My MBP experience

I bought a MBP about 2 weeks ago after being a Windows user for many years. I have been building my own PCs for almost 10 years and my main use of them is for video editing. For the benefit of those in a similar situation, I'd like to share my experiences so far.
The hardware arrived in 9 days from order and it was in perfect condition. It came from Shaghai!
I bought 2 x 2 gig ram modules from Crucial and maxed the ram to 4 gigs myself and had no problems.
I was able to set up my mail and wireless broadband very easily with the computer doing most of the work invisibly.
I installed the apps that I use (FCPS2 and Master Collection CS3 and Office 2004)without any problems or crashes.
I downloaded all the software updates for the Mac and the apps I installed and except for asking my password, the computer did it all pretty much invisibly and without problems.
I was advised to run repair disk permissions regularly before and after changes, which I did, and never had any problems.
Is it possible to overdo using repair permissions? Coming from Windows, I am very experienced with regular maintenance routines like defrags deleting temp files, etc., and although my Windows systems always ran well, I was used to periodic freezes and crashes but I knew how to fix them or avoid them.
I added two external drives, one for video on the firewire 800 and another for cloning the completed setup in case of serious errors later on on the firewire 400. I used Superduper to make the bootable clone image and it all worked flawlessly. My only mistake was that I didn't know which key is the option key and I couldn't get the computer to boot up so that it offered me the choice of which startup disk to use. I kept holding down the command key instead, but once I resolved this ignorance on my part it all works perfectly.
I can connect a dv camcorder or a dv vcr to my firewire port and capture video to the external drive on the firewire 800 port from either FCP or Premiere Pro CS3 perfectly.
In all, my experience has been delightful and much more stable than when running my Windows PCs.
My only negative comment is that I don't like having to wait for Apple to offer particular hardware options. I liked being able to buy and build exactly what I wanted in my PCs.
My MBP experience has been so nice that I am now considering getting a Mac Pro but I am having to wait until Apple decides to update its current models and I find this frustrating. On the PC side I could easily build myself a 4 or 8 core system with the motherboard, graphics and drives that I want now rather than waiting around for Apple. I did put one together on paper recently to compare prices with the current Mac Pro specs and it came out a bit cheaper on the PC side, but not much. There are a lot of inexpensive PCs available but their specs are not comparable to those on a Mac Pro.
Another thing that I haven't dealt with yet is setting up the built in webcam for video conferencing with friends around the world. I am still looking into the best approach to it. I used to use Yahoo Messenger on my PCs but I don't know if it is compatible with Macs. If I get a Mac Pro, I hope to use my current Logitech webcam and the Maccam drivers to also have a webcam on that system. And I want to be able to connect my midi keyboard to the Mac Pro to create music but it's not a USB so I need to investigate what I can do.
For those wondering about going to the Mac platform, I can say that the whole experience has been very smooth and painless and I would recommend it. Learning Mac OS is taking a little time but it's an enjoyable experience too.

I'm just getting started with the MBP and I haven't done any dvd rendering yet. I did a small video project and exported a QT mov and printed back to the DV tape very easily and the quality was maintained without getting into any special settings or technical problems using FCP.
I also installed the OnLocation software that comes with some CS3 production bundles on my PC (it's not yet a Mac software)and I found it very useful for my animation work. It creates avi files and I was able to produce a little test animation and then bring it into my CS2 Premiere Pro on my PC and add sounds and transitions, etc. The workflow is incredibly better than the old route of photographing thousands of stills, batch processing in Photoshop, importing into Premiere or FCP and then rendering sequences to create single files that could be edited comfortably. This thing captures single frames directly from a camcorder attached to the computer and saves them as a single avi file right on the hard disk ready to use in editing. It also allows you to fine tune the visual quality of the video and audio in real time which is useful for other situations apart from animation. I am really looking forward to getting a Mac Pro so that I can install Win XP on its own drive and have access to this and other programs that I can't use on the Mac OS.
If OnLocation gets ported to the Mac, it's going to make a lot of Mac people very happy.

Similar Messages

How to go about getting my MBP replaced?

