MacBook Pro 17" LED-model review! 56k no!

Alrighty folks, I've finally found some time to start writing this puppy up. So bear with me, and please ignore the any number of grammatical and sp3lling m1st4kes I make.,.,;.

The purpose of this review is not to benchmark to high heaven. Everyone knows the Penryn is a wee-bit faster than its predecessor, and has slightly better battery life (which I found to be true). I'm instead focusing on the system as a system - so the layout, practicality, new LED screen, build quality etc.

Anyway, without further ado, my impressions, and a comparison to my 15.4" only-very-slightly-outdated-by-which-I-mean-less-than-a-month-so MacBook Pro.

The impressions:

The box arrives at my door, and it's well-packaged. Very well. Inside the box is a...*gasp!!* MacBook Pro 17"! I noticed this is the first case that I've seen of the Pros having the new Leopard graphic on the front. Sweet! Progress!!



Moving on, the laptop is huge. I haven't used a 17" laptop for a while, my previous beasties being the Dell XPS Gen.2, and the XPS M1710. For some reason, the MacBook Pro 17" feels even BIGGER than the XPSs, even though it's really not. I believe this is because the MacBook Pro feels like a slab of fairly boring aluminium, whereas the XPSs are clearly not as well-put together, with ports and joints all over the place which gives it a false impression that the space is better used. At least that's what my mind tells me. But sometimes my mind plays tricks. In any case, the 17" MacBook Pro is a big momma. To quote and change slightly (by anthropomorphizing) a really old joke someone once told me: The 17" MacBook Pro is so big, at school it sits next to everyone. Anyway, it used to be your mother, OK? I've grown up a bit since then. Sort of. Kind of.



So here are the specs:

Apple MacBook Pro 17"
1920x1200 LED-lit TFT LCD with TCP/IP and RESPECT (just wanted to use a lot of acronyms)
Speaking of TCP/IP, my wife found this really hilarious baby outfit. It says on the front: "I TCP/IP, but mostly IP." If that isn't just great, I don't know what is.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/kids/5e09/

OK, so my ADD flared up and I lost track of where I am, so let's start over, shall we?

So here are the specs (again) :

6.8 lbs
Apple MacBook Pro 17"
1920x1200 LED-lit LCD
Penryn 2.5Ghz 6MB L2
2GB DDR-2 667
250GB 5400rpm
512MB Geforce 8600GT

(VS my system:

5.4lbs
Apple MacBook Pro 15.4"
1440x900 LED-lit LCD
Merom 2.4Ghz 4MB L2
4GB DDR-2 667
200GB 7200rpm
256MB Geforce 8600 GT)


Turning me on:

Turning this puppy on, you're greeted with the usual installing OS-screens, which, because this system came pre-loaded with Leopard, is completed in just a few minutes. However, I was in for a mission since I had to replace the hard drive with a new Hitachi 7K200 200GB 7200rpm, because speed is awesome, and the hard drive is one of the largest bottlenecks for speed that can be fairly easily upgraded.

So the upgrade went on. Slightly different to upgrading the 15.4" model, because of a few extra screws, but mostly the same, so for those who were wondering, and had upgraded their 15.4" models, it's basically the same.

So here it is, minutes after receiving, splayed wide open



I had trouble putting the new hard drive in, especially since it was in an enclosure. It fit quite well in the battery bay, but the system wouldn't power on at this point, so some further investigation was needed....

Nope, just wouldn't work like this....grrr!


*hours later....*



Yep, this seems to fit quite well. Finally!


At this point, it was time to put the system back together and power it on. All is well.

New drive formatted, and the Leopard install is on its way! Yay!



*Interesting to note here, that this system shipped with OS X 10.5.2 discs, so that's good news since the 10.5 -> 10.5.2 update is quite a large download otherwise*

OK, at this point, Leopard is installed:

Time for the impressions to really begin:


Impressions:

I LOVE 1920x1200. There, I said it. And with the LED backlighting on these new Penryn models, you're in for a real treat. There is definitely a tendency toward some very harsh whites with LED (light emitting diode) lighting vs the more eye-friendliness of CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light). A lot of it is personal preference, but I definitely find my MacBook Pro 15.4" LED lighting harsher on my eyes than my Apple 23" Cinema Display which is CCFL.

Anyway, there's no arguing the real-estate available on the 1920x1200 17" behemoth vs my 1440x900 15.4" peeny weeny.

