How satisfied are you with your MacBook pro?

I am planning to buy a 15 inch macbook pro in the next month.

For the last 5 month I been reading millions of articles about the macbook pro, watched tons of videos about it on youtube, been following this forum on a daily basis and been following all the upgrades in the apple store. Now since its almost time I will finally be able to afford my long anticipated macbook pro I just hope that I wont be disappointed! so I am wondering how satisfied you guys are with your macbooks and if it was what you have expected.

thanks a lot!

 

Windows user here for +10 years. Newish OS X user here. OS X is simply amazing. That's really the only word I can use.

 

Windows user since I was 8. Switch to Mac, and BOOM! Windows suddenly feels crappy and incomplete:

-When you buy a Macbook Pro (which is the Mac that I bought), you buy software specially programmed for the hardware it runs on. Not just that, but Mac OS X comes ready-to-use and packed with all the software one might need: photos? iPhoto (superb app). Music? iTunes. Videos? Quicktime and you can download VLC if Quicktime is not enough. Browser? Safari, which really works well with Mac. Music editing and creating? GarageBand. All that stuff comes built-in. All you need to download is perhaps a P2P app, Skype, and MSN Messenger for Mac. Also, Mac comes with a RAR unzipper, but you would need extra software, say, Unarchiver, to open ZIP files.

Should you need more specialized software, almost everything is available for Mac. Adobe, Aperture and whatnot. iWork can create much more professional documents than Office. Your presentations would look like the ones in the Apple Keynotes.

Imagine all of that wrapped up in a smooth and sleek package that never gets boring. It's just simple. Even the laptop itself is sooo aesthetically pleasing!

Not just that, but Mac runs so much faster than Windows. Startup times are 40 seconds at average. I can open Safari and close it a billion times on my Mac before it opens on my 3.2 GHz (Pentium D) Windows XP PC. Mac shuts off in 4 seconds. Plus, it barely ever crashes! I hope this will make up your mind

 

iwork is not better than office.

sleeker? yes. better? stretch. office has a lot of functionality outside simply making documents. they are pretty different as far as scope. that means for the average end user, iwork may be more streamlined and appear easier to use.

but if you work in a lab, you aren't going to be able to develop software to batch process thousands of "numbers" files for data (this is something i do every day with excel, and apple cannot replace this)

excel is better and much more broad in scope than numbers, but keynote is better decisively than powerpoint at making presentations, and pages and word are about equal all things considered. pages offers several export formats and an easy collaboration system as well.


all in all, i am super pleased with my (2 year old) macbook pro, and i doubt i will be able to buy a PC again no ultra fast graphics cards for me anymore...

 

I like my circa 2007 MacBook Pro, and use it quite often for graphics work. OSX is a good operating system, and so is Vista so I use them in tandem via VMWare Fusion. I'm looking forward to getting Snow Leopard, and hope that it speeds up render jobs with it's Grand Central feature.

I'm a happy camper in both Windows and Mac worlds

 

Be sure to specify that you're talking about the Microsoft Office, the Mac version. Mac version and the Windows are vastly different. They're also made by different group of developers. They may look similar, but there are a lot of differences besides the GUI.

I doubt iWork can create documents with all those advanced macros written with VBA and automatically grab some form data from say a SQL server. Now that's professional.

Also, bootup time is greately affected by the hardware, the software you installed and the services you enabled..etc. Lower boot time doesn't always mean the OS is faster, it simply means well, the boot time is faster. For example, see the youtube link in my sig, my $400 netbook can boot up windows 7 in 20 seconds and modded XP under 10 seconds. Does the OS and programs run faster on my $400 netbookthan OSX on your macbook pro, I doubt it, except for a few cases.

 

I suppose it depends on what piece of low-cost and/or superannuated rubbish you migrated / are preparing to migrate from. The unfamiliar positive 'new toy experience' is enough to send many people over the edge.

For me, it was a sidegrade - I very rarely spent less than >$2,000 on a Windows notebook or >$4,000 on a desktop before I moved to OS X (and in fact, since). And it hasn't been what I can call a great experience.

