2011 MacBook Pro 15-inch Core i7 with SSD - Review

[R4D1CALx]

hey is the hi-res antiglare screen worth it?

[headmetal80]

hey

I'm thinking about getting a 15" macbook pro for autocad work. Do you have any expierence with autocad for mac? Would autocad for windows running on bootcamp be sufficent?

thanks

[MyRandomReviews]

@headmetal80 - I haven't used Autocad although I have used Solidworks and it works decently well. It's a difficult choice although if you're planning on using the Mac in OS X mode most of the time I'd recommend the MBP, although if you plan on using Windows solely, I'd recommend buying a nice ASUS laptop.

[RelaxedLikeaCat]

So did lion fix the problem with a full SSD? Interesting vid btw :]

[MyRandomReviews]

@RelaxedLikeaCat - Yes, TRIM was implemented in a late version of Snow Leopard anyway, so I've had no problems at all and no speed degradation.

[NatteHanddoek]

you need to put in the sad in by yourself or is it standard now?

[Bulletspike]

furryhackerz google it !!

[botero1215]

I have the same specs minus the Screen and a Late 2011 Release. But my GeekBench Score came out to 9338. This is on the Stock 500 GB Toshiba 5400 RPM. I am just waiting for my Vertex 3 to come in so I can test that baby. I'm sure with Lion and Trim not to mention the ridiculous performance increase it should score very well.

[HarleyChickPS3]

@FuZeLegacys Yeah it runs all games perfect !

i got mine a few weeks ago and i got world at war and its perfect ..

i also have after effects, photoshop and cinema 4d and its really fast

you can download screenflow for free ... ( illegally :) )

[MyRandomReviews]

@FuZeLegacys - A desktop computer will benefit you more than any laptop as you're thinking of using pretty demanding applications (namely Cinema4D & After Effects).

You'll have no problem running any of the games mentioned, but rendering time will be servilely benefited with extra processor performance. The RAM upgrade however will make little (if any) difference to your experience.

[visualprogrammer]

I've have a question, i was thinking about buying the mac airbook 15 inch (student class). But apperently i just heard from my friend it won't be so handy because we all we be programming in windows. but then i tough is that a real problem? can't i just run windows virtually on mac and program - there while i'm following the lessons?

so what do you guys think is best for me? while i'm continuing in this 'programming-world'

mac book 15 inch (pro)

or

some good windows laptop

[MyRandomReviews]

@visualprogrammer - It's a very tricky situation, as I am suffering Windows 7 on my MacBook nowadays because I need it for SolidWorks. Honestly, I think your friend is right, a laptop running Windows will be essential.

I would buy a nice Windows laptop, as Windows on a Mac is buggy at the best of times! Look at the Asus ZenBook or something similar; just make sure you're paying for design and not just specs, a badly designed, super powerful laptop is the worst thing ever!

[rsfeller]

@MyRandomReviews WTF are you talking about MRR? Windows 7 runs amazing via Fusion on OSX...as well as boot camp. It runs faster in the virtual environment on SSD then it does natively in boot camp!

[MyRandomReviews]

@rsfeller - My experience has found Windows 7 makes the laptop run very hot (60 - 70 oC idle), some drivers don't install properly, and it takes 4+ GB of RAM.

The performance is also hit when using VMWare (understandably) namely graphics performance.

Calm down a little.

[Meyanoos]

What do you think of Lenovo Thinkpad T420? I really liked this review about the macbook, but I'm wanting to buy a windows based laptop. I'm trying to upgrade to a better laptop because my current Toshiba is super weak! It can run Windows 98 a lot more smoother than Windows 7. My Geekbench Score is 709... !! lol

[MyRandomReviews]

@Meyanoos - Funnily enough, my friend has the T420 with 2.5 GHz Core i5 so I have used that laptop.

It's a great laptop that is very well built and fairly well specced. The only problem is the graphics chip is an Intel one built right into the processor. If you're thinking of using this laptop to play any games or do any photoshop or CAD work, buy the T420 with a 4200M chip. Although this is a rather weak chip, it's a business graphics chip with near twice the amount of horse power as the other!