Okay, so I was on an agonizing wait of 1 month for my MPB to arrive, and I was extremely excited when I got it.
After using it for a week or so, I've become really perturbed by the whole EXTREMELY HOT aspect, and screen whine issues.
My MBP gets super hot when it is on, moreso when plugged into the outlet. It does get uncomfortable to place in my lap after just a short time.
The screen whine is also noticeable when plugged in, but not as much or at all when unplugged.
I believe I also have heard a whine from the left speaker area of the laptop as well.
I updated the firmware and osx to 10.4.6, and it hasn't provided any software fixes for these hardware issues.
My MBP serial begins with W86105xxxx
After just dumping so much $$$$$ into a laptop, I can't see how I can go about leaving things as they are, and I believe I deserve a properly working, annoyance free piece of hardware for my money.
How should I go about getting a replacement?
Would it be sufficient to bring it and my receipt to an Apple store, and allow them to exchange it?
Since I ordered online (via ADC membership), do I have to go through Apple online?
What should I do?

Lunarist,
You appear to have the "bad" whine... You need to get it replaced/repaired.
If you have an AppleStore close to you, just go there, and after they check it out and confirm the defect, you can ask (in a polite fashion) if they can replace it instead of repair it. I say in a polite way because it really depends on the mood of the 'genius'... It shouldn't be that way, but in most cases it is.
I hope they fix you soon so you can enjoy your MBP experience!
Best Regards,
Pablo

Normal MBP Behavoirs?

i'm having a couple problems with my MBP over the few weeks i've had it, and am just wondering if people are experiencing similar results or if I recieved a bad MBP from Apple Online:
Battery Life at full charge: 2:35-2:48 max (bluetooth off, airport on, display at 1/4 brightness, illum. keyboard off) Would the 7200rpm HD have anything to do with the shortened battery life?
Battery Charge: will sometimes never reach full charge, no matter how long i've had it plugged in to the wall charger. it will read 98% and the LED on the MagSafe will remain orange instead of turning green.
Airport: Will not even detect networks that my friend's 3 year old PC laptop and iBook g4 have no problem connecting to.
If anyone has any suggestions as to what i can do regarding these issues, or if in fact they are just part of the MBP experience, all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Karl
Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6) MPB 1.8 GHZ, 7200rpm 100GB HD, 1GB RAM; 20" iMac G5 (iSight) 250GB HD, 1.5GB RAM

Have you applied all software updates? Updating the firmware may also help, but it may also do nothing.
The 1.0.1 firmware is available at:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbookproearly2006firmwareupdate101.html
Hope this helps.

Protecting 2010 MBP From Scratches

Hi everybody,
I know that by searching, you can pull up plenty of threads about protecting Macbooks and the various ways of doing it but I haven't really managed to come to a conclusion based on what people have said on those threads.
Obviously there is a lot of sense in making sure you protect your MBP in whatever way is possible, and I do have a soft sleeve that I use to keep it in whenever taking it out of my home. I have had my new MBP for just over a week now though, and having used it only at home on a laptop tray, I noticed the metal on the bottom is already covered in small hairline scratches. I thought I had been pretty careful with it but obviously I haven't been careful enough.
What am would like a little feedback on is whether existing MBP users are aware that the aluminium can scratch easily if not kept protected? For instance is it just common knowledge that the base of your MBP is likely to get scratched just through normal use on flat surfaces?
Also has anyone found a good way to protect the base during regular, home-based use? I am perfectly open to using a hard shell, but with the new MBP line chucking out a fair amount of heat, I don't want to just clip on another layer of insulation if the scratching is either a) avoidable or b) just part of the MBP experience.
Any feedback / discussion welcome!

I debated this myself last year, as mine wound up with a few scratches on the underside, no matter how careful I was. I added a couple more when I upgrade the RAM. That was when I decided to put it in a Speck satin shell, which is very durable, provides some additional grip, and fits like a glove. I had to file the back left corner down some to accommodate the new MagSafe connector, but Speck says that all future production runs will not have that issue. Personally, I'm hoping for more colors than black

Strange start-up freezes since last security update.

