I know they had the Sony SR series (13.3") laptops but now that those are gone, what is filling the niche?
I really want some Macbook Pro alternatives since I really don't necessarily need Mac OSX.
Sure there is the Z but that is way too pricey and the CW is too big and clunky with poor battery performance.
I'm seriously considering to sell my Vaio FW21. Great laptop, but feels just a little too big to carry around all the time.
I'm thinking about going to a Macbook or Macbook Pro for a change.
Anyone else did the same? Opinions? Main appeal to me is the sleeker/smaller laptop, supposedly great battery life for normal use and weight
I would like to find out if anyone on this forum has switched from a MacBook Pro to a Sony FW or AW laptop. I currently own a 15" MacBook Pro from a year ago. The Sony FW and AW series have a very nice screen especially the Full HD screen. I plan to use the laptop as a desktop replacement mainly for FileMaker Pro database, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, audio, and video. To me the most important features in a desktop replacement are sharp screen, and a cool and quiet CPU. The things I do not like about the MacBook Pro is the overheating issue which causes the spinning beachball, and the noisy fans to kick in. I am leaning more toward the AW series due to the larger screen and TV tuner. I have an opportunity to sell the MacBook Pro and purchase the Sony AW series. I like the Apple OS X but have used Windows XP. I noticed on this forum that there are ways to slim down Windows Vista by removing bloatware. Will this make Vista closer to OS X? Any words of wisdom.
View 10 Replies View RelatedWould it ever be possible for Sony to make a Vaio that is close to the macbook air.
I love the macbook air but it still lacks features. With Sony's brains can't they make something which combines features from the Vaio Z and Macbook Air,
i wouldnt mind something like a thinner Z series with a backlight keyboard and better graphics with a better trackpad and better battery life
The review of Laptop Magazine has comparison of the new MacBook Pro Core i7 and Sony Z11. It sounds like that the new MBP wins Sony Z11 in many places except the hard disk drive performance. Engadget published one also.
The link of the articles are:
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What do you think?
I ordered a sony fw laptop from sonystyle, and was wondering on the quality of the speakers, as I have heard mixed reviews about them. My sister has a unibody macbook and I was wondering if anyone has experience of the sound quality of these laptops comparitively. As the macbook is the only laptop I could really compare the fw's sound to as I have not heard any others.
So basically is the sound better, equal or worse than the unibody macbook's? when listening to music, watching films.
It just seems odd that the industry as a whole hasn't come up with a true competitor to the Air. With Sony being one if not the top high-end PC laptop maker...is there any word of an ultrathin in the works?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI own a Macbook, and on that if F2 and F3 directly it changes the brightness on the laptop and also volume too
View 4 Replies View RelatedTo start I should remind everyone that i'm not a mac user. I have never owned a mac or used OSX properly before today. As such, my opinions should be taken as coming from someone who has much knowledge and experience as far as PC's are concerned, but who is a total mac n00b.
First Impressions
When I first walked over to the Macbooks I was quite taken aback. The build quality is out of this world. In fact, I immediately walked over to the latest PC laptops to compare and immediately thought "manufacturing FAIL". Really, the Macbooks are italian sports cars, and PC's are 30 year old farm tractors to use the typical "car analogy".
The Macbook
I really only had any interest in the Macbook when I first went to the Apple stand, but came away with the intention of buying a MacBook Pro. Let me explain:
The MacBook's build quality is awesome. It's solid, no creaking plastic or flexable build, completely and utterly solid. Awesome.............
I have been speculating over this prospect giving the direction that Apple took with the starting price of the 24" iMac (upgrade everything else and downgrade the VRAM).
I mean, this is something I would like to see, but I wonder if it is a smart move on Apple's part given how much they make off the current MBP's with the so called Apple Tax.
And, if they made this move, one has to wonder if it still would be considered a Pro.
This is going to be my very first Mac. I'm really excited about it, but I don't know which one I should go for... I narrowed it down to these two models. Which one should I go for and why?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI bought a black macbook this summer and every night when I'm in bed trying to do work I can barely see which keys is which. Obviously this wouldn't be a cheap fix but is there a way or is it possible to install the new light up keys of the new macbooks onto a pre-remodel macbook?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI downloaded this updated for my unibody Macbook Pro, and I think it's pretty vital. However, it gave me this error when I tried to install it: "You cannot install Macbook, Macbook Pro software update on this volume. This update requires Mac OS X 10.5.5 or newer." Now don't tell me that I have selected the wrong partition to install the update, or that I need to update my OS to 10.5.5 because I already have 10.5.6 and I chose the Macintosh HD partition to install the update.
