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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Brand new MacBook - Seems REALLY Slow

Brand new MacBook - Seems REALLY Slow
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Sub 17
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Nov 4, 2006, 03:14 PM
 
I just upgraded from a late 2005 iBook G4 to a MacBook 60GB w/ Superdrive model. Why would it seem slower than the iBook? I transfered all my old info directly to the new computer - successfully - but it is way slow.
Examples: new application launch like Excel or Word can take 10-15 seconds.
The woman at the Mac store looked at what I was running on the iBook (nothing very involved) and said I should be in great shape with the new machine as opposed to upgrading to the 80GB machine.

Any thoughts for me please?

Also, I have both computers running on the same wireless Lynksys router in the house, which I intend to continue to do.
Thank you!
     
acoustix
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Nov 4, 2006, 03:45 PM
 
How much memory do you have?
MacBook 2.0/60GB/2.0GB
iBook 1.42/60GB/1.0GB
iBook 300/6GB/320MB
     
CheesePuff
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Nov 4, 2006, 04:01 PM
 
Well remember first off you're running Microsoft Office which currently is not a Universal binary, which means its being "emulated" to run on your new MacBook. However if you have 1 GB of RAM or more it should be the same speed, if not faster at times then your old iBook.

Also since you bought it in the store you more then likely have 512 MB of RAM. You will need to upgrade to 1 GB or 2 GB (recommended) for much better performance. You would notice a difference as soon as you turned the machine back on after the upgrade.
     
kick52
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Nov 4, 2006, 04:18 PM
 
when you use the migration assistant, to move PPC stuff to i386, it makes your computer *really* slow for some reason..

i might be a good idea for you to reinstall
     
sray
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Nov 4, 2006, 05:02 PM
 
Almost certainly a lack of sufficient memory. You need a minimum of 1GB and 2GB is ideal. This is particularly the case if you use MS Office and Entourage all day long. Rosetta (the underlying technology that allows MS Office 2004 to run on the new intel macs) is a memory hog.

This situation should be alleviated late in 2007 when a new version of Office comes out that is designed for the intel processors.
     
chefpastry
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Nov 4, 2006, 09:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by kick52 View Post
when you use the migration assistant, to move PPC stuff to i386, it makes your computer *really* slow for some reason..

i might be a good idea for you to reinstall
I used Migration Assistant to move stuff from an old PowerMac MDD to a Mac Pro and from an iBook to a MacBook and haven't experienced and problems or slow downs in the two months I've been using my Mac Pro or 3 months that I've been using my MacBook.

As for Sub 17's speed issue... I agree with CheesePuff 2.0 and sray. Sub 17 probably needs more RAM. I've found that OS X has become increasingly RAM hungry with each release.
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gametime10
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Nov 4, 2006, 09:21 PM
 
I can almost guarantee that a clean install of Mac OSX will make your machine run much faster. Of course, make sure you back up your data first!
     
C.A.T.S. CEO
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Nov 5, 2006, 12:33 AM
 
DON'T REINSTALL! It will speed up after awhile... I Word and Excel run slow at first for some reason.....
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jokell82
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Nov 5, 2006, 12:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO View Post
DON'T REINSTALL! It will speed up after awhile... I Word and Excel run slow at first for some reason.....
How does that make any sense?

This is either due to a lack of memory (my guess is the stock 512 and mostly running Rosetta apps), or something wrong with the OS install. I would do an archive and install and see what happens (no loss of data that way).

All glory to the hypnotoad.
     
C.A.T.S. CEO
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Nov 5, 2006, 01:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
How does that make any sense?

This is either due to a lack of memory (my guess is the stock 512 and mostly running Rosetta apps), or something wrong with the OS install. I would do an archive and install and see what happens (no loss of data that way).
well word on my MacBook at the time when I jest got the MacBook ran slooooow too, and I have 1 GB of RAM. now it boots as fast as it did on my PPC G5 1.8GHz with 512MB of RAM. I don't know why it booted slow when the MacBook was new, but thats what happened.
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kick52
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Nov 5, 2006, 05:30 AM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
How does that make any sense?

