My only MacBook Pro complaint - the squared off keyboard edge

11/12/2007 3:16:52 PM #

On Vista: I rarely boot into it, as the difference between Vista and XP on my dual core Athlon with 3GB is about 2:1. I can't believe how sluggish Vista feels. Add to that the number of things that are now hard to find, and it's a major PITA.

On the other hand, XP in 3GB is pretty nice, and I owe the credit for that to Vista. There was an update needed several months ago on Vista, and the machine had only 1GB at the time. The update thrashed the drive for 3.5 hours!! Next day I added 2GB to the machine, and never suffered *that* problem again.

My brother's experience with Vista has been much the same. He finally reformatted and put up XP, which, as he put it, gave him back his machine.

Bill Meyer

11/12/2007 3:19:18 PM #

Interesting change on your site. For the first time in memory, I did see a code when I entered the message above. But when I tried to save the comment, the browser repainted, and gave me a new security code to type. So I seem to still be not quite right here on FF2.0.0.9.

Hmmmmm....  and I just had the same behavior on this message, so it's not a matter of being wrong on the first time in.

Bill Meyer

11/12/2007 3:34:43 PM #

Hi Bill,
I wonder how well XP would work compared to Vista on this machine? When booted I'm left with slightly over 1GB of RAM out of two and I have to think XP would be better. I've turned off the Aero UI since it uses many, many times the RAM of the "Basic" setting not to mention it helps kill the battery when I'm on the road.

Steve Trefethen

11/12/2007 8:25:36 PM #

Hi Steve,
I haven't seen a great difference on this machine between Aero on and Aero off. But then, I've all but given up on Vista, as XP is so much leaner and more comfortable. Most of my development work is still in Delphi 7, and when I do any work on .NET, it tends to be in C#, with VS2005. Of course, as this is a desktop machine, I don't have battery issues. What I do have are desktop issues, being heavily addicted to screens no smaller than 1600x1200 on at least 18" of diagonal. I switched to 1600x1200 over a decade ago, and find anything less to be horrible for development work. Since that constraint leads to the more expensive notebooks, and as my experience with the practical longevity of notebooks suggests they are not by any means inexpensive, I remain committed to a desktop machine with a large screen (currently a CRT!)

Bill Meyer

11/13/2007 5:24:12 AM #

Hey Bill,
I too am 16x12 or above these days. I'm really liking the 1920 width of the MacBook. I could easily see getting a few 24" displays though the options with this machine are a bit limited when it comes to external monitors. Ultimately, I'd like to build a new machine and get a three monitor setup but not sure when that will happen.

Regarding the PITA CAPTCHA which I may ditch for an alternative strategy I've now read about a few times. Also, it times out, something I need to add a comment about.

Steve Trefethen

11/13/2007 4:24:57 PM #

Steve,

One of my issues with displays is that whatever the format, they must be square pixel. I've worked in television for many years, and my development work often involves on-screen displays of video. If they are stretched in either direction, then I can't make a rational decision on that display. These days, I would not rule out a Mac, since it could now run Windows, but my work almost always involves the use of adapter cards, such as MPEG encoders, so the PC is my natural choice, and few vendors support pro-quality adapters under Linux, so it's hard to leave Windows, even if I wanted to have to learn the foibles of Yet Another OS.

I have been drooling over some 24" LCD screens, though I continue to use my 19" Viewsonic PS790. Like it or not, the LCDs do create artifacts that are not in the video images, and a CRT still gives a better overall image. But sooner or later, I know I will switch. Two of the CRTs in this house are nearing EOL, and one has a developing high voltage problem. Even this one won't last forever....

Bill Meyer