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MBP 17 First Impressions?
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So, let's have 'em! First impressions of your new MBP 17"!
Mine is busily writing zeroes to the hard drive in preparation for a fresh install. (Call me paranoid, but I always do this.)
I'm going to be watching for whine and heat issues and will post them here later today probably. Since I own a 1.67 powerbook G4, I'll post comparisons, too.
Mark
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Been working on mine all morning, trying to kill the battery. Ran Otto Matic for half an hour, fresh install for an hour, idle on and off for the last hour and still half an hour left. Very little heat. NO WHINE, no fans, no dead pixels, hottest it got was during the video game, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the 15" MBP. The screen is GORGEOUS for gaming, I can't even describe it.
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Could someone print out a protractor and measure the screen open angle at it's widest? Is it 125 or 135 degrees?
Or in your case markponcelet, does it open as far as your 1.67 G4?
Thanks!
(
Last edited by slffl; May 8, 2006 at 01:43 PM.
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"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
- Dictator George W. Bush, Washington Post, 11-19-02
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My new MBP 17" has an option in the trackpad preferences that reads, "Tap trackpad using two fingers for secondary click."
Dunno if the other MBPs have it, but my Rev D. powerbook 17" doesn't. Works like a charm. No idea yet if it works under bootcamp, but I'll give it a try.
Mark
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Originally Posted by slffl
Could someone print out a protractor and measure the screen open angle at it's widest? Is it 125 or 135 degrees?
Or in your case markponcelet, does it open as far as your 1.67 G4?
Thanks!
It does not! This is much to my chagrin. If I had a way to publish a photo, I'd send a picture of them side-by side. To my untrained eye, it looks like the 1.67 opens ten degrees farther.
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Originally Posted by markponcelet
It does not! This is much to my chagrin. If I had a way to publish a photo, I'd send a picture of them side-by side. To my untrained eye, it looks like the 1.67 opens ten degrees farther.
*@!&#!, that's the reason I took back the 15" MBP. I was hoping the 17" would be different. Oh well, guess my 17" 1ghz will have to do for now.
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"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
- Dictator George W. Bush, Washington Post, 11-19-02
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There's a "right click" option on the 17" MBP as well. There is an option where if you put two fingers on the trackpad and you click the button, it acts as a right click...VERY COOL.
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Mine came this morning, and I finally got home this afternoon, unboxed it and took some pictures! I took some pictures!
More here
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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I would think that both the 15" and 17" would use the same trackpad- c'mon Apple, give us 15" MBP owners the right click functionality as well!
-a
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I have had the exact same func. on my (now sold) iBook g4 for ages, using iScroll. It is really really useful, and when I reinstalled my iBook ready to ship it off, it felt very weird using it without the two finger right click. I am glad Apple have decided to include this as an official func of the trackpad
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OK, now a couple of observations:
1. I noticed the use two-fingers on trackpad to right click and tried it out. Very nice.
2. The computer has a 120GB hard drive, but after I got through the login screen on initial setup, it only had 93GB remaining, so I am on the PowerBook right now as I type as the MacBook Pro gets a reformat with a custom installation.
3. It is warm NOT hot, and no warmer than the PowerBook G4 1.5GHz 17-inch that I have.
4. I don't hear any whining, and I know what it sounds like having had a DOA 15-inch MBP.
5. The display seems to inheret, if you will, a little bit of the 15-inch MacBook Pro's penchant for having the brighter strip toward the bottom of the display. The other screen personalities are the same from the last generation of PowerBook G4's (1.67GHz models) that I had examined at the Apple Store.
6. I have another 1 GB stick to add to the computer to fill it out at 2GB total. I have not installed this yet.
7. I am doing the best to drain the battery, but it's still kicking at 41% and this is after it just finished installing Mac OS X from Disc 1.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Originally Posted by Abbas
I would think that both the 15" and 17" would use the same trackpad- c'mon Apple, give us 15" MBP owners the right click functionality as well!
-a
I bet you get it with 10.4.7. In fact, all recent trackpads might get it.
Chris
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Originally Posted by chabig
I bet you get it with 10.4.7. In fact, all recent trackpads might get it.
Chris
Just got mine this am. One thing I noticed is the color of the illuminated keyboard. My PB 17 1.67 is all white while my MBP is purple or is it blue? at the bottom. Can someone verify this.
