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Apple unveils new Macbook family

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Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
I have had my 2.53GHz, 13" unpacked since about 10 this morning.

The battery came largely charged, but I got it up to a full charge, then unplugged it, in the hopes of fully depleting it to condition it. I don't know that I can!

The computer has been unplugged for six hours. During that time, the display has only been on sporadically, but the hard drive and wireless connection have been in steady use, as I install updates and other software (we have a VERY slow wireless connection at work). I had to plug it back in for about 1 minute to install a bluetooth firmware update (it insisted), but otherwise it has been entirely unplugged. The battery life indicator states I still have another 2:42 in battery life! This thing is amazing.

All the other predictable praise applies as to build quality, display quality, etc. It's awesome.
Click to expand...

Yep. I need one of those now. Are you happy with the 13" screen size? Is the resolution/etc a good compromise?
 
Originally posted by: Excelsior

Yep. I need one of those now. Are you happy with the 13" screen size? Is the resolution/etc a good compromise?
Click to expand...

I have previously owned a white MB, and I find the 13" the perfect size for me. I nearly always use may laptop, well, on top of my lap, and 15" starts to feel a bit unwieldy on the lap and when I have to transport it. As for the resolution, I know there are those who would rather they shipped with a higher-res screen, but I would not find this desirable - to me it's pretty much ideal, and I don't do intensive graphic work that would call for more resolution.

EDIT: I think I have finally more or less killed the battery. I wasn't timing it the entire time but it was certainly well in excess of 8 hours.
 
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
Originally posted by: Excelsior

Yep. I need one of those now. Are you happy with the 13" screen size? Is the resolution/etc a good compromise?
Click to expand...

I have previously owned a white MB, and I find the 13" the perfect size for me. I nearly always use may laptop, well, on top of my lap, and 15" starts to feel a bit unwieldy on the lap and when I have to transport it. As for the resolution, I know there are those who would rather they shipped with a higher-res screen, but I would not find this desirable - to me it's pretty much ideal, and I don't do intensive graphic work that would call for more resolution.

EDIT: I think I have finally more or less killed the battery. I wasn't timing it the entire time but it was certainly well in excess of 8 hours.
Click to expand...

That is good to know. I figure why get a laptop if it isn't very portable, so 13" makes sense. I figured 1280x800 would work because some 15" screens have that res and it looks OK on them. Hey, it can still play 720p at full res; good enough for me.
 
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
I'm not sure I can kill the battery after all! 😛 I am on reserve power but I'm stuck at 7 minutes and can't seem to get lower.
Click to expand...

So awesome. We're talking almost a cross-Atlantic flight on one charge.
 
Originally posted by: Excelsior
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
Originally posted by: Excelsior

Yep. I need one of those now. Are you happy with the 13" screen size? Is the resolution/etc a good compromise?
Click to expand...

I have previously owned a white MB, and I find the 13" the perfect size for me. I nearly always use may laptop, well, on top of my lap, and 15" starts to feel a bit unwieldy on the lap and when I have to transport it. As for the resolution, I know there are those who would rather they shipped with a higher-res screen, but I would not find this desirable - to me it's pretty much ideal, and I don't do intensive graphic work that would call for more resolution.

EDIT: I think I have finally more or less killed the battery. I wasn't timing it the entire time but it was certainly well in excess of 8 hours.
Click to expand...

That is good to know. I figure why get a laptop if it isn't very portable, so 13" makes sense. I figured 1280x800 would work because some 15" screens have that res and it looks OK on them. Hey, it can still play 720p at full res; good enough for me.
Click to expand...

Well, my first gen MacBook can play back 720p with no problems, but the new ones do FINALLY have GPU offloading for video playback, so HD video will be less of a battery drain. I can maybe make it through a movie at 720p on my existing laptop, I expect to be able to watch a freaking 720p marathon on a new MacBook Pro!
 
Just ordererd my first Mac, a 15" MBP with 7200RPM drive! I am so stoked!
(just hope I can figure out how to use it)
 
My only problem with my mbp 13 is that dvd gets stuck in the drive occasionally. It'll try to eject, but it somehow gets sucked back in. The only I've found out how to eject the dvd is to restart and click the touchpad at the apple screen.

Not a HUGE deal, but a little annoying, and I don't feel like doing a 150mi roundtrip to the nearest apple store.

Is there anything else I can do to guarantee the disc will come out in OSX? It seems like when you boot it up, the drive tries to eject the disc differently.
 
Originally posted by: fatpat268
My only problem with my mbp 13 is that dvd gets stuck in the drive occasionally. It'll try to eject, but it somehow gets sucked back in. The only I've found out how to eject the dvd is to restart and click the touchpad at the apple screen.

Not a HUGE deal, but a little annoying, and I don't feel like doing a 150mi roundtrip to the nearest apple store.

Is there anything else I can do to guarantee the disc will come out in OSX? It seems like when you boot it up, the drive tries to eject the disc differently.
Click to expand...

I had that problem temporarily on my MacBook. Since then I started holding the eject key and haven't had the problem since. However, since correlation is not causation, I can't say if that is the fix to the problem, but it isn't like it will hurt to try.
 
One recommendation: BUY APPLECARE.

I know warranties are considered for dummies, but my friend spent $3000 on a 15" Core 2 Duo (maybe Santa Rosa, maybe the one before that) MBP, and got applecare. The thing wouldn't stay on for more than a minute or two after a couple of years. After replacing the battery, logic board and a couple of other things, three years later (and 2 months before the apple care expires) she's getting a brand new computer.

Not a bad deal for $300.

 
Originally posted by: scootermaster
One recommendation: BUY APPLECARE.

