[Review] Apple MacBook 13.3"

May 19, 2006

a lot of complaints here, mostly about the screen, heat problems, and sounds made by the AC adapter

http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=218

might be better off buying one once the bugs are gone and leopard comes with...if you can resist the urge

more info here http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars/2006/5/16/4004

and here http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthrea...1953#post211953

Edited May 19, 2006 by k22

May 19, 2006

Well not totlaly dead, as theirs no equivlent to the G5 (tower). What could it be? Quad Core?

Conroe probably.

May 19, 2006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820145012

Thats a fantastic price! Question though, can I buy the 1GB as shown in the link and keep one of the 256MB that came with the notebook? Will it hinder the perfomance at all?

May 19, 2006

Im interested in this too, im buying one in the near future, I will buy it with the plain 512mb ram and upgrade, it says that ram should be installed in same size pairs for this machine... does that mean i cant put in 1 single stick of 1gb to make up 1.25gb ram ?

May 19, 2006

I believe you still CAN insert 1GB in one slot while leaving 256MB in the first, however it is recommended that you have the same matched pairs installed, 512MB, 1GB or 2GB total because of the integrated graphics?

Edited May 19, 2006 by Huy

May 19, 2006

You definitely can use different size sticks for various configurations but of course you won't get dual channel which the Macbook finally supports. I'm not sure how it relates to integrated graphics?

And if both slots are loaded with an equal amount of RAM ? which is strongly recommended ? you can take advantage of the system's dual-channel memory architecture for an additional performance boost. With a dual-channel memory interface, both banks of SDRAM can be addressed at the same time, enabling MacBook to reach a memory throughput of up to 10.7 GBps.

May 19, 2006

I just ordered 2 of these for my Macbook. I can post pictures of mine if the thread owner doesnt mind.

May 19, 2006

Giga I was reading somewhere (another Mac forum though, I can't find the actual post) that said something about it. Maybe I'm wrong.

Wouldn't it be better if the two sticks were configured to work in dual channel mode and perhaps using Boot Camp, this allows Windows XP to use a greater proportion of VRAM if you've got (say) 2x512MB, with a lot more than 64MB dedicated to video (or 80MB). I think I read that the Intel GMA 950 has up to 224 or so MB of VRAM being possibly allocated to it under XP, but not under OSX.

Or, integrated graphics has nothing to do with RAM configuration and I'm a goose. :D :p

May 19, 2006

I just ordered 2 of these for my Macbook. I can post pictures of mine if the thread owner doesnt mind.

How does gigaram compared to Crucial? Or does it matter at all? If I can save $7, I would.

May 19, 2006

Just got notification that mine has shipped, it is like 5 days ahead of schedule yay!

May 19, 2006

How does gigaram compared to Crucial? Or does it matter at all? If I can save $7, I would.

Well, I got the gigaram because a lot of people have been getting it for there macs and I have not read about one problem. I have read about people having problems with both crucial and corsair.

May 19, 2006

I got crucial for my MBP and iMac G5 and had no problems with either.

May 19, 2006

Giga I was reading somewhere (another Mac forum though, I can't find the actual post) that said something about it. Maybe I'm wrong.

Wouldn't it be better if the two sticks were configured to work in dual channel mode and perhaps using Boot Camp, this allows Windows XP to use a greater proportion of VRAM if you've got (say) 2x512MB, with a lot more than 64MB dedicated to video (or 80MB). I think I read that the Intel GMA 950 has up to 224 or so MB of VRAM being possibly allocated to it under XP, but not under OSX.

Or, integrated graphics has nothing to do with RAM configuration and I'm a goose. :D :p

As far as the matching pairs for the integrated graphics I too have heard that it's reccomended. I've actually heard of someone having unmatched pairs in two of their macbooks and it crashing all the time (yes I know... OSX crashing :blink:).

And I'm planning on picking up one of these at the end of summer for college. I currently have a decent dell laptop (3 years old Inspiron 5150... big, bulky, but powerful enough), but this will be perfect for me to carry to class for notes and stuff. Just gotta get the money now...