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do the 17's have the screen gaps like the 15's? i wish apple would upgrade me to a 17" but i've already bought all the stuff for the 15" just wish the whine was gone, and i could get my battery life back to 3:16
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Anyone notice any speed difference? I am still torn between selling my 17" 1.67 for a new 17" Mac Pro Book.
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Originally Posted by CobraNT
Anyone notice any speed difference? I am still torn between selling my 17" 1.67 for a new 17" Mac Pro Book.
Uh yeah...HUGE speed difference. I sold my Quad because of this machine (the 15" version anyway)
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Originally Posted by jhonizzle
do the 17's have the screen gaps like the 15's? i wish apple would upgrade me to a 17" but i've already bought all the stuff for the 15" just wish the whine was gone, and i could get my battery life back to 3:16
A "gap" is a non-issue. Mine doesn't have any "gaps" but my 15" MBP had what you would consider a gap, but it never affected usability or function of the machine. I never noticed it and stored it the same way I do all my laptops. Why is this even a concern?
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The gap is not really an issue in the grand scheme of things. Mine doesn't have a gap problem as noted in the link of pictures that I posted above. I don't know if mine is indicative of other models. My PowerBook G4 has a gap in the lid more on the left side than the right side where it it's pretty much flush with the base on the right side. It never really bothered me on the Powerbook and I don't see this problem at all on the 17-inch MBP. As a matter of fact they did a really good job fixing that issue as mine is even all the way around.
The MacBook Pro *feels* a lot faster than my 1.5GHz 17-inch PowerBook G4. I don't know whether or not I should have upgraded so soon, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The thing that really annoyed me about my 17-inch PowerBook G4 was that the display seemed slightly dim to me and at times it felt sluggish. I haven't really pushed this MacBook Pro like I have my PowerBook G4. After all, I haven't had this more than a day and I just got finished reformatting the HD and reloading the OS to get rid of all the unnecessary crap.
Now I must say that since plugging in the MacBook I hear a VERY FAINT, and I mean very faint whine. I know what this sound is and heard it before when I had the 15-inch MacBook Pro before returning it for other defects, although this MBP's whine very much reduced, and it's almost imperceptible.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Originally Posted by Dave Hagan
Now I must say that since plugging in the MacBook I hear a VERY FAINT, and I mean very faint whine. I know what this sound is and heard it before when I had the 15-inch MacBook Pro before returning it for other defects, although this MBP's whine very much reduced, and it's almost imperceptible.
Are you sure that's not the disk? I can here my MBP's disk in very quiet surroundings. It's (100 GB, 7200 rpm) easier to notice than the 5400 rpm 80GB disk I have in my 1.67 GHz PBG4.
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I am positive.
When I sit down in front of my 17-inch MacBook Pro, the screen is brighter in areas, hazy in others, and overall unevenly backlit. I tilt it to different angles, but generally there's a darker area on the right side, especially a third up from the bottom on the right side. I tried to take some photos to describe what I am talking about. You'll see the darker haze on the right side, and a little on the left. The area where the dock is noticeably brighter than the rest of the display. Perhaps I am being a little too picky, but I don't know if this is normal. I don't see this problem on my 17-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz.
Images:
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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That is REALLY obvious...that puppy would be going back if it was mine.....
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Joe
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Originally Posted by Dave Hagan
I am positive.
When I sit down in front of my 17-inch MacBook Pro, the screen is brighter in areas, hazy in others, and overall unevenly backlit. I tilt it to different angles, but generally there's a darker area on the right side, especially a third up from the bottom on the right side. I tried to take some photos to describe what I am talking about. You'll see the darker haze on the right side, and a little on the left. The area where the dock is noticeably brighter than the rest of the display. Perhaps I am being a little too picky, but I don't know if this is normal. I don't see this problem on my 17-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz.
Judging by the photographs, it looks obvious to me too. It seems bright in the center and dark around the edges. I would also consider taking it back.
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The question is if this bothers you? Pictures of screens like this usually make problems look worse than they are in everyday use. All macbook pros I've seen have uneven illumination to one degree or another adn those who say they don't are just missing it in my opinion.
I even went into a compusa today to look at all the PC notebooks. My conclusion was that with the exception of a few very bad vaios, the Macbook had the worst LCD there (=uneven illumination, poor vieing angles, contrast etc) . It's very sad to have to realize and accept that when there is no alternative.