This is either due to a lack of memory (my guess is the stock 512 and mostly running Rosetta apps), or something wrong with the OS install. I would do an archive and install and see what happens (no loss of data that way).
no.. with an archive and install, you basically reinstall because there is no way to get back the archived system folder..

anyway, i meant reinstall as archive & install
     
Tuoder
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Nov 5, 2006, 09:09 AM
 
Did you transfer a bunch of PPC applications from your iBook to the MacBook?
     
jokell82
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Nov 5, 2006, 09:55 AM
 
Originally Posted by kick52 View Post
no.. with an archive and install, you basically reinstall because there is no way to get back the archived system folder..

anyway, i meant reinstall as archive & install
It's very easy to get back the archived system folder. Simply go into the "Previous Systems" file in the root dir of the hard drive and you'll see the archived folder. As long as you're not booted to that volume you can then replace the new system folder with the archived folder.

All glory to the hypnotoad.
     
BadApple
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Nov 5, 2006, 12:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by Sub 17 View Post
I just upgraded from a late 2005 iBook G4 to a MacBook 60GB w/ Superdrive model. Why would it seem slower than the iBook? I transfered all my old info directly to the new computer - successfully - but it is way slow.
Examples: new application launch like Excel or Word can take 10-15 seconds.
That is how things are with Core Duo MB/MBP running Office 2004 under Rosetta. That was the reason I did not buy CD MB/MBP as I could not believe how long it took just to launch Word and Excel.
I think C2D version MB (which may be released in the near future) would give you more performance. My C2D MBP launches and runs Office 2004 apps as fast as my PPC PowerBook.
     
sray
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Nov 5, 2006, 01:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by BadApple View Post
That is how things are with Core Duo MB/MBP running Office 2004 under Rosetta. That was the reason I did not buy CD MB/MBP as I could not believe how long it took just to launch Word and Excel.
I think C2D version MB (which may be released in the near future) would give you more performance. My C2D MBP launches and runs Office 2004 apps as fast as my PPC PowerBook.
The first time you launch Office or any Rosetta applications, it will take a few seconds (30 seconds is not common). But after that -- once it is loaded in memory -- you should be fine. Just leave it launched and minimized if the launch time bothers you.

This problem will persist until Office is released as a universal binary.

We have 1/2 dozen or more MBP in our company and with 2GB of RAM, we have no complaints of performance (most people use Entourage all day long)
     
harrisjamieh
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Nov 5, 2006, 06:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO View Post
well word on my MacBook at the time when I jest got the MacBook ran slooooow too, and I have 1 GB of RAM. now it boots as fast as it did on my PPC G5 1.8GHz with 512MB of RAM. I don't know why it booted slow when the MacBook was new, but thats what happened.
Did you have your MacBook before 10.4.8 was released? If so, the upgrade to 10.4.8 gave a reported (by MacWorld) 21% increase in Rosetta performance.
iMac Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 1.25GB RAM | 160HD, MacBook Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 13.3" | 60HD | 1.0GB RAM
     
C.A.T.S. CEO
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Nov 5, 2006, 06:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by harrisjamieh View Post
Did you have your MacBook before 10.4.8 was released? If so, the upgrade to 10.4.8 gave a reported (by MacWorld) 21% increase in Rosetta performance.
thats right.
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kick52
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Nov 5, 2006, 07:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
It's very easy to get back the archived system folder. Simply go into the "Previous Systems" file in the root dir of the hard drive and you'll see the archived folder. As long as you're not booted to that volume you can then replace the new system folder with the archived folder.
no you cant.

Mac OS X: About the Archive and Install feature

You cannot start up your computer using a Previous System folder, nor can you "re-bless" the Previous System folder.
     
jokell82
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Nov 5, 2006, 09:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by kick52 View Post
Dang you're right. So what's the point in keeping that folder then??

All glory to the hypnotoad.
     
   
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