I know warranties are considered for dummies, but my friend spent $3000 on a 15" Core 2 Duo (maybe Santa Rosa, maybe the one before that) MBP, and got applecare. The thing wouldn't stay on for more than a minute or two after a couple of years. After replacing the battery, logic board and a couple of other things, three years later (and 2 months before the apple care expires) she's getting a brand new computer.

Not a bad deal for $300.
Click to expand...

BTW, AppleCare is available for half price, and often less, on eBay. I have no idea how it is sold for so little - I don't really get the business model there - but I bought a boxed Applecare plan for my new 13" MBP ($250 at the Apple store) for $115 shipped after Bing.com rebate.
 
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
Originally posted by: scootermaster
One recommendation: BUY APPLECARE.

I know warranties are considered for dummies, but my friend spent $3000 on a 15" Core 2 Duo (maybe Santa Rosa, maybe the one before that) MBP, and got applecare. The thing wouldn't stay on for more than a minute or two after a couple of years. After replacing the battery, logic board and a couple of other things, three years later (and 2 months before the apple care expires) she's getting a brand new computer.

Not a bad deal for $300.
Click to expand...

BTW, AppleCare is available for half price, and often less, on eBay. I have no idea how it is sold for so little - I don't really get the business model there - but I bought a boxed Applecare plan for my new 13" MBP ($250 at the Apple store) for $115 shipped after Bing.com rebate.
Click to expand...

Nice tip!
 
Originally posted by: silverpig
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
Originally posted by: scootermaster
One recommendation: BUY APPLECARE.

I know warranties are considered for dummies, but my friend spent $3000 on a 15" Core 2 Duo (maybe Santa Rosa, maybe the one before that) MBP, and got applecare. The thing wouldn't stay on for more than a minute or two after a couple of years. After replacing the battery, logic board and a couple of other things, three years later (and 2 months before the apple care expires) she's getting a brand new computer.

Not a bad deal for $300.
Click to expand...

BTW, AppleCare is available for half price, and often less, on eBay. I have no idea how it is sold for so little - I don't really get the business model there - but I bought a boxed Applecare plan for my new 13" MBP ($250 at the Apple store) for $115 shipped after Bing.com rebate.
Click to expand...

Nice tip!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd get it from the educational store, where it's cheap, but she obviously didn't know. My point was, it's a pretty good deal. They'll fix just about anything. 😀
 
Originally posted by: scootermaster

Yeah, I'd get it from the educational store, where it's cheap, but she obviously didn't know. My point was, it's a pretty good deal. They'll fix just about anything. 😀
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to be critical - at least she was smart enough to get it! I have a MB that is coming up on 3 years old, and I wish I had gotten AppleCare, if only to get the many cracks in the palmrest fixed. I am not generally an extended warranty guy, but when it comes to a laptop I think it's worthwhile . . .
 
Dumb question... is there a time limit to get applecare?

Only reason why I ask is because I'm a little low on funds right now (obviously) and don't want to put more on the credit card. I'd be able to buy it by next month definitely.

Edit: Never mind, I googled it. I got one year from the purchase date to buy it. Cool beans.
 
Just wanted to update everyone: Apple apparently has released a firmware update to address the SATA I / SATA II issue:

http://support.apple.com/downl...I_Firmware_Update_1_7_

Unfortunately, I don't have an SSD to test the difference, but this is definitely good news for me (assuming the fix does what it is supposed to do) because I plan on buying an SSD in a year or so when they are less expensive.
 
Originally posted by: TheWart
Just wanted to update everyone: Apple apparently has released a firmware update to address the SATA I / SATA II issue:

http://support.apple.com/downl...I_Firmware_Update_1_7_

Unfortunately, I don't have an SSD to test the difference, but this is definitely good news for me (assuming the fix does what it is supposed to do) because I plan on buying an SSD in a year or so when they are less expensive.
Click to expand...

That should settle down some of the crazies and conspiracy theorists on MacRumors.
 
Originally posted by: TheWart
Just wanted to update everyone: Apple apparently has released a firmware update to address the SATA I / SATA II issue:

http://support.apple.com/downl...I_Firmware_Update_1_7_

Unfortunately, I don't have an SSD to test the difference, but this is definitely good news for me (assuming the fix does what it is supposed to do) because I plan on buying an SSD in a year or so when they are less expensive.
Click to expand...

Very cool. Now the MB Pro has everything I "need." 🙂
 
I was hoping that they would put a PR blurb in there as to the reason for the release, I wanted to see if my guess was right. That they would, regardless of the real reason, put out an update and say that it was to fix a glitch.
 
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
I have a MB that is coming up on 3 years old, and I wish I had gotten AppleCare, if only to get the many cracks in the palmrest fixed.
Click to expand...

Apple is actually replacing those on out-of-warranty MacBooks.
 
Originally posted by: Tyranicus
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
I have a MB that is coming up on 3 years old, and I wish I had gotten AppleCare, if only to get the many cracks in the palmrest fixed.
Click to expand...

Apple is actually replacing those on out-of-warranty MacBooks.
Click to expand...

They really are, I got an OK from the Genius Bar to bring in my MacBook to get the palmrest replaced. The problem is that I use my laptop at work, and I have trouble mentally getting myself to let them have it for a couple of days (in the event that they are backlogged/don't have the part in stock).
 
Originally posted by: Tyranicus
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
I have a MB that is coming up on 3 years old, and I wish I had gotten AppleCare, if only to get the many cracks in the palmrest fixed.
Click to expand...

Apple is actually replacing those on out-of-warranty MacBooks.
Click to expand...

Huh - I'll have to check into that. If nothing else it should help me get a better price on the 'Bay for mine. At this point I am firmly into MBP-land . . .
 
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