What you see is NOT normal. If I were you, I'd send it back too and get it repaired or a replacement. I know it's hard to let it go, but you'll be happier later....
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The pictures are illustrative of the problem. It may make the problem look worse than it is, but I see the problem when I am using the computer. It's a real bummer. This will be the 2nd MacBook Pro. I guess I am learning the hard way about being the early adopter.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Originally Posted by chabig
I bet you get it with 10.4.7. In fact, all recent trackpads might get it.
Chris
I hope so, I really can't get used to the control click thing.
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I haven't had a chance to see a MBP 17" yet, but I suspect they are probably like that. To increase brightness the last generation of PowerBooks and the MBP 15" have brighter screens but the light falls off rapidly as you move from center. On a 15" you can see this effect also but on the larger 17" you will see it more. The screen is simply too big for it all to appear illuminated at once given the way the screen is built. I saw a similar effect on the PowerBook 17" 1.67GHz with 1680x1050 screen. I wouldn't return it until you got to see another one first.
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Originally Posted by Dave Hagan
The pictures are illustrative of the problem. It may make the problem look worse than it is, but I see the problem when I am using the computer. It's a real bummer. This will be the 2nd MacBook Pro. I guess I am learning the hard way about being the early adopter.
Unfortunately, I don't think this has to do with being an early adopter. These are the screens Apple has chosen to use on the their new notebok and, quite frankly, they're not very good compared to much of what is out there. I really think Apple is slipping with its notebooks and making some incredibly stupid decisions. Out of all the things to skimp on, how can they choose the LCD on their pro computers? It just doesn't make any sense at all since they must know that there will be lots of complaints.
In any case, I hope you are able to get a good one soon. in my experience , it's not that easy to get one that is flawless but when you do it usually stays that way. Good luck and let us know how things go.
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Originally Posted by bcaslis
I haven't had a chance to see a MBP 17" yet, but I suspect they are probably like that. To increase brightness the last generation of PowerBooks and the MBP 15" have brighter screens but the light falls off rapidly as you move from center. On a 15" you can see this effect also but on the larger 17" you will see it more. The screen is simply too big for it all to appear illuminated at once given the way the screen is built. I saw a similar effect on the PowerBook 17" 1.67GHz with 1680x1050 screen. I wouldn't return it until you got to see another one first.
When I looked at 17" inch PC notebooks today, they ALL had surprisingly even illumination and were bright and contrasty. I looked very carefully and spent 20 minutes going back and forth between the macbooks they had and the PC laptops. I think the anti-reflective coating (don;t like it) on the PCs make them look a little better, but I also think they had better LCDs (viewing angles, contrast was much better on the Toshibas, HPs, Acer and most of Vaios) Period. The ONE thing macbooks have going for them is that when you look straight at them they seem very bright. Other than that, when compared to the competition, they're not as good.
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The display on my 17-inch iMac G5 is nothing short of spectacular. I am sure it's using a "desktop" (read: more power hungry) backlight. The whole situation is really frustrating. I could go on a long story about my history with Apple's laptops, but needless to say I literally order these things when they are announced by Apple and get bummed out when they have problems. Perhaps I should return it and get a 15-inch since they have been out for 4 months.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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I agree that Apple is making some very bad decisions. I am very disappointed in the quality of the new high rez screens as well as the screen opening being limited by 10 degrees for no apparent reason.
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"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
- Dictator George W. Bush, Washington Post, 11-19-02
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I don't disagree at all. I've only looked briefly but I really like the xbrite screens on some of the sony laptops. I really wish Apple would use something like this. I was pointing out that this type of light characteristic looks very similar to the 15" MBP and the last generation PowerBooks. I don't feel it's the best available however. The latest Sony and Toshiba screens look very impressive.
Originally Posted by pete
When I looked at 17" inch PC notebooks today, they ALL had surprisingly even illumination and were bright and contrasty. I looked very carefully and spent 20 minutes going back and forth between the macbooks they had and the PC laptops. I think the anti-reflective coating (don;t like it) on the PCs make them look a little better, but I also think they had better LCDs (viewing angles, contrast was much better on the Toshibas, HPs, Acer and most of Vaios) Period. The ONE thing macbooks have going for them is that when you look straight at them they seem very bright. Other than that, when compared to the competition, they're not as good.
