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djasmooth · Dec 7, 2006, 12:33 AM

ok well i remember reading about problems with Macbooks when they first came out... such as randomly shutting off and on the black Macbook the paint chipped and trackpad would start to rub off... are these problems resolved? any new problems? remember im talking about when they first came out...
Thanks
A Smooth

iMAColata · Dec 7, 2006, 04:54 AM

For the time being the macbook seems fine. That is no guarantee however. I got a C2D Macbook yesterday. It isn't hot. It isn't noisy. So far it does not shut it self down randomly

analogika · Dec 7, 2006, 10:46 AM

I've only ever read about TWO black MacBooks where a film came off - NOT paint. The MacBooks are NOT painted, they are black plastic!

The current ones are the second revision, and they seem pretty much perfect.

My blackBook certainly is, and all the issues you've mentioned were either one-off problems or have since been fixed.

stefanicotine · Dec 7, 2006, 02:25 PM

Mine has randomly fallen asleep twice. I have no idea why, I'm guessing something I did. Other than that, it's perfect. Except, however, on the left side and closer to the front (where there aren't any ports) the siding on mine seems a little loose. I can push it in a few millimeters even where the two screws are.

pra9ab0y · Dec 7, 2006, 04:58 PM

I was planning to get 1 in a few days but I have now decided to wait untill the release of leopard

djasmooth · Dec 7, 2006, 09:09 PM

thanks now should i wait till macworld ?

pra9ab0y · Dec 8, 2006, 12:33 PM

Whenever you want really! Its your decision

wulf · Dec 8, 2006, 01:08 PM

I have an original MacBook and I'm still ludicrously happy with it. The new ones are even better value.

I've had precisely one Random Shutdown in the five + months I've been using it, which I don't consider enough to worry about. I'm getting a small amount of discolouration on the trackpad button, so I guess I might take it in sometime for this to be replaced under warranty, but it's not bothering me all that much.

I use it everyday, and have actually done some pretty serious editing work on it (I'm a freelance video editor) with FCP and elements in Motion and Shake.

They are great machines, and I think the vast majority are without major problems.

peterauch21 · Dec 8, 2006, 04:17 PM

My week 35 macbook Core Duo is working flawlessly. I bought it early September and have not had any issues with it. The newer C2D machines aren't suffering from the same issues that the original model was.

To wait or not is totally up to you. Apple will be releasing Leopard soon and MacWorld is coming up. If you can wait a month or so I would do it. Shortly after I bought my macbook C2D was released with a bunch of better stuff for the same price that I originally spent which is a bummer but technology will always be advancing so there isn't much you can do about that. Wait if you can.. If you can't (which is understandable) go for it.. Good luck and congrats on your future purchase.

mduell · Dec 8, 2006, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by wulf

I have an original MacBook and I'm still ludicrously happy with it. The new ones are even better value.
<snip>
I use it everyday, and have actually done some pretty serious editing work on it (I'm a freelance video editor) with FCP and elements in Motion and Shake.

How does that work? Apple says Final Cut Studio is not supported on systems using the Intel Extreme Graphics 950 GMA. I'd guess that they're referring to Motion and Shake, since FCP and DVDSP are relatively light on the GPU.

analogika · Dec 10, 2006, 01:51 PM

There's a huge difference between "is not supported" and "does not run".

hldan · Dec 10, 2006, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

There's a huge difference between "is not supported" and "does not run".

If Apple mentiones that their own software is not supported on their own computers it generally means it won't run well or it won't run at all. In either case it's not worth trying to run software to bloated for the system resources.

C.A.T.S. CEO · Dec 10, 2006, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

I've only ever read about TWO black MacBooks where a film came off - NOT paint. The MacBooks are NOT painted, they are black plastic!

The current ones are the second revision, and they seem pretty much perfect.

My blackBook certainly is, and all the issues you've mentioned were either one-off problems or have since been fixed.

+1

Originally Posted by stefanicotine

Mine has randomly fallen asleep twice. I have no idea why, I'm guessing something I did. Other than that, it's perfect. Except, however, on the left side and closer to the front (where there aren't any ports) the siding on mine seems a little loose. I can push it in a few millimeters even where the two screws are.

thats normal. Its a little weird, but its not like the MacBook is falling apart. It bends more on the side with ports.

iMAColata · Dec 13, 2006, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

I've only ever read about TWO black MacBooks where a film came off - NOT paint. The MacBooks are NOT painted, they are black plastic!

The current ones are the second revision, and they seem pretty much perfect.

My blackBook certainly is, and all the issues you've mentioned were either one-off problems or have since been fixed.

Analogika how do you judge the fans?

My MB C2D fan has a tendency to make a whine at certain rpms. Around 2640 it kicks in, sort of a high pitched "singing" or hum that goes away as the fan either spins up or slows down. Sounds like it is oscillating with something. The next threshold is around 3100 RPM and the last that Ive noticed - and worst in terms of loudness - is at 3678-3680. It really hums here.