Here's the same webpage open on the 17" and the 15.4". 17" first, of course...



vs




The difference is tremendous, as you can see. My 1440x900 looks very aliased and text takes on a "jaggy" look. You only really notice how low-res our 15.4" MBPs are when you see 1920x1200 on such a small display... Wowee!

But....all is not well in heaven, as these shots will show. I under-exposed them so you could see the characteristics of these screens. The new MacBook Pro 17" LED screen tends to have a strong white colour toward the bottom of the display, and tints quite pink toward the top. My 15.4" LED, however, tends toward a yellower colour throughout the whole display, though this shot does neither justice.

In any case, this first shot shows the color change on the 17" from the bottom to the top (especially left) area.



Nothing atrocious, but worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning that in the tradition of laptop LCDs, the lighting is not completely uniform and constant. This goes for my 15.4", this new 17", and my brother's brand new 15.4" (not shown). While I do believe the Apple laptop displays are some of the best - if not the best - on the market, there is still some work to be done. LED lighting was supposed to bring a much more uniform light across the display area, and while it IS better, it's still not 100%.

Anyway, here's the same shot again, while a little over-exposed:



Viewing angles are about the same as the 15.4" model, that is, they're fairly decent. Better than most laptop displays, but could use some work, especially on the vertical angles:

Here's the 17" Penryn:


And the 15.4" Merom:


Here, too, you can see a yellow tint to my 15.4" display, though the slight pink is not visible in the 17" in this shot:



Other noticeable differences....:

OK, so I really like the new keyboard layout on the Penryn systems. They are laid out the same as the Apple BT keyboard, which I think is a great layout. No longer are there THREE buttons for the keyboard backlighting. (like...what? THREE? WHY?) Why would you ever want to design a keyboard where a quarter of your function keys are dedicated to keyboard lighting is beyond me...

Anyway, here are the comparison shots. New keyboard layout, for me, is far superior. Me want.

Old:


New:


Unfortunately, the MacBook Pro keyboards still suffer from that smidgen of unresponsiveness they always have had. What that means is that if you're typing and don't push a key in hard enough, it simply doesn't register. I notice this on my MacBook Pro, the display model at the Apple store before I bought it, my brother's MacBook Pro, and this brand new 17" MacBook Pro. It's a shame, and maybe people won't notice because they slam keys harder than me, but I'm a light typist, and sometimes, it just doesn't register the key press.

You can test this for yourself by pushing a key in very gently over and over. You'll see it will miss some beats. Ah well. Moving on.


The trackpad:

Sorry, Apple, but I find this mostly useless. The new MacBook Pros feature the same trackpad as the MacBook Air, which means you can three-finger-swipe to go back and forth in Safari, and you can zoom and pinch photos in iPhoto.

OK. Now seriously. What if we use Firefox? I know I love Firefox over Safari, not just because Firefox won't just download stuff without warning when clicking on links.... Anyway, if you use a browser other than Safari, swiping won't work.

And guess what? Some of us with high-end MacBook Pros like this 17", DON'T use iPhoto. I use LightRoom, and zooming and pinching doesn't work there. I really don't see casual Mac users buying a MacBook Pro, so the argument that grandma will like the zooming and pinching and will use iPhoto and NOT LightRoom is moot. Grandma has an aging Windows computer.

So there you go - swiping would be cool if it worked in OTHER apps, and pinching/zooming is pointless. Ahhh, so glad I got that out. Feel oodles better now.


Other noticeable differences:

I'm pretty sure this has always been like this for the 17" MBP DVD drives, but I really do like the way they're reinforced, over the 15.4" models that aren't. I've seen pictures of warped 15.4" casings because people pick their systems up badly. Here's what I mean by reinforced:

Reinforced 17"


Puny 15.4"


Quite the difference...



Build quality:

The build quality of this new 17" model is top notch. Sure it's not THAT different to its predecessor, but it'd be nice if Apple could fix a few niggles.

Take the way the system latches, for example. Perhaps over time this will lessen, since the system latches in the middle and aluminium does bend, getting a completely straight piece is difficult. Here's a picture of the front left of the system. The system is latched at this point:

17"


Now bear in mind this really does look worse than it is, and I know that with some use, it'll sit almost flush, but this is something that could be worked on. My 15.4" model is the same way, though it lessened over time...

