Was poised to order a MBP13", but...
Okay, so I was poised to order a new MBP 13" after hearing they updated the screen to have a 60% greater gamut. (I had previously returned my unibody Macbook last December after not being able to live with the low quality screen; I had loved everything else but it was that intolerable.) The longer battery life of the newer model seemed appealing as well.
However, several things are making me re-think my decision. First of all, I'm hearing stuff about throttled SATA speeds. This has me a little worried, as though I'm going to be getting the base model with the hard drive, I was planning on upgrading in the future to a SSD. Do you guys think this is a hardware issue or a software issue? How big of an issue is it?
Also, another thing that has got me a little bit worried (okay, a LOT worried) is about a display where the blues seem like purple and whatnot. Apparently it "looks like when you turn up that one artificial option in the nVidia control panel", as one forumer stated. What alarms me even more is the fact that someone said they contacted Apple support and they said that it was supposed to look like that and that's what 60% greater color gamut was supposed to look like. What are your thoughts? Do some notebooks have a normal screen while others have that "unnaturally vivid" screen?
One last thing - I'm most likely boarding a flight to Taiwan in the beginning of July, and I want to be able to have a laptop to carry over there (since I'll be there for a month and I need a computer with a nice display to edit pictures on, as I'm pretty heavy into photography). When Apple announced the new laptops, I naturally thought, "what luck!" and was planning on making the purchase. What are YOUR thoughts about how fast these issues can be fixed? If I buy in June off of, say, eBay, and it turns out the computer has defects such as stated above or other defect(s), can I have the unit repaired by Apple once I return from the trip (mid August) if a fix is out by then?
What would be my course of action if this is what happens (basically tl;dr version of the paragraph directly above):
Buy from eBay
Land a Macbook Pro with a bad screen and/or throttled SATA
Live with the defects and take the computer to Taiwan for a month
Come back, find out Apple has issued a fix
I obviously can't return it to the eBay seller, but how would Apple take care of the problem?
Thank you so much for reading that massive wall of text and I look forward to seeing what you guys think about it.
However, several things are making me re-think my decision. First of all, I'm hearing stuff about throttled SATA speeds. This has me a little worried, as though I'm going to be getting the base model with the hard drive, I was planning on upgrading in the future to a SSD. Do you guys think this is a hardware issue or a software issue? How big of an issue is it?
Also, another thing that has got me a little bit worried (okay, a LOT worried) is about a display where the blues seem like purple and whatnot. Apparently it "looks like when you turn up that one artificial option in the nVidia control panel", as one forumer stated. What alarms me even more is the fact that someone said they contacted Apple support and they said that it was supposed to look like that and that's what 60% greater color gamut was supposed to look like. What are your thoughts? Do some notebooks have a normal screen while others have that "unnaturally vivid" screen?
One last thing - I'm most likely boarding a flight to Taiwan in the beginning of July, and I want to be able to have a laptop to carry over there (since I'll be there for a month and I need a computer with a nice display to edit pictures on, as I'm pretty heavy into photography). When Apple announced the new laptops, I naturally thought, "what luck!" and was planning on making the purchase. What are YOUR thoughts about how fast these issues can be fixed? If I buy in June off of, say, eBay, and it turns out the computer has defects such as stated above or other defect(s), can I have the unit repaired by Apple once I return from the trip (mid August) if a fix is out by then?
What would be my course of action if this is what happens (basically tl;dr version of the paragraph directly above):
Buy from eBay
Land a Macbook Pro with a bad screen and/or throttled SATA
Live with the defects and take the computer to Taiwan for a month
Come back, find out Apple has issued a fix
I obviously can't return it to the eBay seller, but how would Apple take care of the problem?
Thank you so much for reading that massive wall of text and I look forward to seeing what you guys think about it.
Comments
My main concern was whether Apple or not considered the flawed screens "normal". I'm sure Apple support is excellent, and if the screen was considered defective, they wouldn't hesitate to replace it.
Here's a scenario I'm considering: Me buying the 13"MBP from either eBay or MacConnection, and ending up with a bad screen.
Could I take that MBP to the local Apple Retail store and get it replaced, even though Apple didn't sell it to me directly? How long would I have before they would refuse to replace it?
Let me kind of rephrase it.
My main concern was whether Apple or not considered the flawed screens "normal". I'm sure Apple support is excellent, and if the screen was considered defective, they wouldn't hesitate to replace it.
Here's a scenario I'm considering: Me buying the 13"MBP from either eBay or MacConnection, and ending up with a bad screen.
Could I take that MBP to the local Apple Retail store and get it replaced, even though Apple didn't sell it to me directly? How long would I have before they would refuse to replace it?
I believe the best course of action for you would to actually go to your 'local' Apple store and try the damn thing out! Many, many forum users have said the screen is absolutely fantastic and would never change it at all. There have been a few queries but it's completely up to the user's personal preference.
