Mac Book Pro 13" - Quick observations from a Mac newbie

[fos]

I have had my Mac Book Pro for only a few days. It is the first Apple computer I have ever owned. I have tried them many times over many years. This is the first time I have actually paid the premium to purchase one. In the past I have been particularly put off by the unusual mouse and the D and K home keys on the keyboard. All of that has been rectified.

Apple has always had flair, polish, and quality on the hardware side. The operating system and software are debatable. The move to OS X was very positive, IMHO.

The build quality of my Pro is very good. As I mentioned in a previous post, it is comparable to my old IBM Thinkpad TP-760-CD. The TP had a carbon fiber case, the Pro has an aluminum case. The aluminum is better for heat dissipation but the TP had a much better feel than the Pro. When I work a lot in the high humidity of SE Texas, my hands sweat making the keyboard rest area uncomfortable. The plastic on other laptops don't have this problem. Maybe I can add a thin layer of leather in that area.

The trackpad is very functional. It recognizes my fingers! It is very similar in function to the iPhone. It even simulates a right click when you use two fingers! The pad area is very large. That is generally very good but the large area makes it easy to accidentally do something that you didn't intend. It is still nice not to have to lug around a Ligitech VX Nano.

As you would guess, OX X is very Unix like. :) Would believe this machine goes from a cold start to fully operational in less than 30 seconds! ?? I pleasantly found that VIM, emacs, and Apache 2 are included in the standard package. All I need to do now is add php and mysql that is needed for some of my homework.

The screen is the best quality I have seen since the loss of my 22" Gateway/Sony CRT that had a .24 mm dot pitch. This is almost that good. Even with my low vision, I still don't like a laptop that has a large display. I would rather use a lot of magnification and ZoomText when necessary. Let me say it again, the LED backlit display is incredible. The text image quality and contrast are the best that can be found.

I have experimented with battery life. I have allowed it to fully discharge twice. It lasts just over five hours with pretty active use. That is exceptional and easily meets my needs. The recharge is very fast as well.

This machine only has 2 Gb of ram. I thought I would have to increase that to 4 Gb like I have on my Windows machines. As a test, I performed a backup with TimeMachine, watched a video, had a MS Word document open, along with Firefox web browser. The video never skipped a beat. In addition, with all of that load for over half an hour, the case barely felt warm, just a degree or so above room temperature. It certainly doesn't need any additional ram.

It is absolutely quiet, no noise or vibration at all.

I'm still learning my way around the operating system. I thought it would be easier than it has been. I am very comfortable with Linux. I can find my way around the directories and command line control options. I have a terminal locked to the bottom task bar and I'm getting there.

I have Virtual PC 7 that the university provides. I have also seen Parallels and another virtual environment. I still have a few Windows apps that I have to run so there are still some things I have to get running. Right now, I'm going back and forth between a Linux machine, my toddler Dell laptop that is still working very well and the Pro. Life is good for a geek!

There are a lot of little things that are very well thought out. The power connector is one. It is a four pin rectangular plug that works in either direction. The pins appear to be gold plated. It has an led green/orange indicator for either orientation. The cool thing... It is magnetic. It doesn't work via friction. My old TP died because the power plug and socket wore out. The finish wore off the pins making a lousy contact and the small five sided plug wore to the point that it would stay in reliably. One nice thing for me is the mouse pointer. I can make it as large as I want. The built in accessibility options may make ZoomText unnecessary.

There are many more things that I like about the Pro. It seems as polished as a Nikon camera!

More later,
Jeff

[danieldk]

You cannot believe how often I tripped over the cable, and then I am glad I have a MacBook with a magnetic connector ;).

[Leon]

You cannot believe how often I tripped over the cable, and then I am glad I have a MacBook with a magnetic connector ;).

Now that's my kind of computer. My problem is dogs that like to race through the house. Their wagging tails are like scythes!

[fos]

I'm slowly getting everything that I like to use installed.

I have Apache2, php, and mysql up and running.

Xcode including gcc is also installed.

It doesn't look like I will have to purchase accessibility software. The built in TTS and zoom functions are doing the job.

Jeff

[lurch]

Thanks Jeff for your detailed report of your MacBook Pro.

About 2003 I bought one of those 14" white MacBooks. I soon got rid of it and stuck with Linux. Why? At the time the Mac seemed a bit too easy to use at the time, I was used to Linux and enjoyed experimenting with different flavours of Linux. I have since settled on Ubuntu.

