What readers hate about the new MacBooks
After putting up our reviews of the new 13-inch Apple MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro, we checked back over the next couple of days to see what CNET readers would have to say about them in the user reviews section.
Reader reviews generally fall into two categories. One-star ratings for negativists who want to lay some online smackdown on a brand they're not feeling too generous about (Sony, Microsoft, etc.), and so-called "fanboys" who give everything five-star ratings with an almost religious zeal. Needless to say, usually very few of these amateur reviewers even own the product in question. The end result is typically a lot of opinions at the extremes, and very few right down the middle.
So, imagine our surprise to see a collection of thoughtful reader reviews that in large part talk honestly about the pros and cons of Apple's latest laptops, and present some nuanced, in-depth analysis.
Since we've already talked about what we love about the new MacBooks, here are some choice comments from readers about what they're less than crazy about. We expected the general consensus to focus on the lack of FireWire in the 13-inch model, but instead, we saw a lot of concern about the glossy edge-to-edge glass displays. (although there were a few complaints about the FireWire as well).
"No FireWire -- No Thanks."
"The loss of FireWire is a deal killer for anyone wanting to edit video or audio or anyone needing to use Target Disk mode."
"Even glossier display than before."
"No FireWire. Bad move. Bottom line."
"Due to the glass reflections it has to be at maximum brightness all the time to over-power the glare."
"The new glassy screen is a glare nightmare."
"Like everything, except lack of FireWire and glossy screen."
"Glossy screen with sometimes annoying glare."
"The highly reflective glass screen is a deal breaker."
"They look and feel great...except for the glossy screen"
So, what do you love and/or hate about the new MacBooks? Let us know!
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
What I find most funny is that this isn't a coating that is getting added to the LCD panels, this is just a coating which is never being applied. Older LCD products had A/G coatings for a really good reason. (In reality the A/G coating is nothing more than a sheet of thin matte plastic that gets stuck on the panel, I've actually removed coatings before by soaking panels in water overnight) In any case, it looks like the marketing departments have all taken over. Then again, with Apple, their products seem to literally be designed entirely by the marketing department. That department, which is, in turn, Steve Jobs...
Oh, but thumbs down to no firewire. That really is a lame move. Firewire just works better than USB.
I thought back to the days when I saw the first macs without a floppy drive. In my mind I thought, "How could they be so stupid? How on earth could it work without a floppy drive."
So, maybe not such a big deal for anyone looking for a newer HD camera, and those people in video production, a macbook pro with firewire is probably in order.
Oh, one more thing I never seem to hear about. A firewire 800 port is two 400 ports integrated in one plug. You can adapt the 800 plug to a single 400 with the right cable. Some professional video interfaces come with this cable. Guess it's up to the manufactures to make the cables.
But still, props to Apple for the new design. It's awesome!
I was bothered that my new Pro model came with a single FireWire 800 port since most of my peripherals use FW400 and now I have to spend $$ on adapters and cables. But upon looking at the MacBook I'm happy that I have a FW port at all!
I love Apple's sense of clean minimalist design in everything they do, but their unapologetic approach to technology evolution in "Leaps and Bounds!" is leaving a lot of people behind. School's are struggling to stay within the narrow definition of Apple's audience.
That said, what about the aftermarket glare filters? Maybe CNET would evaluate their effectiveness in light of this issue?
For myself, the price/processor combo makes me think twice about these new Macbooks.
you paid how much, for what?
Granted, it's probably not a noticeable difference in performance, but factor in the cost it requires to upgrade hardrive space ($100!) and unable to upgrade CPU speed, it's starting to become a deal breaker for me. PCs are much cheaper with better configuration options and pricing upgrades, but it's difficult to choose.
