[linktech]

I was in an Apple store and was looking at one of the 15" MBPs when I decided to close one so that I could lift it - I was curious about the notebook's weight. It was playing a QuickTime Cars (the movie) trailer when I closed it, and as soon as it was closed, the sound became distorted and skipped for about 3 seconds before it went to sleep. That was a little disturbing....

I opened it up and pressed the power button to wake it and....nothing. Curious, I tried it with the 15" MBP sitting right next to the "dead" unit. I started up the Cars trailer and the original unit I was playing with suddenly woke up, albeit with a little sluggishness before finally coming to. When I closed the second unit, it did the same thing the original unit did.

I reproduced this with 3 15" MBPs. Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm looking to buy but seeing something like this with three units in an Apple store was a little concerning. I'll note that the couple of MBs I tried repro'ing this with went to sleep and woke up without a hitch....

[ibook_steve]

First of all, safe sleep may have been enabled. That would make it take longer to wake up and sleep since the contents of memory have to be dumped to or loaded from the hard drive.

Second, there's lots of behind the scenes hardware stuff going on when a machine is put to sleep or woken up. Having a Quicktime movie stutter during this time period is not something to be concerned about.

Steve

[skyman]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

First of all, safe sleep may have been enabled. That would make it take longer to wake up and sleep since the contents of memory have to be dumped to or loaded from the hard drive.

Second, there's lots of behind the scenes hardware stuff going on when a machine is put to sleep or woken up. Having a Quicktime movie stutter during this time period is not something to be concerned about.

Steve

Ditto.

[linktech]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

First of all, safe sleep may have been enabled. That would make it take longer to wake up and sleep since the contents of memory have to be dumped to or loaded from the hard drive.

Second, there's lots of behind the scenes hardware stuff going on when a machine is put to sleep or woken up. Having a Quicktime movie stutter during this time period is not something to be concerned about.

Steve

I respectfully disagree that it's not something to be concerned about, and have to wonder: Do you work for Apple?

Safe Sleep was not enabled. It should have just "bounced back."

It certainly is something to be concerned about. I work for a major PC OEM and I know all about all the "behind the scenes hardware stuff going on." Further, while #2 (below) is NOT a PC vs. Mac statement, I should state two things (reiterating #1):

1) Two MacBooks I tried this with exhibited the expected, "perfect" behavior - playing QT movie, lid is closed, notebook goes to sleep without audio artifacts; open lid and the notebook "wakes up." This is the same behavior I would expect from a MacBook Pro (MORESO than I would with a MacBook, given a MBP's premium positioning).

2) While I won't say that this kind of thing has never happened with Windows notebooks, I can say that I've used enough to know that it should not happen given a working, stable platform.

This is simply not the kind of product experience I would expect from Apple.

I'd love to know if anyone with a 15" MBP is able to reproduce this.

[ibook_steve]

You can't be serious. Are you really going to pick these nits? Does this affect normal operation at all? No. If the sound distort during normal operation, then yes, you'd have a problem. Well, it doesn't, so it isn't. If this really bothers you that much, don't buy it.


In answer to your question, I used to work for Apple. So what?

Steve

[linktech]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

You can't be serious. Are you really going to pick these nits? Does this affect normal operation at all? No. If the sound distort during normal operation, then yes, you'd have a problem. Well, it doesn't, so it isn't. If this really bothers you that much, don't buy it.


In answer to your question, I used to work for Apple. So what?

Steve

No need to become defensive, and yes - I'm serious. This is not nitpicking to me, and yes, I can clearly see where it would happen in ordinary, everyday use. I don't shut close every piece of software running when I put other notebooks to "sleep," so why should I expect to have to do so with a Mac? If I'm watching a movie or listening to music and feel like putting my notebook to sleep without closing DVD Player or iTunes, I don't see why it shouldn't "just work." Besides, the point of my post was to expain sometihng I experienced and to see whether or not anyone else has experienced the same.

It was not whether or not this makes an Apple product good, bad, or anything else for that matter. That said, if you can't reply with productive feedback that speaks to the point - as opposed to getting all "Oh my God! Please don't say bad things about Macs," then don't reply at all.

[Kadman]

I just tried this on a Dell D820 and sure enough, it goes right to sleep without the QT video getting choppy at all. Not sure about a MBP.

I guess I don't understand the context that you are using for this concern. You use the terms "disturbing" and "concerning" as if this was a sign that it was doomed to fail because of it. I would simply see this as a quirk that you can either live with or not (if the behavior bothers you enough), but I certainly wouldn't see it as a sign of something that will cause the machine to fail at some future date.

[ibook_steve]

Originally Posted by Kadman

I just tried this on a Dell D820 and sure enough, it goes right to sleep without the QT video getting choppy at all. Not sure about a MBP.

