Apple's pro laptops SUCK. I have gone through numerous Apple pro laptops over the years. Getting one that's defect-free is like a 1 in 10 proposition. Picture of my current Core2 Duo MacBook Pro:
The image was taken with the isight of another Mac. The unevenness of the back light is deplorable.
The wireless reception on the new MBP sucks too. I tested it and it's horrible. Whereas the MacBook Pro that I have from work with a CoreDuo in it gets 3.5Mbps with my ISP, the new C2D MBP gets 1.98Mbps. Whatever the reading is, it's always slower than the older CD MacBook Pro model I have from work.
Why I keep buying Apple's pro-line notebook is a mystery. I get one almost every revision in the hopes the Apple has finally worked out all of the bugs....and getting a good one that I can actually use without some major fault. Either I have extremely poor luck or this is the way of the world with these notebooks. In February I got the first MacBook Pro purchased personally. Of course it had the blown right speaker and randomly shutoff. In May I bought the 17-inch MacBook Pro thinking Apple was having problems exclusive to the 15-inch model. Well, not only did I experience that now infamous processor whine everyone was talking about, but my MacBook Pro display was unevenly lit. Even though the MacBook Pro was brighter in comparison to my 17-inch PowerBook it looked like someone shit on the screen.
Going back I have had numerous technical problems with the 17-inch PowerBooks in a thread that posted here a few years ago. And I can go back to three defective 15-inch PowerBooks.
Meanwhile, I have not personally experienced a problem with Apple's desktops. They have been rock solid.
So the value proposition to anyone reading this thread is why bother buy a MacBook Pro? They are incredibly fragile, poorly manufactured pieces of shit. I work for a school as the network administrator and this has got to be buy-and-far the most defect ridden computer. BUYER BEWARE!
I've owned basically every 17" portable Apple has sold, upgrading about once a year, and I agree with this sentiment.
Starting in the last generation of the PB line, the screen backlighting went to the toilet.
Heat, noise, and build issues are now a major problem.
Bad luck? Hardly?
My company buys about 50 Macs a year. My CTO comments all of the time that Apple quality is sliding at an alarming rate. Poorly built products get sent to AppleCare and then returned as "within spec."
I am a Mac guy through and through. But I have started wondering what my alternative would be if this quality slide continues. Sure, it's better than Windows. But could a day come whn I buy Linux on some hardware that is simply better than Apple.
I got my 17" C2D tonight. I would normally enjoy the experience of a new Apple product. But the quality issues are so bad now, it was a stressful experience as I worried about heat, noise, uneven build, and uneven backlighting.
Apple really needs to get their act together. They have worked so hard to turn around a dying company and become the leaders of the industry. To throw it all away now by building a reputation for having poor quality would be tragic.
I've owned basically every 17" portable Apple has sold, upgrading about once a year, and I agree with this sentiment.
Starting in the last generation of the PB line, the screen backlighting went to the toilet.
Heat, noise, and build issues are now a major problem.
Bad luck? Hardly?
My company buys about 50 Macs a year. My CTO comments all of the time that Apple quality is sliding at an alarming rate. Poorly built products get sent to AppleCare and then returned as "within spec."
I am a Mac guy through and through. But I have started wondering what my alternative would be if this quality slide continues. Sure, it's better than Windows. But could a day come whn I buy Linux on some hardware that is simply better than Apple.
I got my 17" C2D tonight. I would normally enjoy the experience of a new Apple product. But the quality issues are so bad now, it was a stressful experience as I worried about heat, noise, uneven build, and uneven backlighting.
Apple really needs to get their act together. They have worked so hard to turn around a dying company and become the leaders of the industry. To throw it all away now by building a reputation for having poor quality would be tragic.
I agree. I'm to the point that if Apple screws me over this time around I will seriously be looking into some other hardware. I love Mac OS X, but there's only so many times a company can screw me over before I look elsewhere.