APPLE NOTEBOOKS RUN WINDOWS AND MAC OS. 2 OPERTIVE SYSTEM, SAME GREAT HARDWARE. I WILL NEVER BUY A DEDICATED WINDOWS ONLY SYSTEM AGAIN. PLAIN SILLY.MY MAC BOOK RUNS VISTA BETTER THAT MY FRIENDS TOP OF THE LINE TOSHIBA. JAJAJA, YEAH IS A GREAT DEAL TO GET AN 1,100 WINDOWS SYSTEM JAJAJA
Similar component configurations range from 1/2 to 2/3 the price initially. This ratio is further aided by the fact that Windows PCs are always available on sale, and will be especially on sale this holiday season in a down economy as retailers scramble.
Antivirus/spyware/security programs are required, but that is hardly a price burden. They are available for free either here on CNET or often bundled with service from ISPs - and if you don't feel safe with free or bundled security programs, then a suite will cost $40-50 a year. If you're in MacBook price ranges, then that $200 over the 4-5 year life of the computer is not going to make up the price difference.
I like OSX, but it simply isn't worth paying so much for. Macs really offer nothing compelling for anyone who doesn't do a great deal of video editing. Instead, you lose functionality, because so much software is exclusive to windows (and if you're buying a copy of windows because you need its functionality, then you are spending even more money). Serious gaming requires running windows, where the lesser specs for the cost will matter greatly. Spending $1.2 to $1.6 K on a computer with integrated graphics is stupid.
Vista may not be as good as OSX, but it does the job fine. Contrary to what some would like to believe, Vista is the best Windows yet with the best benchmarks and the best security - it just wasn't a very revolutionary step up from XP.
I like to get my work done, not spend time "getting used to" something.
Every new laptop requires a bit of 'Get Used to'. I have never moved between machines where the trackpad, keyboard, heck the backspace button was exactly the same. I went to the apple store to try out the no button pad and noticed that it was actually very easy to use and that moving the cursor around didn't cause accidental clicking or selecting stuff at random.
About the clicking...
*cough* BB Storm *cough*
1. HP $104 billion
2. IBM $99 billion
3. Dell $57 billion
4. Apple $24 billion
Maybe more appropriately, we should look at market capitalization, which more accurately represents the word "valuable:"
1. IBM $112 billion
2. Apple $86 billion
3. HP $84 billion
4. Dell $24 billion
Oh, and by the way, having as much cash as Apple does is not necessarily a good thing. Why aren't they investing it? R&D, expansion, price cuts... But that is just my opinion.
Ah. I see you have either forgotten, or somehow managed to avoid Windows Millennium Edition. For all of Vista's faults, it's not nearly as bad as Windows Millennium Edition was. After all, Vista at least is mostly functional...!
CNET's review get around 4 hours and 8 minute while using the 9400m.
~3 hours of battery life with the Pro while using the 9600m GT.
Yet CNET's review got 4 hours and 2X minutes with the Early 2008 MacBook Pro (which use the 8600m GT)
That means the new MacBook Pro is getting SHORTER battery even while using the integrated 9400m comparing to the old MacBook Pro that use the 8600m dedicated display chip.
All-in-all I'm pretty impressed with the new macbooks. If I hadn't just bought my iMac last year I'd be all over these new ones (and I just might be anyway).
Granted it will be annoying for people who still use firewire for whatever, but firewire is becoming useless. I'm sure there are USB to firewire adapters.
What really irritates me about the new macbooks is the fact that Apple, (a company I still like) is too stubborn to put in a display medium that everyone uses. No one uses the mini-display port, whereas a whole lot of laptops use VGA. I don't care how ugly it is Apple, put in a VGA cable, or at least bring the mini-vga back.
What also annoys me is they dropped the price 100 bucks on the crappy macbook. They could at least give the 1000 dollar macbook 2GB of RAM, or at least drop the price more.
And lastly, the new LED Display for 800 bucks. Now, why can't you even connect it to a Desktop? It's only for macbooks, and only the new macbooks. How many people will do that when they could just buy a good, cheaper display and then an adapter?
As for no blu-ray. Not a huge loss, because seriously a laptop screen is not going to be optimal for HD viewing anyway. Blu-Ray players are getting cheaper, just buy one for your big TV. Although I doubt the fact that they didn't have it was because Blu-Ray is a "Bag of Hurt". Steve Jobs just wants people buying Apple TV so they can rent HD movies for 1 day.
