04-19-2006, 05:25 PM

As I make my way around my 2nd Macbook pro in 5 days, I am starting to notice certain problems that seem to remind me fondly of my days as a PC user. What problems you ask? Well here they are;

PROCESSOR WHINING;
As soon as my new MBP boots up, it sounds like a mix between a high-frequency TV noise and the sound of a blow dryer from 30 feet away. My first MBP that I purchased a few days ago (which came with a warped casing) did not make these noises. However, on this new one, if you open Photobooth, the noise goes away completely. That leads me to believe that this is not just processor noise. Theres something not right under the hood.

HOT HOT HOT:
This computer shouldnt be called a laptop, it should be called a portable desktop/hotplate. If you're a male, and you dare to use this computer on your lap for more than a half hour, you may want to donate some of your sperm now before its all dead from this sperm-boiling unit. If you want to cook eggs or even a brisket, the MBP should do the trick, just flip it over.

BATTERY LIFE BLOWS;

From full charge till empty with consistent, non-intensive use (internet, itunes, ichat, photobooth), this computer at 3/4 brightness will give you less than 3 hours, significantly less than the 5.5 hours Apple boasted about.

SAFARI NOT BLOCKING POP-UPS:

Ok so apparently the Pop-up blocker is now selective to which pop-ups it wants to block. On my iBook (2nd generation, which is still a fantastic computer) I had pop-ups still occur on only one website (www.ebaumsworld.com). Now I'm receiving pop-ups from more than one site.

Keep in mind I still have not put this computer to full use, and with all these issues this early on, I'm ready to throw in the towel and buy one of the last generation of Powerbooks before this Intel-based crap ruins what Apple kept sacred from day one. I also personally believe that the allowance of Windows on these machines is a sure sign that this company is selling their soul to the mass market, thus defeating the purpose of why we all switched in the first place.

-Ryan

04-19-2006, 05:33 PM

Sorry to hear about the bad experience. It must be very annoying, especially after spending lot of money on your MBP. But I am sure you have Apple Care.

04-19-2006, 05:38 PM

Yeah! Apple care is a joke but best of luck!

04-19-2006, 06:08 PM

Most of those issues can be fixed. I've read that the macbook pro update on macupdate will resolve the processor whine. My girlfriend picked up my MBP and said that it's as hot as her IBM thinkpad. I figure it's as hot as it is b/c it's taking heat away from the internals. As far as safari goes there are other options. Firefox, Camino, Shiira, Opera.
Sorry you didn't like your buy. Since my MBP is my first laptop and first apple I don't really prior experiences to compare it to. However, looking at things I can't be more pleased with my purchase. Hope all works out for you.

04-19-2006, 06:39 PM

It is unfortunate that you haven't had a good experience so far. Still, the problems you have listed are minor and are easily remedied or explained.


I got no pop-ups in Safari on ebaumsworld. Once I did get one of those annoying flash-pops, but they are a completely different monster than your average pop-up. There isn't any pop-up blocker out that that will prevent those as far as I know. This is not Apple's fault, nor any browser developer's. Yes, pop-ups are annoying... but there are always going to be ways around whatever new and improved pop-up blocker there happens to be.

Battery life is never guaranteed. AirPort eats up battery life, so if you are connected wirelessly that would explain a major loss. Plus, the apps you listed are not as "timid" on the battery as you would think. When I am not able to plug in, I don't use iTunes, try to leave iChat off, keep browsing to a 1-2 window minimum and try not to use any other apps. Still even when I do use those things, I still get around 4 hours on my PowerBook.

Laptops are hot by nature. The MBP has a metal casing, which gets even hotter than the rubberized, plastic shell of other laptops. It won't harm your machine, but it can be murder on your legs. That is why they make cooling stands, :black:

I can't speak for the processor. It is a new development and there are bound to be issues with any first edition release of a product. There are some fixes out there, and if it is that bad there is always the one year warranty.


It is no surprise that you mention that these things remind you of your "PC" days. There is good reason for that. Macs are computers, too. Those same "problems" happen to ANY computer, regardless of the OS it runs. Macs are great, but they are in no way a grand saviour for those fed up with Windows. Mac is merely an alternative, not a "solution".
I hope things work out for you and that your experience is improved.

:black:

04-19-2006, 07:51 PM

my 1ghz titanium p'book is sitting on my lap right now and i am pretty sure i am cooking my future babies. all powerbooks/macbook pro's are hot, there is no way around it unless you make it about an inch thicker and throw in another fan or two.

batteries, no matter from what company, never last the full length that they say unless you are sitting there typing a ppaer in iwork. the second you turn on your airport expect to lose a whole lot of time off of your battery.

-chris

04-19-2006, 08:25 PM

I'm not even going to waste my time going into depth responding to this. Rather, I'll say one thing, which should, based on the lack of validity, poke a huge hole in the entire post. Where in the world do you see a claimed 5.5 hrs of battery time?

04-20-2006, 01:36 AM

My aluminum 1.67 Ghz powerbook is nice and cool and it runs very smoothly. From everything that I am hearing my thought of buying the last version of the PPC model was a good one

04-20-2006, 04:04 AM

1) if you have the claimed whine take it back!! its not like you paid a small sum of cash for it

2) the case is aluminium so conducts heat better than the rest of the plastic laptops so will get hot. while it does get hotter with the charger plugged in i will admit that, still its not to an excessive level

3) battery life figures are always made up come on do you really get the claimed battery life out of your iPod? plus like its been mentioned airport is a huge drain on the battery

4) come on now its a browser life goes on. i never use safari unless im at work and i never have problem with firefox

5) boot camp is a whole post on its own. i can appriciate both sides of the argument on this one though but as always apple is really careful about what it does and booth camp is just aimed at windows as most people use that but quite a few people have use boot camp to install Linux etc which imo is worth while as there is life without windows but hey thats just me

04-29-2006, 12:05 AM

Bootcamp is convenient for those who need it (e.g. people need one program to run under the windows environment. Does that mean they should be subjected to windows all the time. Heavens no!) It is an option. It is beta. It opens new worlds... but not in a bad way.

The whine, the fix may be found here . That solves two things.

The heat has been a problem for a while, not only a MacBook Pro issue. Powerbooks are little or no better. Get a lapdesk.

To get the maximum battery you have to conserve. Turn off unneccessary hardware things (bluetooth a/o airport). Close programs that don't need running. Run on "maximum battery" and dim the screen. I guarantee your battery life will be better.. not 5.5 hours. Give me the link where Apple says the battery life is 5.5 hours..?