[Meyanoos]

@MyRandomReviews Hi!! Thanks for replying so quickly!! (: I'm really happy to know that you have had a positive experience with the T420, i'll definitely buy it then, hopefully soon. I'm not planning to play any games or do any CAD work on it. Mostly just student things like word processing and excel, and on the side probably use Reason 5 and DJ Software. But i'll be definitely going with the Core i5 version. (:

[planerhys121]

Gettin This For Christmas -3

[pear928]

How was the cut less than 1 second when the entire lighting of the room has changed? You Flash bro?

[MyRandomReviews]

@pear928 - Don't really care if you believe me however you can see the white balance changes between 3:55 and 3:57. It's not the lighting of the room changing.

[pear928]

@MyRandomReviews Ah, gotcha, but the fact that the video was cut gives off the impression that you were trying to decrease the perceived boot up time.

[MyRandomReviews]

@pear928 People can choose to believe me some can choose to not, but you're the first who's commented on it. :)

[nateehapee]

Hi there Sir! :) WIll you recommend this laptop for me as my CAD workstation? :) Because I'm planning to buy this one and put Windows 7 on it through bootcamp. :) Thanksss! :)

[MyRandomReviews]

@nateehapee - If you're planning on using only Windows and don't want to make use of OS X and are not interested in using CAD software in OS X, then I'd say probably not. I'm using it for CAD through bootcamp but praying for Solidworks for Mac! the fact is that MacBooks work incredibly well in OS X, but in Windows, drivers can be a pain and you could save yourself a small amount if you bought a Sony Vaio or ASUS laptop with near similar specs.

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say! :)

[admx94]

It's hard to tell by watching videos... but does the anti-glare screen ever seem washed out? I plan on getting a 2011 15" pro but i'm on the fence about spending the extra $150. Thanks.

[MyRandomReviews]

@admx94 - There's absolutely no wash out from what I can tell. The anti-glare screen is satin and not matte, therefore the light is hardly diffused coming from the screen, yet it does an amazing job at dispersing light from surroundings. Truly my favourite feature of my MacBook Pro, well worth every penny!

[conn0r644]

I just don't like the bezel on the anti glare.....

[MyRandomReviews]

@conn0r644 - A lot of people say that but I don't see why. I like having a Mac that's different to almost everyone else's. Although that's just me, I hate that the iPhone has become such a massive success, but I can't change to another smart phone as they're just not as good!

The only thing I don't like about the anti-glare is the fact that the screen is now plastic and the glossy screen is glass. A glass anti-glare treated screen would be much nicer, for many reasons...

[conn0r644]

@MyRandomReviews Well, I really don't mind if my computer looks like other people's....I just like the look of the black bezel better

[MyRandomReviews]

@conn0r644 - That's cool bro, but from a usability and health point of view, the anti-glare screen is a no-brainer. If you read down a little, many people have been complaining about how unusable the glossy screen is when the setup is not perfect, this has a knock-on effect when using the computer, causing all sorts of problems with your eyes if you try and put up with it. Of course, for most people, this wouldn't be much of a worry.

[xXxBToWnxXx]

@MyRandomReviews - Thanks for the advice

[xXxBToWnxXx]

Is 128GB enough for normal use and will it last a few years easily? Or should i look to get the SSD that's over 500GB?

[MyRandomReviews]

@xXxBToWnxXx - If I had 150GB of space I know that it would be enough, but 128GB is pretty small. I'd say if it's your primary machine then get the SSD with at least 256GB of space, otherwise you might struggle.

[ItsBenaWhile13]

not yet should get it the 16-20 :/ hoping this Friday!