Wow, you guys have some anomalous experiences. My screen is nowhere near that uneven. Nor, does it have that reported pronounced glitter effect. Bummer, take it back.
Wow, you guys have some anomalous experiences. My screen is nowhere near that uneven. Nor, does it have that reported pronounced glitter effect. Bummer, take it back.
Unfortunately, there is nothing anomalous about my experience. When I owned the original Core Duo MBP, I went through four of them, and they all had backlight issues. When the Apple Store said they wouldn't give me another one, luckily it developed large pixel anomalies and I sent it into AppleCare and finally got a damn near perfect screen. I made the mistake of selling it to upgrade to a C2D and got screwed again. These things cost too much money to have such poor screen quality.
Wonder how mine will be... I had the 1.33 17" which is the best mac I had. Dont know why but I bought the 1.67 high res 17". The screen is perfect but I had the keyboard and topcase replaced, but its stil a bit uneaven... just 1mm, so Apple Care claims its perfect. I will inspect the new c2d 17" and if I find just a small thing I will send it back, and claim a new one. I will continue until they give me a perfect one, but I expect it to be good from the start.
I am a bit of a laptop novice, I have used many friend's macs over the last 10 years and a few pcs and I really love the macs os and design.
I am now looking to buy a top end laptop for graphic work and some 3d work and have waited for the c2d mbp to present any problems before I buy.
I have also been looking at pc equivalents which seem to have some advantages, like more dedicated graphics memory and some disadvantages in the same price range, overall the mbp still looks like a good deal.
I am having a real trouble making my mind up as this is a lot of money for me to spend.
So, my question is, are non-mac laptops as likely to present similar problems? Or will a more bulky, less physically attractive machine, have a better chance of running smoother?
I am a bit of a laptop novice, I have used many friend's macs over the last 10 years and a few pcs and I really love the macs os and design.
I am now looking to buy a top end laptop for graphic work and some 3d work and have waited for the c2d mbp to present any problems before I buy.
I have also been looking at pc equivalents which seem to have some advantages, like more dedicated graphics memory and some disadvantages in the same price range, overall the mbp still looks like a good deal.
I am having a real trouble making my mind up as this is a lot of money for me to spend.
So, my question is, are non-mac laptops as likely to present similar problems? Or will a more bulky, less physically attractive machine, have a better chance of running smoother?
Any experience much appreciated...
I think you'll find similar problems with the other vendors. I have read the posts that Battles, BWhaler and Hagan have reported and I can't dispute their experiences. However right next to my MBP here at work is a Compac laptop that has and unven keyboard and a tray optical drive on it's last leg. The screen seems ok but it gets hot (it's got a p4 chip in it). In other words, most of the problems that people are having with their MBP can and do happen with pc laptops as well.
I finally! got my mbp c2d today. After a long and agonizing wait, first it was sitting around in a warehouse in pudong for 3 days, then it spent an extra day in Amsterdam, on top of that, those idiots at tnt delivered to the wrong adress and I had to wait even longer for them to sort that out. Jeesh.
So, that being said. So far it's flawless, buuuut it's only the first day.
Straight outta the box, the ddddddddd key kept typing even when not touched, no matter what adjustments I attempted.
The apple store simply put on a new one, and now everything is perfect! Great machine -- I'm glad that I held out for the Core 2 version.
I suspect that if Apple is having some quality issues, the other vendors are going to get it worse. There's just so much demand right now for all the manufacturers.
By the way after four trips to the Apple Store were I bought it, and to the Genius Bar, I finally called AppleCare and got some helpful souls who felt my frustration. I ended up talking to Customer Relations who called the store where I returned it and got a full refund.
But my personal take from what I have personally experienced is that the MacBook's design is head and shoulders better than that of the MacBook Pro. Yeah the MacBook's have had their share of growing pains too, like random shutoffs, heat, etc. but I think its design is superior; the displays don't have any of the problems that the MacBook Pro have. I think Apple really needs to ditch the MacBook Pro's design...and QUICK.
