[sbdaigo]

I have had my MacBook for 24 hours right now and there are a few questions that I had that I have not seen (some that I differ on) so I thought I would write for the other “me” that might be out there.

1. Battery Life - I was able to get 3:15 out of the second charge after charging, draining all the way until force sleep, and then recharging.

2. Size - I come from a 12” which I love, LOVE, so this is a shock to me right now. The first few hours I was tripping over everything. The keyboard, where the ports are, the screen tilt, you name it, I was struggling. Then I seem to find myself getting accustom to everything - though it is not as “grab n’ go” as the 12”.

3. Size #2 - I had a Brenthaven 15” PB bag. Well, it fits, but VERY TIGHT. Too tight, so I did get another bag. Now that may be fun, but I had 2 already and it fits in none of them.

4. Airport - WOW is all I can say. Where I was getting 2 bars I have full bars. It is WAY better than my 12” - now that is very cool!

5. Small Hum - I have heard of people say that there is a small hum, mine also. It sounds like it comes from the screen, I only hear it in real quite places, and it diminishes by 80% when the MBP is plugged in - so I have no idea about that.

6. Screen - There is no doubt that the screen is bright and beautiful. Now I am not trying to be picky, but I personally wonder why they don’t use those films like the PC companies do. They are so clear. When the brightness is down, for me, the fonts seem fuzzy and things are not that clear. I know that it is me, but that is why I said that.

7. iWork - Well, it is now a much nicer app to work in - it was slow on my 12” and I just love it on this machine.

8. Mouse Issue - I don’t know at all if it is me, but I find that the trackpad is at times “slightly” unresponsive. I don’t know if it is user error or not, but that is what I find.

9. Heat - I really don’t know what some are saying, but I have no issue with heat. It is warmer than my 12”, but I am flying with dual processors, and at times it is warmer (not hot), so I don’t know if maybe mine is different.

That is all, I hope this helps some and for those of you waiting, it is so worth it!

[Barefoot Matt]

Thanks, that's helpful for me

[pat++]

When you say 3:15, how was the brightness of the screen? can you try with brightness at 50% and give the result?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by sbdaigo

6. Screen - There is no doubt that the screen is bright and beautiful. Now I am not trying to be picky, but I personally wonder why they don’t use those films like the PC companies do. They are so clear.

Some people find that in some situations they reflect whatever is behind or above you, making the screen impossible to read.
I'm in love with the coating Dell has on my D610... it looks kinda like the goldish tint on new Lexus/Infinity car windows when the screen is off, but it is bright (with the backlight up), clear, and glare-free.

[cambro]

Originally Posted by sbdaigo

5. Small Hum - I have heard of people say that there is a small hum, mine also. It sounds like it comes from the screen, I only hear it in real quite places, and it diminishes by 80% when the MBP is plugged in - so I have no idea about that.

My TiBook does this too...especially when sleeping on battery. No idea why.

Care to comment on performance? Rosetta in particular? Have you noticed the screen angle problem discussed in the other thread?

[jeebus]

If you really set all settings as low as tolerable (ie no wireless, short sleep activation time, brightness as low as is tolerable) how long are you able to get? I mean like if you really stretch it out what is the MAX time you are able to have it running? Can you get through a DVD? Cuz ppl complain about battery life these days, but my 550 MHz titanium from way back when can barely play a 2 hour-ish DVD without running out of power.

[John123]

Originally Posted by sbdaigo

3. Size #2 - I had a Brenthaven 15” PB bag. Well, it fits, but VERY TIGHT. Too tight, so I did get another bag. Now that may be fun, but I had 2 already and it fits in none of them.

Would you please expand on this a little bit? I've had a Brenthaven case for about four years now, and it's still holding up solid as a rock. (It has the pull-out sleeve with padding.) Do you think it's not going to work?

[sbdaigo]

John123, it is really REALLY tight on the sides. For me, I thought I was putting too much pressure on pulling it out. I have only had a 12” in there, maybe it would stretch, but I don’t know - I just did not want to take the chance.

Jeebus, I will get to this when I can.

[jeebus]

John123 if you see pictures side by side while the MBP is thinner than the alu PBG4s it is slightly longer and wider (especially compared to the Ti G4) so it may not fit in cases that were already pretty tight. I have a sleeve for my Ti G4 that I was hoping to continue using with my MacBook Pro but after seeing pictures of the 2 next to each other I don't think it's gonna fit.

It's a shame that I'll have to buy a new sleeve but personally thinness is the most important dimension to me.

If your Brenthaven bag was made for the aluminum powerbooks then maybe it will still fit as those were wider and longer than the Ti G4s as well.

