MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Editor's Choice? Pfffft. In any given roundup of computers or whatnot else, they'll give out their Editor's Choice award to 5 or 6 different models looked at. They quite literally seem to look for excuses to hand them out. I'm convinced many are "paid" for. It's a worthless award if you ask me.

4 hours, 44 minutes for the battery? I thought Apple said 7 hours of battery time.

4 hours? You can't even watch The Godfather trilogy with that.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:02 pm Comment from: jarrettdailynews

Up to 7 hours of battery usage Richie.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:05 pm Comment from: disposableidentity

4:44 in real-world use?
Fantastic.

I'm on my 4th MacBook/PowerBook, and I've never once bought a spare battery. I'm all for the built-in.

Actually, I don't think that the SD card slot is a bad idea. I have a 17" MBP, and I keep a SanDisk card reader parked in the ExpressCard slot all the time that I use often. I used to carry a USB card reader around with me, which just added to the already large collection of widgets, cables and adaptors that I already carry and I am constantly looking for ways to reduce. I've looked at other ExpressCard accessories, but have never had a pressing need for them that justified the cost of purchase. Besides which they are pretty rare, and often very hard to find.

I like the idea of the ExpressCard, but, like so many other great technologies, there's just not that many people adopting the platform. I'd rather have FireWire and SD, both of which I use frequently, than a seldom-used ExpressCard slot.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:06 pm Comment from: piratZafryki

@ Richie:

PCMag tests Macs by running them in Boot Camp. Windoze has abysmal power management. Hence less than 5 hours for the Mac.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:08 pm Comment from: disposableidentity

@ MaximumOverdrive, that's brilliant. You should patent that.

If Apple had included the SD as a flush-mount slot, I'd definitely use it as a Time Machine backup drive.

SD slot is a fine idea. But if you really want the best and if your camera is not WiFi enabled then just use a EyeFi card. It geo-tags the images, too. Fantastic

Jun 11, 09 - 03:16 pm Comment from: Tired of Retards

SB Surfer,

Lemme guess: SB stands for "Superfluous Bullshit?"

MacDailyNews linked to EyeFi cards in their Take, genius.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:18 pm Comment from: DreamTheEndless

I love my express card slot. Most of the time I have an SD card reader tucked in, and yes - SD cards slide all the way in without sticking out. I also have an E-SATA express card that I bought a year or two ago when I couldn't find a reasonably priced external firewire 800 enclosure but was able to get an E-SATA/USB enclosure for $39.

It's good tech, but these days there isn't much need for notebook computer expansion.

The SD slot will be great for most users.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:18 pm Comment from: Famous Grouse

Dumping Express Card would have made more sense if they added a built in cellular modem. As it stands now, anyone wanting cellular access has to use a USB dongle thing (eg the Huawei e220). Of course, this argument would be moot if tethering were available....so it must all be AT&Ts;fault.

macdailynews, you wrong. actually how many people use wifi digital camera to upload their photos? it's only available when you have wifi around. not everybody does that at home. it seems convenient but it's not. he talks about majority people. we usually use SD slot which is easy faster rather than hooking up with USB. I don't even carry USB for camera. this macbook pro is the first time to have SD slot anyway in its history. actually it's funny. in order to reduce price down, Apple pulled express card slot off. then added SD slot? almost every PC laptop has SD slot already long time ago. you know, Apple is not always right. admit it. I love Sony.

B b b b b b but Netbooks!

Forgive me. My alternate PC personality took over for a moment. I distracted him with a small crappy screen on the nintendo ds.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:21 pm Comment from: NCIceman

SD cards are meant to put put in, used, and then removed. They are a transfer medium. And USB wasn't the only way before, I bought a Express32 card reader for my macbook pro, but like MDN hardly ever used it, it was easier to just plug in the camera via USB.

So while this is a nice addition, it's not a huge one.

edward,

MDN is not wrong.

The camera itself has WiFi and so do the EyeFi cards to which MDN linked.

Neither requires that you be "home," dumbass.

Obviously battery usage is based on how you test the unit. The advantage of having the SD card visible is that you won't forget to remove it from the MacBook. My daughter has the first unibody one and it prompted her mother to buy one. You can bet on this being a hot item with college students this year. 2GB is plenty of RAM for most folks. Cisco is a Windows user where 2GB is absolutely required to do anything.

wow that was a worthless five minutes of my time reading Cheng's review. Gee, apple finally puts in a card reader. By the time I take the memory out of my camera I am not saving but a few seconds that it takes me to slip into the USB reader.

