The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    BC 3.0 + Wi7. Anything improved?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by embrion, Sep 23, 2009.

  1. embrion

    embrion Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hi,

    many asked but not much answers and I'm still thinking about MBP 13"

    I believe all of the people who wanted to get SL already done that, so I'd like to know how are things improved with new BootCamp and Windows (especially 7, RTM is available for some time at MSDN/MSDNAA).

    Batterylife. It was 373min in OS X and 290min in Vista (according to LaptopMag). Anything better now?
    Touchpad. Still oversensitive or acceptable for everyday usage?
    Any other broken thing I'm now aware of?

    TIA.
     
  2. Micaiah

    Micaiah Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,333
    Messages:
    1,915
    Likes Received:
    41
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Besides being able to see the OS X's HFS partition in Windows now, not really. The backlit keyboard still behaves like an on/off switch, display does not dim when on battery upon booting into Windows, and speaker volume still seems low compared to running under OS X.
     
  3. embrion

    embrion Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks. I see I'll have to look for another notebook.
    I have some Windows only software
     
  4. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Just because its "Windows only" doesn't mean you wont be able to use it well. Booting directly into Windows is NOT the only option to run Windows software, and really isn't even the best since you lose Mac OS X while doing it.
     
  5. embrion

    embrion Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yes, but I've red and saw some figures about VMware Fusion constant CPU Usage = visible lower battery life.
    Also it's not very convenient to lunch VMWare and boot into Win in order to use 1-2 apps.
     
  6. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    its more convenient than rebooting the whole machine... can keep VMware on suspend, and it doesn't take long to make it running... Depending on what apps you need there may be other solutions as well.
     
  7. embrion

    embrion Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Having normally working Windows is most convenient ;)
    I know, I know, "if you want to use Windows, buy a notebook PC". The problem is I won't find any with such look, weigh and battery life with non CULV CPU. Dell 14z and Lenovo Y450 are not available in my location and Vaios are too expensive. Believe me, except outlet business line Dells there's no such things for up to ~1200USD.

    About apps:
    - Office (I know, there is OSX version but I don't know if there is also Classic Menu [3rd party] app for it like for Windows version)
    - HP Product Bulletin
    - my IM software, Winamp, RemoteDesktop, IrfanView and Total Commander would be also very nice. First three replacement would not be such a problem but last two with all of their functionalities would be difficult and believe me, I've done research.
     
  8. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    all of those run great in a VM...

    Windows Office runs great in Crossover, no Windows needed...
    dont know what some of the software you've listed is, might be able to find replacements. Anything you cannot replace that can run in Crossover would be the best bet, so no Windows license needed, or virtual machine, or the extra battery draw.
     
  9. embrion

    embrion Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    That sounds nice.
    Is it possible to configure Wine/CrossOver the way that I can associate for ex. MP3s with Winamp and JPGs with IrfanView?
     
  10. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

    Reputations:
    3,047
    Messages:
    8,636
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    206
    i recommend a windows machine for you if you are tied to your windows software.

    What I really recommend is to ditch those windows only softwares and go for the cross platform open source stuff. Even if you refuse to use iTunes, check out Songbird. Adium is a great IM client. Apple has built in remote desktop functionality (you can connect to a VNC server through the finder, there are free + open source solutions for windows and linux for this)

    i don't know why you need total commander, or if a "power user file browser" type of thing exists in osx. it probably does.

    but yes, i stand by what i said. if you want a windows computer (you do) and your computing workflow revolves around windows (yours does) you really need a PC.