Pages: 1 [2]   Go Down

Author Topic: New Macbooks  (Read 11180 times)

mediumcool

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 770
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2011, 11:02:54 pm »

At least for me a big part of doing the mac thing was simply doing something different.  Quite frankly I'm not seeing a big difference between platforms right now. Subtle OS differences mostly.  Time will tell for sure, but I'm using OSX daily now, for better or worse.

Apple maintained some years back that, with the improvements in Windows that working in one app was roughly equivalent on both platforms, but working with multiple apps was still superior on OSX. I don’t wish to start a flame war, but it will be interesting to get your opinion on this and general interface differences/commonalities after spending some time using OSX. Particularly interesting as you will be continuing to use Windows.

I really like OSX’s very sturdy drag-and-drop for one thing (in some of my work, I use 3–4 apps concurrently and need to move data back and forward). I have read that the Windows clipboard is not as reliable, and found this to be so when I was teaching. I also use an app called Jumpcut to allow for multiple clipboard items.

I used Windows when teaching multimedia at a technical college some years back—I couldn’t get the hang of it at first, and felt very closed-in until I realised that every app ran in its own window, quite different from the Mac approach of each app having the menu bar to itself when it is in the foreground, with all others waiting behind (or hidden) until needed. I suspect that a lot of Windows users trying a Mac may feel as if it’s too wide open at first, accidentally clicking through to the desktop for instance (there are fixes for this, as there are for so many system features and settings).

Having said that, there of course are utilities available for both platforms that allows customisation and addition of features; for instance, I use Cinch, a Mac shareware app that emulates some Windows 7 window sizing features—I use it only in Safari and Finder though.

It’s great that we have competition and differentiation; if there was no Apple we might be using DOS 15! If we had no MS, Macs would be very expensive but very nice looking, and NextStep/OSX might never had happened.  ;D
Logged
FaceBook facebook.com/ian.goss.39   www.mlkshk.com/user/mediumcool

Thomas Krüger

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 447
    • http://thomaskrueger.eu
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #21 on: March 12, 2011, 03:20:58 am »

Interesting thread. Looking for a small (windows-)notebook I considered the MBP 13" because of the display quality. There are also some good notebooks from Lenovo and Fujitsu-Siemens, but the quality of the Apple unicase design convinced me. Good to hear that Craig runs the MBP also with Nec 2690 - I suppose you need the "Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter" for that.

My configuration will be probably the MBP 13" 2.3 GHz with 8 Gb Ram and a OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (SATA600).
Logged

mediumcool

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 770
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #22 on: March 12, 2011, 03:29:12 am »

Interesting thread. Looking for a small (windows-)notebook I considered the MBP 13" because of the display quality. There are also some good notebooks from Lenovo and Fujitsu-Siemens, but the quality of the Apple unicase design convinced me. Good to hear that Craig runs the MBP also with Nec 2690 - I suppose you need the "Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter" for that.

My configuration will be probably the MBP 13" 2.3 GHz with 8 Gb Ram and a OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (SATA600).

The one-piece design is clearly better (stronger and less creaky) than the traditional screwed-together approach. Like your config. Is there an envy emoticon?
Logged
FaceBook facebook.com/ian.goss.39   www.mlkshk.com/user/mediumcool

Thomas Krüger

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 447
    • http://thomaskrueger.eu
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #23 on: March 12, 2011, 04:10:32 am »

However, the MBP 13" lacks a decent graphic card and a opaque display. But nobody is perfect.
Logged

Steve Weldon

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1479
    • Bangkok Images
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #24 on: March 12, 2011, 05:13:12 am »

Interesting thread. Looking for a small (windows-)notebook I considered the MBP 13" because of the display quality. There are also some good notebooks from Lenovo and Fujitsu-Siemens, but the quality of the Apple unicase design convinced me. Good to hear that Craig runs the MBP also with Nec 2690 - I suppose you need the "Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter" for that.