And I get to know how the MacBook 13" Pro compares to a bunch of PC laptops "running Windows". Sorry but I don't really care how it compares to something I would never buy and for diehard PC users, they probably don't care either.

What I wanted to know is how does the screen compare to the old MacBook, etc.

Next he'll be demoing how well the PC laptops run OSX.

Jun 11, 09 - 03:55 pm Comment from: Follower

MacUser is reporting that you can boot the Mac off an SD card if you buy one large enough to configure with an installation of OS X and any troubleshooting utilities you like. That's a pretty easily-carried emergency disk.

Jun 11, 09 - 04:15 pm Comment from: British Mac Head

Ahem, SD is fine and all that but if you use a Canon or Nikon pro or semi-pro Digital SLR you need a Compact Flash card slot. And I said pro or semi-pro before someone tries to correct me with the Nikon D60 or the Canon EOS 500d as they are entry level consumer Digital SLRs All the Pros use CF.

Jun 11, 09 - 04:32 pm Comment from: Predrag

Cool. OSX can fit on about 6GB of space (with all languages stripped away) and 8GB SDHC cards can often be had for $0 after rebate, so with something like TechTool Pro, that's one cool emergency disc (disk?).

@Literacy is Your Friend

Apparently politeness is not your friend.

Wi-fi shmi-fi, the transfer rate of a 4Gb card over wi-fi is about 4 second PER SHOT, a quarter of the time USB takes.

Or 4x the time.
Proofreading is not my friend.

Jun 11, 09 - 05:01 pm Comment from: R

Anyone else think this is an answer to the netbook issue on some level? They're offering more notebook in their smallest size. Might entice some away from choosing small and wimpy to smallish and strong.

Jun 11, 09 - 05:13 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

The nice thing about an SD slot versus using a USB cable is that you don't have to worry about your camera battery pooping out half way through the download. I imagine this would also apply for WiFi.

Jun 11, 09 - 05:18 pm Comment from: Basil Ganglia

Dear MDN,

My advice, when you get a 4.5 stars review and Editors Choice award for an Apple computer from a PC magazine is to say "Thank You" and shut up. Verbally spitting on the reviewer who has just done Apple a favor and undoubtedly enhanced Mac sales, doesn't seem like the best way to help the company we all love and want to prosper. Just the opposite. Remember what your mother taught you about the "Golden Rule"? Try practicing it.

Jun 11, 09 - 05:45 pm Comment from: lecube

Seems that everyone (well, almost everyone) is focused on one function of the SD card (moving pics around). That's just one use for the card.

You can format and SD card to be a boot partition which is great for anyone trying to fix a bad boot disk (both customers and Apple personnel at the genius bar, oh and anyone else that wants to try and help fix a bad disk).

The SD card can also be used for Time Machine backups. I would use that all the time when traveling.

Jun 11, 09 - 06:03 pm Comment from: leftofkarlmarx

@ Literacy is Your Friend

"Neither requires that you be "home," dumbass."

in response to @Edward

"it's only available when you have wifi around. not everybody does that at home"

how can I use wifi if i'm in a non wifi area, home or elsewhere?

I too am more concerned about how the screen looks than either of the two slots in question. To get pictures off my phone, I have a usb-based card reader, does the job, certainly fast enough. If I were working with video, I'd simply have to have a little patience if it takes longer. My main concern was firewire for my audio interfaces and hard drives.
But most striking, can we all please do away with insulting each other with names like "dumbass" when we don't agree- even strongly disagree? Why sink to that level? It's not necessary- unless you need the hostility to emphasize your point- which is irrational if you have the courage of your convictions.

leftofkarlmarx,

First of all, reconsider your politics. Government by nature is corrupt, bloated, and horribly inefficient. The goal should be less government and more individual freedom, not more government and less freedom. Somebody tell that to Obama.

Second of all: the camera (or the EyeFi card) itself broadcasts WiFi which is picked up by the Airport card in your Mac. You can transfer photos via WiFi in this manner anywhere, in the woods, on the beach, etc. - you don't need to be in Starbucks.

It has nothing to do with Internet-connected WiFi, it's an Ad Hoc WiFi connection: a wireless network between two or more WiFI-enabled devices.

Jun 11, 09 - 08:35 pm Comment from: Cubert

"Show me your SD Card slot!"

That's my pickup line at bars.

@Literacy is your friend.

From the EyeFi card website.

"Select the Wi-Fi networks it can use. Then just turn on your camera to effortlessly transfer photos and video."

Are you sure it doesn't need a wifi network?

Jun 11, 09 - 08:48 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

"Show me your SD Card slot!"

