louie tran spot – daily gadget blog

Ok, I just installed Snow Leopard which took about 75 minutes. So far I noticed that I went from 214GB of free space to 237GB which is amazing. Also, it runs a lot faster and there definitely so visual enhancements here and there. I’ve used VLC, Microsoft Office 2008, Toast, and Adium which all run fine.

My only issue is that I’m still trying to figure out how to set up Exchange in Mail. In Entourage and in Outlook, I just put in the OWA server address and don’t need to put in the incoming and outgoing mail servers. In Mail, it asks for this and I’ve tried putting in different address and leaving it blank and it wouldn’t work. Any advice?

Also, I’ve installed the new Bootcamp drivers for Windows XP and there are two big things that I’ve seen so far when running it. The first thing is that ‘right clicking’ works! I put two fingers on the trackpad and press down and it right clicks just like it does in Mac OSX. This feature might have already been in Leopard though because I didn’t think about trying that till now. Now the second biggest improvement that I’ve noticed is that Windows runs MUCH cooler than it did on Leopard. I’ve used Windows XP with the new Snow Leopard Boot Camp drivers and it doesn’t heat up as badly as Leopard did.

So far, this is definitely worth the $29 upgrade!

Just picked this up on eBay! It’s about time I retire my MacBook Pro 15″ Core Duo 1.83Ghz…

MacBook Pro 15″ 2.53Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (Unibody)

* 320GB HDD
* 4GB Memory
* SuperDrive (DVD/CD burner)
* Backlit keyboard
* Built in iSight webcam/microphone
* Mac OS X – 10.5.8
* iLife 09
* Strong Unibody design
* Removable battery!
* Original box
* Original accessories

EXTRAS

* BUILTny neoprene protective computer case
* Speck Products Satin Plastic Protective Sheild
* AppleCare Protection Plan – 2+ years of extended warranty from Apple.

I got this version vs the new MacBook Pros that just came out because the newer Macs don’t have the removeable battery, missing the express card slot (replaced with an old ass SD card reader instead of a multicard, stupid) and downgraded the L2 Cache from 6MB to 3MB! The late 2008 MacBook Pros (which I just got on eBay) is, IMO way better.

I just also installed Snow Leopard so I’m testing that out now as we speak. More to come!

I bought this on eBay in December 2008 as a Christmas present to myself for $600 and it is probably the best deal and purchase I’ve ever made on eBay. Even though this is the first generation 2006 MacBook Pro 15″ Core Duo, it still has many years to go thanks to the well designed hardware and operating system Apple has been known for over the years.

I could start off by rambling on endlessly about the notebook’s aesthetics but that was done over three years ago on other reviews and they are now in the unibody design of the MacBook Pro so I’ll just stick with what affects me. I like the fact that this is only an inch thick when and the weight is EVENLY distributed throughout the notebook making it very easy to carry by hand, in a backpack, or in a laptop bag. There’s also the lightup keyboard that comes in handy at night or in low light conditions. What this notebook does need is a built in 5-in-1 memory card reader (yes I know the new MacBook Pros has an SD card but that’s not good enough!). I did find great alternative however by installing an unobtrusive Express Card reader by Sandisk. My only other big issue is that this version of the MacBook Pro gets very hot especially on the top right hand side. Just make sure you have good ventilation and work in a cool place whenever possible.

Even though this was the 2006 incarnation of the MacBook Pro, it still performs very well and runs just about every one of 2009’s applications I’ve thrown at it without any slowdowns or issues. After the Fedex guy dropped it off and powered it on to make sure that everything works (hey it’s eBay, you never know), I installed a Hitachi 320GB 7200 RPM drive and did a clean install of Leopard along with the rest of the applications that I use on a day to day basis such as Microsoft Office 2008, Adobe PhotoShop, iLife ‘09, Adium, FireFox, VLC, etc… I can run all of these programs simultaneously and have no slowdown issues whatsoever.

Continue Reading »

Wow it’s been over a month since I posted anything on this site. I’ve been quite busy at work and basically eat, take a shower, and then sleep when I get home. And then on the weekends I just run errands and try to catch a movie if I can. Anyway, my weekend project this week was upgrading my MacBook Pro 15″ 1.83Ghz Core Duo’s SuperDrive.

I have the first generation MacBook Pro that comes with the crappy UJ-857C drives that are very unreliable and unpredictable with a GSA-S10N Superdrive I got on eBay for SuperDrive. I followed the guide at ifixit.com and it was incredibly easy.

It took less than an hour to do (MacBook Pro has so many screws!) but it was a great experience in opening up the Mac and learning how easy it was to replace the parts.

I now have a much more reliable drive and Dual Layer capabilities and couldn’t be happier! I feel like getting a whole new laptop for the price of $50! I also upgraded to Leopard from Tiger and am enjoying it. Finally running Windows 7 native on the MacBook Pro without Parallels and it makes a huge difference.