[ItsBenaWhile13]

just got mine. ssd I would need alot more than 128. when I can get a good price on a 500gig one I'll buy. will I be happy with my Mac? 2.3 i7. anti glare. can't wait first Mac ever

[iBlondinet]

Love your vid! I can't Decide : Antiglare VS Glossy, the silver bezel seems so bad on it :(

[MyRandomReviews]

@iBlondinet - If you read the comments on this video it is filled for love of the anti-glare screen - not for appearance but for eye health and usability. It is also filled for dislike about the glossy screen, I even heard a story about someone damaging their eyes permanently from trying to work on a glossy MacBook screen very often.

Do yourself and your eyes a favour and get the anti-glare screen, the extra resolution is also brilliant! I think the bezel will grow on you!

[Idontknowhat2callmyf]

So I'm going to get mine which is about 4000 dollars so... How heavy is it?

[iBlondinet]

I'll get mine on 1 september :D ! Thanks for your review i chooce antiglare and 128 Go SSD !

[jelle9880]

Mine will be delivered on 16 sept :D

[MyRandomReviews]

@jelle9880 - Good choice! What options did you go for?!

[SuperHodge08]

@jelle9880 mine comes october 5th!

[QueenGoesYT]

apple ssd = crap

[rotatethis]

@QueenGoesYT as opposed to? apple doesn't make SSD's you fucking idiot.

[andreslindgren]

@rotatethis Actually he has a point, the SSD drives that apple use (samsung I belive) are quite a bit slower and much more expensive than the newer generation. For example Crusial M4 is around twice as fast at a much lower price. Intel 510 is clearly the best though in real life testing, even if it's a bit pricy.

[MyRandomReviews]

@andreslindgren - I bought the Apple SSD because it was much cheaper than buying and fitting an after market one. £100 vs. £150+ for an after market one. I knew 128GB wasn't going to be enough forever too, so I plan on upgrading when I need to, this way I'll get an even faster SSD with even more storage, at a cheaper price. Yet also have a 128GB SSD to sell on eBay too! :)

[JimBaww]

please someone HELP!? im thinking of getting either the 13" macbook pro or the 21.5" iMac (both entry level models) which one should i get? they are both the same price but with the iMac you get so much more! im going to use it for web browsing, writing up essays, a small amount of gaming and downloading movies/ music etc. all ive ever had was a laptop so i dont know how i would take to the change. please someone help me! thank you so much for taking the time to read this :)

[ezfingerboarder]

@JimBaww If you wanna be portable, the the MBP. If you want a big screen and very little portability, get the iMac.

[MyRandomReviews]

@JimBaww - My personal preference would tell you to get the desktop computer every time. Laptops are OK but they are slow, unexpandable, and run hot. I'd take the iMac if you don't want to carry it around anywhere. (of course)

[greysmoke321]

great video, thanks for posting, I enjoyed your thorough commentary.

[MyRandomReviews]

@greysmoke321 - Thank you, that means a lot!

I've been making reviews for years now and it's slowly becoming more natural. I really takes quite a long time as I don't like using scripts, so I just have to keep recording the video until I get it right and make sure I get all my noted down points into the video! :)

[sierra259jt]

@jkyriazidis

The SSD's are in fact 6gb/sec, however, there are no HDD 6gb/sec support

[MyRandomReviews]

@sierra259jt - The SSD in my machine is not capable of SATA 6gb/sec, therefore I'm lead to believe Apple do not fit SATA 6gb/sec SSDs.

[madmadmax321]

@MyRandomReviews not true in fact the hard drive bay is capable of 6gb however the ssd they use cannot use 6gb you need to get a ocz or owc ssd. great review btw

[MyRandomReviews]

@madmadmax321 - You pretty much just repeated what I said. Yet started with a contradiction... lol.

[madmadmax321]

@MyRandomReviews not really i suggest a 6gb ssd and you did not

[sierra259jt]

I would get the iWow plugin from SRS Labs because it makes the sound quality thousands of times better. LITERALLY

[MyRandomReviews]

@sierra259jt - I don't like enhancing my audio really. I like to have the sound reproduced exactly how it was recorded.

[RonnyW1GER]

@Im student too, but theres no free AppleCare for me here in Germany =( And full insurance would cost about 500 € for 3 Years (but +robbery, self-imposed damage, a.s.o.

