MacBook Pro :: Finding Best Mbp / Recommendations?
Nov 1, 2010
I've been using a PC all my life. I currently have a 5 year old Dell 3100 desktop. I've decided to make the switch to a Mac. I have a lot of problems with my current computer, but it's 5 years old so it's expected I guess.
I'm pretty much decided on the Macbook Pro 13 inch model. I'm not a "hardcore professional" computer user, but more of a personal user. Here are some of my concerns:
1. I'm leaning towards the 2.4 Ghz model. The upgrade to a 2.66Ghz with an extra 50 Gb hard-drive is several hundred $$$ more expensive. Do you guys think the added $$ is worth the little extra processor speed and hard-drive size for a non-professional user?
2. Some people are telling me to wait for the 2011 Macbook Pro to be released. Obviously nobody knows exactly when that will be. I can wait a few months, but I'm not sure how much would change. Some people seem to think the processor on the 13' model is "outdated" and needs an i5 or i7. 2011 is just around the corner, so perhaps it might be worth "waiting" to see what upgrades come available.
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Jan 7, 2011
Ive been reading a few different posts on the forum with regards to this, but thought I would ask the question anyway.
Just got my first MAC, Got the 13". Decided I didnt want to wait anymore, If the new ones are that good then I might sell the 13" in 12 months and get one of the new 15"s.
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Oct 4, 2010
I am looking for optibay recommendations for my MBP 17" mid-2010. I am not sure which one to get. MCE offers one, which I have looked at, but they are pretty pricy at almost 100 bucks. Then I saw another website, [URL] selling optical bay caddies for almost half that (~50 dollar range); and lastly even some on eBay for the 12$ range from US sellers.
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Jul 31, 2009
I've been trying to find a good, solid powered-USB hub to use with my Macbook Pro. I tried the Belkin 7-port, which had good reviews, but it just stopped working after 2 weeks, and it was never powering self-powered USB hard drives properly (even though it was supposed to).
So I'd like some recommendations for a good USB hub that has sufficient power to use with self-powered USB hard drives and that won't slow down or stop working when i connect too many devices.
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Nov 14, 2010
On my Windows 2008 server desktop, I use a Core i7 i980 and SSD hard disk. I spend lots of time compiling in Visual C++/Windows.
Due to nature of my work (making apps), I need the highest possible CPU speed, highest possible HDD speed.
What kind of Mac do you recommend for such a user?
I need at least a Core i7/995 and SSD hard disk...
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Dec 3, 2006
I'm looking to buy an eMac for a friend and trying to decide between two options. They're both combo-drive:
1. 1.25ghz with 1ghz ram with about 10 months left on the Applecare warranty;
or
2. 1.25ghz with 256 ram with basically zero mileage on it but no warranty (it's owned by a family friend who tried it for about a week and then went back to her old computer.)
Option 2 would be a little more expensive, plus more memory would be needed. I'm leaning toward 2 because hey, it's brand new, but I'm concerned about the lack of warranty.
I've run Hardware Test on it, got online, played around with the applications, and there are no issues. Is this about all I can do to test it out?
Also, how much of a factor is usage? Option 1 has been in use every day with some bigger applications- is it more likely to fail sooner? I realize there's no way to predict longevity, and from my own experience I know that Macs last forever, but I'm not familiar with eMacs and maybe there are some issues that I'm not aware of with them.
Note also that my friend plans to use this for a long time. She had an older eMac until now that she loved before it got stolen, and doesn't do anything more intensive than email-internet-digital photos.
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Feb 20, 2008
A friend of mine wants to buy a "vintage" iMac. He's an interior designer so going for the iconic look rather than specs and looking at the original G3 style or the "pod" style G4s.
Now this will be used primarliy for web browsing, email, iPhoto and iTunes (streaming his music collection to Apple TV - about 50GB of music). He'd like it to run OSX and preferably Leopard.
I'm guessing (from memory) that the original iMacs are out of the question but can anyone suggest a spec he might look for? Maybe somebody that's still using one of these machines could give an opinion? Also, what's the max spec (cpu, hard drive, RAM) that he could expect to pick up?
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Oct 31, 2008
I have a shiny new macbook and i need a good software phone that supports either SIP or IAX (prefer both) is reliable and can record calls. It would also be nice if it has support for G729.
So far I've found ZoIPer Business, which will set me back 36GBP($58 USD). I'm a bit wary of purchasing it, as I've used ZoIPer FREE and it seems to crash sometimes (i.e. it wont cleanly exit)
I've also tried X-Lite although this also seems very buggy and havent been able to make a successful call.
