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Pivo posted:My friend says "my computer is being slow..." and I ask her for some details. If she doesn't want to spend the money on a new computer dropping an SSD and another 4GB of RAM into that machine would make it pretty OK with an updated OS. I've got an only slightly faster core 2 Duo MBP that I use all the time for basic word processing and internet poo poo with those upgrades. Those older MBPs can be troopers for basic use scenarios. edit: of course if she wants a new computer dive in. I'm just mentioning it because upgrading can be worth it if the budget is tight.
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Feb 19, 2016 18:27
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Pivo posted:My friend says "my computer is being slow..." and I ask her for some details. Be really careful with RAM compatibility. I've had problems getting modern DDR3 to work in Macs from that era, even with Crucial "Mac RAM" and also RAM taken out of a Mac Mini. I'd look for a specifically approved memory kit for that model. For what it's worth, El Capitan is soldiering along with shockingly competent performance on a Macbook even older than that with 2GB of RAM total.
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Feb 19, 2016 18:38
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I dunno if anyone still cares but Avid recently announced that they're never gonna release El Capitan drivers for their older M-Audio interfaces (hardware that worked perfectly on Mavericks) because they're lazy fucks. Will never buy Avid hardware again.
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Feb 19, 2016 19:17
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Avid is poo poo. Their drivers are responsible for almost all the crashes I've ever had on a Mac.
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Feb 19, 2016 19:25
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If Studio One ever gets a decent video engine I'll never look at pro tools again.
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Feb 19, 2016 20:00
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Just picked up the $2500 15" MacBook via eBay for $1949 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/391183003040 . I know there's a new model coming soon, but as an upgrade from a 5-year old iMac with a SATA hard drive, its a great improvement in every way but raw screen size and the price is right.
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Feb 20, 2016 01:56
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Twerk from Home posted:Be really careful with RAM compatibility. I've had problems getting modern DDR3 to work in Macs from that era OTOH with my 2011 17", I stuck in basically whatever matched the stock clock and it worked. I had issues with old iMacs that take DDR2, blew a few hundred dollars of my employer's money on RAM that didn't work, oops. Hey, they weren't paying me to be IT ;-)
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Feb 20, 2016 02:08
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Bob Socko posted:Just picked up the $2500 15" MacBook via eBay for $1949 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/391183003040 . I know there's a new model coming soon, but as an upgrade from a 5-year old iMac with a SATA hard drive, its a great improvement in every way but raw screen size and the price is right. new model or not, I'm convinced the $2500 15" in its current form is the apex of laptops it's all downhill from here (ok not really but it's a great computer, I doubt the new model will be much better) It's great how portable it is. After a few months of use now, I bring this laptop in a backpack everyday. It's easy and I see no reason to use a 13 inch for portability unless I had like a really small bag or something.
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Feb 20, 2016 03:58
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I can't use the 15" on a plane unless I'm in first class. Going to go with the new 12", hopefully.
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Feb 20, 2016 04:33
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Yeah as awesome as it is that these 15" notebooks are legitimately powerful beasts, I'm spoilt by the size and weight of my 13" MBA. I don't even need it to be that portable, but the form factor is so goddamned nice I never want a bigger laptop.
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Feb 20, 2016 04:56
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Well I do use my 15" on horrendously small school desks, it still works and I wouldn't want a smaller screen. However if I was flying a lot, I'd probably want something with battery power over computing power. Most of the time i only spend a couple of hours off charger unless I'm being lazy and typing in bed or something
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Feb 20, 2016 05:11
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13" is the perfect size for a laptop, but the internals of the 13" MBP max out pretty disappointingly. Sigh. 
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Feb 20, 2016 05:21
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tuyop posted:13" is the perfect size for a laptop, but the internals of the 13" MBP max out pretty disappointingly. Sigh. The struggle is real
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Feb 20, 2016 07:44
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So, I've got a 2012 MBPro. It's most recent install was a completely clean install of El Cap—reformatted the drive, installed off a USB. It's still, honestly, sluggish, especially when waking up from sleep—this can take a minute or more, much of which is waiting for it to accept keystrokes at the password screen. Loading the Finder environment can take a long time after a reboot, too. So, I'm probably going to head down the SSD route. What is the current goon-approved choice? I had a look at the first few posts in this megathread, but they're a bit old...!
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Feb 21, 2016 20:42
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It's probably your HDD, that happened to my 2012 MBP very recently. Got a crucial SSD , the first one was hosed, sent it back and got a new one and it runs like a dream. The Mac feels like new.
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Feb 21, 2016 21:40
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Quantum of Phallus posted:It's probably your HDD, that happened to my 2012 MBP very recently. Got a crucial SSD , the first one was hosed, sent it back and got a new one and it runs like a dream. The Mac feels like new. Great! That's encouraging. What size, and where did you buy it? I've worked on Macs before, but not since the days of the white G4s... I assume the install was easy? Friend of mine has the requisite screw bits, so that's taken care of.