Hello,
I've had some strange behavior since the I applied the last security update and was wondering whether anyone else had experienced similar difficulties.
Occasionally (1 in 5 boots) my MBP experiences freezes after I have logged in, but before Finder is launched. I have left the machine run for > 15 minutes before being forced to do an un-graceful shutdown. The machine is frozen at "nebula" splash screen, with the spinning "beachball of death" but there is no menu bar, and the machine is unresponsive to any key strokes.
Console log of what appears to be the issue is included below.
System Software Overview:
System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L30)
Kernel Version: Darwin 9.8.0
Boot Volume: Macintosh HD
Boot Mode: Normal
Computer Name: macbookpro
User Name: xxxxxxxx
Time since boot: 1:22
I'd appreciate hearing from anyone with similar problems or anyone who might be able to shed some light on what is actually going on and failing.
Thanks,
/scott
05/07/10 8:46:29 AM loginwindow[34] USER_PROCESS: 34 console
05/07/10 8:46:29 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[138]) Bug: launchdcorelogic.c:3054 (23923):0: initgroups(loginname, desired_gid) != -1
05/07/10 8:46:29 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[138]) Exited with exit code: 1
05/07/10 8:46:29 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
05/07/10 8:46:30 AM airportd[21] Error: processsccallback() interfaces: 2
05/07/10 8:46:39 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[141]) Bug: launchdcorelogic.c:3054 (23923):0: initgroups(loginname, desired_gid) != -1
05/07/10 8:46:39 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[141]) Exited with exit code: 1
05/07/10 8:46:39 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
05/07/10 8:46:49 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[143]) Bug: launchdcorelogic.c:3054 (23923):0: initgroups(loginname, desired_gid) != -1
05/07/10 8:46:49 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[143]) Exited with exit code: 1
05/07/10 8:46:49 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.launchd.peruser.501) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds

OK, I may have gotten to the bottom of this. Admittedly I am grasping at straws here.
Firstly, the log message seemed to indicate issues with the per-user launch agents. As mentioned previously I have verified the disk via Disk Utility with no problems. However, I did not run a disk permission check. I ran that and found some minor inconsistencies. But at the end of the permission check it reported unexpected ACLs on a number of system directories, including ~/Library, which is where the the per-user Launch Agents are stored.
A quick search of the discussion forums indicate that incremental OS X updates have a habit of corrupting permissions in such a way that ACLs are reported on directories. The only way to correct this situation is to do a re-install of the COMBO pkg.
I re-installed 10.5.8_COMBO (which took awhile) and re-checked permissions. I get the same small inconsistencies (all with FrontRow), but no reported issues with ACLs. Yay!
I have rebooted about 10 times and am yet to see the problem as reported, so I am tentatively declaring victory. Obviously I realize that re-installing the COMBO update may have fixed any number of issues, none of which are related to the ACL issue reported by disk permission check, which is why I say I am grasping at straws. But this seems to have fixed my problems. I will continue to test and post results.

Trouble booting/waking?

Have a 2007 Macbook Pro running 10.6.3. Usually keep an external monitor plugged in, wireless kbd/mouse, 2 external hard drives.
Last night I closed the lid to sleep the computer. Went to it this morning and it wouldn't wake. Have had this problem a few times lately and I found other discussions about the problem. Previously, however, I could force a shutdown (hold power button) and it would boot back up fine.
This time, nothing I do will get the computer to boot up. If I hold the power button, the front LED will flash off and I hear things spin down like it has powered off. Press the button to turn it on and I hear things spin up, but not completely. It is not attempting a full boot process; nothing displays on the monitor, no beeps, etc.
It almost sounds like the computer still thinks it is in sleep mode or something but I can't figure out why or how to make it boot up. Ran through some of the suggestions on http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1365 to no avail.
I have seen some discussion that a magnetic field close to the front latch could cause the computer to think the lid is still closed, so it would fail to power up, but there is nothing around to cause this kind of disturbance.
At any rate, this has me aggravated and a bit concerned. Any suggestions?