Is there something someone can recommend that they've used? or should i shutup and buy ZoIPer & not complain about the price?
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Feb 15, 2009
since i switched to mac about two months ago ive been looking for a good p2p client. Back in the windows days i used ares and loved it. So now ive downloaded several other programs like: Acquisition, Hedera, Posioned, iSwipe and Limewire.
At least two of those are for different networks and none of them have worked except for limewire, but there is too much virus and spam in it. The best option would be a working client for ares network. Every other program just wont connect. Does anyone use iswipe by the way?
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Oct 21, 2009
I need to setup a new version of gtk and glib2 on my Mac, but the only versions I can find are a bit stale (gtk 2.14) or don't seem to include a newer glib version.
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Sep 21, 2009
I own an eMac (my first one) and overall, I'm extremely pleased with the machine. However, the fancy-appearing keyboard leaves much to be desired, and I'm looking for a new one. The Matias tactile pro keyboard looks promising, as does the Kensington, but I would be interested in everyone's opinion as to which keyboard has the best "feel." I'm not interested in bells and whistles, just basic utility and keyboard keys striking quality for long sessions on my word processor.
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Jul 4, 2008
I'm looking for some feedback as to what speakers to get for an iMac 24" (when we finally get our hands on it)
It must: Be great for positional audio for gaming Perform brilliantly at producing my high bitrate iTunes library. Meet points 1 & 2 baring in mind my room is longer than it is wide - 8 feet wide by 13 feet long
It must not: Be a mess of wires - it's connecting to an iMac after all Exceed �200 (excl. P&P)
2.1 channel or 5.1 channel audio is fine, it's the quality I'm more concerned about.
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Feb 7, 2009
I was wondering if there are any certain types of anti-theft locks for the iMac which I can securely lock onto furniture out there?
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May 20, 2009
Keep track of hours of music listened to in say a continuous 2 week span. This can be synced through your ipod and within itunes itself. And give ratings related to how much hours of music you have listened to in the those 2 weeks. So if you've listened to I dunno 12 hours of music within that span, it'll keep track and give you a rating like: 'casual listener' or if you have totaled up 40 hours of music listening you're an 'avid music fan'. I dunno what to call them but I like knowing how much music I've really listened to recently and this would be cool.
Or to take it even further, see what genre (granted you have this organized in iTunes) that you're listening to most and this can go even deeper.
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Oct 12, 2009
Like the title says; my dad's vision is getting progressively worse, so I'm looking to fix him up with a ridiculously bright, preferably very large monitor. He likes photography, so at least moderate color accuracy would be nice (video performance is completely irrelevant), but is secondary, since if he can't see it it doesn't much matter how good the color is. Not ridiculously expensive, also nice.
I can, of course, go sort monitors at Newegg by brightness and pick the highest one, but if some of the online tests are to be believed, the specced brightness isn't necessarily accurate, and that doesn't tell the story if it looks like complete crap otherwise.
On paper the Hanns�G HG-281DPB is ridiculous in brightness and size, but it's basically a TV (HDMI-only); I like ViewSonic and Samsung, but on paper most of their screens aren't notably bright.
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Nov 14, 2010
I have decided and ordering a MacBook Pro 13", 2Ghz, 250GB HD; I am upping ram with aftermarket plus I want to upgrade to a SSD drive. I mainly will be doing parallel 6, windows vista pro, surfing, emailing, minor Photoshop... I have a iMac 27" as my workhorse...
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Mar 7, 2008
I'm not really a heavy gamer or anything, but I'm planning a few long flights in the coming weeks and considering getting some 'entertainment' in advance for use on the flight. As I've seen mixed reviews of games on the Air so far, I'm wondering if anyone can post games that they've used on the Air that perform reasonably well and are worth getting.
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Oct 30, 2008
I just bought the new aluminum Macbook.I currently use the black cloth that came with it to clean the glass screen.I was wondering though whats the best method to clean the outer shell and keyboard. I think I got some oil stains/spots on the black keys, which I'm not sure how to wipe off
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Jan 8, 2010
I have a MacBook Pro 15 (2006) 2 ghz core duo, 2 gigs ram, & 100 gig 7200 RPM hard drive. I would like to change the the hard drive out to a larger one, but I'm seeing all kind of reviews & I'm not sure which ones to put more weight on. I have been looking at a 320 Gig or the 500 Gig. Looked at the Seagate, WD, & the Hitachi. I want to stay with the 7200 RPM. I also know there can be an issue with the, shock or drop sensor on the hard drives not being compatible with the laptops shock sensor, as well as heat & noise issues. I will state that this is my first Mac since the late 80s. But that I have a several very good friends that are long time Mac users and that have done this type of switch out, so while I know that the switch out is more complicated than some I have good tech support on that side of this switch out.
