The next question you want to ask yourself is how often does this occur. If it’s an occasional occurrence, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it (pun intended). However, if you’re like me and have to cautiously watch for the pulsating sleep light before even considering putting your Mac away, I would read on.

The Cause

The problem evolves around a feature Apple has added in recent years called Safe Sleep. What Safe Sleep does is copy the contents of RAM to the hard drive. Should the RAM loose power, your Mac resumes from sleep using the image Safe Sleep created on the hard drive.

Unfortunately, this feature does not always work correctly. In my testing, I’ve found Safe Sleep fails to put your MacBook to sleep if something was actively writing to the hard drive when you initiated sleep. I’ve also found Safe Sleep fails if you move your portable slightly before it’s asleep. In this case the Sudden Motion Sensor is triggered, parking your hard drive until the motion has stopped. A glitch in the software apparently never unparks the hard drive, thus causing a failed sleep.

The Fix

Word on the street is Apple plans to have a fix for some sleep issues in 10.4.9. Whether 10.4.9 will solve this particular issue remains unknown. Thankfully, you can easily fix your sleep issue now. All you have to do is disable Safe Sleep. Since your Mac is not sleeping correctly to begin with, Safe Sleep’s functionality is anything but safe.

To disable Safe Sleep, open up the Terminal and type the following line:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

In the event you need to re-enable Safe Sleep, use this line:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3

With Safe Sleep off not only do I find my Mac no longer fails to sleep or wake, but my Mac instantly falls asleep; perfect for those mad dashes out of the classroom upon the words “class dismissed”.

Hopefully this will solve your sleep issues. If not, have a look at this MacFixIt article. There are a number of other possible solutions ranging from unplugging USB devices to reinstalling Mac OS X. Judging from the number of forum threads I’ve read, Safe Sleep seems to be the culprit 90% of the time, so give disabling it a try.

One of the biggest issues which MacBook owners have reported are the heat issues. While my MacBook certainly does get hot, in my opinion it’s nothing out of the ordinary. My MacBook will idle around 55C and get up to 80C depending on how much processor power I require at the time. While the temperatures certainly are a little toasty, it hasn’t stopped me from using my MacBook on my lap in shorts. Sure, the first day I used it I thought it was a little uncomfortable, but since then I’ve either gotten used to the heat, or the first day damaged my skin cells so I can no longer feel pain. Either way, it works out in the end for me.

One of the other major problems with the MacBook in white has been discoloration. Fellow 9ruler Derek Punsalan has been raising awareness of the issue ever since it happened to him. In his unfortunate case, he went out of his way to cover up his MacBook to prevent discoloration, and was only rewarded with an ugly yellow finish. Due to his campaign against discoloration and the hundreds of bloggers who supported him, I can say that I don’t have the issue at all. Since Apple was made aware of the issue, they have changed the plastic to a much smoother material; one which doesn’t change with time. Since I have a later MacBook build, I have been lucky to get the new plastic and avoid the issue completely. For the unlucky MacBook owners with an ugly top case, Apple is replacing the affected portion with no questions asked, so be sure to get that done.

Out of the other well known issues, I have experienced none of them. I have yet to hear the mooing of a cow coming from the back of my MacBook, so I’m safe on that front. As far as AirPort reception goes, it couldn’t be better for me. I’ve taken my MacBook to previously thought WiFi dead zone in my house, and have been surfing with ease. I’ve also avoided power adapter humming and the ever so popular melted MagSafe. So, on the well known fronts, I’ve been good so far.

I’d wish that I could say I haven’t experienced any issues at all, but I can’t do that. I have experienced some very minor issues which aren’t that well known. One of the first issues which became apparent to me is crappy sleep times. While most of Apple’s laptop fleet can stay days in sleep while only loosing a few percentage points, my MacBook looses about 10% of its battery every eight hours. While it’s nothing that will greatly affect my battery life, since I’ll either be plugged in or shut off, it’s a minor inconvenience. Unfortunately there isn’t much I can do, as I’ve been told by the great people over at Broadband Reports that the extra 2GB of RAM installed is drawing more power than normal. Oh well.

Another minor issue which I have experienced has been insanely long Lead-Out times when burning a DVD. When burning a 2-3 minute DVD, my Lead-Out step can take as long as 6-10 minutes. That’s roughly 4x longer than it takes to burn the DVD. Luckily I’ve gotten some help from the Apple support forums and I have a few things to try for my next DVD. If I can’t resolve the issue, it’s nothing I’m going to worry about since I don’t burn DVDs that often.

In the that affects every manufacture category, my screen developed a stuck pixel a few days ago. Within minutes of noticing it I was able to successfully rub it out, only for it to reappear later that night. After seeing it a second time, I rubbed it out again, this time while playing one of the stuck pixel videos. Since then I haven’t seen it again, but if it decides to come back I feel confident that I’ll be able to take it down once again.

