Comparing my M6400 to the new MacBook Pro

I was in a bad mood the other day, so I lashed out in an angry blog post:

The new MacBook Pro sucks: http://bit.ly/bT0dr

I thought other M6400 owners might appreciate it.

 

1) You're not allowed to post links to external reviews here, even if they're your own. I'd suggest you copy the review into your post here.

2) You do bring up some good points. Even though I'm a PC guy, I'm going to defend the MBP on (some) points here.

The main fault in your argument is that the way your M6400 is configured now, it probably weighs 9.5lbs, and is 1.5" thick. The MBP is 6.6lbs and 0.98" thick. It's been known that Apple prioritizes style over performance.
See here: http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/sxKMnVcUksMysUGM.large
Clearly, Apple didn't waste much space.

So, on that note, the graphics, RAM, processor, and dual storage could all be there in a bigger, thicker machine. Apple chose not to. That's just the way they roll.

Personally, I think the fingerprint reader is a gimmick, but each to their own, I guess.
Oh, and yes, the MBP has bluetooth standard.

 

You shouldn't buy a MBP for power or performance, like weirdo already said.
While i understand the frustration you could've known before buying it.

@weirdo...i'd rather be able to fully configure my laptop the way i want iso having anyhting standard....having BT standard isn't necessarily an added value and it's easily done with the m6400 too.

 

I don't think he bought it. I think he was just criticizing it. (or did I miss something?)

Also, I completely agree. I think bluetooth is the most useless feature in the world. As a matter of fact, my E6400 doesn't even have it. I mean, why? I'd use it maybe 2 times total.

But you do have to give Apple points in the innovations department (and in other places). I'm pretty jealous of that magnetic latch, for instance. The smooth, no plastic or seams unibody case, also. Not to mention it has 5 speakers on board, which is pretty much an industry record.

Everything with notebook computers is a tradeoff. Slim for less powerful. Less powerful for cheaper. Smaller for running hotter. Bigger screen for reduced portability. Better battery life for more weight.

 

5 speakers?

What are you talking about?

 

I'll try to address a bunch of points with my opinions in one post here:

fingerprint reader:
Less of a gimmick when you are like me and you insist on using "safe" admin passwords (15-20 characters that can't easily be defeated by the likes of ophcrack. sure, fingerprint scanners can be gamed, but it isn't something done easily by the average script kiddie like ophcrack is)... swiping a finger is much quicker than typing in that beast, and some tool can't shoulder-surf me and pick up my password when in public.
Also useful when you have limited user accounts on computers, such as the lenovo thinkpads my salesmen have. my right hand can log me into any of their computers as "the user" and my left thumb can log me in as an admin. handy and efficient.

bluetooth:
thanks for the clarification on that. I guess I'd prefer that it is there than to not even have it as an option
I use BT for moving files off my blackberry when I don't have my USB cable, a BT mouse, and the logitech dinovo mini... which is frickin' awesome, btw, esp when you connect your machine to a TV w/ a short HDMI cable and you want to control everything from the couch.
In any case, I can also see people not wanting it in their machine, too.

apple innovations:
so it's the case and latches I'm supposed to be impressed by?
I understand the attraction to style and clean lines on a laptop, but I don't think my M6400 is ugly... just big and functional. I prefer function over style and I gotta believe there are OSX users out there that feel the same. I guess that's why the hackintosh was born.

the inevitable tradeoffs in laptops:
I agree, those tradeoffs are always going to be there and somebody always has to make the choice as to what the top priorities are... however, I'd prefer that choice be made by the consumer, not Apple. Apple has decided that style comes before power, and that's your only (legit) choice if you want to run OSX. You want a quad core laptop that runs OSX? You'll have to get on the hackintosh train, and who knows when Apple will find a way to bring that train to a screeching halt. I'm certain Apple has it in them to build a stylish, well-engineered, yet amazingly-powerful mobile workstation to meet the demands of people who want to do video editing/3d modeling/etc and aren't afraid to carry a heavy backpack. As it is, it would appear Apple is happy to just offer something that is "good enough."

 

I wouldn't say that BT is useless.

I'm using it for a mouse because I am not used to touch pads.

 

You can see the 5 distinct speaker things on this ifixit teardown pic: http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/nFIvZPoV2wW6GjN1.large

In my experience, most wireless mice come with dongles...


geewhipped:
Finderprint reader: While I agree with that, the $20 ones are pretty useless. I've heard that the hardest part of breaking that protection is finding a fingerprint on the computer itself. It's apparently pretty easy to fool. As long as your password isn't "password" or your name, it should be pretty secure. Mine is 13 characters, and with practice, I can put it in in less than 1 second. Probably faster than the fingerprint thing.