Just got mine last night (low-end model). No problems except that the delete key sticks if I hit it too hard. But I'll take it to the store next week and hopefully all will be well. Screen seems fine, though I don't think I'd be able to notice if the basklight was uneven.
I just got my new MBP a few days ago. It was pretty flawless for the first few days until I started seeing slight subtleties in the design. Keep in mind, this is my absolute first apple computer. In any case, the "S" key on the keyboard gets stuck if I push it too hard, and the casing is a bit screwed. That is, right above the optical drive, it doesn't look attached fully. It is a little detached or something; it's pretty hard to explain, but I'm headed to the apple store tomorrow, and hopefully all will be well. Everything else is superb though!
Everything is great with mine, with the sole exception of a slightly funky trackpad behavior, wherein the cursor freezes from time to time unless you keep the "ignore accidental trackpad input" unchecked, which means you have to be a little careful while typing.
No big deal, I've quickly adapted, but a I hope Apple issues some kind of update to even things out.
The latch button on mine just got stuck today. It won't pop out so its flush with the base anymore. Only one latch has the ability to catch. Time to bring it in.
I hate to bump this thread, but I think it's only fair to post a follow-up.
I work for a K-12 school district that is heavy Mac. I have been doing the buying, so I am partially responsible
Anyway, since I posted about my bad MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo experience back in mid-November, I have had to purchase a few MacBook Pros very recently.
Q.C. seems to be better. I wouldn't call the displays fantastic. But the two 15-inchers I have received seem to be much more evenly backlit than the one that I got in November. They are still slightly darker on the right side than the left. But mine was just plain horrific to look at and I can't say that about the two that arrived this week.
I also purchased a 17-inch MBP and while the lighting is pretty uniform, there is a little light leakage along the bottom, and it seems to have a narrow horizontal viewing angle. So I brought the 17-inch MBP home and used it until the battery was drained and now have it sleep mode for calibration. During the 1 hour 1/2 I used it, I didn't even really get warm. Of course I wasn't doing much. I contemplated throwing Handrake on it and doing an encode, but I just couldn't waste that time since I wanted to calibrate the battery tonight. Speakers sounded great. Pretty decent for a notebook.
So in summary, the overall build quality of all 3 MacBook Pros seems to be good right now. If you're not *incredibly* fussy over the screen I think you will like what is out now. I think Apple has worked through a lot of their kinks. (Of course, the real irony here is that this is probably close to the end of this design. It has been around for 4 years. The real change is coming with LED backlighting, HD resolution display (thanks to Leopard Resolution Independence), Robson caching technology, and of course the new 800FSB coming this spring from Intel. Good times now, better times lie ahead. )
Comments
/whew
Apple's pro laptops SUCK. I have gone through numerous Apple pro laptops over the years. Getting one that's defect-free is like a 1 in 10 proposition. Picture of my current Core2 Duo MacBook Pro:
The image was taken with the isight of another Mac. The unevenness of the back light is deplorable.
The wireless reception on the new MBP sucks too. I tested it and it's horrible. Whereas the MacBook Pro that I have from work with a CoreDuo in it gets 3.5Mbps with my ISP, the new C2D MBP gets 1.98Mbps. Whatever the reading is, it's always slower than the older CD MacBook Pro model I have from work.
Why I keep buying Apple's pro-line notebook is a mystery. I get one almost every revision in the hopes the Apple has finally worked out all of the bugs....and getting a good one that I can actually use without some major fault. Either I have extremely poor luck or this is the way of the world with these notebooks. In February I got the first MacBook Pro purchased personally. Of course it had the blown right speaker and randomly shutoff. In May I bought the 17-inch MacBook Pro thinking Apple was having problems exclusive to the 15-inch model. Well, not only did I experience that now infamous processor whine everyone was talking about, but my MacBook Pro display was unevenly lit. Even though the MacBook Pro was brighter in comparison to my 17-inch PowerBook it looked like someone shit on the screen.