View 6 Replies View RelatedSo I'm definitely getting a 13" Macbook or Macbook Pro. Apple has some great prices on refurbs so that's probably the route I'll be going however I'm having trouble discerning the difference between the 13" Aluminum Unibody standard macbook and the 13" Unibody Macbook Pro. From what I've read they both have the upgraded screen, they're obviously both unibody, both have the large button-less trackpad, and both have the 9400m. They even have the same dimensions and the only difference I can see between the images is a slightly different case bevel (also the firewire and sd card ports, both are useless to me).
Unfortunately, none of the Apple stores or BestBuys in the area have a non-pro unibody 13" Macbook for me to actually handle and compare. So, basically, what makes the pro version with the slower cpu and smaller hard drive at the same price point worth it?
If I make an image of my hdd from my white macbook with disk utility onto a hard drive I take out of a unibody macbook pro will it work and boot properly?
I will do this by taking the 250gb hdd out of the unibody macbook pro and putting it into a sata external usb hdd enclosure, then making an image of my current 120gb white macbook and writing the image onto the 250gb. After, I plan to put the 250gb hdd back into the macbook pro and boot it up normally as if everything from my white macbook was just copied onto the macbook pro.
Was curious what is the difference between the short-lived aluminum macbooks and macbook pros. Only thing i could spot is the illuminated keyboard.
View 8 Replies View RelatedShe has a white macbook with leopard I think, and has a separate partition in which she has boot camp, she uses specialized software that can only run in windows (doesnt run in vm). She got a new macbook air but wants to keep everything intact.
Do programs like duper clone drives with all files intact, including partitions? Keep in mind that the windows side is more important, installation of this software can only be done remotely from Russia, so it's a bit of a hassle if we screw up, we have to contact IT at a specific time and get them to do it.
Would I have to take the drive of the macbook air out? Or can i just clone to an external hard drive and then move that to the mba hard drive, in target disc mode or something.
I really love the black color of MB404, but is it good? does it crack easily?(is it plastic?)
Hows screen quality?
What do you think? which one should i buy?
I really wanted to buy Alu one before i hear about slanted keys and loose battery covers(i know %99 of them don't have that, but it's hard to risk when there's no way to fix it in here), because there's no Mac center in my country and i'm SO picky.
I've been looking at basicly two models, both got almost the exact same price tag here in Norway, so I'm not sure which one to go for.
The first ones is a MacBook Pro 15" with High-resolution 1650x1080 glossy screen, featuring the top of the line Intel Core i7-620M CPU the other is a MacBook Pro 17" with even higher resolution (1920x1200) glossy screen, featuring the slightly slower Intel Core i5-540M.
I don't list the other specifications as I don't really care about them, I already got a pair of 4GB 1600MHz CL7 (2x2GB) DIM's and a Intel X25-M 80GB SSD that I'll be using anyway.
There will be lots of movies and series played on my MacBook Pro, that's why I don't really considering paying a premium for the anti-glare screen, even though I love anti-glare and tend to struggle with glossy screens I don't see the point in actually paying more for it. And when watching movies and series, in often very dark rooms the glossy screen actually have some advantages.
The hard thing to decide here is slicker and lighter, with smaller screen and lower resolution, but better CPU versus the bigger, more heavy but featuring bigger screen and Full-HD+ resolution but slower CPU.....................
so awhile back I bought an Apple refurb 13" MacBook Pro, and I fell in love with the trackpad! So when I bought my CW I was thinking that this is the best trackpad I've felt on a laptop since my mac, and since it was synaptics, they offer great multitouch support (compared to ALPS). After some tweaks and a modded driver installation, I have the closest possible experience that windows can offer compared to the mac. First I downloaded the modified 10.2.4 synaptics multitouch drivers, then installed them. After a quick reboot, I went into the synaptics touchpad settings page on the mouse settings panel on the control panel.
Start>Control Panel>Mouse>Device Settings>Settings ... then the synaptics control panel should come up..
Under the scrolling tab I left all the checkboxes checked...
I disabled "Pinch Zoom" (ugh, thats annoying on windows, mac got that one right..)
I disabled ChiralRotate
I turned up the touch sensitivity just a tad bit...
I disabled "Momentum"
I disabled "EdgeMotion"
All "Pointing Enhancements" disabled
"Buttons" are enabled
"Tapping" is enabled
And finally "Two-Finger Flick" is ENABLED......................
equipping 2 machines:
1-a 13" MacBook Pro, primary use will be Internet and e-mail and manipulating music files. Will my husband really notice a difference/benefit between the basic 2.26 and the 2.53GHZ (and is it worth about $250 more)? If he uses it for video downloading will that make a difference?