I'm also thinking about installing a second drive with an optibay, maybe after that 1 year of warranty ^^

[MyRandomReviews]

@RonnyW1GER - Apple are very good with their warranty and contrary to popular belief, upgrading the hard drive or RAM or optical drive does not void the system's warranty. I'm pretty sure about the RAM and HDD upgrade do not void the warranty, but you'll probably want to make sure about the optical drive before you do it. :P

[ColeBatesNorum]

@MyRandomReviews At least from my personal experience with Apple employees, upgrading RAM is the only thing that does not void the warranty. Going off of those words, I wouldn't say for sure the HDD is upgradable without risking the warranty being voided. I just ordered the Hi-Res antiglare screen, how have you found it?

[MyRandomReviews]

@ColeBatesNorum - I keep telling people to upgrade to the high-res anti-glare because it's just so much better than the lower-res glossy screen. Yes, it doesn't have nice edge-to-edge glass but the bezel is still real aluminium and the anti-glare screen is much easier to keep clean from fingerprints!

[ColeBatesNorum]

@MyRandomReviews I went with the high-res based solely on the fact that several of my classmates have the glossy screen and the fluorescent glare off of the screen to the point where it's actually difficult to see the screen. You've found this to be a non-issue with the anti-glare screen?

[MyRandomReviews]

@ColeBatesNorum - Yes, it's incredible. I can use my MacBook outdoors in very bright sunlight and the screen's still visible. Someone wrote on another of my videos that they've suffered from eye-strain - which is horrible - because of their glossy MacBook. Glossy laptops are just not suitable for most conditions I'm afraid.

[ColeBatesNorum]

@MyRandomReviews I guess what I was worried about was the loss of any quality with the switch to the anti-glare. I have read that the glossy is deeper blacks and better whites, but is the quality on this screen still high?

[RonnyW1GER]

@MyRandomReviews Yeah, i think i'll go for the HDD... Antiglare is sth. i'll get for sure as i will use it a lot outside. Did you buy AppleCare?

[MyRandomReviews]

@RonnyW1GER - Because I'm a student, I got AppleCare for free. (excluding phone support) But if I had the choice I wouldn't buy it. Instead, invest in some Laptop insurance from a respected internet company, or your bank. It should only cost you under around £10 a month (ish) and with the money you save without Apple Care, you can have full comprehensive insurance for 2.3 years! :) (based on £280 for AppleCare), I'm sure the situation is pretty much the same in the US too.

[RonnyW1GER]

I don't know if I should buy mine with a SSD 128 GB or the 500GB 7200 rpm, need space, but ssds are sooo fast >.<

[MyRandomReviews]

@RonnyW1GER - If you need space then you'll have to buy the MBP with the 500GB HDD, then later on you can upgrade it to a 512GB SSD when their prices have come down and their performance has even been improved. And with the money you save, make sure you buy the anti-glare display! :)

[roniel251]

my score was 20000

[JSantana319]

The only thing I don't like about the Macbook Pro is that the ports are all on one side. I used to love when the Macbook Pro had the ports on both sides and the superdrive on the bottom right hand side. They should definitely put it back the way it used to be.

[MyRandomReviews]

@JSantana319 - From an aesthetic point of view having the old setup was much worse. It could be slightly more practical like that but I prefer it the way it is right now. Maybe if they get rid of the superdrive and put ports across both sides again, it would look pretty good. :)

[JSantana319]

@MyRandomReviews I agree with you. Look at the Macbook Air how awesome it looks with the ports on both sides. Getting rid of the Superdrive is something that Apple intends to do because less people are using CD'S and DVD's. With USB thumb drives and flash drives to add content it makes perfect sense, but other people still like to use CD's and DVD's.

[bluemagoo9210]

@MyRandomReviews ok thanks that's not too long. I was just wondering because once I bought a customized pair of oakley sunglasses online and it took a LONG time

[MyRandomReviews]

@bluemagoo9210 - Ahh I see, well I was going to buy a pair of customised Oakleys too, but they wouldn't ship to the UK at the time. They do now so I was tempted again, but I like going to the opticians who have a massive cabinate of Oakleys and trying them on first. I can usually get them to drop the price by about 20% too.

