Looking for Mac Owner Love - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

cyrnel · 12-22-2006, 06:17 AM

So I did it. I picked up my Christmas present a few days early: A MacBook Pro core 2 duo 2.33 15" (non-glossy). I walked in with the thought of buying the $1100 or maybe $1400 MacBook but upsold myself several times based on the core 2 pro's X1600 video and screen size. That meant Apple memory and big HD at a premium price. Ouch. Sure, it is beautiful. Now to see if I can haul it around without the paranoia!

My naive little plan was to run Parallels and duplicate my cheapo wintel box while I migrate a few functions to Mac. Much of this is new again. I did near 20yrs of Apple hw/sw development in a previous life but I've been *nix and Windows since. It's not nice to be a noob, hence the "Love" request.

I'm noticing a few things. Some I've heard about, some I just blindly ignored in a buying frenzy. Pardon my stream-of-consciousness dump. It's still yesterday. Thoughts are welcome:

The HEAT. I've been monitoring temps with Marcel Bresink's Temperature Monitor and my lap. I kicked up the fans to a min of 4000rpm with smcFanControl. That helps but the processor still creeps near 50c on my lap doing basic surfing and typing. (low 40s c "idling" on a desk.) I'm tempted to crack it open and check if the thermal compound mania is true.

No TV out: Seems silly. It's common on wintel laptops, even cheap ones with integrated video. Maybe the $50 portable dvd players will save me from my moldy VGA->Svid adapters.

It's fast. Nice. Even XPPro in Parallels blows away my old HP laptop.

Very sexy case. Thin but very strong. It's almost too nice to haul around.

No card reader. Not even PCMCIA/Cardbus: Now I either pony up for several ExpressCard adapters that hang out the side or go back to USB adapters.

Expresscard may be more powerful but this is an annoying compromise.

It's nice to see Apple add FW800 again, but I think they missed an opportunity to lead toward laptop ESATA. For external drives, everything else is slow.

The viewer app as DVD player: Simple, straightforward, but am I missing more scaling options? It seems to be limiting the full screen view to an even zoom ratio which doesn't use the entire screen width or height. (bars on all 4 sides).

I'll stop now and grab some sleep. Like I said, bring it on. Thoughts, opinions, horoscopes, paranormal encounters... just no religious wars.

Willravel · 12-22-2006, 10:50 AM

Heat? Grab one of those handy usb cooling things. My dad has one. It is basically a standard laptop stand, but it has fans on the bottom, and the computer rarely breaks 25c. It's USB, so while it does use battery, it's also portable. I'm sure they have it at www.apple.com.

Macs do have monitor outs, you just need an adapter to go to RCA or what have you. They're pretty cheap.

Sorry about the card reader. It was something sacraficed for other features.

I love me Firewire external HD. It's fast enough to do whatever I need.

I'm not sure about the DVD zoom ratio thing. Mine usually take up the whole screen. I'll have to check it out when I get home from work.

Enjoy the thing!

cyrnel · 12-22-2006, 11:20 PM

Hey, I'm enjoying it. Certainly a BMW to my old Hyundai. I just wish they could nail all the competitive goodies. I've whined about missing Apple features from many perspectives over the years. At the same time it's hard to deny the execution of what is included.

HEAT: I considered using one of my current laptop ventilators, but the MBP doesn't have intakes on the bottom. It's the first laptop I've owned with fans that didn't have lower vents drawing in or blowing out. Sure, a cool base will help dissipate heat but with the intake and exhaust vents in back it's tough to do right.

TV-OUT: I have old VGA->Svid adapters but it's one more thing to connect and carry. (whine) Svid is such a tiny port, and with built-in X1600 vid it would not have been difficult other than covering the ugly case hole for the MBP with integrated video. Shoot, most $600 PCs have VGA out, and just above that they add Svid.

Oh, and I'm loving the slot-load DVD. I missed those. Used to buy them for all my PCs when Pioneer was still pushing competitive models. Slot-load rules!.

My first real obstacle is locating a cell-based data solution without a bunch of new hardware or account changes. (God I hate cell plan changes.) That's something I've come to rely upon when at customer sites. Previously I used BlueTooth to my phone (as modem). MBP has BT, but there isn't a Mac driver for my phone. Nor can I use Parallels with it since the driver doesn't know how to use Mac's BT interface. I could use bootcamp and make it into a PC but that quickly defeats this experiment.

