Tim Pokorny (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} soporificfrog) wrote,@ 2006-03-03 15:50:00 |
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MacBook Pro: First Impressions
Following much anticipation and excitement, my MacBook Pro arrived at my doorstep on Wednesday afternoon. Since then I’ve been using it virtually non-stop and it has become the center of my working world. Ars Technica have just posted their indepth review containing a number of performance benchmarks and the like, all I offer here is some general information about my experiences with the MBP and some anecdotal information on its performance levels from the Java development point of view.
Speed
This thing flies. It is freakishly fast (and I’ve only got the 1.83Ghz model!). Eclipse is as responsive as it is on my Gentoo machine and is well ahead of the dual 2.7Ghz PowerMac I used before it on that front. Java compile/execution time is quick, as quick as the PowerMac. The times it takes to compile and run the same tests for the software I am currently working on is virtually identical.
In terms of general use, applications like Safari and iPhoto are noticeably faster than my old Powerbook (1.33Ghz G4). This machine feels like a PowerMac in laptop form.
On the Rosetta front, performance is good. For applications that you use in the foreground it is perfectly acceptable (and in the case of Word, even feels faster than the G4 powerbook – more of an inditement on how crap Word is than anything else :P). The only place I ran into issues was with applications that run constantly in the background such as Desktop Manager. Every now and then you will notice a slight pause in applications running under Rosetta, and while that is fine for something like word, when it came to DM I found that the pause would lock up the whole system for a brief period. Fortunately I found a link to someone that had compiled it for Intel and the problem was solved.
Hardware
Backlit keyboards rock. End of story.
The screen is bright, very, very bright. In fact, it is so bright that I had to turn it down in many instances! Apart from that it is crystal clear and beautiful to look at. I don’t mind the slight look in resolution as it actually brings the aspect ratio back to the same as those used on other widescreen monitors. The 1440x900 res is plenty for me and a thankful boot from the 1024x768 of my old powerbook. The trackpad is nice and I am now just starting to fall in love with the two-finger scrolling feature. The iSight, well, I haven’t really played with it, so I can say much.
I don’t really know what more I can say. It’s still well and truly a Mac, only faster (what more could you want?)
Heat
Hot, hot, hot. This is not a cool machine. It gets noticaly hotter than my old powerbook when under load but is mostly bearable. Towards the back (hinge) of the laptop is where it gets the hottest, most likely to do with the position of the CPU and the location of some vents here. If I hold my finger around the top of the grills on either side of the keyboard, or across the section above it there are many instances where it became uncomfortable.
I should also point out two things:
1) The last few days have been over 30 degrees and I don’t like in a climate controlled environment (still, even at night the MBP still because very warm)
2) I’ve been without my old powerbook for pretty much the entire year so far, thus, my tolerance and point of reference is a bit fuzzy. However, while I remember the 12" powerbook getting quite warm, I don’t ever remember it being THIS hot.
Personally, I won’t be using it much on my lap without some cooling aid. Hopefully this is something that will be given some serious attention with later revisions or is something that is just exacerbated with my particular machine. I'd be greatful for some little application that would let me scale down the performance and processor speed in the hope of cooling it down. So it anyone knows of such an thing, please leave a comment or fire me an email.
Update: It runs SIGNIFICANTLY cooler on battery power. Sadly, the option to set the processor settings (to either "Highest", "Automatic", or "Reduced" ) is no longer present. I'd like to run it on "Better Battery Life" all the time but the sleep option kicks in after only 5 minutes on inactivity on that setting and putting it any higher results in me being told "Your energy settings are optimised for high performance". I need a way in independantly set this!!
Battery life
I’ve mostly been using it while attached to a power cord, however, it has had two complete rundown from full to empty. On both of those occasions I was doing "intensive" actions such as shifting large amounts of data across from my desktop or importing large numbers of photos into iPhoto. The point is that there was much activity going on and the activity monitor spent a lot of time telling me the chip was under heavy load.
In the first run down I got 3:37 out of it and in the second (where I was most active) I only got 3:04. While not stellar, these numbers are in line with what other people have been getting and are acceptable. I had hoped for more, especially given the big hoopla made of the move to Intel on a performance-per-watt basis, but I’m happy enough. I’ll take it out for some battery-powered coding at some point soon and report the number back here. I’d expect the like to be something around the 3.5 hour mark (give or take 15 minutes).
Overall
This machine rocks. Anyone who knows me more than a little will be aware that I am a real anal retentive when it comes to things like performance. While the 12" powerbook served me well, coding on it was never a fantastic experience. With the MBP it is the exact opposite. Thus far I am satisfied with my purchase and have been pleasantly surprised on many fronts. With the exception of it getting a little bit hot, I can’t think of any real downsides.