[bluemagoo9210]

@MyRandomReviews How long did it take for the mb pro to ship to your house? Does it take longer since it was customized with a ssd?

[MyRandomReviews]

@bluemagoo9210 - The estimated dispatch date was 1 day originally, then when I ordered the SSD and high-res anti-glare screen the estimated dispatch date was 3 days. Bare in mind I ordered the MacBook 3 hours after is was released. :P

In the end it took 7 days to go from order to my house, but I think it would be faster than that now.

[isctony]

what was the benchmark software you were using? I couldn't quite catch what you said, many thanks

[MyRandomReviews]

@isctony - That was Geekbench, I'll try speaking more clearly next time. :)

[isctony]

@MyRandomReviews Thank you! I thought you said Keybench and I was trying to google it! I am buying this same model right now. I am about to run geekbench on my current macbook to see the difference!

[isctony]

@MyRandomReviews I got 2758 on my 07 macbook!

[TheMasterofganja]

Sorry for the double comment...I'm curious to know what your restart time is with the SSD, I'm getting around 28 seconds..Let me know.

[MyRandomReviews]

@TheMasterofganja - 23.8 Seconds.

[TheMasterofganja]

@MyRandomReviews Damn thats awesome. I'm saving up for the new iMac. Those things are super badass.

[TheMasterofganja]

I got 10045 consistantly in geekbench on the same exact MacBook Pro as yours...I don't have an SSD or an Anti-Glare screen. Although I was running the 32-bit version, it was the only option available unless I bought it. These ARE seriously the most epic devices in the world, I agree with you sir.

[fknro]

class* lmao

[fknro]

Imma buy this for lass :)

[ChaosRiddenReaper]

i heard/read that SSD's wont last half the length as normal hard drives due to how many times they can write or burn stuff. something along that line. is this true, i know they are faster in general and quieter and alot more reliable but in the long run they have alot shorter life span.

[MyRandomReviews]

@ChaosRiddenReaper - I'm not sure if you've heard about the MTBF measurement. It stands for Mean Time Before Failure (or Mean Time Between Failures, but it's only going to fail once. :P).

It states the normal amount of time before a drive is likely to fail.

HDDs score around 300,000 hours whereas SSDs score around 2million.

I'm not worried about the life of this drive as i personally feel it's more likely to last the life of the laptop than an HDD, however I'll probably replace it before then.

[Ulf1103]

I've a question.

Your ssd can write at 170MB/Sec

What happens if you have a faster Internet connection and you're downloading against 1GB/Sec?

I mean, you're SSD can't save the date you're inputting, so it will be buffered in the RAM wright?

If you have 4GB RAM, it will download against 1GB/Sec for 4Sec, s then you're Internet connection will slow down?

Or is you're max. download speed limited by your write speed of your SSD?

[MyRandomReviews]

@Ulf1103 - You're not going to get a 1GB/s internet connection for many years to come, and I'm talking 10s of years probably 20 or 30 or even more. I doubt Google's data centre has a backbone any faster than that.

My internet connection at the minute is faster than average and it downloads at 17mb/s which is 2MB/s, 1GB/s is 512 times faster than that!

(plus ethernet speeds are just passing the 10Gb/s mark, allowing transfers of that speed over cable)

[NeutralGenericUser]

@Ulf1103 You're confusing giga/megaBITS per second with giga/megaBYTES per second. Advertised internet speed is in giga/megaBITS, so you have to divide that by 8 to get a giga/megaBYTES. We won't see 1 gigabyte per second internet in a LONG time...we're just barely starting to get 100megabits/s now, which is only 12.5megabytes/second :)

[MyRandomReviews]

@YankeeFan149 - It's been known to overheat on some non-demanding programs, dodgy programming probably but still, not great for cooling.