I have an early 2008 MBP running Snow Leopard 10.6.4 encountering this very same "Black Screen of Death" problem 2010/08/06 — the MBP is not completing POST process (Power On System Test). I followed the SMC, PRAM/NVRAM and SMS reset instructions in Apple's KB articles with no success (HT3964, HT1379 and HT1934, respectively) and read pages upon pages of discussion forum postings looking for potential answers.
Further detailed research uncovered KB article TS2377. Based upon this article I took the MBP to the Apple Store for diagnosis on 2010/08/07. The Apple technician tried to boot the system with an external drive containing their NVIDIA test diagnostics software but of course that wouldn't work with this BSOD.
*Resolution in process:* The Apple technician ordered a new logic board (item number 661-4960) after verifying my serial number was eligible for replacement — _+*with or without*+_ AppleCare coverage?!? There is really no way to determine if the problem is or is not be related to the NVIDIA "Bad Bump Material" problem documented as far back as mid-2008 because the NVIDIA card is soldered onto the logic board. Either way both components will be replaced.
Further discussion with the Apple technician flushed out the word recall — which explains the replacement eligibility _+*with or without*+_ AppleCare. I called every Apple store in my immediate area (there are six) and none of them had this part in stock. So I'm waiting for the AppleCare process to get a replacement logic board shipped to my closest Apple Store with the standard 3-5 business day service turnaround commitment (maybe longer, maybe shorter).
I'm extremely disappointed in the level of support that Apple is giving in this situation. Here's why:
If there is a known hardware manufacturing defect that may result in a complete and total failure of a system, customers should be notified. Hiding this problem with a non-publicized UTR (under the radar) recall smacks of a business decision made to address this issue on an exception basis, minimizing Apple's out-of-pocket costs to fix the problem — effectively leaving impacted customers with a "boat anchor" situation. I realize these are expensive components — but who cares! Cupertino-based business analysts already have a good handle on the failure rate % for each platform with this problem — Apple should have adequate stock on hand to provide an expedited resolution to this problem for its customers. No excuses.
Net/net: If your MB or MBP experiences a "Black Screen of Death" condition — don't bother trying to find a potential workaround! Get your system to an Apple Store or other authorized Apple service provider and be prepared to wait. I'm up to day five now. I'll post another again when there is some movement....

Horrible Experience with new 17" MBP

I have had 3 Apple laptops in the past 3 years. My most recent purchase has been the most expensive, and most disappointing. Its a mid 09 17".
All day, everyday, this computer beach balls. From the simplest task of quick viewing a folder, creating a bookmark in safari, to playing a song in iTunes. It becomes increasingly disturbing when using a program such as Final Cut Pro or Motion. Ruins the experience.
So I lose intrest in trying to do things such as making videos, so I'll just watch them on the internet. Usually just browsing the net will only score me a beach ball about once an hour.
NOPE. My airport starts dropping the connection. It just shows searching in the airport menu. I have to click on my network and type in the password. My laptop drops it's connection around 5-6 times throughout a day.
I paid $2500 for a better user experience. I almost achieved more when I had my old Blackbook because it wouldn't freeze up for 30-50 seconds 20 times a day.
I have restored, reinstalled, cleaned cache, used snow leopard specific programs, reset this and that. Where do I go from here? I don't want to drive an hour and half to my closest Apple store just for them to tell me its a software issue, when this would happen on Leopard also. I dont want to drive an hour and half to a store for them to take it from me for 6-14 days. I need my computer everyday.
What do I do?

Hi All,
I am also having this problem on a brand new MacBook Pro (Which was given to me as an exchange after an absolutely disastrous relationship with my previous MBP!)
From day one I have been having abnormal amounts of beach ball action, sometimes so bad that it actually makes doing anything on here impossible. I took it into my local Apple store and was told that everything seemed to be fine.
A few frustrating days later I called the Apple helpline and was taken through various procedures and told to phone back if this didn't fix the problem. It didn't fix the problem!!
I then reinstalled my OSX software and for the last few months this solved the problem. One of the reasons I was in the forums was that I now cannot open anything by double clicking... Do anyone have any ideas how to fix this?!
So I reinstalled again yesterday, hoping this would fix the file problem but aside from not fixing that, the spinning beach ball of doom is now back in full force!
Don't get me wrong, I love my MBP but for something so expensive, I would really like it to be in working order and not have to send it away for weeks one end!
Any suggestions greatly appreciated and to everyone with the same problems, my deepest sympathy lol!