I guess I don't understand the context that you are using for this concern. You use the terms "disturbing" and "concerning" as if this was a sign that it was doomed to fail because of it. I would simply see this as a quirk that you can either live with or not (if the behavior bothers you enough), but I certainly wouldn't see it as a sign of something that will cause the machine to fail at some future date.

Exactly. I'm not defending the problem, if it really is a problem. I'm wondering why it is such a huge problem for you.

Steve

[linktech]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

Exactly. I'm not defending the problem, if it really is a problem. I'm wondering why it is such a huge problem for you.

Steve

Well, given that this is the first notebook I've encountered that exhibits this type of "problem," and given the way Apple likes to tout their product as those that "just work," I found this just a little startling. "Disturbing" might have been a bit over-the-top, but concerning....absolutely.

That Apple would miss something like this - at least in my mind - is a bit of a concern. While it's likely it could be resolved via a firmware or driver update, it's also very possible that it could not be.

I often have Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or PowerDVD running when I have to get up an go, and I often just close my notebook up, sending it to bed. Doing this with a MBP and hearing "it" every time would be disturbing (not to mention the fact that none of the three resumed from sleep properly).

If you haven't actually heard a MBP's audio distort in the manner in which I'm referring, you probably can't relate - it's very, very blatant, and very ugly - and certainly nothing near what I would expect from an Apple product that "just works."

[linktech]

Originally Posted by sp3ci4lk

Well, given that this is the first notebook I've encountered that exhibits this type of "problem," and given the way Apple likes to tout their product as those that "just work," I found this just a little startling. "Disturbing" might have been a bit over-the-top, but concerning....absolutely.

That Apple would miss something like this - at least in my mind - is a bit of a concern. While it's likely it could be resolved via a firmware or driver update, it's also very possible that it could not be.

I often have Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or PowerDVD running when I have to get up an go, and I often just close my notebook up, sending it to bed. Doing this with a MBP and hearing "it" every time would be disturbing (not to mention the fact that none of the three resumed from sleep properly).

If you haven't actually heard a MBP's audio distort in the manner in which I'm referring, you probably can't relate - it's very, very blatant, and very ugly - and certainly nothing near what I would expect from an Apple product that "just works."

I visited the Apple store again, and I couldn't reproduce the sound issue on any of the units - don't know if they swapped out the demo units or if thier firmware had been updated or....whatever.

I did, however, notice something else: Neither the MacBooks nor the MacBook Pro units would wake from Sleep consistently. Both the MacBook and MacBook Pro User's Manauals state that they are put into Sleep mode simply by closing their lids. Both units did so. The manuals go on to say that in order to bring them out of Sleep, you simply have to open the lid. All of the MacBook and MacBook Pro units I put to Sleep woke erratically and inconsistently; some woke up right away upon opening their lids, some woke within 5 - 10 seconds of their lids being opened, and yet others wouldn't wake upon their lids being opened unless some key was depressed, and even then these units took a while to respond. These behaviors - all three - were present per unit as well, meaning that at some point each unit exhibited all three behaviors.

Seems Apple still has some work to do in getting these notebooks refined.

[harrisjamieh]

this is the case for the majority of display notebooks in Apple stores for some unknown reason. The actual units that the consumer recieves, however, are fine from what i have heard

[jsousa]

It seems our Jr. Member here is just visting to try to bash on Macs. Fact is no one cares, and thats really not a big deal. Are you honestly going to close your notebook while watching a movies and then be pissed off cause it stuttered? Honestly, I watch my movies with the screen up.

[linktech]

Originally Posted by jdrumstik

It seems our Jr. Member here is just visting to try to bash on Macs. Fact is no one cares, and thats really not a big deal. Are you honestly going to close your notebook while watching a movies and then be pissed off cause it stuttered? Honestly, I watch my movies with the screen up.

jdrumstik:

Nope - not bashing Macs. I love Macs. Used to use them until I went to college and couldn't afford a new one that was fast enough or that I could play games on (a buddy introduced me to LAN parties and PC games).

Now that I'm a little older *ahem* and work in the PC industry, I'm a little worn on Windows (to say the least) and I'm in the market for a Mac - I'll play my games on an XBOX 360 or PS3 in HD.

I close the lid on my PC notebooks all the time with applications open - sometimes said application is a running iTunes - and my fiance puts her iBook to sleep while iTunes is playing. Guess what? None of these notebooks do what I heard the demo units in the store do - believe me....if you'd heard them make the noises I heard them make, you, too, would have thought, "woah....that's REALLY not right."

That anyone - a Mac user, especially - would encounter something like this and go "oh....oh well - not a big deal" is probably a contributing factor to Apple's slip as of late in QC; I'm a firm believer that apathy toward mediocrity is also why Microsoft happens to code an inferior OS.

harrisjamieh - thanks for the input. Much appreciated. Interesting to note. Thanks.