Tiger was notably less stable than even XP. Leopard is different to Vista - and not necessarily better on comparable hardware with driver support. And IMO, given the single-vendor nature of Apple products I do genuinely expect significantly better reliability, software stability and build quality across the board. And to me, a good warranty isn't one that you can regularly go to and be served promptly with a smile (and I think Apple has excellent consumer support... shame about the laughable 'Pro' arrangements) - it's one that you never have to use in the first place.

Application wise, once again it depends on your level of expertise. At the shallowest levels certainly the iApps provide a better experience than default Windows applications of similar retail value - but they are very easy to outgrow. Once you get beyond that, then there's a surprisingly sparse selection of quality applications in almost every product niche. For many users that may not be an issue, but I certainly feel hamstrung when working in OS X as a general-purpose OS.

I don't see Boot Camp as a panacea. It's a handy alternative but not a substitute for a 'proper' Windows machine, no matter what BC users think. If you simply love fidgeting with OS's, it may not a major issue but BC is not a 100% Windows compatible environment, and the machines are definitely hobbled when running in BC - due to both BIOS issues and driver issues. The only way I run Windows in OS X is virtualised, for convenience - and even then, maintaining two OS's rapidly becomes a chore.

I have no choice, since I need to run OS X - but to anyone who has a choice, I think most general-purpose computing users who aren't completely technologically retarded can get better result in Windows, even (or especially in some cases) Vista, not even considering the forthcoming W7. However of course the hardware choice that entails is not an almost literal no-brainer as in the case of Apple.

 

bought this MBP a few months ago and I'm still having a hard time working with it, I was thinking about selling and going back to a pc but everyone i tell that to says stick with it, I bought windows vista ultra,vmware fusion,and norton and tried the windows on it and had only 2 programs in vista and BSOD 1 month later $240 in software that I find useless now for a mac. I'm still experimenting with it I've tried jailbreaking my iphone with it and wound up having to use my Home windows computer to do the job, Now i'm thinking about formatting the disk again to get things the way I like them working I'm having some email issues after downloading mobileme and syncing my iphone with my MBP this would not have happen if it was microsoft office and windows , JMO , I'm going to give it a little more time and if it doesn't work for me it's got to go.

 

Love my 17" MBP. Thought the only thing I would trade it for would be the unibody 17". Got the uni, but after a week I sold it. I just couldnt get passed the keyboard - not a fan. I'll stick with my tried and true machine for now.

 

I definitely love my 17 inch macbook pro. Would never want to go back to windows

 

I love the looks,sound,speed,weight,This is a beautiful notebook, I only wished it was windows base notebook, the only notebook I would ever replace this with is a sony but I would have to really make sure I wouldn't get another one loaded with all bull crap software loaded into it, there about the next best to this in class

 

with all my trips off for apple care id have to call 3 of my 5 units junk, the other 2 are good for troubleshooting for customers and general testing. I love the extra warranty but why the heck should I have to use it?

 

i use a pc and a mac.
like both, but prefer pc bc i feel like
i can get under the hood easier.
but macs can also easily dual boot.
but they are too expensive for the hardware youre getting,
when really the only "real" difference is the operating systems

 

I love mine. I use both, but I do enjoy using my Mac more.

Vogelbung, my curiosity is piqued...what is it you do that requires os x? There aren't too many professions that absolutely and exclusively require macs.

 

I was a Windows user since it was created until I switched this year. I don't see me ever going back to Windows but you never know what the future will bring. I used to say I would never buy a Mac, go figure.

 

Windows user for 10 years here, since Windows 95.
Switched to mac and it felt like I had actually reached the year 2009 instead of being stuck in 1999 where windows was. OS X looks after itself, no defragmentation, spyware, viruses, OS slowdown, registry, slow installing process.
It works very well and is highly productive to work on. The first time you use spotlight, or install an app, or use expose/spaces/stacks, or uninstall an app or plug something in (it just finds it!), you wonder why microsoft is so far behind.
Of course it's crappy for games, and of course all of the above comments refer to XP and Vista. Windows 7 might help windows catch up, but Apple is already heading to 64 bit and is getting very fast.