Requesting Windows Experience Index scores from anyone running WIN 7 on either current-model 13" MBPs... Thanks!

Requesting Windows Experience Index scores from anyone running WIN 7 on either current-model 13" MBPs... Thanks!

Hi mchainmchainmch,
I am sorry, but to get your issue more exposure, I would suggest posting it in the commercial forums, since this is a commercial product. You can do this at http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Compaq-Elite-Pro/bd-p/bsc-271
I hope this helps!
Regards
MechPilot
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Any experience with Illustrator CS2 and MBP?

Hi Everyone!
I read a lot about the performance of Photoshop CS2 with Rosetta, but I would like to know how the Illustrator CS2 works with the new MacBook Pro.
Thanks for your comments!
Gus

I work in prepress at a commercial printer. I have been testing out my MBP 1.8GHz with all CS1 and CS2 apps as well as Quark Xpress 6.5. I also only have 1GB of ram at the moment (second 1GB will arrive today). Anyway all the apps run slower than on my G5 Dual 1.8GHz. That may be due to the slower hard drive speed and lower amount of ram. Most apps take a little longer to launch, but once up and running perform just fine. Acrobat 6 and ID CS2 take the longest to launch. I haven't had any crashes or kernal panics with any of the apps. Quark also works well. Still a bit slow, but very fuctional once up and running. Also Citrix for Mac works as does ApogeeX client 1.27. Overall I have had a better experience with this machine than DC 2.0 GHZ G5. I had kernal panics from the beginning the MBP has had no problems so far. If you need to use a MBP fro serious design or prepress upgrade as much as possible. ie 7200RPM drive and 2GB of ram.

Anyone want to share MBP 2011 2.0 256mb bootcamp PC gaming experiences?

Would like to know if you have a 2011 MBP 2.0 with the 256mb graphics card and have played PC games in boot camp and what your experiences are? I know the MBP 2011 2.2 w/1gig graphics rocks but would like to hear about real world gaming with the lower end card.
thanks!

Bootcamp is the easiest and best performing way to play windows games. When Running Parrallels or VMware... you are using virtulization software and cannot utilize the true performance of the machine. BOOTCAMP will be your best method of running demanding games that are made for WINDOWS.
However, as an alternative you could try using wineskins or steam. Wineskin will allow you to run windows games on your mac. Anyway, booting into windows is not all that bad it takes maybe 1 minute. You won't burn out your ram, but I don't think virtulization should be used to play games because you just won't get the performance you need to run graphically intensive games.
SO JUST INSTALL WINDOWS USING BOOTCAMP and your machine will operate like a PC and have better performance than the virtulization software.

Sharing experience with BootCamp on MBP 13" 2010 model

Hello,
i want to share my bootcamp experience with other Macbook owners. Today i tried install Windows XP and Windows Vista, as a second OS.
Windows XP - OS installation without any problems. Bootcamp installation, i cant even call this process "installation". First when i tried to install BC (bootcamp) i had BSOD ( happens everytime, reinstalled system and tried again ), when i restarted MBP and tried install BC again, "process" was done without errors. But i-Sight, Bluetooth, and ethernet drivers are not working. So there is no internet connection. Also audio is not working with BC 3.1, but 3.2 update ( if u manage to install it... .download in osx, move to windows partition and install from windows, because of no internet connection ) fixes audio issue. ( Windows XP proffesional SP2 32bit ).
Windows Vista business 64bit - same problems like windows xp. I googled a lot, trying to find some solutions, but nothing worked for me.
Verdict - no offence, but i think somewhere near this advertising "Mom always said, “Play nice with others.” Your computer should, too. With Mac OS X, you can use Microsoft Office, connect to most printers and cameras, join PC networks, and even run Windows." should be written - at the moment you can enjoy windows experience without internet.

