ajdroidx

Yup. I am sick of my desktop and think I may just replace the stupid thing with a 15" MBP.

Recent problems:
- My mouse curser now has a spinning circle near it 90% of the time while idle.

-Clicking don't work sometimes or its slow where it "dings" when doing something like if another dialog box is open. I changed the battery in the mouse

- Playing videos with windows media often crashes my driver and tells me I am out of memory. I have 4gigs of system ram and a geforce 8800 GTS card. I don't think this is the problem. i7 CPU

- The driver issues with like my Nexus, iPod (when I had it) Xoom and other things.

- Using internet explorer, on google, I type a search phrase in and a little window pops up asking me if I want to save the search. Every. Single. Time. I suspect this is a Active X scripting conflict as I do have antivir and spybot. Spybot came up clean on the scan and antivir has not hinted at anything other then gingerbreak. This is by far the most annoying aspect right now. I got to turn off my active scripting to keep IE from asking me if I want to save the stupid search.

- Several times IE will ask me to speed up my browser by choosing add-ons. Almost every time I boot and load IE

- I know the answer many of you will give and that is either chrome or firefox. I got chrome. Its kind of stupid I have to work around windows to make it work!?

- Safari has spoiled me with the on-the-fly spelling correction



- The thing is bulky. Seriously its in the way.

- My 13" MBP base model gets more use, though I wish it had more power for video editing. It should be able to run like photoshop or something.

The only issues I have with just dumping my PC into a lake is my Raw photo files and video clips. I should just be able to drag and drop the files unto a new external drive. As far as software, well, Adobe photoshop and GRlevel 3 are about the only two major pieces of software I have and photoshop I mean to upgrade and buy fresh anyway, so might as well buy the mac version.

As far as the 13" MBP I have right now, well, its a great computer, but I think I am going to back up the few things I got saved to it, restore lion and since its mothers day coming up and my mom is getting into photography and she has an ancient toshiba laptop that (also drives me crazy due to windows xp) I think I will give her this very MBP I am typing this out on

My PC will become a legacy device and probably stored into another room and see very little use after I get my photos off of it.

----------------------

Now to decide if I want the base 15" model or spend the extra cash on that massive video card. I am not really gaming so...

- I think the quad core i7 in that thing will work more for video editing then the video card. And I can use the money I saved and beef up the ram in the thing and maybe an SSD scratch disc

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Last edited by ajdroidx; May 8th, 2012 at 10:50 PM.

9to5cynic

Sorry you're having troubles, but I'd try popping in a linux live disk (maybe linux mint) and see how that goes for you... You won't have any issues with IE () and you should be able to play video without issues. I play video constantly on my netbook in linux.

Hope that helps at least a bit. Also, if you are interested, you could install a linux distro on it and set it up as a file server so you can share files and back them up from the MBP.

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ajdroidx

I was thinking that

The hardware on my desktop is still good (I think!?) and I got mint linux on a CD around here someplace. Fresh HDDs are cheap so that would be fun to mess with

I think I am just tired of windows and want something new

as439726

Chrome is a cleaner browser as well. VLC for media

9to5cynic

That way you'll really be able to see if the problem is the hardware of maybe just software issues. I'd guess that it's the software (windows) but you never know. Good luck!
True, or firefox. I use both. VLC is king of media. All other players bow before the mighty traffic cone icon.

DaSchmarotzer

You should start by doing a clean install of Windows 7. It's really simple and it doesn't take long to set-up afterwards if you're not a power-user (which you are clearly not since you are using IE ). After that, get chrome. The job is done.

The problem with VLC is that it's ugly. Seriously, give me something that's as good-looking as WMP with the same features and I'll be an happy man. Until then, I'll stick to WMP.

mikedt

IMO it's not ugly, it's functional, it does exactly what I need, no nonsense, no fuss. All of my students are very familiar with VLC, because I use it for classroom projector video presentations.

Problem I found with WMP, it doesn't play most of the downloaded video formats like MKV, FLV, DivX, Xvid, etc. It does looks nice and shiny though.

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Last edited by mikedt; May 9th, 2012 at 05:45 AM.

Tresezk

WMP works fine after installing Codec packs like K-Lite .

linuxrich

VLC works fine. Period.

as439726

Except VLC plays almost anything and the new update resolved some glitches

SUroot

I like VLC. Yes it plays everything. I like WMP as its prettier. On windows I used WMP HC (Home Cinema) which works much better than WMP, but looks like VLC.