 

I also think a lot of people that think OS X is far superior to windows must of switched from some god awful machine. I have both, my macbook for portability, taking to class, typing/internet where ever I need it, and then my clevo for all my serious stuff. Let me tell you while I think OS X if better for basic task like internet and chat as it has a couple cool navigation features, windows is far more versatile, customizable, and easier to manage. I also have a modern pc that can more than handle vista, and it has never crashed. Also, defragmentation? Spyware? Viruses? Registry? You don't need to defrag modern ntfs partitions, and anyone with proper anti-virus doesn't get mal-ware. Not sure whats wrong with the registry. And you only install it once so its pointless to complain about about the install time. I feel like when I'm working on a mac there's a lot of pre-installed programs I can use, but can do much more than that because of the lack of software and configuration options. On windows there's a free program out there for anything you need to do. There's also a pc for anything you need to do, not to mention for about half the price of a mac. Am I satisfied with my macbook? Yes, but I don't think OS X is the secret god-OS from 10 years in the future. Its an adequate replacement and good change up from windows.

 

OS X is superior to Windows because the former is faster at pretty much everything (try searching in Vista or XP!). There are virtually no viruses, spyware, or any of that crap to bother most users, and the hardware + software just work together.

Playing around with Windows PC hardware is funner because there are far more choices and at lower prices, but OS X is a lot more flexible and stable as an OS. Beginners will enjoy the basic apps and simple interface, while advanced users will like the fact that OS X doesn't keep you from modifying just about anything you want.

Vista is faster at loading thumbnails than OS X though. Aside from that, I can't think of any other area that it remotely compares.

 

No, many switched from Vista. Anyway I compare my MBP with current Dells and Lenovos owned by people I know and even in my own house. OSX is just better in my opinion, Windows is better in other people's opinion. Use what works best for you and be happy.

 

Most of these are the same people who have never owned a decent Mac either...unless they prefer a slower, unsteadier, and crashier OS.

 

Remember the first time I used OSX. Was trying to install Firefox and all I had to do was drag it into the Apps folder. " I like being lazy...

 

Have you tried uninstalling an app? Yes, just drag it to the trash. Don't try that with your Windoze!

 

I dunno. I used both OSX and Vista and I don't really prefer one over the other.

Although I very much prefer the dock and hate the windows sidebar that vista got goin on. That thing takes so frickin long to load its almost pointless! lol

On the OSX side, it creates a bunch of ghost files on your usb drive. Not sure why that happens though.

 

Very much satisfied indeed!

I was a PC user since I had my first computer, way back in the Windows 3.1 day... Switched to Macs about two years ago. Never will I go back.

In fact, I haven't had Windows on my Mac for some months now, and funny story, a colleague of mine at work tried to get on this hidden wireless network, and he came to me for help.

It literally took me one hour to join an invisible network. Even after eventually finding the "if Windows' can't see the network, type the name yourself" option buried in a bunch of other windows in control panel -- Windows would still not connect, just because it couldn't see it.

So yeah, small things like that can really pee somebody off in the wrong moment. It did pee me off. I'm glad I don't have to even touch Windows anymore.

And as far as hardware goes, the Unibody process is indeed fantastic. It's very light, thin, and incredibly sturdy.

 

I do that all the time with my own compiled apps and many other small applications. It depends on how a program is made.

In order for programers to program more efficiently in Windows, Windows allow the programs to be modular thus allowing many files to act as a whole. This usually means the "Icon" that you normally view as the "program" is only a load point, not the program itself.

A self contained applications such as many small programs or larger programs with virtual registry and other dependancies included in the program itself, there's no reason why you can't drag and drop programs in Windows. In fact, I can drag and drop the portable MS office 2007 suite to any computer and it'll work, no installation required, exactly like the way apps are "installed" in Mac.

 

I migrated from OSX (Macbook) to Vista about 6 months ago, wanting a 15" notebook without the $2000 price tag. I got a Thinkpad and have been very impressed. Build quality is great, though not as solid feeling in the hand as the Macbook. I need portability again, so I'm considering a 13" Macbook Pro. Both OSX and Vista get the job done, but I found OSX more efficient in terms of getting things done. Windows 7 certainly feels like a step in the right direction for Windows, though. One major turn off about the unibody macbooks is the ultra glossy screens, which may be manageable with the brighter LED backlight. The alternative is to keep the Thinkpad and add a netbook for times when more portability is needed, which I'll likely try out before swapping the Thinkpad.