I agree, I think a couple things would make it a lot easier.
The method for MacBook Air of creating a set of drivers to put on USB thumb/flash drive.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4407
Full download of Boot Camp 3.2, no pre-requisite needed (maybe put your SL DVD in to "authenticate/activate" though it would be useless for any PC, and is aimed at people running Tiger/Leopard to have to get $29 DVD if they don't already want/need 10.6.
Skip Windows XP. Only SP3 is supported, Vista is a shame, and 32-bit OS are history, so just support Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium and above.
Apple BC FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3777
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
iMac Black screen (maybe generalize this for other users)
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3173
Boot Camp drivers (MacBook 2010 support drivers_
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#bootcamp
About Boot Camp Software Update 3.2 for Windows 64 bitThis update adds support for the ATI-Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, MacBook Air SuperDrive, and addresses critical bug fixes. This update is highly recommended for all Boot Camp 3.1 users.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL979
EFIupdate improves the performance and reliability of (.....) processors and fixes issues with Boot Camp for MacBook computers.
Doesn't tell us if it 'fixes' thermal fan control or what it does, and could be said of most any and all updates you see.
Mac users are not always versed in having to find and manually install audio drivers, issues with graphic card and drivers (and graphic drivers are a bit of a pain) and some expect full graphic driver support, when the ideal would be to direct to AMD or Nvidia and get current driver. Same with RealTek and Cirrius audio.
Thermal fan control: SpeedFan has not worked but would be a logical utility to get working if possible.
This results in higher temperatures because there is no driver or service to provide the fans with input from thermal sensors to regulate rpm and heat.
Not having internet connection is a "catch-22" (often but not always wireless won't but wired will, and good idea to first establish a wired connection and make network configurations first).
Boot Camp 3.0 drivers - copy to a folder where you can use "Troubleshoot Compatibility" and run
Apple\Drivers\Bootcamp64.msi
Where 'catch-22' if you can't use control + click or touchpad, you are also stuck and need a wired USB kb and mouse.
+note: Some articles link to Apple Downloads, which will all 'break' when Apple Downloads section is removed come 2011? seems odd but have to stay tuned how it works.+

My Experiences With My New 17" MBP

Well, I got my brand new MacBook Pro on Friday, and now that I've had the weekend to play with it, I thought I'd let everyone know how I feel about it.
The box came to my house on Friday afternoon, unfortunately right after it was dropped off, I had to run off to work, so no playing for me the time, and I had to endure possibly the longest-seeming work shift of my life. I got home after, and tore that box open and had everything set up and plugged in within 5 minutes. I was stunned as to how big 17" widescreen actually is. It's a thing of pure beauty. I booted it up, got into OS X no problem, and was ready to roll.
First thing I did were the software updates. I didn't want to risk installing programs then having a firmware update or anything like that cause some problems. So I did that, fair amount of things downloaded and installed, and was ready to get started. First thing I did was hook my old PC up with my new lappy and start transferring things over. Setting up the connection in OS X was easy as pie. I copied about 20GB of mp3s in to iTunes fairly quickly. I then imported my photography into iPhoto. I was shocked at how fast it was able to process everything, and within about 20 minutes I had 1350 photos imported and organized. I then opened up Mac Mail and imported all my old emails from Thunderbird on my PC, which took a while (I have a -lot- of emails).
After moving things over, I downloaded Adium so I could hop online and brag about my new toy to others, and installed Firefox (That's one thing I wasn't going to leave behind). I wanted to see how the DVD quality fares, so I slapped in my Final Fantasy: Advent Children DVD, as it has pretty sharp images and some scenes with sharp color contrasts. It looked absolutely beautiful. As did Lost. Content with that, I just decided to surf the net for a while. After that, I installed Boot Camp and Windows XP.
I wanted to really test the machine, so after installing WinXP, I booted in and installed both Oblivion and Battlefield 2. I am pleased to say that both run beautifully. I'm still tweaking graphics settings on Oblivion (I have to tinker with settings in the high to very high range) to get the best out of it, but BF2 I could just crank everything to max and play. Fantastic. The screen also does these games justice, each game looking how you can tell the developers wanted their games to.
Over the past few days I've played a lot in OS X, and I'm very quickly becoming accustomed to it and loving it. I'm having some XTerm problems, but I'm working with the network administrator of the network I'm trying to operate off of to get that ironed out. iLife integration is fantastic, and all in all the computer is enjoyable to use. It runs fantastic, the screen is gorgeous (some of my photos I hardly recognized they were so much richer and detailed!), and while being productive, I can still take a break and play some new games.
I do have a few qualms though. The first is the whine. Now I'm used to a noisy PC, so it doesn't bother me that much. But just as my reffing background has trained me, it's the inconsistency of it that bothers me. Running off the battery, it's non-existant. Off AC, it's there...unless you're doing something semi-processer intensive. In WinXP...it's not there. So it seems to me that it's definately something software/firmware-related, and seems likely that we could hope for a fix somewhere in the near future. It's not nearly bad enough that I would want to return or exchange my computer, though. The second is the heat. Now, it doesn't bother me -that- much. When I'm surfing the net, checking email, chatting on Adium, and listening to music, the case gets warm. Nothing I would consider hot. If I do it for a couple hours, the top 1/3 of the case becomes what I would consider "hot"...you can touch it, but if you weren't expecting it to be hot, you'd involutarally pull away. When I'm playing games for any more than a half hour or so, it scortches. I literally can't put my finger on the strip for more than a second or two. Luckly, I don't need to touch that strip. It does make me feel some concern for the components inside my lappy though.
I strongly feel, though, that these issues can be fixed or improved through firmware. The heat during games is understandable as I'm using the video card in graphically intense games. I may open up my case and see if I have half a tube of thermal paste in there, and reapply it if needed, as I -know- that it will reduce the amount of heat and have no detriment to the life of my components. If Apple would just tell me that as it stands now, the temperature of my lappy while playing games was well within specs for the components, I'd have no worries. For now, it'll nag me in the back of my mind.
None of these "problems", however, are anywhere near severe enough to consider returning this laptop. It is an absolutely fantastic piece of equipment. It's stylish, -fast-, has an excellent display, and comes with a fantastic array of preinstalled software that is actually useful. I look forward to using this laptop for years to come.

