Here is a Macbook rumor that I hope is not true.... (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Money is already banked specifically for a 2012 Macbook Pro purchase.


My hopes were for a completely redesigned 17" MBP, as I have come to
really appreciate the real estate, but I would gladly move down to a 15"

if it were ultra-thin and just as powerful.


My goal is to have a powerhouse Macbook for video encoding purposes.

If Apple can bring its AIR specs up to that of the MBP (which many claim

they have in most respects) then I am sold.


Not particularly happy the optical drive is going to the wayside, but then

again, I don't use it that often other than to install software. I can simply

transfer any software files I have to an external or thumb drive an upload

them that way, I suppose.


Very happy I waited out on a purchase.. Looks like 2012 is going to be

a banner year for Macbook fans.

 

[Sam Posten]

Yep, this is how I solved that problem: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CJTQPG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002UAV00W&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0QDYB0RY8TMG8WGJYR7Q It will be interesting to see if they abandon the 17" footprint. I love mine, especially the screen real estate, pixel density, but most especially the option to have a matte display. Matte displays are to Sam as Lossless is to Ron =p But.... Then i got the 13" air. Despite having a faster processor and double the RAM in the 17, the 13 FEELS like the fastest computer I've ever used. If 2012 brings a slim 15 could I transition my needs for both my current laptops to it? Perhaps... The Zen Master says "We will see!"

 

[Carlo_M]

Sam - they also have the matte option at the 15" level (although it requires the 1680x1050 hi-res option as well, not entirely a bad thing ). One would hope they keep that option available for any future 15" Macbooks, whether it be Air or Pro.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know what Sam?

We may never agree on lossless or matte vs. glossy (I love my glossy screen)

but it's starting to look like we may actually agree on our next Macbook purchase.


BTW, you own that Blu-ray writer? Like it?

I need to get a Blu-ray writer for my Mac. I know that you can use TOAST to

burn content to Blu-ray, but will it also allow for me to capture actual BD screenshots

to use in reviews? I think the latter is questionable since I am unsure if the OS
supports any Blu-ray capture.


What software do you use to play Blu-ray movies with by the way?

 

[Sam Posten]

Ron, I absolutely love the Buffalo. There is an 8x burner available now if you want the absolute fastest. I have only burned one disk and I went and did other things while it was cooking, so that's not an issue for me. No, it will not allow you to take snapshots or play videos from commercial BluRays (tho obviously DVDs can be ripped just fine). I use MakeMKV to extract just the movie portions from a BluRay (usually over 30GB) then handbrake to compress it down, using the AppleTV 2.0 built in profile, which produces a 720p rip on the neighborhood of 7GB. I then delete the MakeMKV archive. Generally, I do this only on very high profile films I want long term portable copies of (IAMMMW, Star Wars, Matrix, etc). For a 2 hour movie generally the whole process takes about half speed I guess, tho I havent timed it, so maybe 1.5 hours. I haven't tried extracting any extras, those aren't what I'm after. Star Wars was new enough when it came out that MakeMKV didn't have a profile to open the archive, but I believe they do now. Any additional details than that and I'm afraid I'd be butting up against forum rules, if you want more tho PM me. Technically this is against the DCMA I guess, but I'm only doing it on content I legitimately own so I'm not scared to admit to it. I did it once as a proof of concept on a movie I had rented by Netflix but then I deleted it, so.... Edit: I suppose you can take screen grabs off the converted files, I haven't tried. I know Justin Sluss has found a solution to the screen grab problem but I don't know what he uses or if he's willing to share it.... He's stopped talking to me I guess...

 

[mattCR]

Ron, on the Mac sam has it.. use MakeMKV.. convert your title to MKV (with NO loss, a perfect bit-by-bit) and then use whatever software to capture frames. Since there isn't a real BD player on the Mac, you can't really use the screenshot option in one. (I generally use Arcsoft's)

 

[DaveF]

I listen to "Build and Analyze", the podcast with Marco Arment (Instapaper maker). He's had very negative comments on the current MBP line -- run too hot, loud fan, poor battery life. Is that representative of current opinion? Is he a picky geek with a bum computer?

 

[Carlo_M]

As an owner of a 2006 and 2010 MBP I think I'm in a position to respond. Does it run hot? Depends on what you do. If you're doing intensive tasks, like transcoding large video files, batch processing RAW to JPG files, etc. then the answer is yes. Not scalding hot, but certainly too hot to rest on your lap. Which is why I think Apple stopped referring to them as laptops (I just clicked around a few pages of Apple's product description site for the Macbook Pro and couldn't find "laptop" anywhere in it). Loud fan: if you're running intensive apps, the fan can kick in. If you have it resting on something like a couch or bed, which doesn't allow for good thermal dissipation, the fan can become quite loud. However when I have it on my glass table, there is usually sufficient airflow to keep fans from kicking in unless I'm running intensive apps for a considerable length of time. Again, if you're doing moderate or light tasks (web surfing, email, Office docs, etc.) then in my experience neither of the above happen. If you're using Handbrake to make portable versions of your DVDs, then you best get it off of your lap and onto a cool surface. Poor battery life: here's where I disagree, at least for the 2010 and later laptops. With my 2006 I had mediocre battery life (3.5 hours light use 2.5 with moderate use) and there was a known problem with the removal Sony batteries failing (which two of mine did but Apple replaced under AppleCare). However the new integrated batteries are a godsend. I get 4 to 4.5 hours with moderate use, and have gotten nearly 6 with light use [never pushed it to zero percent so perhaps I could have gotten over 6 if I maxed it out]. I can't think of any other laptop that I or my friends/colleagues own, of similar size and power that even comes close.

 

[Sam Posten]

Here's his full article: http://www.marco.org/2011/10/26/macbook-pro-heat-fan-update I think he's being very picky. MBPs run hot, regardless of how cool his last one may have been, but I run intensive games on mine and do not get upset when the fans come on. If you want cutting edge graphics in a small package there is no way around it today, you are going to get heat and fans. If you are buying a MBP and intending to run it without a wall plug tether for very long you are doing it wrong. Get the 13" air instead or wait for ivy bridge.