I never said it was a great idea for Apple to do that, but it's not incredibly dumb.
On the glossy screen issue, I don't know any "Pros" that actually finish their work on the built-in screen on the laptop. They may start there, but most of the work is finished upon a monitor that's connected to the machine. That's where the nice matte, color corrected LCD is sitting. Do I think that it was a bad choice to remove matte screens? Probably yes, but I don't know how you would do a matte screen with a glass overlay, and that was probably an issue with Apple also. From what I read, the glass overlay is actually a structural piece to the display and is required by design.
Removing the firewire from the low end macbook seems like a really bad move when you're looking at it now. I happen to use firewire for video editing, but I'm not sure it's important to most people. Most of the lower end external HDDs are USB or combo USB firewire. The newer flash and HDD based camcorders are firewire also. The only thing that you can't do is use your DV based camcorder, I can see Apple or a 3rd party coming up with an adapter that imports DV directly to MPEG-2 so you can use your footage in iMovie. The technology is out there already for PCs. (maybe Macs too, just haven't done any research) Sure, sure, those of us in the know are aware that firewire is much better for HDDs and such, but the average consumer doesn't know that. Most PC users use USB external drives.
So I tend to agree that this is one of those "they left the floppy out? the sky is falling" kind of deals. We shall see.
People crying about HDMI? I would bet my sister's lunch that you'll see a mini displayport to HDMI cable really soon.
On the glossy screen issue, I don't know any "Pros" that actually finish their work on the built-in screen on the laptop. They may start there, but most of the work is finished upon a monitor that's connected to the machine. That's where the nice matte, color corrected LCD is sitting. Do I think that it was a bad choice to remove matte screens? Probably yes, but I don't know how you would do a matte screen with a glass overlay, and that was probably an issue with Apple also. From what I read, the glass overlay is actually a structural piece to the display and is required by design.
Removing the firewire from the low end macbook seems like a really bad move when you're looking at it now. I happen to use firewire for video editing, but I'm not sure it's important to most people. Most of the lower end external HDDs are USB or combo USB firewire. The newer flash and HDD based camcorders are firewire also. The only thing that you can't do is use your DV based camcorder, I can see Apple or a 3rd party coming up with an adapter that imports DV directly to MPEG-2 so you can use your footage in iMovie. The technology is out there already for PCs. (maybe Macs too, just haven't done any research) Sure, sure, those of us in the know are aware that firewire is much better for HDDs and such, but the average consumer doesn't know that. Most PC users use USB external drives.
So I tend to agree that this is one of those "they left the floppy out? the sky is falling" kind of deals. We shall see.
People crying about HDMI? I would bet my sister's lunch that you'll see a mini displayport to HDMI cable really soon.
Pros:
Excellent build quality and aesthetics.
Good Keyboard
Trackpad highly functional.
Smooth graphics.
The quietest notebook I have ever come across.
Glossy screen better than matte. (But they should've used Opticlear coating from NEC)
Cons
The Screen vertical viewing angle is pretty bad, as mentioned elsewhere. The contrast and color saturation changes greatly as you look a the bottom of the screen, up, or move your head up or down as you adjust in your chair. I'm not that picky but why Apple of all companies would choose this screen is beyond me. Sony's Vaio Z screen should've been used! It's fine as long as you look at it dead center. There were plenty of complaints about the last Macbook's screen, and Apple didn't listen plain and simple. .
I've had my new Macbook (2.0, 4GB Ram, 250GB HD) since Friday. I must start by saying I'm somewhat new to Mac. I consider myself an advance user when it comes to a PC but have never really had any reason to use a Mac. I've considered switching for a while though, and with the release of the new models it seemed like the perfect time.
It is definitely larger than I expected despite reports. My old laptop is a Dell 700m. The Macbook is thinner but its other physical dimensions are larger. Its wider and longer. I kinda thought it was actually too big despite the many compliments it has been given for small size. Not a bad thing by any means, I just want people to know that its not as small as you might think it is.