I, too am very interested in purchasing the 13" mbp and was 90% sure about buying one. However, because of the which you have stated I'm now juggling between it and the Mac MIni as I'd be able to upgrade to SSD as they have a SATA 2 connection and the normal 3.0 gb/s limit and not the 1.5 gb/s the mbp has :S
I also thought to myself with the money saved I can do worthy upgrades and still have over £300 left over
If I were you I wouldn't buy it this side of your holiday and try to return it when you get back, you would have to pay a restocking fee and it's outside their 2-week policy.
The best thing you can do is go and try one out and see if you either fall in love with the screen or hate it. You therefore know and then there is no need to buy and take back if not satisfied.
James
I believe the best course of action for you would to actually go to your 'local' Apple store and try the damn thing out! Many, many forum users have said the screen is absolutely fantastic and would never change it at all. There have been a few queries but it's completely up to the user's personal preference.
I, too am very interested in purchasing the 13" mbp and was 90% sure about buying one. However, because of the which you have stated I'm now juggling between it and the Mac MIni as I'd be able to upgrade to SSD as they have a SATA 2 connection and the normal 3.0 gb/s limit and not the 1.5 gb/s the mbp has :S
I also thought to myself with the money saved I can do worthy upgrades and still have over £300 left over
If I were you I wouldn't buy it this side of your holiday and try to return it when you get back, you would have to pay a restocking fee and it's outside their 2-week policy.
The best thing you can do is go and try one out and see if you either fall in love with the screen or hate it. You therefore know and then there is no need to buy and take back if not satisfied.
James
No, no, no, what I meant was that there are certain models of the Macbook that have that ugly fluorescent display (and I've seen side by side comparisons on the internet). Not ALL of the models have that issue - only the ones with a 9C9F screen.
I totally get what you mean about buying it after my trip, but I really need a computer during the span of the trip if possible - it would make storing/backing up my photos easier, and on-the-fly editing would be great.
My question is this: if I get a computer with a bad display in the end of June, take it to Taiwan for the month of July, and come back to the US in August, can I take the computer to an Apple store to get it replaced/fixed? It would still be within the warranty period, right? Would they service it if I got it from a different vendor?
Thanks so much for your advice, and I look forward to seeing people's responses.
No, no, no, what I meant was that there are certain models of the Macbook that have that ugly fluorescent display (and I've seen side by side comparisons on the internet). Not ALL of the models have that issue - only the ones with a 9C9F screen.
I totally get what you mean about buying it after my trip, but I really need a computer during the span of the trip if possible - it would make storing/backing up my photos easier, and on-the-fly editing would be great.
My question is this: if I get a computer with a bad display in the end of June, take it to Taiwan for the month of July, and come back to the US in August, can I take the computer to an Apple store to get it replaced/fixed? It would still be within the warranty period, right? Would they service it if I got it from a different vendor?
Thanks so much for your advice, and I look forward to seeing people's responses.
Hmm, to be honest the best thing you can do is simply give apple a call. Explain to them your dilemma and ask them if you can return/swap it after a months use.
As for the screen, you'll probably get a screen which looks fantastic anyway. But if you're someone who looks millimeter by millimeter for stuck pixels/washed out/streaks etc then you'll obviously notice these things and it will become annoying. However, if you just look at it and think, wow that really does look nice, it probably is fine the way it is.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=717479
I'm becoming more and more tempted to buy one of these. Maybe even tomorrow
James
Hmm, to be honest the best thing you can do is simply give apple a call. Explain to them your dilemma and ask them if you can return/swap it after a months use.
As for the screen, you'll probably get a screen which looks fantastic anyway. But if you're someone who looks millimeter by millimeter for stuck pixels/washed out/streaks etc then you'll obviously notice these things and it will become annoying. However, if you just look at it and think, wow that really does look nice, it probably is fine the way it is.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=717479
I'm becoming more and more tempted to buy one of these. Maybe even tomorrow
James
Hmm interesting info about returns.
* You are chatting with Rachel R, an Apple Expert
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Hi, my name is Rachel R. Welcome to Apple!
*
Rachel R: Good afternoon.
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Rachel R: Would you like some assistance with your shopping?
*
You: Hi Rachel
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You: I was wondering, I'm hearing things about a Macbook Pro 13" display having "neon like" colors as well as a throttled SATA speed
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You: If I purchase a MBP 13" and an iPod touch 8GB using the back to school promotion
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You: and the MBP 13" turns out to carry those issues mentioned above,
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You: can I take the MBP to a nearby Apple store for an exchange?
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Rachel R: If you purchase it here online, it must be returned online.