I don't know Cubert, that drunken slur may sound more like:

"Shew me yer estee car slut!"

That's a guaranteed bitch slap.

does the addition of the firewire port bring back target mode?

Jun 11, 09 - 09:40 pm Comment from: ken1w

I don't care about the card reader too much, unless there is another use for it as some type of peripheral interface.

But I sure am glad to see the FireWire port. Now the only Mac without a FireWire port is the MacBook Air (where the omission is understandable). Thank you Apple...!

Jun 11, 09 - 10:04 pm Comment from: rjackb

Not sure what kind of cameras you all are using but all of mine use CompactFlash cards, not SD, so I could care less about an SD card reader.

It's great that they added Firewire 800. And lowered the price.

Jun 11, 09 - 10:06 pm Comment from: macnut222

The battery life score is meaningless to most of us Mac users. They tested it while running the MBP as a WINDOWS machine.

Watch the MacBook line evolve as a result of this. You'll get your netbook.

@R:

No, Apple is repositioning its former MacBooks as MacBook Pros because the differences between the lines had become very small, and the smaller screen size of the MacBooks fits well at the lower end of the MacBookPro lineup.

The white, plastic MacBook will soldier on for a few months until the replacement MacBook line is ready.

Apple will use the MacBook moniker for a new line of small, tablet-style computers which fill the gap between iPhone/iPod touch and MacBook Pro.

Jun 12, 09 - 03:18 am Comment from: Larry

They took out a whole express card slot and all they could fit in was a non-spring loaded SD card slot? I hope it's not those where you can feel the card scratching as you pull it in and out.

Jun 12, 09 - 07:31 am Comment from: lurker

Typing this on a 13" MacBook Pro. Had ordered a new white MacBook, with the Nvdia Graphics, so I could be guaranteed of three more years of a compact Mac Portable with FireWire. Then Monday happened. I was completely surprised by the revamp of the 13" unibody MacBook to include FireWire. Got the RA for the white MacBook, ordered the MacBook Pro, two day delivery and here we are.

This machine is fantastic. I perceive the screen to be brighter. It is lighter but feels like it was carved from a solid block of aluminum (Oh, wait…). The touchpad is going to take some learning to use all of its capability. It feels smooth as glass (Oh, wait…). The computer doesn't seem to work as hard playing internet videos and stays very cool.

Radio Shack is doomed. I didn't consider the implication of transferring data via Firewire from a FW400 machine to a FW800 machine. So when I got to the set up step on the MBP13 that asks "Do you want to transfer data from an existing Mac?" I had that dumbshit moment and promptly nipped off to Radio Shack to get either a 9 pin male/ 6 pin female adapter or a bilingual FW cable. I knew I was lost at the glaze-over after the word "firewire". If they can't deal with the simple FW800 to FW400 interconnection question, what do they have? Why bother even making the trip?

Turns out that it wasn't actually necessary, there are other options: ethernet cable, wifi connection, TimeMachine backup of the existing computer (my choice).

I liked the white MacBooks a lot. Good looking, very capable. Seem to hold value well, expect to get $700 on eBay for my 3 year old white MacBook.

This MacBook Pro is love at first sight, in all its elegant but geeky splendor. I intend to keep it until I wear the battery out, or Apple does "One More Thing".

I don't know about you guys but I would prefer a black anodized aluminum MacBookPro 17". Black for the blackest, darkest hearts (which suits me just fine).

I HATE the light color!

Agree or disagree with me, still my opinion

Jun 12, 09 - 10:04 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@lurker,

I am green with envy! But very happy for you!

Jun 12, 09 - 10:09 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ lynx,

One issue with a black anodized finish might be wear and scratches. The exposed aluminum would really look bad.

I'd be interested to know if Apple has experimented with different finishes; I'm sure they have.

But I agree that other options would be nice.

Like always, MDN's belligerent and arrogant approach toward the world is apparent:

"MacDailyNews Take: Wrong. It's not the only way at all. We've been doing it via Wi-Fi for four years now, but, as we all know, PC users are years behind Mac users. Our first WiFi camera was a Nikon CoolPix P1. Turn on its WiFi and "Boom!" there's the camera in iPhoto. Welcome to the future, Cisco, 2005 style! It even comes with a USB cable if you prefer old-fashioned methods"

The easy response? Most people simply can't afford to purchase a new camera everytime they come out. People hang on to perfectly good digital cameras for years and years, simply because they don't have the money or need to change them up.

So YES, for many, many people, this is the first time they will be able to use their SD cards without a USB attached dongle.