That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
You are assuming that all professional users are in the business of producing documents that need to be transferred on to CDs of some sort for one. Second you are assuming that all clients these days want troublesome optical disks.
For me the problem is pretty clear, I have to carry an external disk every where I go because of the limited internal drive. I seldom use the optical though thus it is a waste of space that could be better used for other things. One of those things is a second storage device.
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons
That's the same reaction people had when Apple got rid of the 3.5" floppy drives.
If Apple were to get rid of the SuperDrive in MBPs, I really wouldn't miss it. I'm a graphic designer and often move large files around, including to clients. There are still many other options for transferring large files. Use an external DVD burner. Copy files to an client's external drive or SD card. Upload files to an FTP site or a site like yousendit.com.
I think the biggest issue would be software installation, which would have to be accomplished via internet download or some kind of USB stick. Buying software on the USB stick would cost $10-15 more than internet download to cover the cost of the stick.
So I really don't think it's that dumb of an idea.
What are the other companies doing so wrong with battery life?!? I read the hate site that is Toms hardware and they had a perfectly objective piece entitled "5 laptops that will destroy the new MacBook Pros" They have a Dell XPS16 system with a 85 Wh battery...it is only RATED at <5 hours. I would guess it would actually last 4. How is Apple halving the competition on power consumption? Most of the specs on the hardware seem the pretty much the same. I am guessing the minor hardware tweaks and the software optimization have to responsible for most of the gains?
Agreed! Using the Superdrive is quite rare for me, too. In fact, if I remember correctly, the last time I did use it, is just as you say...to load software, specifically the Snow Leopard Box Set! And that was two days after it was released. So that was awhile ago! Meanwhile, I've been carrying it around everywhere I go!
I agree ... and i then remembered my old Wall Street Mac Laptop still in a cupboard here. It has a removable CD assembly which can have an additional battery slid in or other various goodies. A similar concept might work again. Simply add nothing for a light MBP or slide in a DVD or additional battery or whatever if needed. The base model could simply have a empty tray.
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
Why a DVD? Why not a USB drive or SD card? There used to be write-once memory cards and thumb drives, but I haven't looked in a long time.
---
What I'm really curious on the WiFi is if they do actually have multiple antennae for 802.11n. Looked like there were extra wires, but hard to tell where they go. I would think you could get pretty good antenna diversity using the hinge or screen and the ports on the left as well.
Under System Preferences » Sharing, the first option is CD/DVD sharing. No need to use Target Disk Mode.
True but target over FW can be a lot faster in my experience. BTW did you see my note regarding Safari issues on your iPad? I could not get the same issue as you did although it was crashing a lot at first until I diid a full reboot. I think it needs a few tweaks such as a manual reset.
What are the other companies doing so wrong with battery life?!? I read the hate site that is Toms hardware and they had a perfectly objective piece entitled "5 laptops that will destroy the new MacBook Pros" They have a Dell XPS16 system with a 85 Wh battery...it is only RATED at <5 hours. I would guess it would actually last 4. How is Apple halving the competition on power consumption? Most of the specs on the hardware seem the pretty much the same. I am guessing the minor hardware tweaks and the software optimization have to responsible for most of the gains?
Any notebook that "destroys" the new MBP will necessarily have to use more powerful components, such as a GTX 285M GPU. Obviously that's a lot faster than the 330M, but it also consumes almost twice as much power. That then requires more cooling, which also requires more power etc etc.
The same way a Ferrari doesn't run on a gallon per 100km, a Volkswagen Polo is not going to beat it on the highway.
I was being sarcastic. None of the notebooks they mention actually beats the Macbook Pro significantly in benchmarks AND none of them have anything approaching the battery life. They tested the Mac in Bootcamp and compared it to PC notebooks. There was one Sony with dual SSDs that beat the Macbook Pro pretty handily but most systems were the same or far behind. I just wanted to compare a PC system you could actually travel with vs. a 15" Macbook. 2 years back I had a ludicrously specced Alienware "notebook". I am not kidding when I say it weighs 30lbs. Oh yeah, and less than an hour battery life, but you could play games like no ones business.
I am trying to make a buy decision and I wanted some data on actual battery life versus claimed battery life. The reviews that I have seen in the last day seem to indicate 5.9 hours-7.9 hours.