After spending lots of time since 1998 with Linux and learning just enough to get by (I always was a lazy trainer) I am re-considering another foray on the Mac field. In that regard I been very interested to read the comment by Daniel and Jeff of their Mac experiences. For someone who did not want to spend a lot of time tinkering with operating systems and had no prior experience with computers I would probably suggest a Mac. That may outrage some people but not everyone wants to tinker or has the time to do so.

Nice to see that some of the Libranet crowd still frequent this forum.

Regards,
Phillip

[lurch]

Sorry about the word duplication in my previous post. Old age taking over.

Phillip

[fos]

Hi Phillip,

Nice to see you back!

If you want something extremely fast that doesn't require any tinkering, Mac OS X is it. The only thing that compares in speed is tinycore and it is a 10 MB limit Linux distro. It compares in speed but certainly not capability.

I still prefer the Linux user interface. I am sure that is due to familiarity. I have only been using OS X a couple of weeks compared to 15 or so years with Linux.

Jeff

[danieldk]

Hi Philip :),

After spending lots of time since 1998 with Linux and learning just enough to get by (I always was a lazy trainer) I am re-considering another foray on the Mac field. In that regard I been very interested to read the comment by Daniel and Jeff of their Mac experiences. For someone who did not want to spend a lot of time tinkering with operating systems and had no prior experience with computers I would probably suggest a Mac. That may outrage some people but not everyone wants to tinker or has the time to do so.

True. I used to know GNU/Linux from top to bottom, including patching software at various levels, from the kernel to Yum (at Libranet and CentOS). However, I have far less time these days to tinker with the system these days. I want to have a system that just works, so that I can focus on research and programming. The nice advantage of OS X is that it offers both a easy to use system, that will run all the big apps and multimedia stuff, but where you can still dive into the system if you need to (after all, it is Darwin, an opensource Mach/BSD hybrid).

[danieldk]

I still prefer the Linux user interface. I am sure that is due to familiarity.

It is, I hated the OS X user interface for months. I stuck with it, because there are better applications for OS X. But nowadays, I'd prefer the OS X UI any day. It's not just the nice effects, but goes to the core of the system: OS X/Cocoa is document-oriented. Once you get used to it, it is far more convenient than the Windows/Linux way of doing things. Oh, and Spotlight rules ;).

[lurch]

Thank you Daniel for your advice. I have followed your posts with interest since Libranet days. The choice now is whether I begin anew with macbook, imac or macmini? My AMD Sempron 3000 desktop is a bit dated now.

I bought a 15" Dell Studio notebook last November which was perhaps not the wisest way to spend my money. Within a week the battery and power pack had to be replaced. Am running Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows 7 release candidate on it (the latter out of curiosity, Ubuntu is my preference).

I continue to battle with the company to obtain delivery of the Windows 7 free upgrade (as a matter of principle). My phone calls are routed to a call center in the Philippines where I continue to be told that the product is with Australian Customs and should be delivered in 2-3 days - meanwhile 4 weeks later ..... My upgrade order was placed on 13 November 2009. It is very difficult to deal with a company that seems to put up a polite customer service wall without actually delivering the product.

By the way the company that repaired my Dell notebook has lots of work just repairing Dell and Apple computers on the Central Coast of NSW (population of about 350,000). Hopefully not too many of the repairs are Macs. Is should have asked for the ratio.

Phillip

[fos]

I still have my Dell Inspiron 1300 that I purchased the week after hurricane Ike. It has the extended battery, 4 megs of ram, and the Core2Duo processor. It is well over a year old and hasn't missed a beat. I still use it on a regular basis. It is much better quality the the Toshiba I just returned. It came with Vista. I really haven't had a complaint with Vista other than it is a Windows product. The Toshiba had Windows 7 on it. I didn't really see an advantage over Vista. I wouldn't run two of the Windows applications that I needed. One was supposed to be ready with an upgrade this month. I still haven't heard from them (eInstruction) on the upgrade. They had an OS X version of the same software that runs fine on this MacBook. With the Dell I needed a third USB port since one of the two had to be used for an external mouse. This MacBook only has two ports but the touchpad is good enough that I can get by without the mouse.

Jeff

[danieldk]

Thank you Daniel for your advice. I have followed your posts with interest since Libranet days. The choice now is whether I begin anew with macbook, imac or macmini? My AMD Sempron 3000 desktop is a bit dated now.

The Mini is a good start. It's affordable, has pretty good specs, and you can keep using your screen, keyboard (USB), and mouse (USB). I use a Mini at home and at work.

[RedAlpha3]

The Mini is a good start. It's affordable, has pretty good specs, and you can keep using your screen, keyboard (USB), and mouse (USB). I use a Mini at home and at work.