My configuration will be probably the MBP 13" 2.3 GHz with 8 Gb Ram and a OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (SATA600).

I'll admit, its a nice case.  And at first glance it seems about as good as it gets.  Yet, I'm not so sure it is.  The trade off is weight.

My Lenovo x201s Thinkpad for instance has a carbon fiber coated shell over a forged magnesium frame.. and comes in at 2.4 pounds with the standard battery.  It's milspec rated for dust/water/shock. 

Anyone know if the MBP's are milspec rated?  I've never seen them rated, but they might be..

I hope Lenovo's new x220 series (new Sandy Bridge updated line) adds a x201s type model, with a higher rez 1440x900 LED (ips all the better) screen, the milspec rating, and lower weight..  If they do I'll upgrade mine.

Btw.. I run my 2690 with the x201s as well.. not often, but it does it well.  So I hope that x220 upgrade I'm looking for includes HDMI or DP..
Logged
----------------------------------------------
http://www.BangkokImages.com

mediumcool

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 770
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #25 on: March 12, 2011, 05:23:26 am »

However, the MBP 13" lacks a decent graphic card and a opaque display. But nobody is perfect.

By opaque, d’you perhaps mean matte?  ;D



I detest shiny screens and have two of ’em!
Logged
FaceBook facebook.com/ian.goss.39   www.mlkshk.com/user/mediumcool

mediumcool

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 770
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #26 on: March 12, 2011, 05:32:09 am »

There will always be something bigger, better, faster...sooner or later you gotta jump in.  If you play the waiting game you may wait forever.

My situation is a bit different because I already have a 13" bought last year, and an 3Ghz iMac from around the same time, so I have had them for about 6 months. The iMac will keep its job for at least another six to nine months because it is fine for 90% of what I throw at it, but the upgrade to the new MBP is simply not compelling. As a portable, not intended for heavy lifting, it’s fine. Just wished Intel worked harder on integrated graphics (but it is much better than previous efforts).

But I do know people whose computers are years out of date, because they wait …
Logged
FaceBook facebook.com/ian.goss.39   www.mlkshk.com/user/mediumcool

mediumcool

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 770
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #27 on: March 12, 2011, 06:19:09 am »

I'll admit, its a nice case.  And at first glance it seems about as good as it gets.  Yet, I'm not so sure it is.  The trade off is weight.

My Lenovo x201s Thinkpad for instance has a carbon fiber coated shell over a forged magnesium frame.. and comes in at 2.4 pounds with the standard battery. 


That is light! But what’s the resolution on the 12.1" screen?

Not that I’ll be getting one.  ;D
Logged
FaceBook facebook.com/ian.goss.39   www.mlkshk.com/user/mediumcool

Steve Weldon

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1479
    • Bangkok Images
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #28 on: March 12, 2011, 07:41:19 am »

That is light! But what’s the resolution on the 12.1" screen?

Not that I’ll be getting one.  ;D
1440x900..

The screen is nothing special, but it is matte and it has decent resolution for a 12.1" screen, and it can be profiled with decent results.  A capable road warrior.

And it's more than the weight, the texture of the outside box is such that it's easy to hold on to and doesn't slip, so it feels even lighter.  I use it all the time with the Kindle reader, it's so comfortable and light I can lay on my back and hold it up like you would a book..

You couple that with an full size keyboard, i7, 8g's of RAM, and a  256gb fast SSD (crucial C300), and 5-8 hours (depends on screen brightness mostly) of battery life off the standard battery and you fall in love.  I have the extended battery for it, but its still sitting here in the package never used.  What I should have done is bought a second standard battery, but who knew it would get such good life?