1) I think the MBA has its place. The iPad for traveling weighs greatly with consuming not creating. The MBA still makes a lightweight device for travel if you need to do a lot of typing. The next update for the MBA should be the CULV Core-i7, hopefully with 4GB RAM and with a greatly improved battery life. With the 9400M being on par with Intel HD, I would think that is an okay tradeoff as long as the anemic battery duration is increased, and price once again lowered (but not to the foolish sub-MacBook prices some people think it should simply because it's less powerful than a MB).
I agree with you for the most part ? but I think that the MacBook Airs to date have been an absolute fiasco, exactly due to their price point.
what's with the tri-wing screws?! come on apple! one of the reasons of the success of the mac is its devoted user-base, and arguable of particular value are the passionate users that love to take their computers apart and write about the beauty of these machines or customise it by developing software. why try to make life difficult for them instead of encouraging this customisation that makes the mac a better product for everyone.
Don't take you MBP apart. That is a job for a Genius.
The new screws will benefit most users. Most users do not have that screwdriver, and so they will not be tempted to take their MBP apart.
The average Joe would just get into trouble, and void their warranty. If someone doesn't even have access to specialty screwdrivers, they have NO business taking apart a MacBookPro!
I'm glad that Apple uses screws that will not be able to be screwed (pun intended) around with by the average Apple customer!
Yep tri-wing screwdrivers are alot more difficult to find than Torx. I know. My kid fed quarters and paper etc into our Wii's disc drive. Started to open it up and found a bunch of tri-wing screws.
I couldn't find crap locally. I did find a few larger tri-wing bits as part of a "security kit" at Sears. But they were too big. Had to order a small tri-wing screwdriver online.
... and so my conclusion is that Apple doesn't want the average joe to open up their MBP, but would rather have them bring their MBP to the Apple store.
what's with the tri-wing screws?! come on apple! one of the reasons of the success of the mac is its devoted user-base, and arguable of particular value are the passionate users that love to take their computers apart and write about the beauty of these machines or customise it by developing software. why try to make life difficult for them instead of encouraging this customisation that makes the mac a better product for everyone.
i know, we can just get the tri-wing screw driver online and i'm sure that's what many will do, but why send this kind of message to the most loyal users...
but it makes me think that many of us love the mac products for what apple regard as its faults rather than its virtues... and the ipad is perhaps apple addressing those issues by making it even harder to customise the software.
First post? Somehow I doubt it.
Your rant sounds familiar. Perhaps Techstud?
Whoever you are, you've been here before, and you've found a way back. Unfortunately for the rest of us that have to deal with your crap.
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
I was muchly surprised when I walked into the campus computer shop and saw that PARALLELS is carried (as an educational version, 1 year license) on a USB thumbdrive. Interesting, and perhaps a sign of the times...
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
Contracts? Rip a DVD? First of all, speaking of dumb ideas, there are much faster, cheaper and easier ways to send someone a contract than to burn a disc for each file transfer. Secondly, your scenario (assuming this is something you do) would not even begin to apply to the majority. Finally, the exclusion of the internal ODD has no barring on one's ability to use an ODD.
Mark my words, the ODD is going away as it's the biggest hold up for the advancement of modern notebooks. I assume the only thing holding it from being tossed is the cost of NAND.
Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalclips
True but target over FW can be a lot faster in my experience. BTW did you see my note regarding Safari issues on your iPad? I could not get the same issue as you did although it was crashing a lot at first until I diid a full reboot. I think it needs a few tweaks such as a manual reset.
No, I didn't read your note. I went to check out the new MBPs earlier this week and I took a video of the iPad doing exactly what I had an issue with. I did the video with only one iPad after I tested it on several.
How did you test it? I opened up 8 pages in Safari. Not mobile sites, but full sites. Nothing else was running and then I switched between pages. nearly every time the page would reload.
Segue.... To use TDM you need ANOTHER Mac that has FW so you need to have a FW cable that fits both machines. This is NOT the best method for repairing a bad drive in another machine. The method I use is the one that Apple Store "Geniuses" use and the one that Apple opened their systems to with Snow Leopard is much simpler, easier, and faster that TDM for disk repairs.
All you do is hold down the Option Key at start up to get any number of drives to boot from. I have put a boot partition on my internal drive, my external Time Machine drive and made an SD card a boot drive, all from Disk Utility. Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Messiah
I agree with you for the most part ? but I think that the MacBook Airs to date have been an absolute fiasco, exactly due to their price point.
I know several people that love it. I'd bet Apple sold more MBAs than other vendors sell of their tailored, premium machines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Onhka
Your rant sounds familiar. Perhaps Techstud?
