MacBook Pro Observations

Ok. Here's a bunch of MacBook Pro observations, in no particular order.

-- The MBP has a DVD drive that is very picky about Region codes. My iBook would play any DVD with VLC, my MBP will not. The DVD will just fail to play in VLC without a warning. Region 4 DVDs will play without a hitch (I'm in Australia).
Region 1 DVDs (I tested it with 'Primer') will play fine in an external drive.

-- Speedit v0.5 (http://www.increw.com/products/speedit/screen_shots.html) makes my Mac seize up periodically. The previous version works fine though for getting CPU temps.

-- Shutting off the keyboard backlight conserves battery.

-- On batteries, the calibration process is very different to previous Macs, read your manual.

-- If you install BootCamp, check your System Preferences for what your 'Startup Drive' is set to. If it hasn't got a default setting, your machine boots *Windows* by default. Yes, really.

-- If the above applies, or your machine is set to boot Windows, Safe Sleep *will not work for you*. You'll just find yourself back in Windows when you boot up after replacing your battery.

-- I discovered the above when I tested Safe Sleep after installing Boot Camp. Don't kid yourselves, Boot Camp is still Beta.

-- When idling, my machine will do about 30C to 40C above ambient. It will ratchet to 90C under full load, then fall back to the low to mid 80s as the fans kick in. This is warm, but it looks like the thermal system actually does work. I think it needs to be more aggressive though. a PrefPane setting ('Louder + cooler' vs 'quieter and hotter') would be nice.

-- I'm tempted to try to address the above issue with a 6 pack of beer, a tube of Arctic Silver 5, and an Apple Certified Tech.

-- I'll probably just wait for a firmware update though.

-- And I hope its out before Summer.

-- The MBP doesn't get too hot for lap use, but then again it is sitting on a foofbag normally. WoW is quite good even on powersaving settings.