15.4"


One interesting thing here is that, for whatever reason, the 17" screen is surprisingly REALLY light to open. And I mean REALLY light. It's even easier to flip the screen up than on my 15.4" which takes a little more effort. I was really taken aback by this. Some technical wizardry at work here, no doubt!

Sound quality:

This is worth a mention. The sound quality on the 17" model is superb. Sure it lacks a bit of bass compared to standalone speakers, but boy is the sound it belts out clean, even at full volume. Very, very nice. I believe the 17" model has a couple of extra speakers over the 15.4" which definitely helps, and the sound on the 15.4" isn't even that bad!

Battery life, literally and physically:

People get pretty caught up on battery life. I know I did when I got my system! For whatever reason, the MacBook Pro batteries are calibrated differently to MacBook batteries. I know a lot of people whose batteries in their 6-12 months-old batteries are still at 100% charge holding. I know when I got my MacBook Pro, it was already at 97% and dropped to 95% soon after. This new MacBook Pro 17" arrived at 95% out of the box, and my brother's new MacBook Pro is at 96% out of the box. Calibration does nothing to fix this kind of thing, and as has been stated many times on the boards, do NOT get caught up in this kind of paranoia. As long as the % is within REASON, don't fret!

Specks case:

This is sort-of unrelated, but I'm throwing it in here for those wanting some extra protection for their loved one. Wait! I'm talking about the MacBook Pro!

So I picked up the see-thru version of this 17" puppy, available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Speck-Macbook-See-Thru-Hard-Case/dp/B000T4MTZG

It's pretty nice, and fits quite well. It IS just plastic, though, so it should be cheaper! Darn capitalists!







To conclude....

So...there you have it! The new MacBook Pro is really nice. Doesn't feel even one iota faster than my 2.4Ghz model, but what do you expect?

But the real test....



VS..



Cuddle-ability:

MacBook Pro with LED LCD : 0
Shih Tzu : 1

Winner: Shih Tzu.

 

Nice comparison. Though I didn't like the plastic cover. Or the layout of the F-keys compared to my old PB. And the Dog IS cuter.

 

Nice review! Thanks!

I don't have nearly as much "trackpad envy" now that I know the swipes and pinches are useless outside the Apple apps. Maybe they will be supported in upcoming versions of 3rd party software...

 

many thanks for the review! that machine is a beast!

quick question though... did i miss something when apple removed the logo from the command key and wrote "command" instead!?!

 

Wow, great work William! Rep for the awesome work .

And nycfly89, yeah, that began with the new Apple Keyboard with the new iMac in August. Since then, all the Apple keyboards are dropping the Apple logo from the Command key.

 

oh my god. my world just came to a stop a little. what are we going to do without the apple key!?! i remember back in elementary school we learned keyboard shortcuts by "apple z,s,q"

and i feel like a complete idiot cause i missed that back in august

 

Haha, I don't really have a feel or problem with it. I do know that it seemed kinda hard to call it though...is it Apple+Q or Command+Q? I guess sooner or later, one of them had to be dropped...I guess they chose to drop the Apple logo .

 

I wonder why they did that. They could fit both the apple logo and the word "Command" on that key. Maybe they don't like that people call it the "Apple key?"

Great review though. Nice pictures.

 

nice review, I am still jealous of the LED backlight, but the normal one suits me just find, but I am sure the LED is a very nice improvement.

if Andrew comes through, there should be full review of the 17" model right before this one, with full benchmarks, and some very nice photos, as well as a little animation ^_^

come on Andrew! let me know (the review has already been submitted to him.

 

in comparing the 2 screens: did you calibrate both screens to the same profile using the same calibrator (hardware/external, not the built-in software)? that would fix the slight color casts you mentioned on both machines

 

Thanks for the review! Did the HDD upgrade void the warranty?

 

In theory, yes. But only if Apple finds out, since the transplant is transparent! I can easily put back the old one.

 

hey you guys remember that thread I posted awhile back? about te 17" model having 4 speakers? well this photo does a good job of showing these speakers.



it is not strange that the 17" speakers are "louder".

 

I didn't say it was strange, and I did point out it has more speakers.

 

I thought it was common knowledge that the 15.4" had 2 speakers and the 17" (4)....

Very nice pictures

I've been contemplating getting a 23" Apple Cinema Display for use with my 17" Macbook Pro. Could you take a few pictures of the two side by side?