If anybody, it's one of the other ones. Techstud isn't so good at forming full sentences and creating paragraphs. This new poster can write out a thought. MacTripper or iGenius are more likely, IMO.
All you do is hold down the Option Key at start up to get any number of drives to boot from. I have put a boot partition on my internal drive, my external Time Machine drive and made an SD card a boot drive, all from Disk Utility. Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.
Hey soli, what fs did you use for the external boot drive on the sd card? I was thinking of getting an os+applications clone with superduper and using a flash usb to put it on, but I was thinking hfs+ being journaled will give a big hit to the flash, of course there's no other option really.
I agree ... and i then remembered my old Wall Street Mac Laptop still in a cupboard here. It has a removable CD assembly which can have an additional battery slid in or other various goodies. A similar concept might work again. Simply add nothing for a light MBP or slide in a DVD or additional battery or whatever if needed. The base model could simply have a empty tray.
Apple doesn't want you messing around with batteries. It is dangerous, and you have to have an external charger, not to mention that mechanical removable components can break easily if mishandled.
I personally don't mind the dvd drive as I work with big files. Backing up to an optical disc is still convenient for me. I like discs for a physical back up that is off site that I have control over, not in the cloud.
Ah damn. Now I can't use my outdated Torx screwdriver to break open the case anymore. Seriously though, wonder why they stopped using Torx in favor of Tri-wing?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingbird82
what's with the tri-wing screws?! come on apple! one of the reasons of the success of the mac is its devoted user-base, and arguable of particular value are the passionate users that love to take their computers apart and write about the beauty of these machines or customise it by developing software. why try to make life difficult for them instead of encouraging this customisation that makes the mac a better product for everyone.
i know, we can just get the tri-wing screw driver online and i'm sure that's what many will do, but why send this kind of message to the most loyal users...
but it makes me think that many of us love the mac products for what apple regard as its faults rather than its virtues... and the ipad is perhaps apple addressing those issues by making it even harder to customise the software.
I ordered a new MBP but I don't have it yet, but the original article said the Tri-Wings were replacing Torx - so are the screws on the bottom cover remaining Phillips? The only Torx I've had to monkey with on the unibodys are on the hard drive, (which incidentally you can get those off with pliers in a pinch as the head is exposed).
I'm curious why they moved to Tri-Wing, I doubt it would be for security reasons, as it's such a commonly available driver style, it would be inneffective at preventing much. Rather I suspect it may be done to avoid over-torqing, or stripping; I think Tri-Wing screw heads have an angled pocket so the driver will cam-out when you apply too much torque, yet they have a flat back so when you are removing them there is no cam action.
Comments
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
You are assuming that all professional users are in the business of producing documents that need to be transferred on to CDs of some sort for one. Second you are assuming that all clients these days want troublesome optical disks.
For me the problem is pretty clear, I have to carry an external disk every where I go because of the limited internal drive. I seldom use the optical though thus it is a waste of space that could be better used for other things. One of those things is a second storage device.
Dave
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons
That's the same reaction people had when Apple got rid of the 3.5" floppy drives.
If Apple were to get rid of the SuperDrive in MBPs, I really wouldn't miss it. I'm a graphic designer and often move large files around, including to clients. There are still many other options for transferring large files. Use an external DVD burner. Copy files to an client's external drive or SD card. Upload files to an FTP site or a site like yousendit.com.
I think the biggest issue would be software installation, which would have to be accomplished via internet download or some kind of USB stick. Buying software on the USB stick would cost $10-15 more than internet download to cover the cost of the stick.
So I really don't think it's that dumb of an idea.
Agreed! Using the Superdrive is quite rare for me, too. In fact, if I remember correctly, the last time I did use it, is just as you say...to load software, specifically the Snow Leopard Box Set! And that was two days after it was released. So that was awhile ago! Meanwhile, I've been carrying it around everywhere I go!
I agree ... and i then remembered my old Wall Street Mac Laptop still in a cupboard here. It has a removable CD assembly which can have an additional battery slid in or other various goodies. A similar concept might work again. Simply add nothing for a light MBP or slide in a DVD or additional battery or whatever if needed. The base model could simply have a empty tray.
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
Why a DVD? Why not a USB drive or SD card? There used to be write-once memory cards and thumb drives, but I haven't looked in a long time.
---
What I'm really curious on the WiFi is if they do actually have multiple antennae for 802.11n. Looked like there were extra wires, but hard to tell where they go. I would think you could get pretty good antenna diversity using the hinge or screen and the ports on the left as well.
Under System Preferences » Sharing, the first option is CD/DVD sharing. No need to use Target Disk Mode.