Comments Here
Following much anticipation and excitement, my MacBook Pro arrived at my doorstep on Wednesday afternoon. Since then I’ve been using it virtually non-stop and it has become the center of my working world. Ars Technica have just posted their indepth review containing a number of performance benchmarks and the like, all I offer here is some general information about my experiences with the MBP and some anecdotal information on its performance levels from the Java development point of view.
Speed
This thing flies. It is freakishly fast (and I’ve only got the 1.83Ghz model!). Eclipse is as responsive as it is on my Gentoo machine and is well ahead of the dual 2.7Ghz PowerMac I used before it on that front. Java compile/execution time is quick, as quick as the PowerMac. The times it takes to compile and run the same tests for the software I am currently working on is virtually identical.
In terms of general use, applications like Safari and iPhoto are noticeably faster than my old Powerbook (1.33Ghz G4). This machine feels like a PowerMac in laptop form.
On the Rosetta front, performance is good. For applications that you use in the foreground it is perfectly acceptable (and in the case of Word, even feels faster than the G4 powerbook – more of an inditement on how crap Word is than anything else :P). The only place I ran into issues was with applications that run constantly in the background such as Desktop Manager. Every now and then you will notice a slight pause in applications running under Rosetta, and while that is fine for something like word, when it came to DM I found that the pause would lock up the whole system for a brief period. Fortunately I found a link to someone that had compiled it for Intel and the problem was solved.
Hardware
Backlit keyboards rock. End of story.
The screen is bright, very, very bright. In fact, it is so bright that I had to turn it down in many instances! Apart from that it is crystal clear and beautiful to look at. I don’t mind the slight look in resolution as it actually brings the aspect ratio back to the same as those used on other widescreen monitors. The 1440x900 res is plenty for me and a thankful boot from the 1024x768 of my old powerbook. The trackpad is nice and I am now just starting to fall in love with the two-finger scrolling feature. The iSight, well, I haven’t really played with it, so I can say much.
I don’t really know what more I can say. It’s still well and truly a Mac, only faster (what more could you want?)
Heat
Hot, hot, hot. This is not a cool machine. It gets noticaly hotter than my old powerbook when under load but is mostly bearable. Towards the back (hinge) of the laptop is where it gets the hottest, most likely to do with the position of the CPU and the location of some vents here. If I hold my finger around the top of the grills on either side of the keyboard, or across the section above it there are many instances where it became uncomfortable.
I should also point out two things:
1) The last few days have been over 30 degrees and I don’t like in a climate controlled environment (still, even at night the MBP still because very warm)
2) I’ve been without my old powerbook for pretty much the entire year so far, thus, my tolerance and point of reference is a bit fuzzy. However, while I remember the 12" powerbook getting quite warm, I don’t ever remember it being THIS hot.
Personally, I won’t be using it much on my lap without some cooling aid. Hopefully this is something that will be given some serious attention with later revisions or is something that is just exacerbated with my particular machine. I'd be greatful for some little application that would let me scale down the performance and processor speed in the hope of cooling it down. So it anyone knows of such an thing, please leave a comment or fire me an email.
Update: It runs SIGNIFICANTLY cooler on battery power. Sadly, the option to set the processor settings (to either "Highest", "Automatic", or "Reduced" ) is no longer present. I'd like to run it on "Better Battery Life" all the time but the sleep option kicks in after only 5 minutes on inactivity on that setting and putting it any higher results in me being told "Your energy settings are optimised for high performance". I need a way in independantly set this!!
Battery life
I’ve mostly been using it while attached to a power cord, however, it has had two complete rundown from full to empty. On both of those occasions I was doing "intensive" actions such as shifting large amounts of data across from my desktop or importing large numbers of photos into iPhoto. The point is that there was much activity going on and the activity monitor spent a lot of time telling me the chip was under heavy load.
In the first run down I got 3:37 out of it and in the second (where I was most active) I only got 3:04. While not stellar, these numbers are in line with what other people have been getting and are acceptable. I had hoped for more, especially given the big hoopla made of the move to Intel on a performance-per-watt basis, but I’m happy enough. I’ll take it out for some battery-powered coding at some point soon and report the number back here. I’d expect the like to be something around the 3.5 hour mark (give or take 15 minutes).
Overall
This machine rocks. Anyone who knows me more than a little will be aware that I am a real anal retentive when it comes to things like performance. While the 12" powerbook served me well, coding on it was never a fantastic experience. With the MBP it is the exact opposite. Thus far I am satisfied with my purchase and have been pleasantly surprised on many fronts. With the exception of it getting a little bit hot, I can’t think of any real downsides.
Comments Here