In the that’s freaking weird category, I’ve on occasion smelled some sort of burning chemical coming the MacBook. I initially thought it was just the MacBook’s “new car smell,” but since I don’t smell it all the time, and I still smell it almost two weeks after my purchase, I have a feeling that it’s not normal. Apparently a few other people have noticed this problem, claiming it irritates their nose and throat. It hasn’t irritated me at all; in fact, I think it smells quite good. Maybe I’m just a druggie at heart.

All in all, my MacBook has been wonderful. I’ve avoided all the well known major and minor issues, but have experience a few issues of my own. Luckily none of my issues have dramatically affected my MacBook, so it’s nothing which makes me doubt the MacBook and Apple’s quality control. If I can never find a solution to my problems, I will still love my MacBook for years to come.

So, if you’ve been reading all the issues about the MacBook Pro and the MacBook, and are thinking to yourself that every unit is broken, think again. Apple has at least one customer with a working MacBook with no complaints to file. I just think what we’ve been reading about these laptops is only the opinion of a small minority, much like Microsoft’s issues with its 360. Sure, a few people have units which are complete crap, but the majority of people’s MacBooks are working perfectly fine, giving them no reason to tell anyone about it.

I have several options for configuring my MacBook, and I honestly haven’t completely made up my mind yet. One thing for certain is I’m not going to purchase the black edition. Being a PC user for the majority of my life, I’m looking to embrace Apple’s famous white designs and not look like a regular PC user. That leaves the CPU/DVD, RAM, and hard drive, all fair game for configuring.

Since the MacBook comes in either a 1.83GHz Core Duo model with a Combo drive (DVD/CD-RW) or a 2.0GHz Core Duo model with a SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW), I have to make this decision together. My current PC has an AMD Athlon 2500 processor, and my current Mac (Hackintosh) has an Intel Celeron running at 2.5GHz. Given those specs, either MacBook processor would be a huge upgrade. Since I’m happy with my current speeds on both my Mac and PC, I don’t feel the difference in processor speeds is going to matter that much. However, when it comes to drive options, I actually think this might be an issue. I’m quite spoiled with my DVD±RW drive in my PC, and since I’m looking for the MacBook to become my main machine, a DVD burner will be important. I’m just not sure if an extra $200 for an integrated DVD burner is worth it when for $50 I can get an external one. I don’t think I’ll have a need to do mobile burning, so I could probably get away with an external drive. Any comments on this issue would be appreciated.

On the RAM front, I’m not going for anything less than 1GB. OS X is RAM hungry, and I know I’ll need at least that much. My current Mac has 1GB of RAM and I get away with that just fine. Apple’s price to upgrade to 1GB is actually cheaper than doing it myself, so at 1GB it makes sense for an upgrade. However, over 1GB and Apple’s prices are more expensive than buying some RAM yourself. Given those facts, I’m fairly certain I will be ordering 1GB of RAM, and then possible upgrading sometime down the road myself.

The hard drive is the final configurable option on my mind. Apple’s stock hard drive in the MacBook is 60GB, which would probably serve me well if Boot Camp didn’t exist. Since I’m planning on using Boot Camp, I need to figure for extra space for a Windows partition. Another thing to keep in mind is my hard drive usage. My current Mac only has a 40GB hard drive, but that’s because it’s a Hackintosh, and I don’t trust storing anything important on it. My current PC has an 80GB hard drive, plus an extra 60GB drive for storing “downloads”. A quick look at my hard drive reveals that the majority of stuff on it is archived things, such as old projects or photos. That leads me to believe if I would need an external hard drive down the road, I could easily load archived things on it, and not have to lug it around with me. With that said, Apple’s $50 upgrade to an 80GB drive sounds like the most logical choice for me. I could easily manage with that storage size, and if more space would be needed down the road, an external hard drive would work for me. Besides, the next hard drive size up is 100GB and it would cost $150 to upgrade to it, making it not worth it in my book.

With all that said, it looks like my MacBook will turn out to be a 1.83GHZ Core Duo with a Combo drive, 1GB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive. After adding a DVI adapter to hook it up to my LCD monitor, my final total for that model would be $1,201. If I would opt for the faster processor model with a SuperDrive my final total would be $1,351, $150 more. Do you think an additional $150 is worth it for a faster processor and a SuperDrive? While I’d like to keep my purchase as cheap as possible, I don’t want to miss out on a great value upgrade if it makes sense. Any comments on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Notice something? Apple’s been announcing something significant on a different sequential weekday since their birthday. I don’t know about you, but I find this behavior quite odd. Whether these are just announcements they had initially planned for their non-existant birthday celebration, or they’re just trying to stay in the news, Apple’s definitely up to something.