Going back I have had numerous technical problems with the 17-inch PowerBooks in a thread that posted here a few years ago. And I can go back to three defective 15-inch PowerBooks.
Meanwhile, I have not personally experienced a problem with Apple's desktops. They have been rock solid.
So the value proposition to anyone reading this thread is why bother buy a MacBook Pro? They are incredibly fragile, poorly manufactured pieces of shit. I work for a school as the network administrator and this has got to be buy-and-far the most defect ridden computer. BUYER BEWARE!
I've owned basically every 17" portable Apple has sold, upgrading about once a year, and I agree with this sentiment.
Starting in the last generation of the PB line, the screen backlighting went to the toilet.
Heat, noise, and build issues are now a major problem.
Bad luck? Hardly?
My company buys about 50 Macs a year. My CTO comments all of the time that Apple quality is sliding at an alarming rate. Poorly built products get sent to AppleCare and then returned as "within spec."
I am a Mac guy through and through. But I have started wondering what my alternative would be if this quality slide continues. Sure, it's better than Windows. But could a day come whn I buy Linux on some hardware that is simply better than Apple.
I got my 17" C2D tonight. I would normally enjoy the experience of a new Apple product. But the quality issues are so bad now, it was a stressful experience as I worried about heat, noise, uneven build, and uneven backlighting.
Apple really needs to get their act together. They have worked so hard to turn around a dying company and become the leaders of the industry. To throw it all away now by building a reputation for having poor quality would be tragic.
I've owned basically every 17" portable Apple has sold, upgrading about once a year, and I agree with this sentiment.
Starting in the last generation of the PB line, the screen backlighting went to the toilet.
Heat, noise, and build issues are now a major problem.
Bad luck? Hardly?
My company buys about 50 Macs a year. My CTO comments all of the time that Apple quality is sliding at an alarming rate. Poorly built products get sent to AppleCare and then returned as "within spec."
I am a Mac guy through and through. But I have started wondering what my alternative would be if this quality slide continues. Sure, it's better than Windows. But could a day come whn I buy Linux on some hardware that is simply better than Apple.
I got my 17" C2D tonight. I would normally enjoy the experience of a new Apple product. But the quality issues are so bad now, it was a stressful experience as I worried about heat, noise, uneven build, and uneven backlighting.
Apple really needs to get their act together. They have worked so hard to turn around a dying company and become the leaders of the industry. To throw it all away now by building a reputation for having poor quality would be tragic.
I agree. I'm to the point that if Apple screws me over this time around I will seriously be looking into some other hardware. I love Mac OS X, but there's only so many times a company can screw me over before I look elsewhere.
Wow, you guys have some anomalous experiences. My screen is nowhere near that uneven. Nor, does it have that reported pronounced glitter effect. Bummer, take it back.
Unfortunately, there is nothing anomalous about my experience. When I owned the original Core Duo MBP, I went through four of them, and they all had backlight issues. When the Apple Store said they wouldn't give me another one, luckily it developed large pixel anomalies and I sent it into AppleCare and finally got a damn near perfect screen. I made the mistake of selling it to upgrade to a C2D and got screwed again. These things cost too much money to have such poor screen quality.
I am now looking to buy a top end laptop for graphic work and some 3d work and have waited for the c2d mbp to present any problems before I buy.
I have also been looking at pc equivalents which seem to have some advantages, like more dedicated graphics memory and some disadvantages in the same price range, overall the mbp still looks like a good deal.
I am having a real trouble making my mind up as this is a lot of money for me to spend.
So, my question is, are non-mac laptops as likely to present similar problems? Or will a more bulky, less physically attractive machine, have a better chance of running smoother?
Any experience much appreciated...
I am a bit of a laptop novice, I have used many friend's macs over the last 10 years and a few pcs and I really love the macs os and design.