The C2D MB is pretty silent as it is, so the slight whine stands out a lot, even if it is very silent. In a mentally annoying way that is, the noise is not totally driving you up the wall like the CPU/screen whine reported from the MBPs. I've heard that and THAT is horrible. But when I sit working in my silent room, with just the sound of the macbook harddrive and my old wind up clock, this hum gets a bit on my nerves. I can move the fan control slider and it makes the noise go away, untill the automatic sensor next time decides to park the fan speed at Annoying Oscillation Threshold.

Im still undecided about whether Im obsessing or just should leave it. I mean my old laptop makes a din compared to this and Ive worked on that for years. I have right of return so I got to make my mind up. Is it normal for the MB fans to "hum" at certain speeds? Is it a dodgy fan or something that can be fixed? I probably won't bother swapping it since I love the computer a lot, but I have to this friday to make up my mind.

Damn, why do you fall in love with Mac OS X and the MB so fast? ^_^

wulf · Dec 15, 2006, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

How does that work? Apple says Final Cut Studio is not supported on systems using the Intel Extreme Graphics 950 GMA. I'd guess that they're referring to Motion and Shake, since FCP and DVDSP are relatively light on the GPU.

It's not supported, but on the whole the Final Cut Studio suite runs pretty well, considering.

FCP is just fine, obviously it's preferable to be plugged in to an external display if editing for any length of time. The CoreDuo is really quite a meaty chip for rendering though, and if you're working with DV, it's a very capable - fast - machine for editing. Certainly compared to any G4, but I've had some projects render as fast - perhaps faster - on the MB than on a 2GHz G5. Obviously with uncompressed video, etc. it gets a bit more sticky as the MB doesn't have FW800 or eSATA or built-in RAIDs

DVDSP and Soundtrack Pro are fine, I haven't come across any problems there, though I don't use them a huge amount.

Motion works, but of course the real-time previewing is pretty lousy with integrated graphics. It's enough for doing simple elements though, animated text and the like, which is mainly what I use it for. On the other hand the rendering is pretty fast, again comparable to a G5 in some cases. So, it's usable for smaller-scale stuff, but not really suited to more complex projects.

Shake is actually not all that reliant on the GPU. Apple did implement GPU-enabled z-plane rendering, and so, like with any 3D on the MacBook, I expect this would be a pain. To be honest I haven't really used it for 3D compositing on the MB. Again I've really just brought it in for smaller elements, greenscreen, time remaps, distortions, etc.

Obviously it's not a Mac Pro, or a MBP for that matter, but for me it's been such great value. The fact that I can take it into edit suites and "dip in" to my own set of tools if I need to use something they don't have, is a huge plus. Of course I'd love to be using a MBP, but I just couldn't justify the cost at the time.

wulf · Dec 15, 2006, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by hldan

If Apple mentiones that their own software is not supported on their own computers it generally means it won't run well or it won't run at all. In either case it's not worth trying to run software to bloated for the system resources.

Well, see my post above this one. It has certainly been worth it for me to run FCP on my MacBook, I've earned more than it cost me with the two little projects I've cut on it.

I think the thing about FCS being unsupported has a lot more to do with Apple's product positioning. They don't really want everyone to buy consumer laptops to run their flagship pro video software. They certainly don't want to spend time providing support to people who expect their MacBooks to perform like Mac Pros.

From my point of view, leaving aside the obvious problems that Motion has with integrated graphics, Final Cut Studio runs pretty well on the MacBook. It's not too "bloated" - so long as you have decent RAM of course - and is certainly usable for pro editing work. You'll want that external display though.

analogika · Dec 16, 2006, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by iMAColata

Analogika how do you judge the fans?

I hear them every once in a while. They don't bother me at all.

That's unscientific, I know, but completely accurately represents my experience.

agalinfl · Dec 16, 2006, 07:51 AM

[QUOTE=iMAColata;3238539]Analogika how do you judge the fans?

My MB C2D fan has a tendency to make a whine at certain rpms. Around 2640 it kicks in, sort of a high pitched "singing" or hum that goes away as the fan either spins up or slows down. Sounds like it is oscillating with something. The next threshold is around 3100 RPM and the last that Ive noticed - and worst in terms of loudness - is at 3678-3680. It really hums here.

When my ibook G3 800's 4 month old logic board recently failed I went to apple and bought a macbook duo core... For the past week I have debated returning it and exchanging it for a CD2 in the hope that the fan would be less noisy and it would not heat up as much... Called apple and they can't say whether the new CD2 has a more silent fan... According to a local mac genius the fan in both versions are the same and set the same way - I thought the CD2 was supposed to run cooler so probably would need less fan. I am surprised that both the mac genius and apple were not encouraging me to pick up the CD2...I still don't know what to do - which version to own - or if following the MW announcements whether it would be worth it to wait to replace my laptop... Anyone personally sat in a room with both mbs the CD and CD2... Any insights? I miss owning a laptop that insn't a white noise machine...

agalinfl · Dec 24, 2006, 11:57 PM

The more that I have read and seen I am seriously considering buying a macbook pro instead. It seems to me that they have had fewer issues than the macbooks and may be more reliable.

stefanicotine · Dec 25, 2006, 02:09 AM

Originally Posted by agalinfl

The more that I have read and seen I am seriously considering buying a macbook pro instead. It seems to me that they have had fewer issues than the macbooks and may be more reliable.

You might regret it though. MacBooks look so cool ^_^