Zev Mo Tech Blog

Update: 2 weeks with my 13″ MBP

Posted on 11. Aug, 2009 by zevmo in Apple, Technology

So, today is the 2 week anniversary of my latest Apple lust, the 13″ MBP.

Specs:

• 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache
• 1066MHz frontside bus
• 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 memory
• 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Here are my initial impressions of the device.  Great!  Duh.

Upgrading:

Well, first let me explain to you what happened from the beginning.  This was an upgrade from my MBP 15″ 1.83 Core Duo (first gen), otherwise known by me as the ‘flamethrower’ (it ran a little hot).  So, as the de facto family computer, b/c the PowerMac G5 (still running strong) is upstairs in the BR hooked up to a 42″ wall-mounted TV, it is out of the functional area for the kids.  My uneasiness of upgrading because of the applications, endless licencing keys to be found, syncing issues with MobileMe, preferences, etc., were all an overreaction.

Apple uses a built-in solution, as you may know, called Apple Migration Assistant.  I have never had an opportunity to use it, so I decided to give it a whirl.  After not having a 9-pin FireWire 800 to firewire 400 cable, I connected over airport for the transfer.

The setup was simple, run the program on both machines, use a code to assure connectivity between these two devices, and then select what content to move over.  I moved everything but the other 3 users (since this is my machine exclusively).  This process took about 40 minutes, about 60GB of data.  Upon completion, it brought me to a login that looked similar to my old machine, sans the other 3 users.  I logged in, and voila, everything was exactly the same.  Even GeekTool ran in the background.  I went and checked my mail, checked my VMWare installation… everything worked!

I did a Permissions check/fix on the drive.  Of course many things needed to be updated, none serious, and I named my machine something new.  Very easy.

One thing that didn’t move over, no big deal, were my Airport settings from other networks I had previously connected to.  But all-in-all, not a bad transition.  Another item to be aware of, Time Machine.  I do my backups using the Airport with an external USB drive.  This won’t work the same way, unless you have multiple USB drives (or partitions) on that Airport share.  Nonetheless, not too shabby.  Great job, Apple.

Device:

This thing runs quietly, vastly cooler (in fact, it can sit in my lap now- too warm if charging from a low batt state), bright screen, fast start-up after opening from sleep, no loud cd-drive check noise like the 1.83, and it is a solid device since it is made out of solid aluminum.

Performance:

It is quite fast.  The most noticeable difference is that I use a lot of applications at once, multiple VMWare sessions at once (XP/Win7/Backtrack/etc.), some legacy Adobe products, and this thing manages them like a pro.  I have yet to see my processor peak 60%, and memory allocation looks great.

It can’t be all good, can it?

There is no perfect system.  The only issues, so far, are as follows:

1. If resting on your lap, the mag-safe connector is so close to the bottom because the body is so thin (which is a good thing), you have to be careful to not unseat it.  It is fine if you have it on a flat surface.
2. The screen is so bright (good thing), the default settings for colors are over contrasted.  A simple color check will fix this.
3. The glossy screen is beautiful, so nice in fact, I took some Win7 desktops and put them in my rotating desktop background on the mac side.  I don’t notice the glare very much, and if I do, I just turn the brightness up slightly. NP.  It is hard to keep my kids from touching the glass screen, though.  As a result, my OCD protection for screen cleanliness is on DefCon 1 (Confidence is high, I repeat, confidence is high).
4. And the 13″ screen is totally fine.  However, you notice that some sites, and finder window pop-ups, want more screen real estate.  Not a big deal, and the size of the machine is an absolute pleasure to carry around.

Conclusion:

I would buy this machine again in a heartbeat.  I think going with the 13 vs the 15 was a good move.  But I am waiting for the next revision to come out any minute now, since Apple seems to always do it to me when I buy a machine.

Tags: Action, ads, Ai, Apple, Apple, Applications, Backup, big, blog, Bus, Cable, Car, Drive, easy, fix, G5, Geek, IE, impressions, initial impressions, Install, Intel, Kids, Mac, mail, MBP, Mobile, MobileMe, network, OS, Pre, rack, simple, sync, Technology, Transit, TV, UI, update, upgrade, UPS, XP

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Tags: Action, ads, Ai, Apple, Applications, Backup, big, blog, Bus, Cable, Car, Drive, easy, fix, G5, Geek, IE, impressions, initial impressions, Install, Intel, Kids, Mac, mail, MBP, Mobile, MobileMe, network, OS, Pre, rack, simple, sync, Transit, TV, UI, update, upgrade, UPS, XP