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I agree with the others that have said that most of the manufacturer's 17-inch displays suffer from uneven lighting. Apple's WAS better than most. The 17-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz that I am typing this on is pretty good, and magnitudes BETTER than the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Apple should use two backlights in their displays — a left and right. I know, I know. Power consumption, but they should figure a way to make it power consumption economical.
I think Apple's foray into Intel with this latest round of MacBook Pro's is just Apple getting their feet wet. Apple is: 1) Learning to make Intel products; 2) Trying to give the appearance in the transition that things look, work, and feel the same although powered by Intel. I bet they are engineering all new MacBooks with different form factors now that they have learned (and are still learning) from the Intel transition.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Yes, but these problems have nothing to do with the Intel chips -they are all quality, design and assembly issues. IF Apple used a Sony xbrite display it would be perfect too. It's the choice of display that is problematic.
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It is possible that the current MBP displays were bought cheap, in anticipation of an imminent move to a new technology... Perhaps LED backlighting?
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Could any of the lucky 17" MacBook Pro owners please report on the make and model of the hard drive found in their machine. I'm interested in both 100GB 7200RPM (Seagate?) one as well as the 120GB 5400RPM one.
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Originally Posted by irus
Could any of the lucky 17" MacBook Pro owners please report on the make and model of the hard drive found in their machine. I'm interested in both 100GB 7200RPM (Seagate?) one as well as the 120GB 5400RPM one.
I chose the 100 gb 7200 RPM drive for mine. Although I've never used the slower model in this laptop, I'm aware of hte kind of speed increases going from 5400 to 7200 RPM can give you. (I had a 1.67 17" powerbook where I changed the drive from 5400 to 7200 and witnessed the difference first-hand.) Since speed of drive access affects everyday use, I'd suggest getting the faster one. The 17" MBP has firewire ports. So if you need more storage, buy a little hard drive enclosure from OWC and plug it in when you need to access big files.
(I have my drive partitioned to give 60 GB to MacOS and 30 GB to Windows (approximately). This drive is almost completely silent (much quieter than the fans), and is quieter than the 7K60 that is in my powerbook.
Mark
Here's the system profiler bits about my drive:
ST910021AS:
Capacity: 93.16 GB
Model: ST910021AS
Revision: 3.07
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Mark,
Excellent! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Just called CS to upgrade my order to a 100GB Seagate.
After looking at the figures on Seagate Momentus 7200.1 page, the 7200 RPM drive appears to consume ~10% more power and is only 15g (1/2 ounce) heavier. It's a small price to pay for a 33% increase in performance.
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Originally Posted by markponcelet
Since I own a 1.67 powerbook G4, I'll post comparisons, too.
Here's one reader extremely interested in this comparison
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MBP 15" 2.33GHz C2D 3GB 2*23" ACD
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Waiting here too. And since the physical measurements are not much more than the 15 I'm saving for a 17 around July
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Originally Posted by workerbee
Here's one reader extremely interested in this comparison
Originally Posted by workerbee
Here's one reader extremely interested in this comparison
Okay, yeah; I forgot I promised to do that.
So, here goes.
Form Factor
These two laptops are almost identical in size and shape. I had a leather bag custom-made to fit my previous laptop, and this one goes in there flawlessly. The metal on the outside seems smoother somehow, but maybe that's just because it's new. My last one was probably roughed up a bit by sliding around in a bag all day long.
Screen
As mentioned before, the screen doesn't lean as far back as the g4's did. I don't find that to be all that bad. The screen is bright enough that I can lean way far forward, look down, and still read everything on all corners of the screen. Also, the isight camera needs the screen to be a bit more forward than I'm used to in order to get a good shot of my ugly mug.
The screen is bright. While running the laptop last night, the sun went down outside. The screen was actually painful to look at for a while there. Yes, the colors are a bit "warmer" on this laptop than the other one. The whites appear whiter in a side-by-side comparison.
The smaller pixels are nice. Having them is like having a bigger monitor, only with the same form-factor.
Trackpad
The trackpad seems rough to me. When I use the G4, it's as smooth as silk. This one is covered with minute little bumps. Maybe they'll wear down. In any case, the trackpad is as responsive and accurate in the Intel as it was in the G4. The addition of the two-finger-tap-right-click is very convenient -- if only I could remember to use it. The mouse button doesn't stick.