In the end I made my media centre XBMC and it runs everything I throw at it.

For windows I like to keep it simple but pretty and usually end up with WMP11 + K-Lite FULL codec pack. For Audio, WinAMP as WMP's sound quality is lacking.

In short, I have found no perfect solution in windows. I use Linux mainly myself anyway. Although I am yet to move away from Banshee for movies.

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argedion

I prefere VLC for Windows, and Linux. Wmp is nice but its always been a resource hog.

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as439726

Yup Yup

SamuraiBigEd

Which is why you needs more resources!

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argedion

There is no such monster with Windows.

ajdroidx

I wonder if something is wrong with my video card? Its a geforce 8800 GTS with 640gb of ddr 3 ram. Got it pretty much when they first came out. Cost 400 bucks or something. I had the card in a previous build and I kept getting shutdowns and BSODs.

Too bad new cards use new standards and I may have to replace my motherboard and ram along with it. Seems like a huge hassle.

I wonder if there is a video card checker. I often get a "out of memory error" after my system freezes for a few seconds, blacks out and windows recovers and says it was a driver error.

SamuraiBigEd

There are programs which will scan your system and tell you exactly what is wrong hardware wise. Check with a local PC shop, a buddy of mine charges $85.00 to run the scan, it takes 24-48 hours to complete. It is a stress test and will list any errors but can overtax weak components in the process so be aware that components "on the way out" can be killed by the test.

Last time I had an "Out of Memory Error" that wasn't related to Photoshop it was bad ram, it would bsod on a regular basis, changed the ram and all was fine.

I second the fresh install suggestion, after the test is run and bad components replaced. How old is the desktop?

Also, if running Photoshop it is best to have the maximum amount of ram the system can handle installed.

ajdroidx

Bad ram is also a possibility

When I tried to upgrade my ram to 8gig and install a SSD and windows 7 64 on it, I had all kinds of problems. The PC did not even post. Finally I removed the new ram and it booted

SamuraiBigEd

Was it a match for what you had installed or a complete replacement? You can encounter compatibility issues between different ram modules or between ram and motherboard as well as defective ram right out of the package (had this happen a few times).

argedion

With RAM its important to remember you can run a lower bus speed ram but never a higher bus speed ram. Some systems though will not support the lower on exact. so if you have 833mhz frontside bus then you must replace / add with 833mhz frontside bus. Some systems still require pairs as well so thats another issue you have to look at.

SUroot

..and sometimes those pairs are slot 1+2 and 3+4 and other times they're 1+3 and 2+4...

argedion

yes sir your correct and what an excellent point.

ajdroidx

Yeah, I made sure they where slotted right. Oh well. The New ram could have just been bad. It happens. At 40 bucks, I just tossed the stuff in the corner. Did not think it was worth the hassle to get an RMA from new egg and ship it back and wait for another pair of sticks. The latency and everything was the same as what I had installed anyway, same brand and so on.

Covart

Wait for the refresh of the MBP to see what they look like and have in them before you decide. Here is a link to the buyers guide and refresh history. Althogh rumor is, these new MBP's will resemble Air's and have no optical drive. Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone

And I can say this much, I have the MBP from 2010 and I took the Optical drive out, use it as an external USB optical drive (when I occassionally need to use it, which is rare sinse everything is downloaded from the Mac App Store now, including new OS's like Mountain Lion), and then installed a 128gb ssd for the OS and essential programs and a 500gb 7200rpm hdd for video's, photo's and games (this slots into where the optical dive was with a SATA caddy. Andof course, upgraded to 8gbof RAM.
Boot time from cold start is 16 seconds. When I had Windows 7 loaded via a partition, it loaded in 25 seconds from the point I selected the partition. And all this was in 2010. The new MBP's are even better, and prices for ssd's have gone down.
For your needs, and sinse you won't be gaming, the current or new line of MBP's should do you nicely.

ajdroidx

Too late. I now have a 15" base MBP right now. Its the one I probably should have bought in the first place.

