Love My Refurbished MacBook Pro
From Brian:
Well, I went down and picked up my new [refurbished] MacBook Pro from FedEx
Saturday morning. Here is an update on my first impressions of my new
MBP:
I was hoping for, and pleasantly surprised to see, that this was a
matte screen version of the MBP (Apple didn't provide details on this
at purchase). I got it home, opened up the less than spectacular brown
cardboard box (what happened to the sexy, sleek package non-refurbs
shipped in?), and got to work porting over data from the iBook, which
sure was easy with FireWire (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
I'm surprised at how fast this thing boots. I've always been happy
with my iBook's boot times, which are far, far, far faster than the
time it takes me to go from power on to working with my XP-based
computer at work. Seems like when I restarted the MBP I had barely
turned around to get a sip of Sunkist and it was waiting at the logon
screen!
The big LCD backlit screen is wonderful, and I can tell that
spreadsheet and database work on this thing will be a step up for me.
Wow, is this screen bright! The camera is fun, but I have this paranoia
that someone could hack in at any time and post on YouTube me picking
my nose or inadvertently performing some other similarly uncouth
activity in what felt like until now the privacy of my own home. The
last thing I need is pictures of the contorted faces I make when
reading the news all over the Web.
Multitouch is awesome and seems to work every bit as well as it does
on the new models at the Apple Store, but I have to admit - I really
like the keyboard on this machine much better than the new
chiclet style keyboards. I preferred the older function key layout for
brightness, volume, and Exposé, but I'll deal. One thing I
didn't realize until now with Leopard is that you can now do a right
click by putting two fingers together on the trackpad and clicking. I
tried it on my iBook, and it works there too.
For such a "large" laptop, it doesn't feel large at all sitting in
front of me or on my lap. I know from experience that in an airport
tray the MBP will be cramped, but I don't fly that often, and I'm sure
I can make due on the rare occasions that I do. The MBP is half-a-pound
lighter than my iBook, whose weight never bothered me, so I don't
expect that to be a problem (I took my iBook virtually everywhere with
me).
All in all, I have yet to find a single issue with the MBP that I
would consider a "real" negative, it performs well, and is extremely
responsive. My girlfriend is very impressed by how professional it
looks, as am I, though it lacks a bit of the "friendly" feel that the
iBook has. Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe I guess.
Ultimately, since I paid around the price of a new MB for this MBP,
I tend to think of it more in terms as a "consumer" level laptop rather
than a "pro" one. That may not be technically a correct way of
thinking, but regardless, I expect this machine will likely keep me
happy for at least as long as AppleCare lasts, hopefully longer.
I don't know if you're still on the fence for a new laptop, but I'm
thoroughly impressed by this MacBook Pro, though I know it's nowhere
near a true road warrior machine because of the size. I would highly
recommend a buy like this one.
As for your daughter, I hope she takes your advice, since I'm sure
you wouldn't have recommended it unless it would be a good fit for her.
My limited chances to use the new MacBooks, as well as checking up on
the specs leaves me very impressed by them. But the size and lack of
FireWire mean it just isn't the right product for me right now.
Sorry for the long email, I'm off to see if I can find a suitable
sticker to cover up the name "MacBook Pro."
Brian
Hi Brian,
Congrats. on your new acquisition and thanks for the
detailed report. Sounds like the old school MBP is the right machine
for you (and probably me, although I still haven't ordered one yet due
to other matters in play).
The brown box is standard for Apple Certified
Refurbished units. My ACR PowerBook G4 came in one as well.
Best,
Charles
What About the MacBook Pro Nvidia 8600
Problem?
From Philip:
"Personally, I've been using Apple laptops since 1996,
have never bought AppleCare, and so far never missed it."
You know, now that I think of it, I think I've broken even, at
best.
I have one more question. There was one thing your article about the
just-replaced MBP didn't address: the Nvidia problem. Do you feel that
the bad components have been weeded out such that new or refurbished
MBPs are free from that particular disaster?