Keyboard
There's no difference between this keyboard and the last except ... the keys feel different. It's like the surface is coated with some harder plastic -- my fingernails rub against them and produce a strange scraping noise. But the key mechanism seems just as good as normal. It's still the most comfortable keyboard in the office.
The backlighting is equally as bright as the G4, but seems ... bluer or pinker than the G4. The difference is so subtle that I can hardly see it.
Airport
Airport seems plenty reliable. In fact, the Intel keeps picking up a network that the G4 never sees. I haven't tested the range yet, but it is sufficient for everywhere I keep using it. There are no fluctuations in signal level at all.
Hard Drive
As previously mentioned, I have the 7200 RPM drive. I don't recommend you get anything else. The drive is whisper-silent and only really gets hot when I'm using bootcamp and formatting a partition for Windows. Otherwise it's the same temperature as the 7k60 (also a 7200 RPM drive) that I have in the G4. It's even quieter than the 7k60. Sweet!
Sound
Quite simply, the internal speakers are loud. I have no way to measure it, but my sensitive ears say that the loudest setting on these internal speakers is almost painful to listen to. Niiiice. I haven't tested them to see if there's any distortion yet. In comparison, the G4 speakers are ... say, 15% to 20% quieter.
Heat
Yeah, it gets hot. And when I run Neverwinter Nights, for example, the fans ramp right up there. (The fans, by the way, are louder than they were in the G4, but they don't run often.) It's only marginally hotter than the G4 was.
Latch
It's new, I know, but the latch still seems to be better in the intel than it was in the G4. There's less of that satisfying *click! click!* when I close it, but it goes down easier and stays there -- there's no rebound as the screen tries to open again and gets stuck on the latches. Unless you have very pointy and long fingernails, it's hard to push the latch all the way in ... but then you don't need to. A little pressure from the tip of your finger is enough to open it. And it doesn't seem to pop open on its own.
Power
The power brick is larger and heavier, which I don't like. It's maybe 20% larger. And the magnetic end is interesting. It hasn't pulled itself out yet, but comes out really easy. Luckily, the 17" laptop is large enough that it's not so much at home on my lap. Keeping it off my lap is probably the best way to keep that power cable from popping out. Only experience will tell.
Also, the wire (from the computer to the brick) is slightly thicker, which can only be a good thing. I've had the wire pull out of the connector before. Maybe the added thickness will give it greater support.
iSight
The iSight camera is acceptable. But since it's almost invisible in the monitor itself, it's freaking amazing. And the photobooth application, with its myriad of instant effects, can keep kids entertained for hours. Just keep their fingers off the screen.
The Whine
If I hadn't known about it ahead of time, adn if I hadn't known where to stick my ear, I never would have heard it.
Performance
You know all those subjective reports saying that software runs faster on the MBP than on the G4? Believe them. Certain applications (like Safari) show marked improvements. (And I'm only using 1GB of RAM until this weekend!) Emulated programs can be a little bit sluggish, but not enough to make you bang your head against a brick wall.
Windows
I installed Bootcamp very soon after opening my MBP17 for the first time. Result? Lots of blue screens, and overall difficulty. But once I reinstalled it (and applied all the updates first), it seems to be very stable. I don't trust it a bit, though; if it weren't for the software that I have to run for work, I woudn't be in it for more than five percent of my day. (Game time not included.)
My advice? If you use it, treat your Windows partition like a temproary folder. Keep it ready to be deleted at a moment's notice. Because you could do everything right when installing a program, taking all the precautions to keep things orderly, and still come up with an error significant enough to make the whole OS unstable.
...and that's all I can think of right now. Oh, one more thing: when you do get your new powerbook, don't let it import settings from your old one. Instead, do yourself a favor and get a crossover cable. When you hook these two gigabit-ethernet-equipped laptops together, files really fly.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: CT
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Originally Posted by Dave Hagan
When I sit down in front of my 17-inch MacBook Pro, the screen is brighter in areas, hazy in others, and overall unevenly backlit. I tilt it to different angles, but generally there's a darker area on the right side, especially a third up from the bottom on the right side. I tried to take some photos to describe what I am talking about. You'll see the darker haze on the right side, and a little on the left. The area where the dock is noticeably brighter than the rest of the display. Perhaps I am being a little too picky, but I don't know if this is normal. I don't see this problem on my 17-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz.