I miss some of the extra keys on my old HP. They were located where the Mac's speakers are, and while this sound is much better than the HP's microscopic Altec Lansing jobs I'm not sure this would be my choice. Having to use the fn key for page-up/down/home/end is kind of a pain.

Edit: Ha. So much for one obstacle. I enabled bluetooth, paired with my phone, went into networks and it already knew about Sprint PCS Vision. I'd forgotten some of this stuff is just supposed to work.

cyrnel · 12-24-2006, 03:56 PM

I didn't think it possible but I'm getting into this single-button trackpad. The gestures work very nicely. I connected a multi-button mouse immediately but I haven't used it over the last day, for Mac or in XP. Once the scroll/gesture speeds are dialed in you get the same functions as with two buttons and a scroll/tilt wheel. That's about my limit since I switch among systems so frequently.

God, and this screen is so much better, wherever I'm sitting. I do think gloss looks best under ideal conditions but most of the time I'm squirming around for viewing angle or to eliminate sources of glare. I can read this thing at a 70* angle and glare is almost zero.

Sorry all, just having too much fun with my present.

ubertuber · 12-24-2006, 04:19 PM

Don't forget that control+click is a right click with the one button pad.

Get over to 43 folders and find all the neat little apps that make mac life easy!

cyrnel · 12-24-2006, 04:36 PM

I'm doing more of the two-finger clicks. Lazy surfing, ya'know. Thanks for the link. I'm only just scratching the online mac sources.

Weird to come back to this platform after so long away. I missed it. Really, the last version I was deep into was 8 and Maxwell development stuff. It was still a hodgepodge of traps and jump tables, dreaming for better.

Can't say how glad I am to have nix under the hood. This thing's solid.

cyrnel · 12-28-2006, 10:22 PM

Okay, the lack of a forward-delete key was making me nuts. (karma - 20-odd yrs ago I mocked IBM stooges who complained about same.) I started a voyage into X keymaps but stumbled across DoubleCommand. That takes care of the basics but has anyone seen a better key remapping program? If I have my way the Eject key won't see another sunrise.

12-22-2006, 06:17 AM	#1 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Looking for Mac Owner Love So I did it. I picked up my Christmas present a few days early: A MacBook Pro core 2 duo 2.33 15" (non-glossy). I walked in with the thought of buying the $1100 or maybe $1400 MacBook but upsold myself several times based on the core 2 pro's X1600 video and screen size. That meant Apple memory and big HD at a premium price. Ouch. Sure, it is beautiful. Now to see if I can haul it around without the paranoia! My naive little plan was to run Parallels and duplicate my cheapo wintel box while I migrate a few functions to Mac. Much of this is new again. I did near 20yrs of Apple hw/sw development in a previous life but I've been nix and Windows since. It's not nice to be a noob, hence the "Love" request. I'm noticing a few things. Some I've heard about, some I just blindly ignored in a buying frenzy. Pardon my stream-of-consciousness dump. It's still yesterday. Thoughts are welcome: The HEAT. I've been monitoring temps with Marcel Bresink's Temperature Monitor and my lap. I kicked up the fans to a min of 4000rpm with smcFanControl. That helps but the processor still creeps near 50c on my lap doing basic surfing and typing. (low 40s c "idling" on a desk.) I'm tempted to crack it open and check if the thermal compound mania is true. No TV out: Seems silly. It's common on wintel laptops, even cheap ones with integrated video. Maybe the $50 portable dvd players will save me from my moldy VGA->Svid adapters. It's fast. Nice. Even XPPro in Parallels blows away my old HP laptop. Very sexy case. Thin but very strong. It's almost too nice to haul around. No card reader. Not even PCMCIA/Cardbus: Now I either pony up for several ExpressCard adapters that hang out the side or go back to USB adapters. Expresscard may be more powerful but this is an annoying compromise. It's nice to see Apple add FW800 again, but I think they missed an opportunity to lead toward laptop ESATA. For external drives, everything else is slow. The viewer app as DVD player: Simple, straightforward, but am I missing more scaling options? It seems to be limiting the full screen view to an even zoom ratio which doesn't use the entire screen width or height. (bars on all 4 sides). I'll stop now and grab some sleep. Like I said, bring it on. Thoughts, opinions, horoscopes, paranormal encounters... just no religious wars. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195 Last edited by cyrnel; 12-22-2006 at 06:33 AM..*