True but target over FW can be a lot faster in my experience. BTW did you see my note regarding Safari issues on your iPad? I could not get the same issue as you did although it was crashing a lot at first until I diid a full reboot. I think it needs a few tweaks such as a manual reset.
What are the other companies doing so wrong with battery life?!? I read the hate site that is Toms hardware and they had a perfectly objective piece entitled "5 laptops that will destroy the new MacBook Pros" They have a Dell XPS16 system with a 85 Wh battery...it is only RATED at <5 hours. I would guess it would actually last 4. How is Apple halving the competition on power consumption? Most of the specs on the hardware seem the pretty much the same. I am guessing the minor hardware tweaks and the software optimization have to responsible for most of the gains?
Any notebook that "destroys" the new MBP will necessarily have to use more powerful components, such as a GTX 285M GPU. Obviously that's a lot faster than the 330M, but it also consumes almost twice as much power. That then requires more cooling, which also requires more power etc etc.
The same way a Ferrari doesn't run on a gallon per 100km, a Volkswagen Polo is not going to beat it on the highway.
I am trying to make a buy decision and I wanted some data on actual battery life versus claimed battery life. The reviews that I have seen in the last day seem to indicate 5.9 hours-7.9 hours.
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/lapt...h-core-i7.aspx
As to your analogy...I would put the MacBook more in the Ferrari category and it seems to be getting that 100km/gallon (battery life)
1) I think the MBA has its place. The iPad for traveling weighs greatly with consuming not creating. The MBA still makes a lightweight device for travel if you need to do a lot of typing. The next update for the MBA should be the CULV Core-i7, hopefully with 4GB RAM and with a greatly improved battery life. With the 9400M being on par with Intel HD, I would think that is an okay tradeoff as long as the anemic battery duration is increased, and price once again lowered (but not to the foolish sub-MacBook prices some people think it should simply because it's less powerful than a MB).
I agree with you for the most part ? but I think that the MacBook Airs to date have been an absolute fiasco, exactly due to their price point.
what's with the tri-wing screws?! come on apple! one of the reasons of the success of the mac is its devoted user-base, and arguable of particular value are the passionate users that love to take their computers apart and write about the beauty of these machines or customise it by developing software. why try to make life difficult for them instead of encouraging this customisation that makes the mac a better product for everyone.
Don't take you MBP apart. That is a job for a Genius.
The new screws will benefit most users. Most users do not have that screwdriver, and so they will not be tempted to take their MBP apart.
The average Joe would just get into trouble, and void their warranty. If someone doesn't even have access to specialty screwdrivers, they have NO business taking apart a MacBookPro!
I'm glad that Apple uses screws that will not be able to be screwed (pun intended) around with by the average Apple customer!
I couldn't find crap locally. I did find a few larger tri-wing bits as part of a "security kit" at Sears. But they were too big. Had to order a small tri-wing screwdriver online.
... and so my conclusion is that Apple doesn't want the average joe to open up their MBP, but would rather have them bring their MBP to the Apple store.
what's with the tri-wing screws?! come on apple! one of the reasons of the success of the mac is its devoted user-base, and arguable of particular value are the passionate users that love to take their computers apart and write about the beauty of these machines or customise it by developing software. why try to make life difficult for them instead of encouraging this customisation that makes the mac a better product for everyone.
i know, we can just get the tri-wing screw driver online and i'm sure that's what many will do, but why send this kind of message to the most loyal users...
but it makes me think that many of us love the mac products for what apple regard as its faults rather than its virtues... and the ipad is perhaps apple addressing those issues by making it even harder to customise the software.
First post? Somehow I doubt it.
Your rant sounds familiar. Perhaps Techstud?
Whoever you are, you've been here before, and you've found a way back. Unfortunately for the rest of us that have to deal with your crap.
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
I was muchly surprised when I walked into the campus computer shop and saw that PARALLELS is carried (as an educational version, 1 year license) on a USB thumbdrive. Interesting, and perhaps a sign of the times...
I agree with you for the most part ? but I think that the MacBook Airs to date have been an absolute fiasco, exactly due to their price point.
It's the G4 Cube of this decade...
I agree with you for the most part ? but I think that the MacBook Airs to date have been an absolute fiasco, exactly due to their price point.
I think its important to note that the MBA seem to be like a beta test for both unibody and integrated battery model MBP.
Now it has to, like that poster mentioned, be more than that because of your point - the price.