[TheAsianAppleGod]

That clicking sound is really irritating. I tried setting that "Tap to click" feature on the Best Buy display macbooks, but they keep switching it off >=(

[Bailal12]

what did you mean by trim??

i was thinking about getting ssd, but filling up makes it performs worse??

then lion comes along it fixes??

sorry if this sounds stupid but could you elaborate please

Nice video btw ;)

[MyRandomReviews]

@Bailal12 - Say a cell in an SSD is around 128KB, if there is 150KB written to the SSD it uses two cells. One cell is completely full and another has 22KB in it with 106KB free. When this half-full cell needs to be written to all the contents of it need to be stored in a buffer and the contents flashed then the buffer contents are added to the data to be written and written to the cell.

If this happens 1000's of times, it's slow, TRIM mostly fixes this problem. (that was all from memory :)

[Bailal12]

@MyRandomReviews Sorry one more thing

i have looked into an aftermarket ssd one

for better perdormance as you said

but dont no which one to choose

do you no if one brand is faster than another??

[MyRandomReviews]

@Bailal12 - Yes, SSDs are an emerging technology so there's massive differences in performance and types of SSD. The main ones are Sandforce driven SSDs which are often faster at reading and writing, but are more expensive and perform very badly at hard to compress files. And the rest that use a normal chip set (usually a Marvel one).

My favourite SSD at the moment is by far the Crucial M4 (or Micron C400, the same drive), this uses a normal chip-set and performs incredibly well on all files! :)

[MyRandomReviews]

@Bailal12 - That's what's meant by TRIM anyway (pretty much, but my expanation was not perfect, search TRIM SSD and watch a video about it if you want to know more). I've just found out that my SSD actually has TRIM enabled right now so OS 10.6 supports TRIM perfectly already. Don't worry about it, it was a concern when SSDs where first released but now it is not so much.

I'd say if you where going to buy an SSD for your MacBook, buy an aftermarket one if you want best performance.

[Bailal12]

@MyRandomReviews Thanks heaps for helping me out with that

i understand what it is now

might have to subscribe haha :P

[MyRandomReviews]

@Bailal12 - Great, thanks dude. ;)

[Bailal12]

@MyRandomReviews True, I've been looking around and the vertex 3 seems to be a popular choice (according to the various threads-we all no how inaccurate they can be though). How does the Crucial M4 compare to this ssd as it seems it has come down to these two. Sorry about all the questions it is just hard to find factual information on this topic, and with about $300 at stake...well you no.

[MyRandomReviews]

@Bailal12 - The M4 is pretty much the fastest drive available, apart from the Vertex 3. The Vertex 3 can produce even faster results than the M4, but it's much less consistent, as it's a Sandforce chip-set drive. (as I was talking about in my last comment)

The M4 is my favourite because it's generally a little cheaper and more consistent. Although, Marvell driven drives are nearly always slower at writing than sandforce ones, significantly too. But that wouldn't put me off. :)

[Bailal12]

@MyRandomReviews OK thanks heaps for all your help i have officially subscribed :D

[DmytroRyzhkov]

I would get the anti glare if they made the section around the screen black instead of the aluminium):

[MyRandomReviews]

@DmytroRyzhkov - I don't see why it matters nor can I say it looks worse. In fact, I like the aluminium bezel, it shows that you know your stuff about MacBooks instead of just wandering into the shop and buying the first one you see. The glass looks nice enough but I would prefer to be able to use my MacBook in places other than a dark room with no windows or lights.

[najko77]

hallo man, i have the same spex as you but i dont have an ssd,i did the benchmark test and scored 10086 so its almost the same,nice video bye the way....

peace

[MyRandomReviews]

@najko77 - A problem with geek bench is that it remains unaffected by many elements such as hard drive performance, and most noticeably graphics chip performance. I'm not sure if you've checked it out but I have a Photoshop benchmark video which demonstrates real-world performance. :)

[ricky54326]

Thank you so much for this video.. I've been looking for a review of the MacBook Pro WITH the SSD, which almost none of the other videos have. I am definitely getting it, after watching this vid. You said that was with 4GB ram? Pretty nice.. that answers my other question of whether or not I should get 8GB lol

