Making the switch to Apple June 12, 2008
Posted by sdpurtill in : Apple , trackbackI finally sold out and bought a MacBook Pro the other day to see what all the hype was about. I am coming from three years of exclusively using IBM ThinkPads (well, Lenovo now). I haven’t used a tower computer since 10th grade so I think it’s safe to say that I’m going to be using laptops/tablets for the foreseeable future. Coming from a ThinkPad is hard — my ThinkPad crashed only once, when I accidentally deleted a hidden 13KB file in the root C directory that deemed the machine useless. I took it to the Geek Squad and they were able to fix it, which is cool cause those guys are completely useless. I’ve been using the MB Pro for the last two days, so here are my initial thoughts on it.
This review is really critical because I’m going through withdrawls from my ThinkPad.
The first thing I will bring up is the fact that this thing gets so hot I could make breakfast on top of it if I flipped it over. This is COMPLETELY unacceptable, I can’t believe the FCC (or whatever body governs products here in the US) let Apple release a computer that could get to the temperatures that mine has already gotten to in the last few days. It has gotten so hot that I can’t even type on the keyboard, which ruins my entire experience with the machine. I’ve talked to a few friends and they tell me to put it on a desk, so I’m trying that out now (was on my lap on top of the Lapinator before). My three year old ThinkPad still has a longer battery life and has never gotten half as hot. I also think it’s weird that this flaw didn’t get much bashing in the media, if a Windows laptop had the problem it would be all over the place. SO besides that rant, here is what I think about the rest of it. Probably the worst part, since I am already a pretty sweaty person, IT MAKES MY PALMS SWEAT. Up there on the annoying scale with babies crying on airplanes right before they land.
The computer is extremely fast, has slowed down in Photoshop editing some photos (I shoot in RAW). I have never cared much about speed because I don’t edit movies/audio, and I don’t mind waiting a few seconds for PS to render things. The hard drive is 250GB so I’ll probably have to get an external drive pretty soon - when are they going to have TB drives in laptops? Better be soon.
The mousepad on the MB Pro is a piece of CRAP, I’ll take the ThinkPad’s one any day. And it doesn’t have the little track ball that the ThinkPad had, I’m already missing that a ton. Also, the Apple mouses are the worst designed products I’ve EVER used. Sure they look nice, but coming from a Logitech mouse that is made for *human hands*, this thing is like using a horse vs a Lamborghini.
Ok. Take a deep breath. My positive review begins here.
The software. Easiest installations I’ve ever run through (literally, I ran through them). It takes a good 15 seconds to install anything (unless you’re installing Creative Suite). I love the dock at the bottom because I really only use 3-4 programs heavily, so I can bring those up any time. I am in love with WriteRoom, this software that lets you turn the screen black and gives you the entire screen to write. Really liberating.
AThe software runs so smoothly, it’s kind of weird. In Windows you’re used to things crashing every few hours, you kind of expect it. I become addicted to pressing CTRL+S (save shortcut) on everything I worked on in fear of a APPLICATION NOT RESPONDING error. Still haven’t hit that on this machine, and I’ve had a lot of apps open at once. Also really liberating.
Everything looks so much prettier. Aesthetically this whole experience is beautiful, and I’m sure that’s what Jobs set out to do with OSX. Job well done.
Overall this thing is awesome, very glad that I got it. This review does a lot more bashing than it should, but I promise you I really like this thing. But for the record: I’m not buying into the Apple hype at ALL. It’s just a computer at the end of the day, and someone is going to come along pretty soon and out-innovate Apple’s OS and all the fanboys will jump on that bus. Congratulations.
Conclusion: I can finally say I’m a Mac user, but will probably never say I’m a Fanboy.
P.S.: I still love you ThinkPad. No really, I’m still going to use you when I get tired of my fingers getting singed.
UPDATE: Thanks to Dustin Curtis, I was able to find smcFanControl 2.1.2 which allows me to set the minimum speed of the fans. Already works, so no problems with the heat anymore, yay!
Comments»
You’ll find yourself using the mouse button on the trackpad less, if you enable multi-touch gestures on the trackpad from the corresponding preferences menu in System Preferences. For example, tap two fingers simultaneously on the trackpad to bring up the context menu. I use the mousepad maybe once per day on my cool MacBook Air.
Dude, you are a complete idiot! Enough said.
Just to sort of amplify swissfondue, there is a good deal of stuff in the trackpad. First I hope you take advantage of the two finger scrolling. just rest two fingers on the trackpad and slide in any direction and you have scrolling in any direction. It is a huge productivity booster for me and if you have only been using the computer for a few days its possible, you have run across the trackpads behavior without the knowledge of how to use it. This along with the system preferences stuff should have you more productive than that little nub in the keyboard. Hope this was constructive.
The trackpad is the best in the world. Hands down. Accurate, smooth and has all those multi touch guestures. I admit the “mouses” or Mice are a bit on the weird side, but the trackpad you just can’t compare.
As for the heat issue, you have either got a bad piece, cause the new Penryn notebooks don’t heat up as much, or you have really really sensitive skin. Besides, you are not supposed to keep it on your lap anyway (reason why they are being called notebooks).