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Jul 1, 2009
Does anyone have any thoughts on the pros/cons on a 7200 RPM drive over a 5400 drive? I'm looking to purchase a MBP 15" in the next couple of days.
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Feb 7, 2010
I currently have a 2006 Macbook Pro 2.0 ghz core duo, 80 GB HD, 2GB Ram running leopard (not snow leopard), and a wireless card which I think has reached the end of it's life line (the signal range of the wireless card has diminished dramatically), and a battery which last 45min on a charge and a fussy dvd drive that fails at times. Which this being said, I wanted an opinion on a couple things if it wasn't to much trouble.A. I wanted to know what could I do to "Max out" my laptop.1a. When I do "max out" my laptop would I be able to convert my Macbook Pro and use it as a desktop (just buy an external screen, keyboard, and mouse) edit: Also What could I do to prevent heating (since it would now be used as a desktop)
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Aug 30, 2010
I've been Promac based for years and now run a Macbook Pro for mobility around the office and house.I'm getting flustered running 2 systems in tandem along with 1 wife and 3 kids! Currently before I leave the desktop I put a copy of my current work on my TimeCapsule then pull it down to the laptop, work then visa versa. I would like my work folders, photos, and music to be on both machines. I see programs like Drop Box and Chronosyc, the language on the Chrnosync website make is appear fairly complicated, can I ask if anyone might spare a moment to cover their expieriences of them or any other setups?
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Sep 29, 2009
I have a late 2007 150 GB Macbook Black. I'd like to finally backup my data and also use it for games or other storage to play directly from, cause I'm almost out of room on my my Macbook. What kind of portable hard drive do you use, or recommend?
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Sep 10, 2003
Could some of you tell me a good FTP for OSX? I just upgraded to X and used Fetch in OS9.
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Jul 30, 2008
I'm about to pull the trigger on a RAID5 card for my MacPro (4x750GB) and I want an external (different building) RAID5 for network backups. I'm not quite in the market for a full >4TB RAID system as the price points still seem quite high. I was thinking of this system:
[URL]
Any thoughts? Would 4TB RAID5 be a good Time Machine back-up for my 3TB RAID5 MacPro in terms of space?
Can anyone recommend a better system? We can afford to spend more, but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on a ~$15k 16-drive RAID system. Part of my was thinking (hoping!) the Netgear system may support 2TB drives if they become available and that system would continue to support our needs for many years.
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Mar 27, 2009
I just switched from the PC to an iMac. I have a web site [URL] to which I periodically upload updated photo galleries. On the PC I used a very simple and elegant FTP program from Ipswitch, called WTS (I think that was the name). That program doesn't come in a Mac version. It was very simple in that it contacted my site and opened up a double paned window which showed me the files on the server and an explorer type view of my computer. I selected the files and dragged them to the proper place on the server, and VOILA! a minute or so later my site was updated. What's available for the Mac which would be comparable? I saw a program called "Fetch" and the APPLE site has one called Classic FTP. I'm interested in low cost, ease of use, and reliability.
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Jan 3, 2010
I want to back up my IPOD and I'm wondering if anyone could recommend software like 'xport' or something.
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Dec 14, 2006
I'm now in the need of a USB hub for when my PowerBook is on it's iCurve. I just got a MightyMouse and Printer and a few other things but the mighty mouse cord is soo short it really does not reach over to the USB port of the PowerBook.
I'm looking for something to compiment the other things on my desktop (Apple White and Sliver). Maybe a USB hub I could mount on the desk or near it's built-in bookshelf.
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Feb 23, 2009
What are some recommendations for wireless n routers? I currently have a NetGear WPN2000 and it's a pain in the butt. My MacPro accesses it through its Airport Express card, and nearly every day I get the error message, "Airport has a self-assigned IP address and cannot connect to the Internet." If I reset the router, everything then usually works okay for about a day or two. I'm getting sick of resetting the router. I have an iMac and a printer attached to the router's ethernet jacks, and those work okay but seem pretty sluggish.
So I was looking into the Airport Extreme Base Station. On Apple's website, there are a [I]lot[I] of really negative reviews. So I'm hesitant to spend that much money on something that might not work.
So what do you think? Airport or Linksys or D-Link or ... what?
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Dec 7, 2009
Title pretty much says it all, the superdrive in my Mac Pro has become unreliable. I figured I'd swap it out myself with something from Newegg, but I'm not sure which ones are compatible and am looking for recommendations
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