[MyRandomReviews]

@ricky54326 - Like I said in the video, I can't see any point in having 8GB of RAM. I can have many Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver files open and I usually still have over 1GB free. My theory was, if I wanted to upgrade later, I could just buy some larger memory modules and the price would be around the same as having it installed by Apple - yet I have 4GB of DDR3 memory spare to sell on eBay! :P

[ricky54326]

@MyRandomReviews I'm debating between the 15" and the 17", at the moment. They are literally only $50 or $100 apart, with the Student Discount, so I'm not sure which one to get. The 17" has a bit bigger battery, and the Antiglare screen is 1920x1200 instead. What do you think?

[MyRandomReviews]

@ricky54326 - My friend has a 17" laptop and he say's it's the worst choice he could have made! If you want a screen this big buy an external monitor, a 17" laptop is massive.

Also, the battery life is the same as the 15" and the high-res 15" has a higher PPI ratio (pixels are smaller) which I really like. As it's 1680 by 1050.

If you weren't thinking about getting the high-res anti-glare 15" MBP then I strongly suggest you get that instead! The glossy screen is a bad choice! 4:01

[StainOnTheWall]

Apple MacBook (early 2007)

3000 GeekBench score xD thanks for affirming I need a new computer.

[MyRandomReviews]

@StainOnTheWall - Depends what you do with your MacBook dude, 3000 is respectable, my gaming PC (runs Crysis on High @ 30fps which is good) scores 2800, but I suppose GeekBench doesn't really take any notice of your graphics card. :P

[MrRickelton]

The Apple SSD is 3GB/s, whereas the cable and motherboard is rated 6GB/s, although im not sure about the difference in real world

[officialNickL]

I have a question, If I get an iMac without SSD, will I be able to add an SSD without taking out the HDD? Thanks

[MyRandomReviews]

@officialNickL - Simply, no. But you can buy a data doubler from OWC and you can fit a second HDD or SSD in place of your SuperDrive.

[officialNickL]

@MyRandomReviews ok thank you! I guess I will wait 4-6 weeks to get my iMac with SSD. :(

[MyRandomReviews]

@officialNickL - I'm sorry, I read your post wrong, I thought you'd wrote "MacBook" not "iMac". With the iMac you can fit two drives in easily, but opening the thing up is difficult. Search for HDD upgrade iMac or something.

[officialNickL]

@MyRandomReviews oh ok. And can I bring my iMac to an Apple store and ask them to do it for me?

[MyRandomReviews]

@officialNickL - You could do exactly what Jon from TLDToday did and buy a standard one and take it to an Apple approved service centre.

[officialNickL]

@MyRandomReviews Oh ok. Just saw his vid! But where can I find an Apple approved service center?

[2010pspgo]

@officialNickL ask a apple authorized repair center they may be able to do it i have heard of other people who have gotten a ssd in it after they bought it talk to them before you order

[2010pspgo]

@officialNickL nvm sorry didnt see the later comments

[GeekTechMac1]

great review! I just got the same model but I have to wait before I can buy an SSD

[MyRandomReviews]

@GeekTechMac1 - Great! I had a long converation about waiting for SSD prices to fall and there's a lot of good reasons to do so.

1. OS X Lion will support TRIM, OS X Snow Leopard does not.

2. Larger SSDs will fall to the same price as smaller ones are now, so get one larger than 128GB if this is your main computer!

3. SSDs from elsewhere are often faster than Apple SSDs, also, buy a SATA 6gb/s SSD to take advantage of the SATA 6gb/s controller.

Hope this helps! :)

[GeekTechMac1]

@MyRandomReviews Thanks bro this helps a lot. I am going to wait for the SSD. OWC has the SATA 6GB/s and they are blazing fast. That is the one I want to get. Sorry about my previous comment I got the 2.0GHz model. That is still a great machine right?

