New macbook 13" being slow

I've bought the new i5 in September last year and I have to say I am very unimpressed. It worked relatively fast for about a week, until I installed Office and started using it for work and the hard drive got a bit 'heavy' (currently have 100GB used up with 200GB free). I previously had an m15x Alienware which is now 4 1/2 years old and in comparison to that, the macbook runs a lot slower in normal day to day usage such as browsing the web, running the office package and using the "preview" function.

It seems really unacceptable that if I were now to open a .ppt file, it would take about 15 seconds for powerpoint to launch, then at least another 15 seconds before I can navigate to the file, and then maybe another 30-60 seconds to open the file. That rotating rainbow cursor has now become more irritating and more frequent than the hourglass you get on windows.

Also, the preview "program" is absolutely ridiculous - I've just download a 1.4mb PDF file which took at least 1 minute to open after the download finished.

So does anyone have any idea what's actually gone wrong? This is my first mac so I've had no idea what to expect but I was definitely not expecting it to be this slow!

What I don't understand is that if I check Activity Monitor, the CPU is only at about 5% usage with 1GB memory being wired/ free so the processes I am using are definitely not 'stressing' the laptop.

Also, how is it possible for Safari Web content to often peak to 100%+ when I only have about 10 tabs open with .pdf files and normal html pages?!

 

To me, it sounds like there is something wrong with your hard drive. I can tell you that opening a program in about 15-20 seconds is normal with an HDD (that is cut down to 1-3 seconds with an SSD) but it shouldnt take that long to open files. I suggest hooking an external hard drive up to your Mac with at least 300GB of free storage. Use Time Machine and make a backup of your system. Then use the disk utility to scan your Mac's built-in HDD. You may want to perform a full system re-install if that doesn't turn anything up. Lastly, if your Mac is still under warranty (Apple has a standard one year warranty period that starts the day of purchase), you can always take it into your local official Apple store and they can fix it. Just make a backup of your system with Time Machine either way.

 

Well, that's what I thought as well because I have done a fair bit of travelling and some of it was quite rough. But I haven't done anything about it. Two more things I want to ask:

1) Whenever I lift the macbook up suddenly or move it, I hear a 'click' on the right inferior side. Is that where the hard drive is? I always thought that's the safety mechanism that locks the hard drive to prevent it from getting damaged, right?

2) I bought it from the US and I'm now in the UK - is it still possible to just take in to the local apple shop?

 

1. On the MBP, actually the HDD is on the left side of your mac (if it is facing towards you right side up).

2. I believe Apple's warranty is world-wide meaning that you can get it officially serviced anywhere in the world. I do know someone who purchased a MBP in India and has had it serviced here in the U.S. before.

 

apple warranty is world wide

 

Thanks, I'll take it in as soon as I have some free time.