I previously had this problem on two 15" MBPs and fixed it on both by downing the following:
1.) Install 10.4.6 update
2.) Delete system keychain entry and any login keychain entries for the wireless network
3.) Go back to System Preferences -> Network and re-enter the login and password for the network.
Since then they have both reconnected to the network automatically with no problem. Before that I had the same symptoms you describe.
Thanks for replying. The issue that I have to go
through with my 15" is that whenever it sleeps or I
reboot I have to turn off Airport, turn it back on,
find my wireless network and reconnect. The guy I
talked to at the Apple store told me that was normal,
but I have never had to do that with other laptops I
have owned nor do I need to do that when I boot into
XP using boot camp. <shrug> Just wondered if that was
common to all MBP's, just the 15 or just mine hehe.

Your heat experiences with the MBP 13 2012

Looking to buy a new machine, actually I already picked one, I'm going for a MPB 13.3inch i7 (2012).
Even though, I read a lot of people saying around the internet, that this machine tends to heat a LOT.
I want to know your personal experience with the mbp13 (2012 please, i7 experience would be even better). All kind of people welcome to share, from web-browsing like facebook, to word processing and even video edition or gamers (if you managed to play something on this ).

Good, because I have the Mid 2012 MacBook Pro 13-inch Non-Retina. I would say this computer really doesn't get hot at all. With your average Internet browsing with nothing else opened this computer is relatively cool and the fan is quiet. If you have multiple applications opened such as Safari, iTunes, Notes, and iPhoto for example, it gets a little warm but the fan is still just as quiet. Now video editing/gaming. When I am editing a YouTube video or playing a game (depending on how graphic intensive/big the game is) alone with nothing else opened, the computer gets fairly warm and the fan is louder. Now if I am editing a video/gaming and have other applications opened the fan can get really loud and the computer can get really hot. When I say 'really hot' I mean REALLY hot, because this is made out of aluminum the outside surface of the MacBook Pro can get even more hot then the inside. Keep in mind that the heat is different depending on what surface I'm on because on my pants, bed, couch, etc. it would be hotter but on a table it would be substantially cooler.
Hope this helps,
- Daniel 

AppleCare and very faulty MBP. Experiences?