*
You: Thanks for the info, and one more quick question
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You: If I buy from an authorized dealer such as MacConnection, and it turns out to have an issue, would I get it serviced at an Apple Store or would I send it back to MacConnection?
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Rachel R: You would call our AppleCare Department and they would handle, as it is under warranty.
*
You: Great, thanks for the information!
im going to taiwan too on the first of july
my 2.0 umb has a hinge that makes cracking sounds who do i address this issue to since i bought this from apple.ca
can any apple store in the world lets taiwan fix it?
Why does there always have to be a catch?
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
Lately its always been you get one thing, but you lose something else. With the last upgrade you gained the cool and lighter unibody form factor, glass trackpad, near dedicated level nvidia graphics, and LED display, but you also ended with with slower CPUs, higher prices, no firewire, and a tiny Mini-Display port that had far fewer connection options than before with no video out nor access to contemporary connections like HDMI for display access/video out (came later third party) or standard displayport. Ironically, while pin compatible, there are still no adapters between mini-DP and standard DP.
With this, you got a lower price, faster CPU, backlit keyboard as standard, 40% better battery life, the return of firewire in FW800, and the long awaited addition of a SD card reader, but for some unknown reason, they seemingly have downgraded from SATA II back to SATA I. The Mini-DP situation is still a bit of a pain with only one very expensive 24" being able to connect natively, but the tiny size has allowed the addition of ports that would would not be there with even Mini-DVI.
Lately its always been you get one thing, but you lose something else. With the last upgrade you gained the cool and lighter unibody form factor, glass trackpad, near dedicated level nvidia graphics, and LED display, but you also ended with with slower CPUs, higher prices, no firewire, and a tiny Mini-Display port that had far fewer connection options than before with no video out nor access to contemporary connections like HDMI for display access/video out (came later third party) or standard displayport. Ironically, while pin compatible, there are still no adapters between mini-DP and standard DP.
With this, you got a lower price, faster CPU, backlit keyboard as standard, 40% better battery life, the return of firewire in FW800, and the long awaited addition of a SD card reader, but for some unknown reason, they seemingly have downgraded from SATA II back to SATA I. The Mini-DP situation is still a bit of a pain with only one very expensive 24" being able to connect natively, but the tiny size has allowed the addition of ports that would would not be there with even Mini-DVI.
Considering you only need about $10 to get either a miniDP-->HDMI or miniDP-->DVI cable, I think the video port tradeoff issue (smaller port provides room for more ports) works to most everyone's advantage. Maybe not for every single Mac user in the world but that kind of universality has never been nor ever will be achieved. Also, the number of people with a miniDP computer who have a monitor that only accepts standard DP could be nearly zero. That might explain why no one has developed a miniDP-->standardDP cable/adapter.
Okay, so I was poised to order a new MBP 13" after hearing they updated the screen to have a 60% greater gamut. (I had previously returned my unibody Macbook last December after not being able to live with the low quality screen; I had loved everything else but it was that intolerable.) The longer battery life of the newer model seemed appealing as well.
However, several things are making me re-think my decision. First of all, I'm hearing stuff about throttled SATA speeds. This has me a little worried, as though I'm going to be getting the base model with the hard drive, I was planning on upgrading in the future to a SSD. Do you guys think this is a hardware issue or a software issue? How big of an issue is it?
Also, another thing that has got me a little bit worried (okay, a LOT worried) is about a display where the blues seem like purple and whatnot. Apparently it "looks like when you turn up that one artificial option in the nVidia control panel", as one forumer stated. What alarms me even more is the fact that someone said they contacted Apple support and they said that it was supposed to look like that and that's what 60% greater color gamut was supposed to look like. What are your thoughts? Do some notebooks have a normal screen while others have that "unnaturally vivid" screen?
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/lapt...09.aspx?page=1
One last thing - I'm most likely boarding a flight to Taiwan in the beginning of July, and I want to be able to have a laptop to carry over there (since I'll be there for a month and I need a computer with a nice display to edit pictures on, as I'm pretty heavy into photography). When Apple announced the new laptops, I naturally thought, "what luck!" and was planning on making the purchase. What are YOUR thoughts about how fast these issues can be fixed? If I buy in June off of, say, eBay, and it turns out the computer has defects such as stated above or other defect(s), can I have the unit repaired by Apple once I return from the trip (mid August) if a fix is out by then?
What would be my course of action if this is what happens (basically tl;dr version of the paragraph directly above):
Buy from eBay
Land a Macbook Pro with a bad screen and/or throttled SATA
Live with the defects and take the computer to Taiwan for a month
Come back, find out Apple has issued a fix
I obviously can't return it to the eBay seller, but how would Apple take care of the problem?
Thank you so much for reading that massive wall of text and I look forward to seeing what you guys think about it.
Get the 2 chip 15 "
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/lapt...09.aspx?page=1