From what I have heard the Ivy Bridge Intel chips are not going to be a huge performance increase, what 10%? Even so, this is apple, so I expect an incremental upgrade anyway

Covart

I haven't looked into what the new chips can do, but I do know your MBP will run circles around my 2010 dual core! congrat on the new laptop btw. I consider the MBP the top of the laptop food chain. It's not iOS, so the walled garden isn't so high.

ajdroidx

Well, updated my motherboard bios and installed the latest driver for my video card to see if that helps things. But so far the spinning icon above the mouse pointer is still there (almost as if something is running in the background).

Also on boot when windows desktop comes up, I get a window that says server busy and gives me an option to retry or something else. Could be my antivirus popping up - Avira the message.

More digging around. I may just need to do a clean install of windows. At least hard drives are cheap but my other hardware is getting dated. I am starting to fear for my data - Raw files of photographs

SamuraiBigEd

Get a good 2-3tb external and back your picture files up, RAW is not subject to the degradation jpegs experience when being copied repeatedly.

After that, a clean install is always a good cure-all as long as it is not a hardware issue. Barring any problems I usually wipe and reload once each year and a half, more if the need arises. My record is a little over two years on an install but I play around with things a lot which tends to muck up the registry.

ajdroidx

Updated some stuff on the desktop and still having issues. My USB 2 slots are now (and have been USB 1.1) - I plugged my nexus in and it said this device can run faster if installed into a USB 2 port.

Mouse still acting strange, Double clicks, scrolling a window up will select the window behind it or deactivate the window. Still the spinning. I tried to play a video and it was super choppy.

Yeah, something is not right.

I got a spare 2 TB HDD sitting in the bay thats just unplugged I was going to use to back up my MBP when I was going to install an SSD but never got around to it. So, I think I will pull all the drives in the desktop, install the fresh 2TB drive, boot from CD and re-install windows. Perhaps I should try the SSD again first?

Last time I attempted to use the SSD I could not get windows 7 64bit to update. It kept looping. Could have been driver issues or the motherboard (its a p55-ud3r revision 1) which supports SATA 1 I think. The drive is a SATA II with the 6gbps standard. I did update the motherboard bios so I could try it again, if nothing else use 32bit windows

ajdroidx

Removed all the drives in my system, put in the SSD with 64bit windows 7 installed on it along with a 2tb drive for storage and my dvd burner. All other drives are out. Doing a fresh install of windows 32bit (I don't have much use for 64bit windows - my hardware is a bit old anyway). I may set aside about 15gb for a linux distro too.

ajdroidx

Seems like my mouse is having one of the problems. Wonder if the wireless keyboard is interfering with the mouses receiver?

Trying the old mouse again.

Oh, and it turns out, I no longer have my ESATA ports. I guess I could install the driver disc for the motherboard, but, meh, I don't think so. USB 2.0 should be enough.

Last edited by ajdroidx; May 17th, 2012 at 05:58 PM.

SamuraiBigEd

If your system is 64bit you should definitely install 64bit Windows, it uses the resources more effectively, especially RAM.

MonsterNo7

I've been using Macs for two years, since i started in graphic design. I don't miss windows at all. The interface is great, everything runs smoothly, and I've had minimal issues. Keep in mind that the genius bar is essentially collected ignorance, but that's what Google is for.

Also, if you're a gamer, especially a heavy gamer, consider other options. While Macs are getting more games, they honestly don't run as well. I keep an alienware laptop for gaming.

SUroot

I agree that it uses RAM more effectively and also CPU where programmed correctly.

That said, windows and windows programmes are still well behind Linux. There are STILL issues with compatability, 10 years after Windows started with XP 64.

Prinny

Personally, I dual boot windows 7 64 bit and a Linux distro. Changes every few weeks, but right now its Ubuntu ultimate edition! I just use windows for very small things that I can't do in Linux.

SUroot

I just use win 7 using VMWare unity mode. I have a startup.sh in ubuntu that starts the vm in unity more so I don't even have to see the windows desktop. Works well. Would work better with more RAM though

argedion

Fedora dual boot with win 7 both are x64 and Windows gets opened every know and then do to the fact that not giving a prisoner day light every now and then is cruel. No I just really have no use for it. Windows has to many issues. I hate the fact that programs I paid for can not be used in the newest version unless I pay those mongers even more money to use their crappy program. At least when it was 9x I wasn't forced into updating all my hardware just to get to use buggy features that sucked to begin with. With 9x everything sucked right off the disk without having to spend more money to find it out