[vulpine]

robogobo said:

@vulpine Dude, give it up. You're just talking in circles and you don't know what side you're on.

Care to edify me on how I'm being circular?

[robogobo]

Not really. You're exhausting. But your signature is perfect.

[vulpine]

robogobo said:

Not really. You're exhausting. But your signature is perfect.

Throughout history there have been people who said, "It can't be done." If we lived by that today, we'd still be living in the Iron Age.

[geeksrus]

"The trackpad is smart enough not to get confused by the presence of a finger and a thumb on the trackpad. "
This is just the opposite of what i have experienced. If my thumb is on the pad, it won't always move the cursor, of if it is on the pad and I move the cursor in Safari, then the text zooms in and out due to punch mechanism.
Very disconcerting.

[Rasmoose]

"Within the Energy Saver preference pane, you can choose between “Better battery life” (the 9400M) and “Higher performance” (the 9600M GT) for graphics. However, this isn’t a switch you can do on the fly—nor can you set the system to use one when you’re on battery power and the other when you’re attached to an outlet. In fact, to switch between the two cards requires you to log out of your user account and log back in."
ARGH. I think the new MacBook Pro is brilliant, however, the fact that it can't switch automatically, when you connect the adapter is downright stupid :( Is there any hope that this will be fixed via a software update? If not, I will seriously consider ordering the 2.4 Ghz MacBook instead.
Cheers - and great article, by the way.

[nbidgood]

It's ironic that the Energy Saver icon is now a CFL, while the CCFL in the display has been replaced with LED. But I suppose an LED bulb wouldn't look as good.

[frenchyf1]

I'm loving it, its as candy sweet on the outside as it is on the inside.

[greg30307]

To add some empirical data to this discussion about the lack of FW, I compared using FW 400 vs USB to back up my MacBook's internal hard drive to an external hard drive.

Result: FW was about twice as fast.

Here are the details:

Using SuperDuper, I cloned the 50 GB of data on the internal hard drive of my first gen MacBook (bought Aug 06; 2 GHz Intel Core Duo w 1 G RAM) to an OWC Mercury On-the-Go Fire Wire 400 + USB 2.0 external hard drive (Oxford 911 chipset and a Western Digital Scorpio 160 GB hard drive with 2 MB buffer).

Time to transfer/make clone:

FW: 1 hour 38 minutes
USB: 3 hour 5 minutes

Not only was FW twice as fast, it did not require exiting any background processes (at least with my setup). Using USB, on the other hand, the backup stalled when I kept a background program turned on (Little Snitch network monitor). I had to disable the network monitor to be able to backup using USB.

At an hour and a half using FW for a complete backup, I can go to lunch, do some paperwork, then get back to work. Having the computer tied up for three hours for a backup with USB, though, is not possible within a workday.

Yes, one can later do "Smart backups" with SuperDuper that only backs up what is changed and thus are much faster (and I will next be comparing FW to USB using this), but about every fourth backup I like to do a complete erase and backup.

Apple might listen if enough people complain. When I called Apple, at first the person tried to steer me to the MacBook Pro. After I told him not only did I not want to spend an extra $700 or so for a MBP, I wanted the smaller size of a MacBook. He then admitted these were valid concerns and went on to say that Apple does take feedback and that sometimes it makes a difference. I gave him the results of my comparison of cloning times, which he said he typed into some sort of internal feedback system at Apple. He also urged me to give feedback on the Apple website, which I did.

If anyone wants to try to influence Apple (not easy, I know) the address to write to Apple about this issue is:

www.apple.com/feedback/
then you look for MacBook

[theguyfromtatooine]

According to notebookcheck.net, MacBook Pro (with 2.53 Ghz processor) has no a serious heating problem. Is it true?

[bobcat]

I just bought the MPB and it is SIMPLY AMAZING!!!! It beats down any previous versions hands down.
Don't hesitate to buy this one, it sets a whole new standard in built quality and usability.
The trackpad is amazing you can browse the web with it (using 3 fingers to go back or forward ) on Safari.

[zozocalypso]

The original article is nothing more than a sales pitch.

Just like previous Macsturbations

I'm a Mac Nugget myself

But I'm thinking of moving to Kentucky

[st1mps]

It's odd. Very odd. As a long time mac user (my first machine was a classic 2) I really don't get the level of despair I seem to read in virtually every comment on virtually every review site, a negativity which, I note, seems at odds with virtually every professional review. Maybe I am cynical, but I wonder whether the increasingly shrill reception that every new piece of Mac hardware gets is in proportion to Apple's increasingly successful marketing - back when we Maccies were a hardcore of holdouts against Windows we used to gasp at every innovation, now we seem to curse every time Steve Jobs appears in public. That is not suggest that we should be uncritical of the new machines, or that we should ignore it when Apple doesn't deliver the quality we expect for our buck (wonky keys, bad battery fitting...), but we might also remember that a vast number of mac innovations have turned out to be farsighted rather than failures - anyone still have a laptop with a floppy drive?
So basically carp all you like, but to be honest until these things have been thoroughly test driven by pros and more general users we should recognize that most of the comments on sites like this are based on prejudice and neophobia rather than knowledge or experience (no offense anyone).

[rickcarl]

Apple changed. Intel, Firewire, mini DisplayPort, profits.

[paulmcisaac]

Unfortunately for those of us of the Mac persuasion, the honeymoon is definitely over. I started with the Apple II in the early 80s and have stuck with the brand since then. During this period, I have kept abreast of the Windows operating systems, if only to reassure myself that I had made the right decision with Mac.

For me, all Apple and Mac products worked great until my last acquisition, a Mac iBook (1 gig memory, 1.42 gig cpu, running OS X.4.11). My first bad experience with this iBook was shortly after I received it and the "dreaded blue screen" of PC fame started popping up with increasing regularity. Then there was the dreaded spinning beach ball (sometimes I feel like I am actually at the beach!). And then it was the dreaded mousepad that now works more frequently bad has been known to directly access windows beneath the one topmost on the screen.

Apple has gone through a lot of change over the past 30 years but, sad to say, appears now to be adopting a "big kids" attitude. You know what I mean, Apple was good to us while we remained loyal to Apple. But with iPods and iTunes and a surge in interest in the Mac machines by the proletariat, nerds and geeks like you and me have been left behind. Those few of us who early on realized the high quality computers and service that are still the core (ha, ha!) of the organization have recently been shocked by Apple Computer's devolvement into "just another computer company". Don't get me wrong, I think their innovative products and far-thinking strategies will remain fresh in the marketplace. But it is only a matter of time before one of the "biggies" in the computer biz makes Apple an offer they cannot refuse (unless this has already happened).

Just like any other boutique line that decides to focus on mass rather than class, Apple has changed philosophies to cater to those who really matter, its shareholders! I do not believe that those of use who have been a big part of the journey thus far were even factored into the decision! That's life.