Second thought, the aluminum case. The case is sturdy, no squeeking, creaking, or bending. However, I find myself being very delicate with the Macbook. The case seems like it would scratch easy. I don't like that about it. This may sound strange to some but it is a fact that plastic has more give than metal and it seems to me that the lack of give will lead to more scratches. Perhaps not as deep as scratches on plastic but I see 'more' scratches in my future.
The screen is nice and bright. I like a glossy screen, so I don't have the same complaint as some. Glossy is good, glossy is popular...so get used to it is my thought.
Firewire, never had much use for it so I don't miss it. If you want Firewire, get a Macbook Pro or go get a PC. Its not that big of a deal.
The OS. Being an Apple novice I'm still getting used to the OS. I feel much like a new born baby but am starting to find out how to crawl.
I like it so far. My biggest worry is scratches. Otherwise I'm very happy with the screen, the performance, the quietness, and the battery life. I would definitely recommend one if you are in the market. I would give it a solid 8 out of 10 stars.
it is completley clear, and is very stong and will not scratch,
it is the same stuff the military uses to coat their helicopter wings to keep them from scratching
I don't buy into all Apple products. Macbook Air is pretty stupid, Apple TV is useless and is just a way for Steve Jobs to try and get people to buy something if they want HD movie rentals, the ipod shuffle is worse than anything of the same price, and sometimes Apple can just be annoying.
The new macbooks are nice. there are some problems, but you can't deny that they're lighter, thinner and get better battery life than the competition.
1) lack of FW - I have an external FW drive and lack of FW isn't a deal breaker but it's certainly annoying
2) glossy screen - I can't honestly say I've tried a glossy screen but I prefer the matte finish as I don't have shades on the windows in the room I'm most frequently in
3) lack of processor speed bump - they should have at the least bumped the processor speeds 200 MHz if they are going to charge more (the MBs)
On topic but talking about the MBP - I would have probably bought the 1999 MBP but the lack of hybrid mode for the graphic cards seems to just waste so much capability that I felt it was better to get a 512MB card, a faster processor, and a matte screen than the lower end new MBP.
- by RideMan October 22, 2008 4:27 PM PDT
- I want to replace my 12" PowerBook G4, but I do video, so I need FireWire. If they wanted to remove a port, why not remove the almost-useless Ethernet port and offer a USB dongle like they do for the modem? This isn't like building machines without floppy drives...there is NO SUBSTITUTE for a FireWire port, and contrary to what Steve says, all those USB ports on video cameras only get you still pictures...not DV25, not HDV. And while my editing software can handle HDV 'out of the box', it can't handle AVCHD. USB can replace serial ports, printer ports, ADB, SCSI, floppy drives, modems, and Ethernet, but it can't replace FireWire, not yet anyway. (Zucchs, there doesn't seem to be any such thing as a FireWire adapter for a USB 2.0 port) So that's why I'm kind of bummed, as I don't want a 15" laptop. Where is the 13" MacBook Pro?
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- by bigmc6000 October 23, 2008 2:22 PM PDT
- you should check out the previous gen 15" MBPs - they are 500 and 700 off respectively...
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Showing 1 of 5 pages (151 Comments)I was worried about the no-button track pad when I read about it, but I went down to my local Apple store and tried it out. It isn't just a touch sensitive track pad, the whole track pad literally *is* a button, and it works just like my amazing no-button mouse. Not only can I live with it, I kind of like the larger track-pad.
The glossy screen doesn't bother me that much. That I could live with, and the flat glass surface on the screen is one of the best ideas in mobile computing that I have seen in years. No more crud in the corners of the screen bezel! No more impossible-to-clean LCD surface! Maybe in the next revision they'll sand-blast the back side of the glass plate to reduce the glare, but from what I saw it doesn't seem to be nearly as much of a problem as so many people seem to think. At any rate, I *really* like the glass.
I'm still not wild about the chiclet keyboard. For $1600 we ought to get sculpted key caps that don't bring back memories of the TRS-80 Color Computer and the IBM PCjr!