I've been thinking about a Mini but I can't see the advantage over a Mini ITX system which I presently use. From an outsiders point of view I have the impression that Apple equipment is over-priced, and that you are paying a major premium for "style". Similarly, someone could make out an argument that Apple are more restrictive a corporation than Microsoft. This concerns me.

[danieldk]

The iPhone is restrictive, but I do not think that is true for OS X. With respect to the hardware: yes, you could buy a Mini-ITX system, but there are two differences:

- Build quality: the build quality of Apple products is often far better than that of most other computers. This applies to the Mini as well.
- Maybe even more important, the Mini does not use your average desktop Intel chipset/CPU. It uses a laptop chipset, and a mobile Core 2 Duo, meaning that it beats nearly every Intel desktop machine with respect to energy savings. My Mini uses less than 14 watts idle. Yes, that's comparable to an energy-saving lightbulb ;).

And in the low-power, low-noise, small form factor, high performance market, it's surely competitively priced.

[lurch]

Will K3b run on OS X?

Phillip

[RedAlpha3]

- Build quality: the build quality of Apple products is often far better than that of most other computers. This applies to the Mini as well.
- Maybe even more important, the Mini does not use your average desktop Intel chipset/CPU. It uses a laptop chipset, and a mobile Core 2 Duo, meaning that it beats nearly every Intel desktop machine with respect to energy savings. My Mini uses less than 14 watts idle. Yes, that's comparable to an energy-saving lightbulb ;).

And in the low-power, low-noise, small form factor, high performance market, it's surely competitively priced.

From what people have said in the past, I suspected that build quality was better. I have, as yet, no experience of this but I take your point , Daniel.

The low-power aspect is the biggest selling point to me. I'm having solar panels fitted next week and 14watts at rest beats the 120 watts of my Mini ITX. I already use a Bubba2 server which ticks over nicely at 8 watts.

I've searched the web for performance comparisons but many have to be taken with a pinch of salt. I'm assuming that most of my peripherals will work with the Mini. I'm not sure that this was the case previously.

My only concern now is whether or not the open-source software that I use has an Apple Mac equivalent (researching at this moment) and which model I should go for. I suppose that you get what you pay for and it appears that much of this gear is at a premium rate.

[fos]

I have an Intel Mini-ITX that I'm building. It is based on the new Intel Atom Pacton processor. It is fanless and consumes 12 watts according to the literature. I have a new watt meter on the way to accurately measure its actual consumption as a system. When I get it all together and measured, I'll take some photos and post with real world specs.

I will measure and compare to this new MacBook Pro 13". One thing I am sure of though, it will not compare in speed. This is the fastest computer I have ever used. I guess the Core2Duo with 4 gigs of ram and optimized OS and applications make a difference. Even my itx running TinyCore Linux straight from ram isn't as fast as this thing.

I have mentioned build quality in earlier posts. I looked at all of the competitors at BestBuy a couple of weeks ago. Nothing compares. The only thing I haven't seen in recent times is a Lenovo. In the past, an IBM Thinkpad was built "almost" as well as the new MacBooks. This MacBook is my new benchmark.

I haven't had it but a couple of weeks. Only time will tell how it holds up.

Jeff

[danieldk]

I have an Intel Mini-ITX that I'm building. It is based on the new Intel Atom Pacton processor. It is fanless and consumes 12 watts according to the literature. I have a new watt meter on the way to accurately measure its actual consumption as a system. When I get it all together and measured, I'll take some photos and post with real world specs.

I will measure and compare to this new MacBook Pro 13". One thing I am sure of though, it will not compare in speed. This is the fastest computer I have ever used. I guess the Core2Duo with 4 gigs of ram and optimized OS and applications make a difference. Even my itx running TinyCore Linux straight from ram isn't as fast as this thing.

Yes, the Core 2 Duo CPU will completely blow away the Atom CPUs. Heck, most Atoms are even underpowered to decode H.264, which is very easy for a Core 2 Duo (save for the fact that the nVidia GPU has support for accelerating H.264 decoding).

I do a lot of number crunching, usually on high-end nodes (8 CPUs, 64 GB RAM) or the European Grid (thousands of CPUs in NL). However, for smaller number crunching tasks, the Core 2 Duo in the mini does great.

[danieldk]

Will K3b run on OS X?

I have no idea. The only thing I do is burn ISOs sometimes, and "Disk Utility" works well there ;). Audio CDs I can burn from iTunes:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2239

[lurch]

- Maybe even more important, the Mini does not use your average desktop Intel chipset/CPU. It uses a laptop chipset, and a mobile Core 2 Duo, meaning that it beats nearly every Intel desktop machine with respect to energy savings. My Mini uses less than 14 watts idle. Yes, that's comparable to an energy-saving lightbulb ;).