I'm just worried the 23" ACD may not be that much bigger to justify the price tag.


Thanks, and well done.



** Forgot to mention**

Apparently Apple has started using new fans in these updated notebooks. Something your internal images show quite clearly. This may account for the noises people have heard caused by the fans...

 

Unfortunately, I can't take anymore pictures since I had to send the system off to my friend. However, you can rest assured the 23" Apple Cinema Display is considerably bigger than the MacBook Pro 17". Also, the 23" Apple display is stunning. Did I mention that here? (I've mentioned it in pretty much every other thread!)

 

Neither screen was calibrated in the photos. That was out of the box (the way MOST people use their systems). I've since calibrated the colors on my 15.4" with my Huey Pantone Pro, which looks leagues better now. Interestingly, I also calibrated the 17" after these shots were taken, and all calibration did was accentuate the pink cast, so I had to calibrate the calibration to fix it. There's definitely a pink cast to the 17" by default, and a yellow cast to my 15.4", no matter what. It's just the way whites appear. After fixing the calibration on the 17", the pink is gone, but it's not "officially" calibrated anymore. Just... can't win!

 

nah, I wasn't really referring to your review, I just meant in general, people were asking for photos of this so . . .

 

Really great pics. Thank you very much

 

great review! thank you. I'm guessing its cheaper to purchase an external drive and gut it out over buying a standalone drive?

 

Nice review, a fun to read and very good pics. It appears you didn't have to much time to play with your friends toy.. Anyway, if the TFT in front of my face and your pics allow for any judgement, the screen is excellent. I'd assume you looked trough a couple of photos and were happy with the color rendition, right?

Regarding the disassembly: did it take special tools for the clips that fix the keyboard plate-thing-construction (you know what I mean) at the front? I've read somewhere it'd take a certain nylon tool to pry them loose without braking them/leaving to much traces (warranty!).

Last but not least, can you tell a little bit about the steps it took to repair the not so perfect calibration or was it just performed through the "Ah, it looks much better now"-method? Thanks for the nice review!

 

THANKS!! you put a REAL BIG effort on this one

rep!

wow, that new LED 1920x1200 17" screen has really good vertical viewing angle! nice! too bad i just bought my MBP on october/november last year

 

Great review - I'm starting to drool over the pics. Still not sure about the 17" over the 15.4" though. Its nice and big, but I'm not sure I need something that big.

Love the cuddle factor comparison! Rep for that alone.

 

The 17 " isn't much bigger than a not Apple 15" notebook.

 

Very nice review with some nice pictures. 17 inch is a very big size no doubt. I would go with the 15inch though.

 

The only tools needed for taking the system (and any-size MacBook Pro currently on the market) apart is a small philips, and a Torx T6 screw driver. No other tools needed. The system comes apart very easily. Actually, I'd say it came apart easier than my 15.4" did. Zero trace evidence. As far as fixing the calibration, I reset the colors and re-calibrated it myself by eye (essentially the "Ah, it looks much better now" -method). I then swapped back and forth between the Huey-calibrated method and the new color calibration I did by eye, to make sure they were similar, but without the pink cast. I did a pretty good job, but it's clear I shouldn't have had to do that ANYWAY. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. Neither my personal MacBook Pro, nor the new 17", nor my Apple display. But if they were perfect, what would we strive for?

 

Depending on when/where you got the drive, it can be. I got the Hitachi 200GB 7200rpm for $116+tax, so it was a no brainer to give it to my buddy since I wasn't using it.

 

Thanks for that review William. Nice job. Can't wait to get mine

Lynn

 

Interesting you point this out. I didn't hear anything different from the 17" MBP vs my own MBP. However, the 15.4" 2.2Ghz Merom I just got for my brother definitely has different fans, - more buzzy. Again, most people wouldn't notice necessarily, but it's there, and I have really sensitive hearing to pick up these things. I put my ear to both fans and both fans sounded identical in their buzziness, so it wasn't a single-fan anomaly.

 

You're more than welcome, and you'll love the system. I tend to be very picky about pretty much everything, so don't go hunting for things wrong with the system that you would never have cared about if some twit on the Internet hadn't brought them up.

By the way, the twit = me.

Seriously, 1920x1200 = drool.