Then there is this, which I just found via LEM, actually. What they
mean by saying that
all the chips are bad, though, I can't imagine, since there seem to
be plenty of happy longtime MBP users. On the other hand, I was just
troubleshooting a friend's Dell, and guess what part failed....
Now I am wondering if I should deliberately try to get a MBP that
was manufactured at a time that puts it within the repair extension
program!
-Philip
Hi Philip,
That's a very good question. I would like to think
that all the MacBook Pros with the GeForce 8600 GT graphics processors
that are in the Apple Certified Refurbished channels would have been
screened for defects, but I can't say I'm brimming with confidence.
The official Apple policy on this
matter is that if the Nvidia graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has
failed - or fails within two years of the original date of purchase - a
repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of
warranty, which is reasonably fair, but I'm suspecting that it's still
a bit of a roll of the dice with these machines in that context.
Charles
Eudora Forever!
From Jay Cottrill:
Glad to see that there are other die hard Eudora fans out there.
This email is being sent using Eudora on a Blue and White Power Mac G3
with a G4 processor upgrade and running Mac OS X" Tiger".
Currently this is my main computer - I also have a grape iMac and a
G4 AGP - but soon I
will be getting a new Intel Mac, so I decided that I will keep this old
B&W running just as my email machine. I will never leave Eudora -
the Mozilla attempt makes me sick; while the Odysseus program looks
better than Mozilla's, it still can't touch the Classic Eudora.
Just my 2 cents.
Thanks for a great article.
Jay
Hi Jay,
Glad you enjoyed it.
As long as you run your present hardware, it may not
be necessary to migrate to another client for a long time to come.
However, as I noted in the article, I'm skeptical
about whether Eudora, which is already somewhat compromised running in
Leopard, will remain usable under Snow Leopard.
Charles
Importing Mailboxes in Eudora Replacements
From Kalani:
One thing I would have liked to see in your review: The ability of
the successors to import large Eudora mailboxes, perfectly.
Can either do it?
What about importing the files from a PC-based installation?
Hi Kalani,
I haven't tried using the import function in either
application yet. My guess is that Eudora 8's import wizard, which
according to its dialog blurb imports archives and contact data from
all other email clients present plus address books, works similarly to
Thunderbird's.
The release notes do say "This version fixes some
problems with the importers for both Windows and Mac Eudora. Most if
not all of these changes will be migrated into Thunderbird at some
point," so presumably the Windows version is supported.
Odysseus just imports from Eudora, and I don't know if
it works across platform or not.
Charles
Lithium Batteries Lighter than Alkaline, NiCad, and
NiMH
From Marion:
If you find the weight of AA batteries to be problem, I suggest that
you give AA lithiums a try. The weight might be a tad more than AAAs,
but lithium batteries will be noticeably lighter than standard
batteries. It is not necessarily a budget solution, but the batteries
will probably last a long time.
Marion
Hi Marion,
That's a good suggestion. Now that you mention it, I
recall vaguely noting that lithium batteries are indeed lighter than
NiCads.
As you say, they're a bit on the expensive side.
I'm currently using a Logitech V-550 wireless mouse
for production work, and it has a claimed battery life of 18 months
with standard NiCads, so lithiums' longer life would not be a major
advantage with it, but the lightweight factor would potentially be.
Actually, the V-550 is so well engineered and balanced
that I'm not finding the extra weight too onerous, although it would be
even nicer if it was lighter.
Charles
Editor's note: AAA alkaline batteries (data from
Eveready) weigh 11.5 grams, NiCads 11 grams, NiMH 12 grams, and lithium
7.6 grams - approximately 1/3 lighter. AA alkaline batteries weigh 23
grams, NiCads 24 grams, NiMH 27 grams, and lithium 14.5 grams - 37% to
46% lighter. Lithium AA batteries do weigh a little bit more than
traditional AAA batteries. dk
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