May 19, 2006

(yes I know... OSX crashing :blink:).

Aww... But OSX is easy to crash. Like the time when my iBook fell down a flight of stairs and the hard drive broke.

The next day OSX gave a kernel panic and wouldn't boot anymore... :shiftyninja:

And people call it a stable os :whistle:

:rofl:

May 19, 2006

Aww... But OSX is easy to crash. Like the time when my iBook fell down a flight of stairs and the hard drive broke.

The next day OSX gave a kernel panic and wouldn't boot anymore... :shiftyninja:

And people call it a stable os :whistle:

:rofl:

if u drop a Xp machine dopwn the stairs it get a virus and just **** the hell out of u

May 20, 2006

Is the disc that came with the Macbook a restore disc or Mac OSX? I want to know if I can use the disk to install OSX if I buy a new hard drive or is that just to restore the notebook to original condition?

May 20, 2006

Is the disc that came with the Macbook a restore disc or Mac OSX? I want to know if I can use the disk to install OSX if I buy a new hard drive or is that just to restore the notebook to original condition?

I got mine in October of 2005, and it was 2 dvd's, the first was the install disk (which also had apps like ilife, ms office trial, iwork trial, the encyclopedia and other crap. the 2nd dvd was just a driver disk.

Once when my hard drive crashed, I had to use the cd to install osx again, and it seemed like it was just an install disk. So I think it would work find with a new hard drive.

Also, to this day I have never had to use the 2nd dvd :wacko:

May 20, 2006

As far as I know, you only get restore discs that are specific to your hardware. (So you can't borrow a mate's MacBook restore disc and try to use it on your PowerBook, say).

It's basically a full version of Mac OS X for that single piece of hardware. You can install it to another HD on that machine I guess (another partition, I should say). If you want to install OS X on another Mac, you will need a retail copy of Tiger, as the restore discs will be useless (to any other machine but your Mac/hardware it came with). :yes:

May 20, 2006

You can use the discs on another Mac as long as it's in the same family as the Mac you want to install it on. (MacBook or MacBook Pro, in this case.)

May 21, 2006

If that's the case, sorry for misleading. I've previously tried using an iBook G4 restore disc in my PowerBook G4 and it didn't work. I have discs for my PowerBook and it was just a test.

I don't own two from the same family so maybe that's why. Thanks for letting me know (though I'd never need to, since each Mac comes with it's own set of discs). :)

May 23, 2006

for the people that wanted to know the results of the Vista Beta advisor, attached is the HTML and images of the saved report. this is the base level, white macbook running boot camp. long story short, Aero experience passes the test. Only things that fail are Premium Photo, Music and Movie Experiences and Watch and Record TV...

Premium Photo, Music and Movie Experiences

Action Required Explanation

Either

a) upgrade your graphics adapter to one that has TV output or

b) connect via an Xbox 360 or other Windows Vista-compatible media center extender If you would like to connect this PC directly to a TV and you do not have a high definition display that accepts PC video input, you will need to upgrade your graphics adapter to one that supports TV output. Alternatively, you can use this PC as a media center host and connect to a TV through an intermediary device such as an Xbox 360 or other Windows Vista-compatible Media Center extender.

Watch and Record TV

Action Required Explanation

Make sure you have an approved TV Tuner card In order to watch TV on your system, you will need an approved USB-based TV tuner or TV Tuner card. This version of the Upgrade Advisor does not detect whether an approved TV tuner exists in your current system. Contact your PC retailer to find out if a TV Tuner card that is approved for use with Microsoft Media Center is or can be installed in your system.

Either

a) upgrade your graphics adapter to one that has TV output or

b) connect via an Xbox 360 or other Windows Vista-compatible media center extender If you would like to connect this PC directly to a TV and you do not have a high definition display that accepts PC video input, you will need to upgrade your graphics adapter to one that supports TV output. Alternatively, you can use this PC as a media center host and connect to a TV through an intermediary device such as an Xbox 360 or other Windows Vista-compatible Media Center extender.

Elegant User Experience with Windows? Aero?

Action Required Explanation