 

Thanks for the quick response, it's much appreciated! I fell much better now that you unconditionally guaranty me that I'd leave no traces whatsoever if I were to take apart a MBP

I agree there shouldn't have been a pinkish cast in the first place, given that you fixed that quite easily. But then again, maybe this will differ a bit from screen to screen so that Apple can't supply "the one best" profile? I don't know.

So, can't remember the question that came to mind two hours or so ago. The minute I can, I won't hesitate a second to bother you with it, that's for sure.

 

It seems very big when opened. It's all that unused space, that could've been put to better use.

 

The comparing of the screens with the blue car the 15" mbp's screen looks a bit brighter all around.

 

In reality it isn't. It's just that the 15.4" MBP is more washed out by default, thus making it look brighter.

 

Hmm, I wonder if you have the lg panel (9c67) on the 15.4" mbp because I've been through 10 mbp (santa rosa) and I noticed (I had 4 lg's) that all the lg models have all washed out colors and samsung while a bit yellow towards the bottom (I actually welcomed it now) is ALOT more vibrant. The last mbp I kept is a AUO 9c66 model and its white all around yet its very vibrant. Colors look even better than my 23" ACD.

But the lg's the white was way oversaturating the colors so such colors as solid red,green,blue looks very washed out. Towards the end of the exchanging I was eager for a samsung model as the colors look so vibrant and comparing the 4 lg's I had to my cousin's samsung 9c68, the samsung looks so crystal clear, rich and vibrant in colors as the lg. But I sold took back the 9th mbp and took the restock fee and 4 months later bought the mbp and received the AUO (9c66) model and still loving it.

ps. I took back 4 at 1 apple store with no restock fee and another 5 at the other apple store with no restock fee but the last one, complaining does wonders. =D

 

My 15.4" does indeed have a 9C67 LG display.

 

awesome review!

 

what unused space are you talking about? there is not any extra space, the battery is quite a bit larger in the 17" model.

 

Perfection (your review + pictures, that is!)

 

I meant design wise, around the keyboard and touchpad. It's too much empty aluminium in my taste. It makes it look larger IMO. They should've made the keyboard larger or something. This is my opinion though, and tastes differ.

 

Hmm, that pink cast sounds very similar as to the sony tz90 led screen aka xblack screen had. I would love to see the 17" mbp led screen, I absolutely loved the pink push that it had was more vibrant than the 15" SR mbp. I'm actually selling my mac pro rig *trying to save money in the bank* and I can do pretty much everything with the mbp (a bit slower than the mac pro but still plenty fast). After I sell the mac pro I'm considering selling the SR mbp and put in some of the money from the mac pro sale to buy the 17" mbp hi res!

I've been waiting forever for led to be implemented on the 17" mbp!

 

i was looking through the review again, and I noticed you had aliases in the dock for stacks.

they fixed this in 10.5.2, you can now just few a stack as a single folder, in many different views now.

 

Thanks. I was aware, but I prefer to have my Downloads folder (the "keys" icon you're referring to), open completely, rather than have any particular view appear. I have a ton of little files in my Downloads folder, so I just find it easier that way.

But thanks for the tip so other people know.

 

cheers for the review and direct comparison to the 15", as I've never seen the two - and their differences - so clearly highlighted in such a way. Most helpful indeed
I'm between getting a 15 or 17, I figured along the lines of 15 for mobility for 'away' photo editing (as a photographer ) and use a 24" monitor 'back at the base' to hook up to and do desktop-type work...since I have the 24" monitor anyway. the 17 might be a better solution but is somewhat larger, how does photoshp and Lightroom run on the 15?

 

Hey williamG, you dont hear any buzz/whine noise from the right fan on your 17" mbp hi res?? I hear alot of people having this problem but I do notice that those who ordered the 15" penryn versions are having this problem and maybe not with the 17" hi res... I just want to be sure before I buy the 17".

 

I run LightRoom and Photoshop mostly on my external display, so real-estate isn't a big deal on the laptop. That said, no issues editing photos on the laptop itself, though if you're intent on editing photos a LOT, you're better off with an external display or the 17" 1920x1200, for sure. If you have a 24" monitor, there's no question you should go with the 15" MBP.

There's no buzzing or whining from either fan on the 17" MBP. However, I DID notice a buzz on my brother's 2.2Ghz (Merom) that I just got for him on sale. Both fans, however, made the same noise, so it clearly wasn't one faulty fan. On the 17", though, the fans sounded identical to my 15" 2.4Ghz Merom system from late 2007, i.e. very quiet.