As swissfondue, CitisenZ, and Goobi have said, there are different ways you can use the trackpad more efficiently. Try them, they may make your experience a lot better. Also, you should be able to use your Logitech mouse if it has a USB connector. You don’t really need the Logitech software unless you need special configurations.
Just a thought, but coming from Windows, you might be forgetting that closing a window DOESN’T close the app - so some of the heat issues could well be a ‘toomanyappsrunningforcomfort’ issue; especially if one or two of them are graphics heavy. There is a fan control app which allows you to control the heat thing… can’t remember what it’s called :(
Any way, laps are not the best thing for laptops, strangely, since they interfere with ventilation and block heat dissipation and because Apple use the whole chassis to lose heat then you might well be asking too much.
re the mouse - use whatever you want, it’s a non-issue.
re the trackpad - I guarantee in 3-4 weeks you will forget whatever you said. Two fingered scrolling is where it’s at - just visit system prefs ~ keyboard and mouse and tailer it your way.
Enjoy
No, really. I’m on my first day with my brand new MacBook Pro. Granted that I live in North Carolina and don’t like using my AC, but it’s only about 80 degrees in my apartment right now and the thing is HOT. I love the computer, but won’t use it on my lap much. Previously, I had a MacBook (no pro) and it god damn hot, too. This is all running only Camino. I agree that the heat is an issue.
I also agree that the trackpad takes a bit to get used to, but is wonderful. I’m not used to using the multi-touch, but have been used to using the two-finger gestures for about a year now. As I have adapted to the trackpad’s capabilities, I’ve found them more and more useful.
Reply to Tim’s comment:
The computer is going to get hot if you use it on your lap. Apple markets these computers as portable computers, not as laptops. That means, they’re supposed to function on a hard, flat surface. If you’re like me and you use it on your pillow before bed, then chances are the vents are going to get blocked and the constant motion from the computer is going to generate heat.
As for the Trackpad, you can increase the sensitivity or decrease it in the Keyboard & Mouse menu. I’ve done that with both of my Mac computers, as even I found it hard to migrate from Windows to Mac. However, I must say now that I have XP installed on my Macbook Pro, I find the WINDOWS settings to be a bit much to get used to.
I’ve figured out the trackpad. I admit I really like it now. Everything negative in this post that I had to say about Apple has now been fixed (except my fanboy status, I’m still never going to be one). Thanks for all the comments!
Any apps that you guys recommend I install? I got Things, WriteRoom, Adium, Twitterlicious, and a few others last night, but still looking for some more productivity apps.
Apps: Perian plug-in for Quicktime. VLC. 1Password. Formulate Pro. Paparazzi!. Scrivener. Spamsieve. Transmission.
If you got it “just to see what the hype is all about” expect bitter disappointment.
Also expect for every flaw to be glaring and constant.
Expect to hate every minute.
Most people with that agenda do.
Real switchers know that things can’t improve without change, everything is a trade-off, and better doesn’t mean perfect.
I recommend David Pogue’s Switching to the Mac The Missing Manual (Leopard Edition) for “gotcha” avoidance.
(Like how OS X will replace a folder if one with the same name already exists where you are moving it, rather than merging them. )
Gerald wrote:
“Also expect for every flaw to be glaring and constant.
.
.
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(Like how OS X will replace a folder if one with the same name already exists where you are moving it, rather than merging them. )”
Yes. In Mac OS X “replace” actually does mean “replace” rather than “merge”. ;)
Is there a maximum length for comments or something? I’ve tried to post a comment with a list of applications like three times and it never shows up!
@monoclast not sure what’s going on, you should be able to write as much as you want. email me with the list if it doesn’t work - sdpurtill [at] gmail [dot] com
I have two MacBook Pros, and while they can get hot *occasionally when I am stressing them with a lot of hard work, they generally remain cool or slightly warm to the touch. I suspect the reason yours is getting so hot may be because a process is causing the CPU to work very hard for a long period of time.
I suggest you download and install MenuMeters and set it to show the CPU usage in your menu bar. If you notice CPU usage is high when the machine gets warm, run /Applications/Utilities/Activity Viewer and sort by CPU usage to see which process is the cause. If the machine is getting that hot while the CPU is idle, then you may have a defective battery or some other component. In that case, you’ll want to contact Apple Support ASAP, before the hardware fails! And be sure to backup your data!
“Yes. In Mac OS X “replace” actually does mean “replace” rather than “merge””
Total “gotcha” moment.
Windows teaches users to ignore labels (they’re never accurate) and just hit the highlighted button. Switchers carry old habits with them.
Anything that’s different from how Windows does it is a potential “gotcha” moment. Read David Pogue and avoid the gotchas.
i switched and it was worth it. also not a fan boy. my balls are sweating with the thing on my lap as we speak. it gets hot.
i recommend quicksilver, only enabled on applications. fastest way to open apps. huge productivity booster. still way faster than spotlight.
also, just love the shortcuts. keep looking at system preferences until you know all of them. command + tilda I didn’t know about for a while, and I should have.
macjournal is tight. costs.
cyberduck makes editing normal websites with textmate easy as hell.
textmate is way deeper than you think it is. love the shortcuts. cocoamysql. cssedit. have a good workflow with spaces. skitch.
just got screenflow. mad useful for screencasts.