[jeebus]

Oops sorry I used quick reply and my post seemed to appear at the exact same time as sbdaigo's! lol

[John123]

Originally Posted by jeebus

John123 if you see pictures side by side while the MBP is thinner than the alu PBG4s it is slightly longer and wider (especially compared to the Ti G4) so it may not fit in cases that were already pretty tight. I have a sleeve for my Ti G4 that I was hoping to continue using with my MacBook Pro but after seeing pictures of the 2 next to each other I don't think it's gonna fit.

It's a shame that I'll have to buy a new sleeve but personally thinness is the most important dimension to me.

If your Brenthaven bag was made for the aluminum powerbooks then maybe it will still fit as those were wider and longer than the Ti G4s as well.

It was made back in the Titanium days...but it fits my current aluminum PowerBook fine. However, there isn't a whole lot of "give" -- so I was hoping you might be able to tell me whether the little give that it has left would be enough. Sounds like it might not be. That's too bad as I love my current sleeve and bag.

[michaelb]

Originally Posted by sbdaigo

2. Size - I come from a 12” which I love, LOVE, so this is a shock to me right now. The first few hours I was tripping over everything. The keyboard, where the ports are, the screen tilt, you name it, I was struggling. Then I seem to find myself getting accustom to everything - though it is not as “grab n’ go” as the 12”.

The very reason I won't be buying a MacBook Pro until there is a 12" or 13" model. Thanks for the confirmation!

It seems people who have a laptop as their main/only computer like the larger sizes (there are many people craving a 17" MBP). I prefer to have powerful desktop system(s) with external screen(s), and a very compact laptop. Each to his own.

[jeebus]

Originally Posted by michaelb

The very reason I won't be buying a MacBook Pro until there is a 12" or 13" model. Thanks for the confirmation!

It seems people who have a laptop as their main/only computer like the larger sizes (there are many people craving a 17" MBP). I prefer to have powerful desktop system(s) with external screen(s), and a very compact laptop. Each to his own.

To each his own, exactly. I have a 23" cinema display so I like to have a laptop as powerful as most desktops (the MBP 15") that can function like a dual display desktop setup at my desk (with the 23" connected) but when I want to go to my house (I live in a dorm), to a friends, to class, w/e I can just grab the MBP and have my whole desktop with me. After using the 23" so much though I wouldn't want to go lower than 15". It's the perfect laptop size for me, and I have a Titanium Powerbook that I have carried around with me for years and don't find it too heavy or bulky. I definitely like the grab and go aspect of a 12" or 13" laptop but I'm so spoiled by the 23" that I find 15" for a laptop more suitable for me personally.

I also love the built in iSight cuz many of my good friends went to college far away but they have iSights too and video chat is a great way to keep in touch, much better than MSN/AIM text chatting IMO. Also, since I always have it with me, I can chat anywhere, the SUB, the lounges, etc. (especially nice considering time zone differences).

I also use an eyeTV to record lots of TV shows and the MBP is perfect for running over to a friend's dorm room to enjoy the latest episode of 24 on the 15" widescreen (or I can enjoy it on a 23" widescreen in my room )

John123 I wouldn't give up hope yet as the size difference between the MBP and alu G4s is much less than between the MBP and the Ti G4s so there is a chance it will still fit hopefully

[Markg]

Originally Posted by jeebus

I also use an eyeTV to record lots of TV shows and the MBP is perfect for running over to a friend's dorm room to enjoy the latest episode of 24 on the 15" widescreen (or I can enjoy it on a 23" widescreen in my room )

jeebus: Do you know if eyeTV is nativly compatable with the MBP or would you have to run it through rosetta?

[jeebus]

Currently it's not native but elgato has said they are almost finished the universal binary and that it will be out very shortly. I'm really excited for it because the eyeTV software has very powerful features like an excellent widescreen mode (on the fly converting of 4:3 media) and progressive scan etc. The MBP should be able to handle these tasks easily but a universal binary is only going to make it even better.

When I first got my eyeTV I wanted to watch all the videos in quicktime but after using their software I realized it was tailor made for watching TV shows and works perfectly (even better than QT, which is also very good IMO). Also the video quality is much better than I expected, at 1 GB per hour MPEG-4 when sitting a few feet from my 23" cinema the quality is almost flawless running fullscreen, especially when progressive scan is turned on. I also love the widescreen feature because it uses a mixture of just cropping a little and just stretching a little so that while the 4:3 media fills the entire display on my 16:10 cinema display one would never know that it was cropped or stretched.

[Sijmen]

sbdaigo, the 15" MPB is slightly deeper than the 15" PB that explains why it almost doesn't fit. I don't know if the bag will stretch, it doesn't sound logical since it's made to protect a $2000+ laptop.
I guess all the bags are slightly too small for the MBP.