Very impressive specs. I am keen on the energy saving and the small form factor.

I had a look at an on sale superceded display model Mini this morning: 1GB ram and 2ghz CPU. Seemed a bit slow to load software but then loading Picasa and Digikam (Ubuntu) on my old Sempron desktop is not all that fast either and probably a lot slower.

Any advice on preference for a Mini with 2 or 4GB ram given that the GPU is 256MB shared memory? I want to get the most out of whatever configuration I choose.

Phillip

[danieldk]

My Mini at home has 2GB RAM, at work 4GB RAM. 2 GB is fine for normal daily work, and has no trouble at all running many programs at the same time (I usually have a web browser, Mail.app, some iWork applications, TextMate, and some random applications running). I'd not go for a one 1GB machine, with the 128MB subtracted for video memory, it's a bit on the low side for modern applications, especially if you want to run stuff like Adobe Creative Suite.

2GB vs 4GB does not really matter for the current generation of OS X and applications. Though, I do make use of the whole 4GB at work (mostly due to memory demanding scientific applications).

[RedAlpha3]

Just plumped for the 2.26GHz Mini with 2GB Ram and 160GB Hard Drive. Haven't opened opened the box yet but will set it up in a while. I intend to give it the once over and then switch it off and feel guilty!

[danieldk]

Nice! Have fun with the unpacking, which is a ceremony in itself ;).

[fos]

The packaging (opening) is worth the price of a movie ticket. ;)

I'm sure you will be pleased. I haven't regretted the increased cost of the MacBook at all.

Jeff

[RedAlpha3]

Damnation! Can't get any video output! I'm having to use a rather complicated setup of adapters to get from mini DVI to vga. I have absolutely no idea as to how to test it!

[fos]

That must be frustrating! Maybe the dealer has an Apple adapter.

I purchased a mini DVI to VGA adapter straight from Apple. It cost around $30 with shipping. I received it in a few days.

Jeff

[RedAlpha3]

I purchased a mini DVI to VGA adapter straight from Apple. It cost around $30 with shipping. I received it in a few days.

Jeff

That is what I'm going to have to do, Jeff...and its Sunday tomorrow!!!

[RedAlpha3]

On the other hand....I bought a new monitor, a Samsung SyncMaster P2050. It works! Mini system is up and running. It is silent, to all intents and purposes. Functions well and looks remarkable. I'm sure that it will take me some time to come to terms with the OS but early impressions are very favourable. Everything just works! (Cliche of the week)

[danieldk]

Hmmm, it's strange that the display was not working (I both use both the Mini-DVI port and Mini-DisplayPort). For both connections I use a stock Apple convertor (Mini-DisplayPort -> VGA -> screen, Mini-DVI -> DVI -> HDMI -> TV). But, then again, DVI is quite a hell, and you need to be very sure to get the right connectors, etc.

[RedAlpha3]

Hmmm, it's strange that the display was not working (I both use both the Mini-DVI port and Mini-DisplayPort). For both connections I use a stock Apple convertor (Mini-DisplayPort -> VGA -> screen, Mini-DVI -> DVI -> HDMI -> TV). But, then again, DVI is quite a hell, and you need to be very sure to get the right connectors, etc.

You are right about DVI. Rather complicated. At the moment Apple supply a Mini-DVI to DVI adapter on the MAC Mini. I needed another adapter to convert to VGA. The technician's theory was that this was "one adapter too far". I'm more than happy to have a new monitor. Whether the Bank Manager thinks the same at the end of the month is an entirely different question.

My initial feelings are that I should have bought a Mac many years ago.

[danieldk]

Many converters do not carry the analog signal.

[lurch]

Just plumped for the 2.26GHz Mini with 2GB Ram and 160GB Hard Drive. Haven't opened opened the box yet but will set it up in a while. I intend to give it the once over and then switch it off and feel guilty!

Pete, I understand the guilt. I have not yet handed over my money (probably next week) and I already feel like I am forsaking Linux - understandable I suppose after 12 years of Linux tinkering. I will still have Ubuntu on my Dell Studio Notebook though.

The Mini configuration you purchased costs A$850 (with almost no room for price negotiation) plus Apple Care (A$229). One store I visited today is selling Macbook and Macbook Pro and offering MS Office 2008 for free if Apple Care is purchased (A$400+ and A$500+ for MacBook and MacBook Pro)

By the way I felt the back of Imacs in several stores today and they were very hot. By comparison the MacBooks and Mini were cool. Why is that, I wonder?