Logged
----------------------------------------------
http://www.BangkokImages.com

Craig Lamson

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3264
    • Craig Lamson Photo Homepage
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #29 on: March 12, 2011, 09:47:27 am »


I used Windows when teaching multimedia at a technical college some years back—I couldn’t get the hang of it at first, and felt very closed-in until I realised that every app ran in its own window, quite different from the Mac approach of each app having the menu bar to itself when it is in the foreground, with all others waiting behind (or hidden) until needed. I suspect that a lot of Windows users trying a Mac may feel as if it’s too wide open at first, accidentally clicking through to the desktop for instance (there are fixes for this, as there are for so many system features and settings).



I find this feature of the mac os to be very irritating. Why?  Because I use many of my apps at less than full screen on the 2690.  The disconnect between the menu bar and the application window is un-nessisary and entails a much larger move to access the menu bar.  Windows is superior in this regard iMO.

Windows 7 was a big leap forward and if your windows experience is limited by XP for example you are missing what windows really is today.

At this point in time I think I also like the windows dock over the dock in OSX.  I too often have 5-6 programs running at any given time, sometimes with multi windows of the same app ( like windows explorer ) open and the dock in W7 allows me to see each open window in reduced size by simply sliding the cursor over the program icon in the dock.

Other differences/issues:

Finder compared to Windows explorer, I'm liking Explorer over finder at this point for moving files around, and I move a lot of files.  Its more of a format thing that functionality and I may get more comfortable with Finder as my time on the OS grows.

No cut and paste in OSX...Steve Jobs I can be trusted to know the difference between cut and copy...

Safari or IE9?  I prefer IE9.  Since I'm using the Mac exclusively for all my non production computing, maybe I'll grow into Safari.

This will be a cool long term test to be sure.  And I have my non-techie wife as another data point.  I just asked her and she said she was enjoying her mac.  I need to take it away for a few days and make her work with her Sony w7 laptop...which she always said she also loved and see what happens :)



Logged
Craig Lamson Photo

MrSmith

  • Guest
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #30 on: March 12, 2011, 11:22:15 am »


At this point in time I think I also like the windows dock over the dock in OSX.  I too often have 5-6 programs running at any given time, sometimes with multi windows of the same app ( like windows explorer ) open and the dock in W7 allows me to see each open window in reduced size by simply sliding the cursor over the program icon in the dock.

with exposé and the multi touch trackpad  'all windows' 'program windows' and 'desktop' are instantly available by either using the hot corners or the 3 or 4 finger swipes.
i think a lot of mac users don't fully utilise the multi-touch trackpad, most people hate the way my macbookpro is set up but once you get used to it the navigation is very intuitive if you use it fully. you don't even have to physically click the button as everything is done with a tap of the fingertip(s)
Logged

Craig Lamson

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3264
    • Craig Lamson Photo Homepage
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #31 on: March 12, 2011, 11:26:34 am »

with exposé and the multi touch trackpad  'all windows' 'program windows' and 'desktop' are instantly available by either using the hot corners or the 3 or 4 finger swipes.
i think a lot of mac users don't fully utilise the multi-touch trackpad, most people hate the way my macbookpro is set up but once you get used to it the navigation is very intuitive if you use it fully. you don't even have to physically click the button as everything is done with a tap of the fingertip(s)

I hate trackpads.  And a good part of the time my 13 will be used closed and attached to a stand alone keyboard, mouse and monitor. Interesting information however.
Logged
Craig Lamson Photo

Thomas Krüger

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 447
    • http://thomaskrueger.eu
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #32 on: March 14, 2011, 09:35:20 am »

Update: At last we opted for a custom build Clevo P150HM barebone notebook - with matte display (not opaque  ;) ) that can substitute also our old workstation. And on the shopping list is also a 11" MacBook Air - once there is a version with something faster than the old USB 2 port.

Logged

MarkoRepse

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 234
    • www.markorepse.com
Re: New Macbooks
« Reply #33 on: April 13, 2011, 05:37:21 am »

Does anyone have the new quad-cores? How is the interactive performance in Capture One (on a high res external display)? I'm on a 2009 core 2 duo macbook pro without openCL support. It is quite slow. How are the last generation dual-core i5/i7s?
Logged
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Up