 

You can always make Vista look like Mac OSX for free through 3rd party apps and you'll get your things done at the same speed as Mac OSX.

 

I never said that iWork is BETTER. I said it creates good looking documents much more easily than Office for Windows, especially presentations. Office Windows is definitely more functional, but iWork sure makes better looking presentations if that is what you're looking for.

All Macs boot up fast by default. It is up to you to enable the extra services that slow down the system. I am speaking of default configuration, which is adequate for mainstream users. In that case, the boot is at average 40 seconds. I am speaking from my own personal experience: the guy wants to know how satisfied we are with our Macbook Pros and thats what I gave him. Macs don't come in a broad range of configurations, so the boot time would not vary extremely on different Mac systems, given that they are not flooded with services and whatnot. And BTW I didn't say anything about boot times determining the speed of the system. It just so happens that my Mac is much faster than my Windows PC and boots up faster.

I am sure that your $400 netbook can open Windows 7 in 20 seconds. But can it run Mirror's Edge and Crysis? Does it have that genuine polish that you get when you buy a Mac? No. Do you get the most convenient OS (IMO)? And yes, apps DO run faster on the Macbook Pro than on a netbook.

 

thanks a lot guys for all your help! I have been using windows my whole life and think its time to switch so I will have to see for my self which one I would prefer and I hope it will be OSX and the macbook pro! over windows.

 

Let us know what you get and keep us updated.

 

I think OSX is a great OS, but I'm not sure why some people are willing to drop $2k on a laptop and have never touched the OS. Its like buying a car without test driving.

I would get familiar with the software first before making a big purchase. You may or may not like it.

 

yes you are definitely right, but I did a pretty big research about OSX including readings lots of books about it, watching lots of videos and of course reading this forum and getting feedback from you guys, and from what i gathered It is a great operation system, but again I guess I wont know till I get it.

I definitely will, I am planning to buy a macbook pro 15 inch fully loaded(except the SSD option) probably in the next week or two and then I will definitely let you guys know my impressions, the funny thing is that I have been a windows guy all my life, and if you asked me a year ago what I think about macs, I would of told you they are crap!, funny how things change.

thanks a lot for all the feedback!

 

I've been a windows guy for a really long time too and thought I would never make the leap, that is until Apple started using intels.

I was never fond of the whole PowerPC era, while AMD/Intel was churning out more powerful CPU's.

So I'm glad Apple finally started using intels as the Core 2 is probably the largest jump in CPU architecture. Not only is it much more powerful than powerpc, but its now also more compatible with windows applications.

 

maybe you should get base model-in case you don't like it?

 

i've used my friend's 15 umbp and really liking it, so i brought a refurb from the apple store in the uk for the 2.53GHz 15" for £1079 just now

 

Maybe you should do some pretty big research about Windows like reading a couple of books and watching some tutorials and reading the forum to get used to how Windows really works. That way you'll have a fair comparison.

A lot of people actually buys books and start doing research after getting a mac. If they get a PC, they'll just start using it like it's 2nd nature to them when in reality, it's not. The more you know about a OS, the easier it is to use, usually.

 

lol as I said before, I have been using windows since windows 95 and right now I have 4 computers at home all with windows xp(from 2001!) installed because I really dont like Vista, so you can see how much I think Microsoft failed since I think windows xp is even better then vista.

 

People say vista sucks, but its only because they have such high expectations for Microsoft. Yes, when vista first came out it had a lot of bugs but they were all fixed in SP1. I know a lot of my friends that used macs would randomly yap on and on about how Microsoft spent something like $400 million on advertising when they should of spent it to "fix" vista. Well they already did. I've been using vista since SP1 first came out. It's never blue screened, and I've only had to restart it once due a the task manager glitch when a right click box was stuck in the middle of the screen and wouldn't go away. My Macbook crashes I'd say about once a month, usually while using firefox/ms office. Yes they are third party apps but I use a far greater variety of software on vista. As far as performance goes vista ran fine on my old 1.4GHz turion64 with 1gig of ram. The only reason apart from slight performance drop that would make xp better than vista would be software compatability. But thats to be expected, I mean you wouldn't expect all your windows 98 software to run on xp right? As far as Mac OS vs Windows, OS X definitely beats xp, and is about equal to vista. OS X may have the edge because it runs slightly raster. However with windows 7 running about as fast as xp, and snowleopard being more of a glorified service pack windows might come out on top. I am satisfied with my macbook's OS, however I bought my macbook as a thin portable notebook to take anywhere I want and at the time it was the best for that. Now with $200 netbooks and $300 hp minis, to me OS X don't justify buying a mac for twice as much than a pc with more features.

