Computerworld: How the 17-inch MacBook Pro won me over

Computerworld’s Ryan Faas was skeptical about Apple’s largest laptop model. But a little time with the 17-inch MacBook Pro convinced him to rethink his stance.

From the Lab: Optimizing the MacBook Pro

We’ve seen what Intel’s next-generation of Penryn chips can do to the performance of both MacBook Pros and MacBooks. But that testing focused on standard configurations rather than build-to-order configurations. And now we’ve gotten our hands on such a system, a customized MacBook Pro, to see how optimizing the hardware translates to performance gains.

Apple's quality dwindling: My MacBook Pro sob story

digg_url = 'http://www.tuaw.com/2008/08/01/apples-quality-dwindling-my-macbook-pro-sob-story/'; When faced with the dilemma of upgrading my iBook G4 in June, I started looking for a replacement that would have the same performance as my Intel iMac. I decided upon getting a MacBook Pro 15". With money in hand, I eagerly clicked the "buy now" button on Apple's website. Little did I know that I would be trading in my MacBook Pro more than 6 times over the next 2 months. I received my first MacBook Pro, and it was beautiful. I loved everything about it. However, after 2 weeks of use, I started noticing the screen striping symptom that others before me have noted. This problem usually occurred after charging the computer from a half-filled battery and unplugging the MagSafe power cable. I didn't think anything of this problem, since it only happened once or twice. After another week of use, the striping problem started becoming an everyday part of charging the computer. I called Apple and even emailed them the picture that you see above (minus the additional note) -- they did nothing and said it was a "software glitch."The first MacBook Pro did have another problem: When I went to check my email one day, every program would crash repeatedly. I immediately ran the Apple hardware test (AHT) to find out what was going on. As any unlucky person (me) would have it, the memory sticks were dead. I called AppleCare, told them all of the problems I was having and then told them about the AHT results. They set up a replacement order since I was having hardware problems within the first month of ownership. Continue reading to learn more about my MacBook Pro woes.Continue reading Apple's quality dwindling: My MacBook Pro sob storyRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Review: MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.4GHz and 2.5GHz

If you've been waiting to buy a new Apple laptop, or you've been hesitating about upgrading from your G4 PowerBook, wait no longer. While the 2.4GHz model is a fine value for the money, the higher-end 15-inch and 17-inch models are outstanding top-of-the-line models for any professional, artistic, scientific, or scholastic application.

From the Lab: Penryn powers MacBook Pro gains

Macworld Lab has run its preliminary tests of the latest MacBook Pros, powered by the next-generation of Core 2 Duo chips code-named Penryn. The new laptops scored noticeable performance gains over the last-generation of MacBook Pros. And the revamped portables are decidedly faster than the Core Duo-powered models from two years ago.

Apple introduces Penryn-based MacBooks and MacBook Pros

Apple today updated its popular MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook lines with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard in most models. MacBook In addition, MacBook Pro includes the latest NVIDIA graphi...