[MyRandomReviews]

@GeekTechMac1 - Yeah, of course! The thing with pretty much all Apple products is that whatever you buy, it will be great. They don't make crappy computers that aren't fit for purpose - which is why some people think they're overpriced.

[ValleyCatTV]

I thought I would mention that most DJ's using macbook pro's are using a USB or Firewire interface so the sound quality from the computer itself has nothing to do with the sound quality of said audio interface or external soundcard. Other than that nice review. Just picked up this computer myself.

[MyRandomReviews]

@ValleyCatTV - Good point dude, I'll add an annotation. Can't believe I missed a detail, this review took a while to put together. :P

I expect you're having a great time with your new MacBook Pro. :)

[TrulyUniqueOne]

thats a small hard drive???

how much did that set you back??

Ive got a top of the range sony x series with double the hard drive space of yours and its still not enough??

[MyRandomReviews]

@TrulyUniqueOne - It's only a laptop, because of this I don't use it that often. I use my desktop PC at home, and I have a home server to save all my films and tv shows to. :P

The harddrive was £120 on top of the 750GB HDD that's standard.

[TrulyUniqueOne]

@MyRandomReviews nice lad

[jahid231]

hi if i get the anti glare macbook pro 15inch will it cost more or less? pls reply ASAP

[MyRandomReviews]

@jahid231 - Just go to Apple.com and configure a MacBook Pro there. It'll tell you all the prices.

And yes, it's more expensive. But you do also have to pay for a high-res screen too.

[diabolo3600]

@MyRandomReviews +150€ :/

[randomrazr]

worth the anti glare option?

[MyRandomReviews]

@randomrazr - Definitely. As I said in the video, I can't see the point in a glossy-screened laptop. And the high-res panel makes it much more enjoyable to use.

People have even told me that they suffered from eye strain and other disorders thanks to that super glossy standard screen! So yes, most certainly worth the few quid extra.

[CALiBOiAKArezz]

wasnt their a recent recall on the intel i7 sandy bridge???

[MyRandomReviews]

@CALiBOiAKArezz - Yes. Although this problem was fixed for the release of the new MacBook Pros. Intel are very close partners with Apple and ensured the processors going into the MacBook Pros where unaffected. Many of the very early desktop sandybridge i7 and i5s where affected however.

[Harukoozt]

@CALiBOiAKArezz no, the mobos were.

[MyRandomReviews]

@Harukoozt - Yeah, sorry. It was the SATA 3 controllers.

[MarshMellowChronic]

my pc geekbench score is 10266

not bad for a midrange pc lol

[MyRandomReviews]

@MarshMellowChronic - What are the specs? :)

[MarshMellowChronic]

@MyRandomReviews

Core i7 920 4Ghz (watercooled)

2x Nvidia gtx570

Msi big bang xpower mother board

750w psu

2x 500gb caviar black hdds in raid 0 for speed

6gb Patriot viper 2 ram

[MyRandomReviews]

@MarshMellowChronic - Dude, in what way is that mid-range? It's high end if not super-high-end!

[MrSnowBreezy]

haha yea I had already subscribed ! and great timing of the video, you literally did not keep me waiting lol

great video, liked, and ttyl

cheers

[MyRandomReviews]

@MrSnowBreezy - Haha, thanks. I hope you liked it. :)

[itechapple80]

what do you prefer Microsoft office or iwork?

[MyRandomReviews]

@itechapple80 - I purchased Microsoft Office because it works flawlessly with other .doc and .docx files I already had and that I get given at college. I would say Office 2011 is the best to be honest. It's not as perfect as iWork but it does more, and it's got loads more features!

[itechapple80]

@MyRandomReviews Oh ok I thought the same thank you !

[mattsaundersmcp]

wow if I tried to open all those apps on my PC it would kill it lol

[MyRandomReviews]

@mattsaundersmcp - Haha, my PC at the moment would try but it would take it like a minute to load them all. The SSD makes it instant!

The i7 speedboost is also brilliant, it provides loads of power when you need it without draining the battery when you don't!

[mattsaundersmcp]

@MyRandomReviews Yeah SSD are great.