Anything I should look for when buying a mbp?

I"m really pondering if I should buy a mbp but in the case that I do. I will be purchasing it at the store. What deflects should I be looking for? How do I recognize dead pixels? Is there a check list for what I should look for when I purchase a new laptop? Thanks

 

Make sure it fits your gaming or other needs, remember that you cant change or upgrade your video card. You should be looking for a store that will do paint it or something because that laptop is one of the ugliest i've seen...

 

bah hehe I think it is one of the best looking note books out my self, no random hight changes front to back and sleek looking, umm uncomplicated look.

dead pixels can be hard to see sometimes you will want to look at it with a white background, you will see a realllly small dot that will be black ( realllllly small ) that usually is a dead pixel ( or sometimes dust on the inside of the screen ), there are a few ways to fix it but it is better to get a notebook that has none, there is something that is close called a stuck pixel, which instead of a black dot it will be red or green or some other color, having the laptop screen rapidly change color ( there is some mov files that can do this for you ) can sometimes "unstuck" it.

other then that, check for general build quality make sure it is solid and nothing loose ect... remember that it does have a warranty, so look at things that wont be covered under the warranty, dead/stuck pixels are the biggest thing, cause some times it can be hard to convince a manufacture that the dot on the upper left side of your screen is a good reason to exchange. most company's say you have to have several next to each other, right in the center of the screen, or really noticeable ones for it to be covered under warranty.

but other people here with more exp on the mac laptops will be able to give you a better answers.

I just ordered the 15.4 my self, and looking online there is only one other notebook with the stats it has, and that is the Asus g1s ( don't get me wrong there are a lot that are close but...) and it is about the same price, so as far as cost I dont think you are spending to much for what you are getting.

 

? really what did you think about the old 12" powerbook g4?

 

who u talking to?

 

There are various LCD screen test programs (just search for dead pixel checker on versiontracker.com in the OS X section) that you can run to test for dead pixels.

As far as other defects, I guess you should look for the obvious ones.

Generally, I don't know that I'd recommend going out of your way to look for defects.

I mean, I've seen people who get a laptop, are really happy with it, until someone points out some defect or other, and then they look for it and realize they have it - and it annoys them, even though they didn't know it was there before.

I'd say look for anything obvious (build issues, maybe obvious screen issues like uneven illumination or yellow tinting - things that would interfere with your regular use of it), and if you find something, bring it back to the store for a return or exchange.

-Zadillo

 

Zoltang, honestly, you've made your point. You don't like the look of the MBP. I don't know that it's really necessary to go out of your way to make comments about it (tell someone they need to paint it, etc.).

These things are matters of personal preference; I can think of plenty of people who don't have very kind things to say about the look of Dell Inspirons, but they don't necessarily jump into every thread dealing with Inspirons telling people how ugly the laptop is or that it should be painted, etc.

-Zadillo

 

You? sorry I posted too slow and someone else posted in front of me

 

lol i am working on a 15 inch powerbook and yea its nice and thin but i cant stand the same bland colour all over the thing. however, the os is far superior to its windows counterpart...

 

lol the mbp is nice and thin too. So you just hate the color right.

 

oh yea, and its the same ALL OVER!!!! and damn my optical drive is like a jet engine....

 

Right, I get it, I understand.

As I mentioned before, it's a matter of personal taste. Some people like the basic all aluminum look; I guess others prefer a combination of colors, etc.

I've heard people complain about ThinkPads the same way too; personally I've always liked the solid black plain flat look of ThinkPads as well.

But yeah, it's a good thing of course that companies are offering customization options for different color combinations, etc.

Personally I don't think that colors in and of themselves change the fundamental design quality of a laptop. The Inspiron 1520, for example, isn't fundamentally better or worse in design whether it has the basic black, or a lime green lid.

But anyway, yeah...... people have different tastes and opinions. For machines like the MBP or ThinkPad, basic uniform colors sometimes work best. As it is, silver/aluminim, white and black have specific benefits as universal colors that go well with many different things, and are more complimentary and less distracting, for the most part.

-Zadillo

 

lol just placed the zoltang name

 

very true... its just that i have a need too express my hatred toward my machine and the MBP

 

Right, right.

Although again, I don't know why that's a bad thing. One thing I never liked about my Sony SZ was that it had a very slick lid, but the bottom was just the typical black plastic laptop with a bunch of access doors and vents and screws all over the place.

I'm not sure what it is you're looking for exactly; an MBP that is a mixture of silver/black/blue or red or green/etc.?

Again, of course, these are issues of personal preference.

Yeah, some of those old PowerBooks did have noisy optical drives. My SZ did too actually. It seems like the MB's and MBP's have quieter drives overall at least.

Generally speaking, I try and avoid the use of optical drives on laptops as much as I can anyway.

-Zadillo

 

HAHa about time... that was a great movie...

 

I think you've done a good job of that.

 

lol i think i have. maybe i'll start a thread in the off topics area for the great movie, dude where's my car...

 

hehe, main reason I rember it is cause my last name starts with a "z" so I get the ZOLTANG and the finger symbol a lot as a joke at my old base.

and also cause it was a great movie

 

lol so you think I should get the asus v2s over the mbp then? Is the v2s more pretty loll

 

Which notebook is better looking is a personal preference. A lot of people think the MBP is the best looking notebook in the industry. Others, like Zoltang, hate its aluminum colour. You have to decide for yourself if you like the looks of the MacBook Pro.

 

lol we went soo off topic, but i havent seen the V2s, but im betting it looks better than the MBP in my opinion. you shouldnt buy a notebook completely based on looks. It needs to be up to ur standards and made with the components u need.

 

Ok thanks well said