TR Forums

I am contemplating picking up a new MacBook/MacBook Pro and then I read the following:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=610 and http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

Has any MacBook/MBP owner run into any of these issues in the few weeks it has come out, or has your MB/MBP worked perfectly? If so, did Apple resolve it?

I don't have one, but am considering one. But what's *really* intriguing to me is the previous-gen refurb MacBook Pros. The nVidia chip in those is covered under a 3-year warranty beyond what you purchase (so if I read it right, you can get AppleCare and have a total of 6 years on video failures). I have bought Apple Refurb twice - an eMac 1.25GHz G4 and an Intel Mac Mini. Both have been great experience, the machines are/were eligible for AppleCare, and they're packaged and look like new.

Right now you can get a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro 15" with 200GB of storage and 2GB of RAM for $1349, $50 more than the brand new 13" MacBook aluminum 2.0GHz.

Rev1 Macs are gaining a reputation of something to avoid (mostly because Apple is put under a microscope, but at least partly because a percentage of people have issues). First-gen MacBooks mooed, first-gen iMac Intel's had failures, first-gen iMac G5's had failures, first-gen PowerMac G4's couldn't take dual-CPU upgrades, and first-gen dual-USB iBook G3's had logic board problems...so I'm trying to avoid the first-gen blues.

I have been reading around Ars and such that the unibody macs have been experiencing what is known as the Black Screen of Death (as supposed to the normal Blue variety).

Interestingly, this problem is *not* just isolated to Macbooks but also similar spec'd PC laptops as well. The linking culprit between the two? nVidia chipsets, yet again.

I'm actually a bit surprised that TR hasn't been reporting any of this.

That is good advice. The reason I would get the newest MacBook (as opposed to the white or black ones) is the new video chip that is actually good. Problem is is that it is an nVidia chip and the issues that you have mentioned. I am still not sure if I will get just a MB/MBP or go with an iMac along with a MB within the next few weeks. thanks.

Right, I'm right there with you...the reason I've been considering getting the Macbook is for the video as well. That's when I started researching refurb deals and found that for $50 more you get a bigger screen, bigger HDD, and even BETTER graphics, plus you might be able to get a matte screen and still have an LED-backlit display...I can't see a reason to buy new right now.

ssidbroadcast - this ain't no MacReport son! LOLOLOLOL amirite?!??!!1/

derFunkenstein wrote:

ssidbroadcast - this ain't no MacReport son! LOLOLOLOL amirite?!??!!1/

Great story, Grandpa.

Firmware update day. Ars doesn't say (doesn't know) but it's probably a downclock and a fan speed increase.

The controversy around these machines has officially changed my mind. Yesterday I ordered a refurbed iMac...I don't really need portability (I can take my work-assigned Dell around with me if I travel) and for the money, it was the fastest machine I could find. A tiny bit disappointed that they use a TN panel in those Macs, but it's not much different than the TN panel in my Samsung 205BW.

derFunkenstein wrote:

The controversy around these machines has officially changed my mind.

That's unfortunate -- I've got classmates who have both the (new) Macbook and Macbook Pro, and they're fantastic machines. You put them next to the old laptops and they make an older Macbook or Pro look like non-Apple laptops; they're so solid that you just can't fear breaking them even if you wanted to.

yeah, I know, but I want a machine that's proven to be reliable. Refurb MB Pros are proven the opposite. These things, because of nVidia, are working on doing the same thing.

SNM wrote:

You put them next to the old laptops and they make an older Macbook or Pro look like non-Apple laptops; they're so solid that you just can't fear breaking them even if you wanted to.

I actually like the square-ish look of the last-gen MBPro (w/ 8600M series) over the streamed, squishy look of the new-gen ones. Plus, and this is getting even more superficial, the aluminum unibody Macbook takes away from the aluminum mystique of a MBPro. Just seems like the line between the two products has been blurred a bit much.

Also, to derFunk: Yeah they're TN panels but ever since Apple got sued for false advertising regarding color reproduction on their 20" inch iMac models, maybe Apple changed the product to include a true 8-bit display?? Hope? Yes?

Not sure, but doubtful. I bought this particular model because I trained at a school that had just filled a lab with 20" entry-level iMacs, and the image quality was pretty close to what I'm used to (though they weren't calibrated because some of them had never even been turned on before).

edit: nope, 20" iMacs have 6-bit panels. The one I'm getting is a factory-refurbished 2.4 with the 2600HD for video (the 2007 aluminum, the linked article is the 2008 revision and that 2.4 has the 2400XT - DO NOT WANT). Apple sells it for $1049, but I got it for about $150 less via MacMall. It shipped today and I'm about to wet myself.