dennis.ca

Jeff asked that I follow-up on my previous and decidedly unflattering Macbook Pro review. To recap, I bought an original Core Duo 2.0Ghz Intel Macbook Pro. I've had some time to live with it, and here's what I've found:

Whining Noise: This problem remains despite a multitude of patches from Apple. I've had some success in negating the noise by manually adjusting the speed of the fans, but that may not be an option for those who don't want to tamper with their warranty.

Second Fan Noise: This problem also remains. I dare not disable or slow down the auxiliary fan, as it only seems to engage when the temperature is high (over 70c) or when the CPU is heavily loaded. If you manipulate video files or play games, be prepared for the secondary fan to operate constantly.

Heat Issue: Again, still a problem. As I write this I'm converting a video file to AVI format. Both CPU cores are running above 90%, and the temperature is 78c. Upon completion, both cores are under 10% and temperature is 63c.

Stability: Happily, stability seems very solid since OS X update 10.4.8. I'm currently running 10.4.9, and all seems well. On occasion there is some strangeness as the system emerges from hibernation, but otherwise I can't really complain; most crashes are application-specific.

Wireless Networking: There's good news and bad news on this front. The good news is that as of 10.4.8, wireless networking settings no longer randomly disappear. The bad news is that signal range is horrible and WPA-PSK connections still drop randomly. An interesting recent observation is that drops are far less frequent if I'm using Safari rather than Firefox. I can't even begin to explain why or how this is the case.

Having said all that, I've become comfortable with OS X -- and I like it just fine. In fact, I've compiled a list of 'must have' tools that help me on a daily basis. The open source and shareware communities for OS X are strong and there tools available to handle pretty much anything you'd need to accomplish.

Except...

As a 'corporate computer', the limitations become more obvious. Not so much from a software perspective (in fact, I'm using Bootcamp and Parallels with Windows XP very successfully for work activities), but in terms of hardware and design. The biggest problems are:

1. There's no available docking station of any sort. No port replicator; nothing.
2. Though there are two USB ports, inexplicably, the left USB port is underpowered for things as simple as charging a cell phone.
3. A spare power adapter costs roughly $100 (Canadian) plus taxes, which doesn't compare well to a $50 Lenovo adapter. I needed three extra adapters for my particular situation.
4. Microsoft Office 2004 is not universal. It is, therefore, painfully slow. Rosetta is a technical marvel, but it is not a miracle.

The machine is quirky and that's half the fun. It reminds me a bit of the Amiga days -- Making due and sometimes making excuses because I liked the idea of using something different.

So, bottom line -- Would I recommend this computer? Yes, with several important caveats:

1. Stick to the newer (faster) Core 2 Duo machines.
2. Spring for 2Gb of RAM.
3. Buy the Apple extended warranty. Build quality isn't what it used to be.
4. If you need something that is going to slide into a corporate network without much fuss, you should probably steer clear.
5. If you're going to blow your budget on the machine alone, make sure you don't need any extras, because they're almost always more expensive in Apple-land.