Macbook pro 17 [early 2009] information

Question

Hi everyone,
I'm about to buy a Macbook Pro 17" but before buying it I would like to have my information confirmed, so I'll summarize it (this will also help everyone who wants to buy a Macbook Pro 17" too).
I'm aware that the problems I'll speak about are not happening on all sold MBP but only on few of them and that many MBP have no problem at all.
Here is the list of the problems and qualities I read about.
Let's begin by the problems (I always prefer to finish by something good )
1°) screen is dimmer and seems to have too much blue.
=> the problem seems to be due to a software problem which happens when using a UMBP 15" build or settings on a 17" and doesn't seem to appear on provided build.
2°) The screen flickers when on battery with low brightness.
=> seems to appear most of the time when battery is under 15% with the 9400
3°) red or green lines on the screen (often on gaming)
=> seems to be a heat problem (partially resolved when forcing fans to rotate at high speed). I think that newly produced MBP haven't the problem (still to confirm).
4°) battery doesn't last 8hours
=> the battery use depending on what you do on the laptop, you will get the 8hours provided only by surfing on the web on HTML/CSS pages with half brightness. Otherwise you won't have them but the battery will still be good.
I think these are the main possible hardware problems (won't speak about the problems I've seen only once) so let's speak about qualities.
1°) Screen seems to be quite good. Some image professionnals said they were nearly able to work on it (remember that photographs hate punchy colours because the printers have paler colours) when they had anti glare option. Glossy screen seems to be good too.
2°) It has a anti glare option.
3°) The performance seems good.
4°) seems silent when not using GPU too much
5°) glossy screen don't seem to disturb many people, it's just a matter of moving the screen from few centimeters.
5°)And of course it runs MacOS
remarks : mini display adapters and remote are not bundled anymore. You'll have to buy them when purchasing your laptop.
The anti glare bezel is an aluminium one.
Here is a topic which contains a photo with glossy 17" and 15" side by side.
Here you can see anti glare bezel.
I think I've summarized all the useful things I read, do not hesitate to complete if needed.
Now I have some questions. Since I'm not able to see it form my own eyes (haven't any store near home), I would like to have your opinion on the case quality and on the screen brightness(especially the anti glare because I work with many windows near me for a long time and I wouldn't like to be tired after two hours(I'm not with T60P)). I don't really trust photo to render brightness but do not hesitate to post some.
I'm able to see a UMBP 15" and a MBP 17" matte finish with X1600 to compare, I also own a T60P.
This will be my first apple so I've another question, I read that apple will refund without any question if you return it within the 14 days, is that true (I'm in France)?
Thanks in advance for answers and sorry for my bad englih, I haven't praticed for a while .

Answer 1

bad_crow wrote:
I would like to have your opinion on the case quality and on the screen brightness(especially the anti glare because I work with many windows near me for a long time and I wouldn't like to be tired after two hours(I'm not with T60P)). I don't really trust photo to render brightness but do not hesitate to post some.
I'm able to see a UMBP 15" and a MBP 17" matte finish with X1600 to compare, I also own a T60P.
Hi Bad_Crow,
I have just written this quick post to comment on your question of case quality as compared to the ThinkPad T60.
I had used ThinkPads for over 10-years, and I had been an Advisory Member of Lenovo's Product forums.
Ever since Lenovo had dropped the magnesium exterior of the T40 series for the plastic exterior of the T60 and T500 series, ThinkPad case quality has become horrible. Yes, the new ThinkPads have an internal roll cage, but that does not help. The plastic still cracks, the keyboard still flexes, and the screen still bends. These issues have been widely reported at Lenovo's forums.
I had moved to MacBook Pros because they are the best-built notebooks on the market today. They are far more durable than any ThinkPad. The anodized aluminum is a far superior notebook casing than anything that has been offered by Lenovo. The precision aluminum unibody enclosure makes the MacBook Pro even stronger.
MacBook Pros have no cracking issues, no keyboard flex, and no screen bending issues. Yes, there have been a few reports, but every company has its' lemons.
Should you have any case issues, Apple will fix or replace it quickly, where as Lenovo will take months.
I have noted links, with more information on the anodized aluminum that has been used for MacBook Pro cases, for you to check out.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6489245&#6489245
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizedaluminum#note-Edwards
I hope that this helps answer your question of case quality.
Good luck!