That's the dumbest idea I can think of for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the ability to rip a DVD and give a client a copy of their finished contract work.
Contracts? Rip a DVD? First of all, speaking of dumb ideas, there are much faster, cheaper and easier ways to send someone a contract than to burn a disc for each file transfer. Secondly, your scenario (assuming this is something you do) would not even begin to apply to the majority. Finally, the exclusion of the internal ODD has no barring on one's ability to use an ODD.
Mark my words, the ODD is going away as it's the biggest hold up for the advancement of modern notebooks. I assume the only thing holding it from being tossed is the cost of NAND.
True but target over FW can be a lot faster in my experience. BTW did you see my note regarding Safari issues on your iPad? I could not get the same issue as you did although it was crashing a lot at first until I diid a full reboot. I think it needs a few tweaks such as a manual reset.
No, I didn't read your note. I went to check out the new MBPs earlier this week and I took a video of the iPad doing exactly what I had an issue with. I did the video with only one iPad after I tested it on several.
How did you test it? I opened up 8 pages in Safari. Not mobile sites, but full sites. Nothing else was running and then I switched between pages. nearly every time the page would reload.
Segue.... To use TDM you need ANOTHER Mac that has FW so you need to have a FW cable that fits both machines. This is NOT the best method for repairing a bad drive in another machine. The method I use is the one that Apple Store "Geniuses" use and the one that Apple opened their systems to with Snow Leopard is much simpler, easier, and faster that TDM for disk repairs.
All you do is hold down the Option Key at start up to get any number of drives to boot from. I have put a boot partition on my internal drive, my external Time Machine drive and made an SD card a boot drive, all from Disk Utility. Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.
I agree with you for the most part ? but I think that the MacBook Airs to date have been an absolute fiasco, exactly due to their price point.
I know several people that love it. I'd bet Apple sold more MBAs than other vendors sell of their tailored, premium machines.
Your rant sounds familiar. Perhaps Techstud?
If anybody, it's one of the other ones. Techstud isn't so good at forming full sentences and creating paragraphs. This new poster can write out a thought. MacTripper or iGenius are more likely, IMO.
All you do is hold down the Option Key at start up to get any number of drives to boot from. I have put a boot partition on my internal drive, my external Time Machine drive and made an SD card a boot drive, all from Disk Utility. Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.
Hey soli, what fs did you use for the external boot drive on the sd card? I was thinking of getting an os+applications clone with superduper and using a flash usb to put it on, but I was thinking hfs+ being journaled will give a big hit to the flash, of course there's no other option really.
I agree ... and i then remembered my old Wall Street Mac Laptop still in a cupboard here. It has a removable CD assembly which can have an additional battery slid in or other various goodies. A similar concept might work again. Simply add nothing for a light MBP or slide in a DVD or additional battery or whatever if needed. The base model could simply have a empty tray.
Apple doesn't want you messing around with batteries. It is dangerous, and you have to have an external charger, not to mention that mechanical removable components can break easily if mishandled.
I personally don't mind the dvd drive as I work with big files. Backing up to an optical disc is still convenient for me. I like discs for a physical back up that is off site that I have control over, not in the cloud.
Ah damn. Now I can't use my outdated Torx screwdriver to break open the case anymore. Seriously though, wonder why they stopped using Torx in favor of Tri-wing?
what's with the tri-wing screws?! come on apple! one of the reasons of the success of the mac is its devoted user-base, and arguable of particular value are the passionate users that love to take their computers apart and write about the beauty of these machines or customise it by developing software. why try to make life difficult for them instead of encouraging this customisation that makes the mac a better product for everyone.
i know, we can just get the tri-wing screw driver online and i'm sure that's what many will do, but why send this kind of message to the most loyal users...
but it makes me think that many of us love the mac products for what apple regard as its faults rather than its virtues... and the ipad is perhaps apple addressing those issues by making it even harder to customise the software.
I ordered a new MBP but I don't have it yet, but the original article said the Tri-Wings were replacing Torx - so are the screws on the bottom cover remaining Phillips? The only Torx I've had to monkey with on the unibodys are on the hard drive, (which incidentally you can get those off with pliers in a pinch as the head is exposed).
I'm curious why they moved to Tri-Wing, I doubt it would be for security reasons, as it's such a commonly available driver style, it would be inneffective at preventing much. Rather I suspect it may be done to avoid over-torqing, or stripping; I think Tri-Wing screw heads have an angled pocket so the driver will cam-out when you apply too much torque, yet they have a flat back so when you are removing them there is no cam action.
Rob