 

People really care way too much about their OS on these forums. OS X and Windows don't differ as much as people on here pretend they do. Windows has support for way more applications and runs on way more customizable hardware. OS X is more stable and whatever but runs on very limited and expensive hardware. Why can't they both just be operating systems that get the job done? I mean who in their right mind defines their life by the operating system on their computer? I started when DOS was still the there and have used windows since it came out. I have used OS X a bit and also Linux a bit. All of them are flawed in one way or another.

I am getting the 15" 2.8ghz MBP because I think it is a nice elegant laptop with an appropriate operating system for what I'm going to use it for. Office type work, Photoshop and a little 3D animation in Windows dualboot and Diablo 3 + Starcraft 2. If I wanted to do anything more then Mac would not have sufficed. If I had a stricter budget I would have sacrificed the sleekness of the MBP. If you have a stretched budget then getting a Mac is not worth it IMO. But if you have the cash and don't require a monster machine then Mac should be an option.

*I really hope that guy who has Apple's logo on his back is a fake
**The guy above me is clever

 

I use vista on my desktop just for gaming, storing music/movies, and encoding videos. I encode videos on my desktop computer because its faster than my macbook and I can use the gpu to encode videos much much faster than a cpu could. I use my macbook for everything else. I may get the UMBP in a few weeks cause I want the illuminated keyboard, better screen, and dedicated gpu. This macbook was my fist mac and it has been wonderful since day 1.

 

85% the graphics card is weak for gaming. never would go back to windows ever.

 

Huh? So you would never go back to windows because graphic card 85% of the graphic card is weak for gaming? How does that work?

If 85% of the graphic card is weak for gaming, then I suggest you steer away from steer away apple computer right now.

 

You misunderstand.

The OP asks the question: How satisfied are you with your MacBook pro?

Lethal's answer is 85%. Reason: the graphics card is weak.

He just missed a period.

 

LOL... my fault.

 

LOL. That's hilarious. Keep the Microsoft fanboyism coming...to an Apple forum.

 

Your apps mean nothing to the 99.9999999% of Windows users not using your apps.

That is a very interesting spin on reality. Here is your quote FIXED: "In order for Windows to run more efficiently, the programs have to treat their apps like a lego kit." The problem is with Windows itself. Don't even try to blame the programmers who can do a better job designing many of the same apps for OS X.

Exactly how many useful and popular Windows apps or games can you install/uninstall as cleanly as in OS X? How many programs from Adobe? Microsoft? Apple?

 

Lets not go overboard with how easy it is to uninstall everything on a mac...when you throw an application in the trash in os x there can still be a number of files associated with the application left on your hd. Files can be left in application support, user library, etc.

I agree its easier to install and uninstall on a mac, but its not as if dragging and dropping a single icon to the trash does the job completely.

 

uninstalling.

osx:
1. find the program
2. drag to the trash can
for a more Secure unistall do it with apptrap.

windows
1. open control panel and go to uninstall programs
2. find the program you want to uninstall on the list
3. double click and hit ok.

they are both simple.
if somebody thinks uninstalling is hard on any of these os, then that somebody have gots to be an idiot or a computer noob.

 

Why was his post removed by the moderator

I was looking thru this thread as I'm taking all seriously what people are saying word by word and not taking anything for granted HERE, I'd like to know why his post was removed ?

I know what he said as his post and something certin stuck in my mine so what was the reason it was removed ?

 

i think the signature has been removed, or that is just the signature they wanted there to confuse people....

as for answering the question... I love my Macbook Pro, both of them, and I love my friendses... all of them... and I love my new iPhone 3G S I'm playing with too!