Those images show exactly how my 15" MacBook Pro looks, it gets really annoying if you move around a lot (Since the hot spot moves with you, I'm guessing yours is that same?). The few MacBooks I've seen show this also. I'm coming from a 1Ghz 17" PowerBook and while not the brightness thing it was very even and wouldn't give this "Old Projection TV" look. When the new 17 MacBooks came out I was a little annoyed since it cost about as much as I spent on my 15 (Upgraded RAM/CPU) but now I'm glad I didn't since I bet this would annoy me even more on the larger scale. I also use a external Apple 20" Cinema so I am not looking at the MacBooks screen for any length of time so thats why I'm not jumping up and down going crazy. The only other thing is the "Rear Display Housing" is slightly bent at the edges where it wraps around and meets the front bezel and this is a little annoying.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Status:
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There is a great MBP17 first impressions on today's xlr8yourmac.com website comparing the MBP to a similarly configured Dell laptop and a dual G5.
Here's the summary: "As you can tell, the MBP has more than enough power to play the latest PC games (in windows), and in universal apps are very close to the G5 in performance. Now, vs the dell, the MBP is both a better value ($3,500 vs $4,800) is two pounds lighter, has a higher res screen 1680 vs 1440, is faster by a good 10%, and (best of all) can run FCP and Logic 7. I can not recommend the 17" MBP enough. More to come over the next week.
-Adam S. "
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Jul 2003
Status:
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I was in an Apple Store yesterday when a guy came in complaining that he had received his 17" MacBook Pro from the Apple Online Store and that it was running "extremely hot". He wanted to know if the store had any and if they would replace it.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Columbus, OH
Status:
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Got my 17" MBP Tuesday - I upgraded from a 17" Powerbook 1.67 - There are some major differences in speed.. for me, I notice it in safari and mail in particular.. blazing!! The screen itself is awesome.. VERY bright.. no uneven backlighting for me.. and at some angles, it looks very reflective (like the VAIOs, etc). It does run HOT (running a small app called CoreDuoTemp it is at 60c right now).. but it is very quiet and well built.. One question though.. I hooked this up to my big screen last night to play with front row. I want to operate it closed lid.. BUT, the remote wont wake it up?!?! CAN you use front row with the lid closed? I have an external monitor hooked up but not a keyboard or power or mouse.. ?? thoughts?
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
www.brandthunder.com
15" MBP
2 nanos (blk, red)
8GB iPhone
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status:
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Have any of those who have received their MacBook Pro 17" tried to put it in Brenthaven bag designed for PowerBook 17"? Does it fit?
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status:
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Originally Posted by pjmurphy
Got my 17" MBP Tuesday - I upgraded from a 17" Powerbook 1.67 - There are some major differences in speed.. for me, I notice it in safari and mail in particular.. blazing!! The screen itself is awesome.. VERY bright.. no uneven backlighting for me.. and at some angles, it looks very reflective (like the VAIOs, etc). It does run HOT (running a small app called CoreDuoTemp it is at 60c right now).. but it is very quiet and well built.. One question though.. I hooked this up to my big screen last night to play with front row. I want to operate it closed lid.. BUT, the remote wont wake it up?!?! CAN you use front row with the lid closed? I have an external monitor hooked up but not a keyboard or power or mouse.. ?? thoughts?
In order to for it to wake and recognize there is a monitor attached you need to wake it from sleep with a mouse or keyboard.
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Last edited by rcarlosnyc; May 11, 2006 at 02:36 PM.
)
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Fran Sancisco
Status:
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Originally Posted by irus
Could any of the lucky 17" MacBook Pro owners please report on the make and model of the hard drive found in their machine. I'm interested in both 100GB 7200RPM (Seagate?) one as well as the 120GB 5400RPM one.
Mine's a Seagate 100Gb 7200, model 910021AS
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Fran Sancisco
Status:
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Originally Posted by pjmurphy
CAN you use front row with the lid closed? I have an external monitor hooked up but not a keyboard or power or mouse.. ?? thoughts?
did you follow the User's Guide instructions (p. 66)? you need to hook up external keybd & mouse.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2005
Location: West LA
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its interesting that the 17"er didnt come with the magsafe power connector. Anyone have any ideas why?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Earth
Status:
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Originally Posted by hickey
its interesting that the 17"er didnt come with the magsafe power connector. Anyone have any ideas why?
what are you talking about? the 17" does have the magsafe connector...
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