     
   
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