I am now looking to buy a top end laptop for graphic work and some 3d work and have waited for the c2d mbp to present any problems before I buy.
I have also been looking at pc equivalents which seem to have some advantages, like more dedicated graphics memory and some disadvantages in the same price range, overall the mbp still looks like a good deal.
I am having a real trouble making my mind up as this is a lot of money for me to spend.
So, my question is, are non-mac laptops as likely to present similar problems? Or will a more bulky, less physically attractive machine, have a better chance of running smoother?
Any experience much appreciated...
I think you'll find similar problems with the other vendors. I have read the posts that Battles, BWhaler and Hagan have reported and I can't dispute their experiences. However right next to my MBP here at work is a Compac laptop that has and unven keyboard and a tray optical drive on it's last leg. The screen seems ok but it gets hot (it's got a p4 chip in it). In other words, most of the problems that people are having with their MBP can and do happen with pc laptops as well.
So, that being said. So far it's flawless, buuuut it's only the first day.
Oh, and it doesn't get too warm at all....yet
The apple store simply put on a new one, and now everything is perfect! Great machine -- I'm glad that I held out for the Core 2 version.
I suspect that if Apple is having some quality issues, the other vendors are going to get it worse. There's just so much demand right now for all the manufacturers.
By the way after four trips to the Apple Store were I bought it, and to the Genius Bar, I finally called AppleCare and got some helpful souls who felt my frustration. I ended up talking to Customer Relations who called the store where I returned it and got a full refund.
But my personal take from what I have personally experienced is that the MacBook's design is head and shoulders better than that of the MacBook Pro. Yeah the MacBook's have had their share of growing pains too, like random shutoffs, heat, etc. but I think its design is superior; the displays don't have any of the problems that the MacBook Pro have. I think Apple really needs to ditch the MacBook Pro's design...and QUICK.
No big deal, I've quickly adapted, but a I hope Apple issues some kind of update to even things out.
Other than that, man I am digging this machine.
Does anyone's superdrive make a slightly disconcerting 'clicking' noise as they insert or eject a CD? Thanks
Yep. A couple of pretty loud clicks that sort of sounds like stuff's breaking in there. I think it's just the nature of the low profile DVD burner.
Does anyone's superdrive make a slightly disconcerting 'clicking' noise as they insert or eject a CD? Thanks
Yes, as far as I know this is normal.
I work for a K-12 school district that is heavy Mac. I have been doing the buying, so I am partially responsible
Anyway, since I posted about my bad MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo experience back in mid-November, I have had to purchase a few MacBook Pros very recently.
Q.C. seems to be better. I wouldn't call the displays fantastic. But the two 15-inchers I have received seem to be much more evenly backlit than the one that I got in November. They are still slightly darker on the right side than the left. But mine was just plain horrific to look at and I can't say that about the two that arrived this week.
I also purchased a 17-inch MBP and while the lighting is pretty uniform, there is a little light leakage along the bottom, and it seems to have a narrow horizontal viewing angle. So I brought the 17-inch MBP home and used it until the battery was drained and now have it sleep mode for calibration. During the 1 hour 1/2 I used it, I didn't even really get warm. Of course I wasn't doing much. I contemplated throwing Handrake on it and doing an encode, but I just couldn't waste that time since I wanted to calibrate the battery tonight. Speakers sounded great. Pretty decent for a notebook.
So in summary, the overall build quality of all 3 MacBook Pros seems to be good right now. If you're not *incredibly* fussy over the screen I think you will like what is out now. I think Apple has worked through a lot of their kinks. (Of course, the real irony here is that this is probably close to the end of this design. It has been around for 4 years. The real change is coming with LED backlighting, HD resolution display (thanks to Leopard Resolution Independence), Robson caching technology, and of course the new 800FSB coming this spring from Intel. Good times now, better times lie ahead.
Hope this helps you fence-straddlers!
my first mac too!
though i do agree in that the models in the shops now look better than before.