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Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

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Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#121

Post by wilwade »

NetOpWibby wrote: post #106
tomduncalf wrote: post #7

Posting this from my six month old Macbook Pro 15" on which the spacebar has just started doing double spaces. Going to try and clean it with compressed air, but even if that works, it's unacceptable in my opinion that such a key piece of hardware on such an expensive machine should be so fragile. The fact that at some point I'll have to take it back to Apple and probably be without it for several days due to the com…

I’m experiencing this issue with my B key and it’s annoying af. I use my MBP in clamshell mode with an external keyboard and I dread going mobile.

I had the issue with the doubling with the b key as well.

Mine was out of warranty, so I fixed it myself.

Failed: compressed air Failed: cleaning under the key.

Success (but not recommended) I removed the key, then pulled off the glued membrane. Cleaned all with 90% alcohol. Took a new membrane (but you might be able to use old) and used E6000 and a toothpick to glue it back. Replaced butterfly and key.

Not a good solution, but it worked.

It looked like the contacts were getting coated and not making good contact? Perhaps heat?

Best of luck.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#122

Post by tlrobinson »

dman wrote: post #103
tlrobinson wrote: post #80

Tangential rant ahead: I've been pretty disappointed in the latest MacBooks as well (mostly just the keyboard and mediocre performance improvements over previous generations), so as a hedge I thought I should give Linux another try, hoping in the ~5 years since I last attempted it one of the more user-friendly distributions would have figured out how to make installation painless. Nope. It's easy enough to get a basi…

Why not buy a machine with Ubuntu preinstalled from Dell or system 76.

I don't want to buy a new machine (yet), I just want to try it out.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#123

Post by NetOpWibby »

wilwade wrote: post #121
NetOpWibby wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m experiencing this issue with my B key and it’s annoying af. I use my MBP in clamshell mode with an external keyboard and I dread going mobile.

I had the issue with the doubling with the b key as well. Mine was out of warranty, so I fixed it myself. Failed: compressed air Failed: cleaning under the key. Success (but not recommended) I removed the key, then pulled off the glued membrane. Cleaned all with 90% alcohol. Took a new membrane (but you might be able to use old) and used E6000 and a toothpick to glue it back. Replaced butterfly and key. Not a good so…

I am not confident in my ability to do that but it's good to know there is a solution if I get desperate enough. My mechanical keyboard is saving my life right now.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#124

Post by dman »

tlrobinson wrote: post #122
dman wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not buy a machine with Ubuntu preinstalled from Dell or system 76.

I don't want to buy a new machine (yet), I just want to try it out.

Then you should compare the tinkering experience for linux with Hackintoshes?

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#125

Post by Steltek »

nvarsj wrote: post #107
tlrobinson wrote: post #80

Tangential rant ahead: I've been pretty disappointed in the latest MacBooks as well (mostly just the keyboard and mediocre performance improvements over previous generations), so as a hedge I thought I should give Linux another try, hoping in the ~5 years since I last attempted it one of the more user-friendly distributions would have figured out how to make installation painless. Nope. It's easy enough to get a basi…

Thinkpads generally work out of the box without any tweaking. I'd suggest using a distro with a recent kernel and you shouldn't have any problems.

Why do you still recommend a Thinkpad? Thinkpad screen resolutions stink across the board. X-series RAM caps out at 16GB where my XPS15 gets 32. I understand TPs work well with Linux but it's 2018, a lot of things work pretty darn well with Linux.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#126

Post by cpncrunch »

hocheung20 wrote: post #30
cpncrunch wrote: post #2

I use a keyboard cover and it helps reduce this issue. When you do get a crumb under a key and it stops working, the solution is to keep hitting the key hard until you dislodge/break the crumb. Low tech, but it works.

This will eventually break the tiny legs in the keycaps rendering your key permanently inoperatable.

I've only done this about twice in the lifetime of the keyboard. I'm not doing it every day.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#127

Post by wyclif »

tomduncalf wrote: post #7

Posting this from my six month old Macbook Pro 15" on which the spacebar has just started doing double spaces. Going to try and clean it with compressed air, but even if that works, it's unacceptable in my opinion that such a key piece of hardware on such an expensive machine should be so fragile. The fact that at some point I'll have to take it back to Apple and probably be without it for several days due to the com…

I'm using a new 2017 MBP w/o the touchbar. So far, no issues with the keyboard. But here's another thing to consider: with earlier MBPs and ThinkPads with better keyboard design, I would occasionally used compressed air to blow out the dust from under the keys. The bad thing about the new design is that I'd hesitate to do this now, because you could actually cause the keys to die by accidentally blowing dust under a key.

Apple: you need to go back to the drawing board and redesign the keyboard. Stop chasing thinner/lighter. The keyboard is the primary interface programmers use. It should be sturdy enough, and have enough key travel, to hold up for the life cycle of the laptop.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#128

Post by kahlonel »

anon1253 wrote: post #114
kahlonel wrote: post #62

I'm honestly thinking of switching to Thinkpad X1 Carbon now, but I HATE windows. And from what I've heard, Linux doesn't bode well with it. Anybody here Linux running on X1 Carbon?

It doesn’t work on the 2018 model. No reliable deep sleep state, no trackpad or track point on the model with NFC. Lenovo refuses to acknowledge both, so it will probably not get fixed. Also, the sound and webcam are aweful (think tin can and potato) … not something I expected from a 2750$ machine; but Netflix and conference calls will be painful at best. I also tried the Carbon X1 in 2015 I think (the one with the t…

That's depressing.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#129

Post by steindavidb »

tomduncalf wrote: post #7

Posting this from my six month old Macbook Pro 15" on which the spacebar has just started doing double spaces. Going to try and clean it with compressed air, but even if that works, it's unacceptable in my opinion that such a key piece of hardware on such an expensive machine should be so fragile. The fact that at some point I'll have to take it back to Apple and probably be without it for several days due to the com…

My SO and I have three MBPs between us. Two have had keyboard failures (one the "8" key, the other the space bar). Both took about a week for Apple to repair.

Re: Don’t buy the MacBook Pros even on sale, in my opinion

#130

Post by Steltek »

ballenf wrote: post #22

Louis Rossmann has examined these issues in detail on his electronics repair YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KuVvb9DTaU (I disagree with the level of his vitriol against Apple, but I appreciate his deep teardowns and clear explanations. He just doesn't seem to understand how valuable the Apple software is vs. Windows to those who need or appreciate osx.)

What Apple software? Homebrew? Crusty old 2007 GNU coreutils?

I can understand this guy's hate for Apple though. They're violently hostile to anyone with a screwdriver or a compiler.

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