12-22-2006, 11:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Hey, I'm enjoying it. Certainly a BMW to my old Hyundai. I just wish they could nail all the competitive goodies. I've whined about missing Apple features from many perspectives over the years. At the same time it's hard to deny the execution of what is included. HEAT: I considered using one of my current laptop ventilators, but the MBP doesn't have intakes on the bottom. It's the first laptop I've owned with fans that didn't have lower vents drawing in or blowing out. Sure, a cool base will help dissipate heat but with the intake and exhaust vents in back it's tough to do right. TV-OUT: I have old VGA->Svid adapters but it's one more thing to connect and carry. (whine) Svid is such a tiny port, and with built-in X1600 vid it would not have been difficult other than covering the ugly case hole for the MBP with integrated video. Shoot, most $600 PCs have VGA out, and just above that they add Svid. Oh, and I'm loving the slot-load DVD. I missed those. Used to buy them for all my PCs when Pioneer was still pushing competitive models. Slot-load rules!. My first real obstacle is locating a cell-based data solution without a bunch of new hardware or account changes. (God I hate cell plan changes.) That's something I've come to rely upon when at customer sites. Previously I used BlueTooth to my phone (as modem). MBP has BT, but there isn't a Mac driver for my phone. Nor can I use Parallels with it since the driver doesn't know how to use Mac's BT interface. I could use bootcamp and make it into a PC but that quickly defeats this experiment. I miss some of the extra keys on my old HP. They were located where the Mac's speakers are, and while this sound is much better than the HP's microscopic Altec Lansing jobs I'm not sure this would be my choice. Having to use the fn key for page-up/down/home/end is kind of a pain. Edit: Ha. So much for one obstacle. I enabled bluetooth, paired with my phone, went into networks and it already knew about Sprint PCS Vision. I'd forgotten some of this stuff is just supposed to work. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195 Last edited by cyrnel; 12-23-2006 at 12:18 AM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

12-24-2006, 03:56 PM	#4 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	I didn't think it possible but I'm getting into this single-button trackpad. The gestures work very nicely. I connected a multi-button mouse immediately but I haven't used it over the last day, for Mac or in XP. Once the scroll/gesture speeds are dialed in you get the same functions as with two buttons and a scroll/tilt wheel. That's about my limit since I switch among systems so frequently. God, and this screen is so much better, wherever I'm sitting. I do think gloss looks best under ideal conditions but most of the time I'm squirming around for viewing angle or to eliminate sources of glare. I can read this thing at a 70* angle and glare is almost zero. Sorry all, just having too much fun with my present. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

12-24-2006, 04:19 PM	#5 (permalink)
ubertuber spudly Location: Ellay	Don't forget that control+click is a right click with the one button pad. Get over to 43 folders and find all the neat little apps that make mac life easy! __________________ Cogito ergo spud -- I think, therefore I yam

12-24-2006, 04:36 PM	#6 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	I'm doing more of the two-finger clicks. Lazy surfing, ya'know. Thanks for the link. I'm only just scratching the online mac sources. Weird to come back to this platform after so long away. I missed it. Really, the last version I was deep into was 8 and Maxwell development stuff. It was still a hodgepodge of traps and jump tables, dreaming for better. Can't say how glad I am to have nix under the hood. This thing's solid. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

12-22-2006, 10:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	Heat? Grab one of those handy usb cooling things. My dad has one. It is basically a standard laptop stand, but it has fans on the bottom, and the computer rarely breaks 25c. It's USB, so while it does use battery, it's also portable. I'm sure they have it at www.apple.com. Macs do have monitor outs, you just need an adapter to go to RCA or what have you. They're pretty cheap. Sorry about the card reader. It was something sacraficed for other features. I love me Firewire external HD. It's fast enough to do whatever I need. I'm not sure about the DVD zoom ratio thing. Mine usually take up the whole screen. I'll have to check it out when I get home from work. Enjoy the thing!

12-28-2006, 10:22 PM	#7 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Okay, the lack of a forward-delete key was making me nuts. (karma - 20-odd yrs ago I mocked IBM stooges who complained about same.) I started a voyage into X keymaps but stumbled across DoubleCommand. That takes care of the basics but has anyone seen a better key remapping program? If I have my way the Eject key won't see another sunrise. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195