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New MacBook Pro series

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301–310 of 359 posts

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's with an external battery slice.

Is that some briefcase-sized device you strap to your notebook with bungee cords?

It's a thin battery pack that attaches to the bottom of the laptop and works in conjunction with the system battery.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-74450.html

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#302
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Thunderbolt port (count on buying another $30 display adapter like every generation) Existing (edit: mini)displayport adapters will work. Per the Apple Thunderbolt site ( http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/ ): "And because Thunderbolt is based on DisplayPort technology, the video standard for high-resolution displays, any Mini DisplayPort display plugs right into the Thunderbolt port. To connect a DisplayPort, DVI, HD…

It's $100 for the mini-display port to dual-dvi, and it doesn't even work very well.

I was scared away from purchasing a MacBook Pro with a Mini-Display Port just because of all the reviews on Apple.com saying how that converter was horrible. I'm happy I did, because it caused me to wait for a MacBook Air 13", and not only did I get a computer that is better for me (I really don't need all the features and power of the latest and greatest MBP) - They also seemed to have fixed the problems with the converter. I spend 10-12 hours a day with my MBAir 13" 1440x900and my Dell 2560x1600.

The Converter works fine, I _love_ the mini-display port form factor, Happy to hear they are adapting it for thunderbolt, (Interesting to see the similarity in Bus Naming "FIRE WIRE" "THUNDER BOLT") - Only downside is that it requires a USB port to power it, but, on the pro side, the MBAir comes with two!

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#303
post #264
post #78

Didn't get as much coverage, but there are also new ThinkPads this week: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/22/lenovo-trots-out-new-thin... The 14" models look good: 30 hours (claimed) battery on the T420, 0.83" ultrathin T420s with discrete graphics. Edit: Here's the official announcement, which took a bit of digging around to find: http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1421 . synacksynack has posted a…

ThinkPad keyboards are still better than any keyboard on any Apple product.

My only complaint with my MBP keyboard is the lack of a ctrl key on the right side. It's my only real complaint about the laptop in general. Everything else is just a quirk.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#304

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My 2 year old X200 has 1.3 hours battery time, decreasing rapidly. The display plastic is broken, the camera is broken and the mouse tracking nob is broken. It's the worst piece of laptop hardware I've ever had (compared to older IBM Thinkpads, DELLs and iBooks, Macbooks and MacbooksPro).

Strange. I never had any problems with my Thinkpads, but my Macbook has had several. The plastic casing is brittle and just breaks off after a certain amount of time, the battery died and needed replacing, the hard drive died and needed replacing and the power supply died and needed replacing too. Seriously considering getting one of these new Thinkpads and sticking Ubuntu on it. Maybe the T420 or T520.

Am I the only one who absolutely loves the eraserhead on the Thinkpad? It's so nice to be able to use the mouse without taking your hands off the keyboard. (Why netbooks have a tiny, useless touchpad rather than an eraserhead is beyond me.)

My 2009 macbook has been a disaster for me ergonomically. The keys are spaced too far apart and I keep trying to "click" the trackpad, which is killing my fingers. And the limited trackpad space when trying to drag or highlight something long drives me crazy.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#305
post #18

Color me disappointed. I was hoping for: • Ditching the optical media for longer battery life • 4 cores in the 13" • Max RAM of 12 GB (this one isn't listed ... maybe?) • The higher resolution 1440x900 resolution in the 13" that the Macbook Air has Altogether it's a pretty wussy update. Basically it looks like the diff (on the 13" model, which is what I care about) is: • Faster CPU (finally!) • Thunderbolt port (coun…

>>• 3 hours less battery life The old battery tests were unrealistic. They advertised 8 hours on the 17'', but who really got even close to that under normal use? I'm thankful they're taking the hit on pure battery life numbers to report an honest, realistic test.

I can totally vouch for this. My 5,3 MBP only got about 4 hours max when brand new as long as I was running OS X and had the power-saving video mode selected. Running Debian, I usually see around 2 hours if I'm lucky.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#306
post #226

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I don't think the laptop versions of the Core i* have 3 memory channels (neither do the Socket-1155/1156 desktop versions), so 3x4GB of RAM would be a strange/suboptimal configuration. There probably isn't enough physical space in a 13" laptop for more than 2 modules anyway (unless you sacrifice battery or optical drive space). Even soldering them to the motherboard wouldn't save much space - I think all current 4GB…

unless you sacrifice [...] optical drive space What they really sacrificed here was the opportunity to make a compelling product. It's 2011, when have you last time used an optical drive?

I'm curious why they didn't put in a Blu-Ray reader/writer, if they're going to put in an optical drive at all?

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#307
post #104

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To add to your list: 3G internet.

Yeah, why not? Among top tier laptop and cellphone manufacturers, the only name that appears on both lists is Apple (well, I guess Samsung makes laptops too...). Adding a SIM/RUIM slot and a 3G chip makes so much sense. I know a lot of laptop manufacturers in Europe have offered this as an option. Why not Apple?

Maybe they're not confident that the number of people choosing this option would compensate for the extra training and infrastructure necessary to support it, plus the tie-ins with a carrier. It's one thing to do that for the iPhone where every customer wants it, another for 5% of Macbook buyers.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#308
post #18

Color me disappointed. I was hoping for: • Ditching the optical media for longer battery life • 4 cores in the 13" • Max RAM of 12 GB (this one isn't listed ... maybe?) • The higher resolution 1440x900 resolution in the 13" that the Macbook Air has Altogether it's a pretty wussy update. Basically it looks like the diff (on the 13" model, which is what I care about) is: • Faster CPU (finally!) • Thunderbolt port (coun…

That they kept the optical drives wasn't a surprise. For most of us (power-users) — who download software and/or use disk images — it's not a necessity, but a lot of regular Joe's still burn CD's/DVD's. I've had a lot of people look at a MacBook Air and then ask me "where's the DVD drive?".

Apple could easily leverage this to their advantage by selling an optional external drive and marketing it appropriately.

Or they could design the bay to accommodate an optional battery that would be factory installed.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#309
The new SDXC slot is limited to 64GB. That's an odd limitation given that Lexar has already released a 128GB SDXC card. The spec tops out at 2TB, so this slot could have provided a great way to load huge filesystems.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. I got my 13" Macbook Pro in early January of this year and it took me a total of 10 minutes to replace the stock HDD with an SSD.

If you ignore the hours of data copying or fresh install.

that's where lightpeak/thunderbolt steps in.
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