Bluetooth: I guess so. I tend to carry cables, and from the few times I've used BT, it's notoriously unreliable. Then again, I have an iPhone, so the blackberry thing isn't really an issue. And I can control my computer over an ad-hoc wifi network, similar to how the BT 3.0 will work. My point was just that I can definitely live without it.

Innovations: If I am quite honest with you, when buying my new laptop, I considered the 15" MBP and this E6400. The price difference came to be $900. With the E6400, I was sacrificing better graphics (only because this is a 14"), multitouch trackpad, unibody case, and all of that stuff. I'd want it, but it's totally not worth $900. Not counting the graphics, the extras are worth maybe $200. Not more.

Sacrifices: Of course, the consumer should make the choice. But Apple operates the way they do. They're iconic. Very narrow, very little flexibility, very simple. Unfortunately, stuffing the features of, say, a M6400 or an Alienware m17x "allpowerful" is just not possible into a 1" thick chassis. And Apple could never roll out a notebook thicker than maybe 1.1". They just don't cater to pro users. That's why they have 5% worldwide marketshare and PCs have 95%.

And who said I'm not on the hackintosh train?

 

I don't like dongles sticking out of the side like a usb stick - personal preference.

 

Longhair: I agree 100% about the dongles, esp when i have a radio built into my laptop that is made to do that very job. neither my mouse nor any other BT device has been problematic for me over my past 3 laptops.

weirdo: so you're going to remote control the computer that is 10 feet away by using another computer? of course that's *possible*, but it is pretty far from the most efficient way to do it. I'll be at a friends house, hook up my laptop to their TV so we can browse some pictures or videos.
"say, do you have another laptop I can borrow so that I can remote control my computer with it?"
"you mean the computer that's right over there connected to my tv?"
"yeah"
"why don't you just... uh... sit at the computer"
"i'd like to sit on the couch"
"...sure.... i'll go get my laptop..."

alternately, the logitech dinovo mini lives in my laptop bag (it is smaller than the power brick for my dell). not really much of a comparison. I also tend to carry cables. I have a very full Spire bag (which MaximumPC magazine said "small children can get lost in") but there's no denying a useful wireless technology. sorry you've had problems with it. my entire sales staff uses bluetooth canon printers to print hundreds of invoices every week with very few problems. i assure you, the technology works when you have quality equipment on both ends.

as for the fingerprints and passwords... I can type over 100wpm, so typing speed isn't the issue. speed also doesn't defeat a good shoulder-surfer. have you ever spoofed a fingerprint reader? I haven't, nor has anybody I know. I don't think it is as easy as you think it is, especially using stuff a malicious user has on them at the moment of opportunity. I *have* used ophcrack, tho, and I think you are misunderstanding how it works. Give me 15 minutes with your computer and I'll have every password on it, including your 13-char password (yes, even if it has a bunch of special characters in it). Ophcrack can be put on a bootable CD or usb key and used very quickly. it is in the toolbox of many black hats AND white hats (such as myself) who use it in a pinch when the boss's wife can't remember their password.
if you spoof my fingerprint reader, you get access to my computer for as long as you have it available to you. that's fine if you stole the computer and you have unlimited time.
if you use an ophcrack-able password, i can obtain that password in a few minutes while you are in the bathroom, then make use of it later to:
a) probably get into your email account, since you probably use the same password. once you're in the email account, just about anything else can be accessed since i can intercept the "i forgot my password" emails from other sites.
b) probably get into other computers you manage, possibly remotely, since they probably have the same password (esp if you are a sys admin and computers at the office use the same credentials)
...and this can be done without you even realizing anything has been compromised. If my laptop has been stolen, I'm busy changing passwords everywhere as fast as I can.
This is why secure passwords + fingerprint scanners are very useful and not a gimmick.
Go to DefCon and other security conferences a few times and you can learn to be properly paranoid, too.

One last thing... I understand the hesitancy to produce anything over a certain thickness/weight (even if I disagree), but some of the stuff I mentioned would have very little (if any) effect on either, such as:
the RGB-LED screen.
a choice of optical drives.
a choice of radios
ye olde fingerprint reader

I literally can't believe that they aren't using RGB-LED screens... bunch of crappy 6-bit screen MacBook's floating around that look really awful next to a good screen. Inexcusable for such an expensive device. Wasn't there a class-action suit against Apple (raised by a bunch of photographers) because the marketing misrepresented the dismal color capabilities of the MBPs?