Well, I bought my MBP around 3 months ago, and has been infested with all sorts of trouble...
-Runs incredibly hot. In all fairness, I am a graphic designer, and use a lot of processor intensive apps, so that could be a factor, but still, there's something just wrong about a "portable computer" that scalds your legs just for using Photoshop.
-It has the, now infamous, moo.
-It has the, now unbearable, whine.
-My battery is totally dead. One day it was reporting that my remaining charge was 32 hours and 34 minutes, and the next day it just died on me. Won't charge, won't show up on Mac OS (the little X icon on the Finder). Totally dead.
-When I bought it, my screen had NO dead pixels whatsoever, then one day one dead pixel showed up, then 2, then 3, now it was up to 4 or 5, I can't really tell. I am aware about the "dead pixel policy" but having no dead pixels on the day of purchase, and then gradually seeing 4 or 5 just worries me.
Needless to say I am pushing to have this machine replaced, but Apple has just said "We'll look at it, and we'll decide if a replacement is due or not".
I don't know about you, but I spent a little over 2000 Dlls on a machine and, call me crazy, but I expected it to work... now I have to wait for the manufacturer to decide if the product I paid good money for is defective or not. Hint: Yes.
I dropped it off today at an authorized service shop, and will wait for the resolution...
What do you think? Do you think a replacement is in order?
Have any of you experienced something similar?

Hi, your battery is just one out of many (all?) first few week MBP's batteries being bad. I got mine replaced instantaneously (think it came one day after I called in). Don't know why Apple never officially withdrew them.
For the dead pixels, I recommend trying to massage them out (I'm not kidding). They may just be stuck pixels, not dead ones. I had this too after a few weeks. Use a dry cloth (I just took my cotton t-shirt) and massage over the pixels for a while. Let us know if it worked.
The moo is a fan that goes on and off apparently keeping the MBP around the maximum temperature. A software update could fix this by introducing some buffer interval so that t doesn't go on and off so quickly. Hopefully Apple will do this. I only get this when it's not sitting on a flat surface (such as carpet, my lap), indicating that convection is hindered.
The whine...I recommend QuietMBP. Works very well on mine. The root of this problem is a the processors being put into a low voltage state to save energy. Not really a bug. I know Windows doesn't have the whine and longer battery life, but it's a completely different OS.
Good luck.

Please share experiences: FCP7 vs Pr CS6 on a MBP

I'm not new to Pr. I've been working with it on a MacPro 8-core. Before I was using FCP7. Pr is much faster, but much of that speed is because I have a CUDA card.
I just got a job to work on site doing some cutting on an MacBookPro4,1. Last two years, I used the same laptop, but was using FCP7. Footage was DVCProHD / P2.
I was hoping people who've done a significant amount of editing on a MBP with both FCP7 and Pr CS6 can give me their insight as to how the two compare on a laptop.
I will be on a tight deadline, and can't afford to get tied up rendering or exporting. FCP is a known entity. Pr isn't, to me, on a job like this.
Any relevant input will be appreciated. Thank you.

Tesserax wrote:
Are there differences between computers over Airtunes? Are some better than other?
Not really. The AX can only handle audio at a 44.1kHz sample rate, regardless of the source ... so switching devices shouldn't make any difference.
iTunes uses a QuickTime CODEC to convert audio files to Apple Lossless, and then, uses AirTunes to send them to the AX. In turn, the AX uses built-in software that converts the Apple Lossless to an Encoded Digital Audio format. From there, digital audio is sent to a optical transceiver to convert the electrical signal to an optical one before sending it to the innermost part of the audio port.
The AX works only with iTunes v4.6+ and is limited to music files that iTunes can read; ie, 16-bit data only. (An exception is you can use a third-party product like Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil to stream other non-iTunes sources.) These data, though, can be in any file format that iTunes recognizes, from lossy MP3s at the low-quality end of the spectrum to Apple Lossless and lossless AIF or WAV files at the high end. Again, it is important to note that the AX functions only at a 44.1kHz sample rate. When you play 32kHz or 48kHz data, iTunes sample-rate-converts the data in real time before sending it to the AX.
In all honesty I have no idea what half of that means.
I'm having the same problem, horrible Airport Express sound. And all of my files are Apple Lossless which is apparently a completely copy of whatever is on the CD.
kHz and sample rate is irrelevant as far as I know. It's Lossless. It's a straight up copy basically, right?
So why does it sound so godawful through Airport Express?

My MBP experience

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