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May 12, 2006
REVIEW: MacBook Pro 17-inch
I replaced my 17" PowerBook (1GHz) with a 17" MacBook Pro. After half a day with the MacBook Pro, I've got almost all good things to say about my new machine (so far).
The one downside is the heat when it is plugged in and set at "Better Performance" it is almost untouchable on the bottom. I was installing all of my applications and copying my files over from my LaCie Big Disk (FW 800) and sitting wide-eyed at the speed at which my iTunes library came over when I decided to check on the heat.
My hands are usually heat-proof pulling things from the toaster/microwave, etc., but this was a whole new level of heat! I must say that it cooled down VERY quickly when I unplugged the ultra-cool safe-mag adapter. It runs very nicely and even what I would call cool on the normal setting.
Another small negative is that if you're using a light colored screen background, you can see a halo in both bottom corners from the backlight. This goes away with a darker background.
Upsides are speed and everything else. Application launch/relaunch is slightly faster on some apps, and slightly slower on others. As the new versions arrive, we all know that'll be just fine. Apple apps like iTunes and iPhoto launch BEFORE the icon on the dock comes down from its single bounce!
The screen has a "sheen" to it that makes blacks look blacker and of course the brightness makes everything look better! For the first time, I had to use the ambient light setting because it was actually hurting my eyes last night after my wife turned out the lights (Yes, I had the machine in bed with me). Speaking of it sitting on the bed, it still did not build up too much heat. I have heard no fan or processor whine, and it really seems to have cured all of the early problems with the 15" machines.
The speakers are different for sure. I don't need my external speakers for iTunes.
Boot Camp installation of Windows XP Pro went just fine. I am running a little shareware program to use control-clicking for right click. I am thinking of setting up an applescript to dismount the second drive on startup of the Mac OS side, but no complaints there.
Contributed by: Bob Fish
Posted by PowerPage Contributor at May 12, 2006 9:36 AM
Category: MacBook Pro
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Comments
Hey - what is the shareware on XP that you're using to re-map the control-click?
Ta,
john
Posted by: John Cleary at May 12, 2006 1:12 PM
I just got a 15" Macbook Pro and returned it the same day. The fan on the left side (shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) never shuts off. And since it comes from the left side, it makes my head sort of lopsided. (like listening to headphones with only one side working) In the past 6 or 7 years I've grown accustomed to quiet laptops, and this one was just too loud. I called Apple, who told me that its normal because of the faster processor. Indeed. We heard this every time a new processor comes out, only to be resolved in the next revision (or by an other box maker) (Talk to Zalman or somebody like that - maybe they can help you out, Apple). I put it next to my Powerbook 1.5 Aluminum, and it drowned it out. Perhaps they think that everyone is just going to be jamming out on the RHCP in iTunes and won't hear it, but some of us venture away from iLife sometimes, and need to concentrate. There's enough mechanical noise pollution around - don't want to add to it on my desk.
Posted by: Hugh at May 13, 2006 7:38 AM
Everything I read in reviews and comments (here and elsewhere) about the Macbook Pros makes me happy about having the last 17" G4.
Posted by: AppleZilla at May 14, 2006 1:14 PM
I can't hear a thing on my 17", and I've been known to be able to hear a mouse break wind in the next office. Maybe there is a newer motherboard revision in the 17".
The mouse program is this one:
Posted by: Bob Fish ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.powerpage.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 14, 2006 9:37 PM
I just got the new 17" MacBook Pro. It is great... however I hear the fan kick in as it is going in to hibernate/standby mode. I have yet to hear it when I'm using it. And the fan runs until I tap the spacebar/press the power button. Since this is my first time back on a Mac in over 15 years... I wanted to make sure it wasn't me!
Posted by: D. Miller at May 16, 2006 4:56 PM
I am so glad that the "Fan noise" is solved in the 17" model. I really don't see, however, why everyone is up in arms about this issue. I have a g4 17", and the fan is almost always running. It is loud. I can deal with a fan, wish however, that Apple would start using some alternative (liquid) cooling on these hot machines...
Posted by: JJ Pagac at May 18, 2006 9:46 PM
The MacBook Pro 17" is excessively hot, both underneath the base and on the left side of the keyboard surface. Setting the computer to energy saver mode is ridiculous. What -- you have customers pay for a 2.16 intel duo chip, and then tell then not to use the power (for the grandiose claims being made in terms of performance) unless they want their hands and palms subjected to a heat pad effect? Or we're only supposed to run on battery power (and give up on screen brightness)?
While I had followed the discussions on heat -- that is, excessive heat -- with the MacBook Pro 15" model, I naively assumed the issues would have been worked out some on the 17" model. They have not been addressed. Not only the underside, but even the keyboard surface of this notebook becomes excessively hot, especially when charging. The level of heat has been such as to cause me to select "Better Energy Savings" -- and hence, lower performance -- even when plugged in to the adapter. This is unacceptable.
Further, the heat the adapter itself generates borders on a fire hazard. I don't know what whiz kid designed this adapter, but s/he should be sent back to school for failure to meet minimum safety and usability standards.
The last time I had a notebook with this level of heat problem was the last time I purchased an IBM (laptop or desktop). I had planned to purchase seven MacBook Pros this month as part of a grant and research project -- even wrote a special justification for purchasing Macs. But given the heat problems with both the 15" and 17" models, I will not be using Apple notebooks for this project. We'll endure the joys of WinXP rather than have our fingers burned (and legs -- I know Apple doesn't claim these are "laptops" and discourages their use atop one's legs, but really, who doesn't lack a desktop on which to place a notebook computer now and then?).
But given a 2% market share, somebody in Cupertino better pay more attention to the 2% left. Or, like IBM before you, personal computers won't be part of the Apple catalog much longer.
Posted by: Kei Camer at June 13, 2006 11:24 PM