Phillip

[RedAlpha3]

The Mini configuration you purchased costs A$850 (with almost no room for price negotiation)


Phillip

It costs £510 here, Phillip, which is about 600A$ according to my googled converter. First impressions are that it is worth every penny. It is seriously quiet. I have to check every so often to make sure the light is still on at the front. There is virtually no heat from the unit itself. connecting to my server has always been a problem in the past. It runs Debian Etch but it has always been "quirky". Some linux distros refused to talk to it. The Mini just found it!! Connecting is a breeze and so the smallness of the Mini's hard drive has become irrelevant.

There are downsides too. At the moment I find it hard to move files around the system as I can't open two windows of my "Home" folder simultaneously. I feel like I did when I had to learn RiscOS or DOS or linux...a bit lost. It will come, though. The best thing so far is uninstalling an application. Doing this on most linux distros is quite lengthy but straightforward once you know what you are doing. With OSx I just drag the unwanted thing to the trash can...done! My computer workstation was a combination of noise and wire spaghetti. No more. I think the guilt won't last too long.

[danieldk]

There are downsides too. At the moment I find it hard to move files around the system as I can't open two windows of my "Home" folder simultaneously.

When the Finder is active, press Apple(/Windows Key) + n, et voila, create Finder windows as you please!

[RedAlpha3]

When the Finder is active, press Apple(/Windows Key) + n, et voila, create Finder windows as you please!

Thanks Daniel. I was using that as an illustration of how much I will have to re-learn. I've bought a book! heh heh

[danieldk]

Thanks Daniel. I was using that as an illustration of how much I will have to re-learn. I've bought a book! heh heh

I know, but I thought I'd help in the process ;).

[danieldk]

Pete, I understand the guilt. I have not yet handed over my money (probably next week) and I already feel like I am forsaking Linux - understandable I suppose after 12 years of Linux tinkering. I will still have Ubuntu on my Dell Studio Notebook though.

I know the feeling, and it does go away eventually. I was and am a strong believer of open source software. But I also learned that some applications just do not reach the same level of polish with extreme investments.

For instance, the Linux kernel is great. But it is great because so many companies invested billions. Why did they invest billions? Because it sells them expensive hardware (IBM) or support contracts (Red Hat). But there are many categories of software where this will never ever happen. Take photo editors, who wants to invest tens or hundreds of millions in an open source photo editor? That money will never be recouped (by any stretch) through application sales, and als doesn't indirectly benefit sales of anything. Ok, maybe movies or magazines. But the required investment (in an organized fashion) is too big compared to a Aperture or Photoshop license. And here we are talking a relative popular class of application.

The same economics apply to most of the rest of the Linux desktop. So, what is left over are mostly hobbyist developers who do not have time or interest in making things consistent (choose one toolkit) or polished. The next decade we will see more of the same: new/rewritten sound servers, new/rewritten device management daemons, new desktop environment panels. This all simply, because if you are doing it for fun, it's much more interesting to write a new sound server than to to polish everything in detail. I believe that this, and the fact that home desktop users want everything for free, was the reason for Red Hat to retract from the desktop market. This also would've killed Libranet: little improvement in polish, users that are not willing to invest, support costs are higher than income via CD/DVD sales.

In many areas, you just have to feed programmers, to get to a certain level of quality. And open source projects do not provide the necessary revenue stream.

So, these days I am in favor of open source everywhere. However, I do not feel bad to buy a license for software if no qualitative open source competitor is available.

Disclaimer: I currently do not pay the bills through software development ;).

[fos]

In a lot of ways you have to agree with Daniel. There are many commercial applications that just can't be matched by open source alternatives.

I am not a big fan of Adobe, their documentation is lacking and their prices are exorbitant. But their software is very high quality, for example: Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

I tried one of the Gimp versions for Mac. That particular one isn't ready for prime time.

I am going to try the 30 day trial of Aperture. I will probably buy educational license for Adobe Creative Suite CS4. It just works.

Jeff, still an open source advocate :redface:

[danieldk]

I also have an academic license for Creative Suite. At ~28 euro it was definitely a steal.

[lurch]

I know the feeling, and it does go away eventually. I was and am a strong believer of open source software. But I also learned that some applications just do not reach the same level of polish with extreme investments.

So, these days I am in favor of open source everywhere. However, I do not feel bad to buy a license for software if no qualitative open source competitor is available.

I agree Daniel which is why I paid for Libranet years ago instead of persevering with a free distro. Though I too will continue to support open source, I am looking forward to a renewed and enriching Apple experience.

Phillip

[danieldk]

And one does not exclude the other, there are some excellent open source utilities for the Mac. For instance, if you do not use video chats, Adium is quite good.