2- a 15" MacBook Pro- here I'm debating between the 2.66 and 2.8. My daughter uses it for Office apps, PhotoShop, music, Internet and e-mail. Again, would video downloading make a difference?
I am currently returning a dell studio xps 16" as its so sooo much hassle to deal with dell and the fact that i got 3 messsed up replacements in a row. i am looking to get a macbook or macbook pro. i would prefer a macbook pro (lowest model) although the cheapest method i can find is £1163 from the higher education store. is there any other way or place that sells it for less? apple seem to charge crazy prices for a low spec. een £100 would be expensive but maybe afordable. only discounts i found for the macbook/macbook pro are 14% higher education (the one i am looking to use) and 6% EPP and school discount. iv looked at the macbook but im going to use the laptop for movies, work and internet. movies on a 13.3" arnt exactly enjoyable to watch so thats why im looking for a macbook pro.
View 10 Replies View RelatedI finally decided that i am going to take my desktop HTPC from home to grad school for movies/TV and playing demanding games.
So now I cannot decide upon which notebook to get -
the base Macbook Pro 2.4 or the base Macbook Air 1.6
I am going to be mainly doing work: taking notes, photo editing, and also some light gaming (2d games and old 3d games (red orchestra, combat mission) when away from apartment) on the notebook.
So I was wondering which is a better choice for me.
The macbook pro has a faster core 2 duo cpu, but the FSB and RAM are all the same speed. Obviously the 9600mGT is 2.5x faster than the 9400M, but I am not going to need it for intensive gaming.
Also the macbook pro has a larger screen.
But the Air is so much lighter and thinner, and would be a good thing to take to libraries. And it is 200 cheaper....................
A friend of mine is debating which model. I noticed some small differences, but for 200 bucks it almost seems worth getting the pro model. It seems as if it's a higher quality build, firewire, backlit keyboard, is the screen the same? What do you guys think? Can the Macbooks without the dedicated video card run a game like Sims 3?
View 7 Replies View RelatedI want to buy the Macbook Pro 15 inc Unibody, there are 2 models
Model 1 Model 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ
2GB Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M+
9600M GT with 256MB
Model 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHZ
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive
GeForce 9400M +
9600M GT with 512MB
A difference of £343. My reason for Macbook Pro over any Windows laptop is simpy becuase OSX and that the laptop fits my needs, its not too big like the 17 inch and not too small like the 13 inch, also it has an express card slot 34 which I can then add a memory card reader. I will be editing/converting a lot of photos and videos and looking forward to buying Final Cut Studio 2.0................
I'm buying one or the other. My next computer will run OSX, that is the only thing I have set in stone.
13" MBP over 13" MB:
SD Card reader
(This would be nice, but I can do without. I only use the reader on my current laptop like once every 2 months)
FireWire 800
(Absolutely no need for this)
Backlit Keyboard
(Absolutely no need for this, people look at their keyboard while typing?)
Screen Color Gamut
(60% more than that of MB I heard ... I know this applies to the older MB but not sure about the late 2009 MB. Can anyone comment on the difference?)...................
The new keyboard on the MBP is very hallow and cheap feeling. My older MBP keyboard feels better. Even the new MB keyboard feels more solid and robust.
The plastic keys feel too light and thin. Anybody else experience this issue with the new MBP?
I know the MBP 15' has a superior display than MBP 13.
But what's display quality regarding the Macbook (newest unibody design) 13' and MBP 13?
Specifically, what's the video playback quality of the Macbook relative to MBP 13?
I am looking into getting a 13 inch Macbook, but I will not buy it if the screen quality is bad because I have to watch a lot of high quality video.
I think I decided on getting a mac; however, I am not sure whether to get the pro or normal. I am positive that I won't notice a difference in speed/performance for what I'll be using it for (browsing, word, pdf, email, research) so specs don't matter to me too much. I was mostly concerned about the frame. While the MacBook is made of polycarbonate, the MBP is aluminum. Are there significant differences in durability or structure that might make me want to buy the MBP?
View 10 Replies View Relatedwhat model of SSD 128 Gb they install in MacBookPro (the manufacture, read/write speed, TRIM support). By chance is there a TRIM support in OS Leopard? I am realy hesitating between MacBookPro and new Latitude Z600. I'm not very familiar with Mac but hope it is fast and reliable enough with SSD. It's mostly for office use and travelling. I think about 15in with 2.53 CPU and 128 SSD.
View 6 Replies View Related