This behavior has started to get me wondering, how long are we going to see these weekly announcements? Personally, I think we’ll continue to see these announcements throughout May. With a new version of Final Cut Pro, the Video iPod, and the Macbook, Apple certainly has enough potential products to continue this trend for sometime to come. Steve Jobs’ recent comment of Apple having some upcoming products which are the best he’s seen in his life, has certainly swayed me to believe that the coming weeks are going to be no letdown for the Mac-addict in all of us.

The Real iPod Video

This is what everyone is hoping for, and my gut feeling is telling me it’s true. Steve Jobs was never very fond of the iPod Video’s video playback, touting as only a bonus to the music playback. The original iPod Video was only released to test if there is a market for downloaded video, and if the past couple of months continue, I think there is. Steve wants a real device to handle this new media, so a real iPod Video player is a logical choice.

On top of that, the invitation just gives it away. The calendar on the invitation certainly means something. It’s not just for show. To me it means the iPod Video will have PDA functions. The iPod has always had basic PIM functions, but with the inclusion of a larger touch screen, you basically have a PDA in your pocket.

Media Cube

The other product I think Apple will announce is some sort of TV device that will allow you to watch your downloaded videos. This is the missing piece in Apple’s video market. Mac’s handle video well, the iPod is a portable video player, it’s just the TV area Apple hasn’t invaded. If they come out with a device which will allow you to play anything downloaded from the iTunes Video Store on your TV, I think Apple will soon see video downloads skyrocket. People are wanting to do this, there just hasn’t been a good legal way yet.

No Macs?

Yes, that right. As much as I’d love to see a new Mac, I think this event is about Apple’s entrance into the video market. Apple is saving all the good products like the Intel Mac Mini and the Intel iBook for its April 1st birthday bash. They don’t want to spoil the fun too soon, because honestly, after they release those, what’s there to look forward to?

Then I got a Mac. H.264 was amazing. It looked wonderful, played wonderfully, and felt fast. Since I’ve had my Mac I’ve actually been downloading the H.264 version over the Xvid. So why is the viewing experience better on Mac? To answer that we’re going to have to go through some tests.

First, I’ll cover the hardware used. The Windows box is an AMD Athlon 2500+ with 768MB of RAM, and an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card. The Mac box is a Celeron D 325 with 512MB of RAM, and an integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. In an AnandTech CPU benchmark between the Celeron 325 and Athlon 2500+, the Celeron performed slightly under the Athlon. Obviously, 768MB of RAM is greater than 512MB; and a 9800 Pro destroys integrated graphics. So, technically the Mac box is significantly slower than the Windows box.

Now for my tests. Test #1 was done with this week’s Diggnation. The Windows box took about twenty seconds to start playing the video, and once it started it kept up at a good rate. However, once I readjusted the window size, or loaded up fullscreen, the video would have to “rebuffer”. It would take around ten seconds to start playing full motion again. The Mac box played the video file just fine. As soon as it loaded, it played. If I adjusted the size of the window or loaded fullscreen, the video continued to play at a constant frame rate.

Test #2 was done with the NASA Space Shuttle Quicktime H.264 demo using the 480p version. The Windows box was barely chugging along. While the audio stayed consistent, I was only getting around one frame for every five seconds. On the Mac box, the video took about three seconds to start playing smooth. Once it was playing smooth, it kept up with the video until I would adjust the window. When I adjusted the window, it would slow down for a second or two, then resume the smooth playback.

Alright, let’s get this straight. We have a Windows box and a Mac box. Both the Windows box and the Mac are running the latest version of Quicktime 7. The Mac box is slower than the Windows box. Yet, the Mac box plays H.264 better. I don’t know, something just doesn’t add up.

Yes, that’s right Windows users. Window’s Quicktime 7 is a piece of crap for H.264. It’s not that Windows can’t handle H.264, it’s just that Apple doesn’t want to devote all the resources required to make smooth H.264 playback a reality. You can’t blame Apple, they want you to think that the Mac is faster than a Windows machine, because it plays H.264 better. Unfortunately for Apple, H.264 is a standard format, and anyone can make a player.

What I’m getting at is, don’t hate H.264. While H.264 does require intense computer resources, it’s not that our currently computers can’t handle it. It’s just the main player doesn’t fully take advantage of what’s available to it. So, next time you have to play a H.264 video on a Windows machine, do yourself a favor a play it with VLC. Your computer will thank you.

This weekend isn’t looking so good either. I’m going on a retreat this weekend, so I’ll be out of town with no Internet. The retreat’s good for me, but unfortunately bad for you.

I’m not saying that there won’t be any posts this week, it’s just if there are posts, they’ll be basic small entries. I’m sorry I can’t devote the attention I want to on the site this week. I promise I’ll make it up to you next week.