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Feb 21, 2016 21:52
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Also those years of MacBook can have a sata cable issue and the only symptom before it gets really bad is terrible performance. The ones I've fixed would randomly beachball all over the place as it waited for the HDD to resurface
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Feb 21, 2016 22:39
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8ender posted:Also those years of MacBook can have a sata cable issue and the only symptom before it gets really bad is terrible performance. The ones I've fixed would randomly beachball all over the place as it waited for the HDD to resurface Oh, really? That's very interesting—that describes my problem exactly. Can you replace the SATA cable without having to redo the entire HDD? If so, that sounds like a cheaper option...
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Feb 22, 2016 00:54
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Jeherrin posted:Oh, really? That's very interesting—that describes my problem exactly. Can you replace the SATA cable without having to redo the entire HDD? If so, that sounds like a cheaper option... I agree it's as likely to be the cable as the HDD... But while you can just replace the cable, if you don't have an SSD for the love of god get an SSD too. They're relatively cheap nowadays.
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Feb 22, 2016 01:03
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Choadmaster posted:I agree it's as likely to be the cable as the HDD... But while you can just replace the cable, if you don't have an SSD for the love of god get an SSD too. They're relatively cheap nowadays. Key word is relative. 500ish GB isn't all that cheap, I'm on a budget, and it's not my workhorse machine - my 2011 iMac is still going beautifully. It's a question of weighing up necessity over price. If I can bring the MBPro back to 'usable', I'll take the cable as a medium-term fix. If that doesn't deliver, I'll certainly think again. In a perfect world, of course...
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Feb 22, 2016 02:00
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500gb direct from crucial was about €100
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Feb 22, 2016 02:28
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Jeherrin posted:Key word is relative. 500ish GB isn't all that cheap, I'm on a budget, and it's not my workhorse machine - my 2011 iMac is still going beautifully. It's a question of weighing up necessity over price. If I can bring the MBPro back to 'usable', I'll take the cable as a medium-term fix. If that doesn't deliver, I'll certainly think again. In a perfect world, of course... If it's not your primary machine do you need 500 GB? You can get 240-250 GB SSDs for $65-$75 (if you want to splurge I'd recommend a 250 GB Samsung 850 EVO, those are $88 on Newegg right now). But you know your budget better than I do.
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Feb 22, 2016 03:20
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Jeherrin posted:So, I'm probably going to head down the SSD route. What is the current goon-approved choice? I had a look at the first few posts in this megathread, but they're a bit old... I can't do without pro graphics or a lot of CPU power any more; I'm rendering at home and work (rMBP + Mac Pro D500s). I really, really doubt they'll update the Pro at all or in a meaningful way that won't be stuck for other 3 years. But if they do, I'm buying that drat thing for home. If they don't, I'm going to build a 2-3 GPU pc box in a couple weeks. Edit: I'm an idiot who can't read- You said MBPro, which I assumed was Mac Pro. kuskus fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Feb 22, 2016 |
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Feb 22, 2016 05:00
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Jeherrin posted:So, I've got a 2012 MBPro. It's most recent install was a completely clean install of El Cap—reformatted the drive, installed off a USB. It's still, honestly, sluggish, especially when waking up from sleep—this can take a minute or more, much of which is waiting for it to accept keystrokes at the password screen. Loading the Finder environment can take a long time after a reboot, too. Samsung 850 EVO.
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Feb 22, 2016 05:03
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Binary Badger posted:Good job, but was this a clone or a fresh install? I keep meaning to do this for my Digital Audio G4/533.. Clone from the HDD, over a IDE-SATA bridge. Easy as pie, and it screams. Go for it.
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Feb 22, 2016 05:04
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My kingdom for a rMBP refresh with Skylake, Thunderbolt 3, new color finishes, an "infinity" screen, a butterfly keyboard with a wee bit more travel and a refreshed 4-5K Thunderbolt Display to connect it to. Most of the current rumors are centered around iPad and Apple Watch band updates, none of which is at all interesting to me, but I'm still holding out hope we'll see something in March ahead of WWDC in June. I really need to stop checking MacRumors every day.
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Feb 22, 2016 05:19
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Jeherrin posted:Oh, really? That's very interesting—that describes my problem exactly. Can you replace the SATA cable without having to redo the entire HDD? If so, that sounds like a cheaper option... Yes the cable is one of the first things you'll see when you open the laptop. It runs about $12 iirc. I diagnose by hitting the HDD with a ton of IO and then watching activity monitor for bizarre behaviour like disk reads and writes just dropping off a cliff right when it beachballs. This might be hard to see if it's only starting to go bad so just replacing it is really the best bet as the new ones are an improved design that doesn't go bad.
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Feb 22, 2016 05:43
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It's definitely time for a new form factor for the Retina Pros. I hope the 1 hole experiment of the Macbook is over.
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Feb 22, 2016 06:21
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Mu Zeta posted:It's definitely time for a new form factor for the Retina Pros. I hope the 1 hole experiment of the Macbook is over.
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Feb 22, 2016 06:59
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Mandals posted:My kingdom for a rMBP refresh with Skylake, Thunderbolt 3, new color finishes, an "infinity" screen, a butterfly keyboard with a wee bit more travel and a refreshed 4-5K Thunderbolt Display to connect it to. Most of the current rumors are centered around iPad and Apple Watch band updates, none of which is at all interesting to me, but I'm still holding out hope we'll see something in March ahead of WWDC in June. Same to every last bit of this, and if the top 15" switches back to Nvidia that would be the best. And while I'm wishing, I'd also love a 3360x2100 display (equivalent to 1680x1050). I finally got to a store to try out the retina Macbook keyboard the other day, and it's pretty great except for the limited travel. I also tried the new wireless Magic Keyboard, which fixes that problem, so if they can put that version of the keyboard in a new rMBP that would be wonderful.
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Feb 22, 2016 09:03
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Quantum of Phallus posted:500gb direct from crucial was about €100 I checked the Crucial site. 500GB, £151.
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Feb 22, 2016 09:52
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BobHoward posted:Same to every last bit of this, and if the top 15" switches back to Nvidia that would be the best. And while I'm wishing, I'd also love a 3360x2100 display (equivalent to 1680x1050). I mean, there are shitloads of 4K IPS screens in the right size around, that'd be an excellent choice. I really like 1080p on a laptop (at least, the idea of 2560x1440 being available is pretty drat cool too).
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Feb 22, 2016 09:57
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Jeherrin posted:I checked the Crucial site. 500GB, £151. Hmmm, I just checked and when I ordered it, it was €136, which is about £100. Holy poo poo, just checked the Crucial site and the model I bought is now up to €190. Might be worth checking out those Samsung Evos!
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Feb 22, 2016 10:49
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Mu Zeta posted:It's definitely time for a new form factor for the Retina Pros. I hope the 1 hole experiment of the Macbook is over. What was the customer satisfaction like on this after? I heard a bunch of the early sales were returned, but people who knew what they were buying into hopefully liked it? I think if my 13" air had gotten damaged and it was replaced with one, I'd have been OK with it. I don't care for things dangling off my laptop so a single USB connector is fine with me. I only used the keyboard once to do some copy typing off a spec sheet of a display model, and while i agree it's not quite as nice I was still able to type fast and accurately. I mean, never buy a first generation apple product and all but I still think it seemed a cool machine for certain uses.
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Feb 22, 2016 14:27
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I'm very much looking forward to the new Retina MacBook to replace my 15" rMBP. I'd be fine with the exact same chassis but with Skylake and an option for 16GB of ram.
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Feb 22, 2016 14:31
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Mu Zeta posted:It's definitely time for a new form factor for the Retina Pros. I hope the 1 hole experiment of the Macbook is over. What's wrong with it? I know it's closing in on the age that the unibody was when they replaced it, but it's solid. I'd like a higher resolution screen but it's not a deal-breaker. 1280x800 and 1440x900 as the 'native' resolutions? Don't play dumb Apple, you know the higher resolution of the 13" Air drove a lot of people to buy it. Sure, the high-res 15" wasn't that great of a seller but c'mon. I have mixed feelings about USB-C. I don't like the display cable being combined with anything like a charging port. Where's my USB-C to DisplayPort cable so I can plug my loving 27" ACD in? There's this but I still need the adapter to MiniDP and where's the power come in? And I'm not buying a loving $199 USB-C dock to have power+video when I can connect right now for free. The one good thing I can see about USB-C is possibly cheaper adapters/hub since other companies will be using the port. I've built up a collection of miniDP and TB adapters though, so I just get to buy that poo poo all over again.  Back to the current Retina form factor, I think in my head 'this laptop doesn't need to be any thinner', but then I remember how strange it is to go back to the classic MacBook Pro and feel how 'fat' that thing is.
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Feb 22, 2016 15:23
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what's the cable directly above your Superdrive?
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Feb 22, 2016 15:39
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Quantum of Phallus posted:what's the cable directly above your Superdrive?
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Feb 22, 2016 15:50
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kuskus posted:Likely SATA for 2.5" drives. Never seen one so simple; I use the Seagate Flex GO tray. Yea, it's just a USB to SATA adapter that I use to plug in random 2.5" hard drives. If I'm going to clone to an SSD I use a 2.5" USB 3.0 housing (ORICO brand)
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Feb 22, 2016 16:46
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Bob Morales posted:Back to the current Retina form factor, I think in my head 'this laptop doesn't need to be any thinner', but then I remember how strange it is to go back to the classic MacBook Pro and feel how 'solid and well engineered' that thing is.
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Feb 22, 2016 16:55
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