Level 1

0 points

Macbook Pro and Powerpoint (Yechhh)

I've been using my MacBook Pro (2.0) for a few days. Powerpoint is just unacceptably slow. It takes a long time to open up and then usability is low. There is a horrible latency when typing in a text box. Doing any action takes at least twice as long as Powerpoint on the old Powerbook (which was not all that fast). Its bad enough that I am considering returning my MacBook. Is anyone else experiencing this? I'm not holding my breath that Microsoft will release a universal version of Office soon so this is a killer concern for me. I also tried to convert existing Powerpoints to Keynote 3 and it crashes if the Powerpoint is over 300k (which nearly every file is). I'm very frustrated - any help out there???

Macbook Pro 2.0, Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 6:36 AM

49 replies

Mar 1, 2006 11:01 AM in response to iFelix

Actually, I knew that. Did you notice he said Office 2004 is universal AND runs through Rosetta?

C.J Mac

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2006 11:08 AM in response to Kappy

Beg to differ, C.J. Office applications are not
universal binaries.

Sorry, I swore that I saw the universal image at the top
of the box when I purchased Office 2004 for Mac (Student/teacher), I guess I was wrong. Does that mean that I won’t be able to run it the intel macs? Or just that it run run slower???

I noticed that in the software included it mentions that software included: Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive; what is that compared to the Student / Teacher edition?

My applogies, I am very new to Mac’s, I have never even
used one in my life. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for clarifying.

C.J

Mar 1, 2006 11:41 AM in response to C.J Mac

If you have no idea what you are talking about, you shouldn't post as though you do. More so if you have never even touched a Mac...

The test drive is a demo version. It only lasts for 30 days and it doesn't let you print anything. You have to actually buy it if you want to use it.

J Michael

Level 3

660 points

Mar 1, 2006 11:48 AM in response to jr - indiana

I just read this. I pulled up PowerPoint and loaded an existing 30 slide presentation, added a new slide to it, and began typing. No latency at all. This is with having the following programs open and running at the same time:

Mail, iCal, Safari, Excel, Word, Photoshop (CS2), MSN Mennegner, Skype, Keynote.

I have only 1GB of ram. Personally, I think the MPB is the best computer ever made.

Just a question though - why on earth would you want to use PowerPoint, if you have Keynote? I use it to view others' presentations only.

🙂

C.J Mac

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2006 12:09 PM in response to Jeremy Blanks

If you have no idea what you are talking about, you
shouldn't post as though you do. More so if you have
never even touched a Mac...

The test drive is a demo version. It only lasts for
30 days and it doesn't let you print anything. You
have to actually buy it if you want to use it.

I really don’t think that comment was called for, but
I am willing to be the better person here. I am on this forum to get information and understand a little more about Mac’s; I did appologize (not to you but for misinforming others; I was only trying to help. I was corrected by someone whom had a little more patience to what you have, and I don’t see him making such a big deal of it.

I found that to be arather ignorant comment, but hey God made all kinds!!

C.J

C.J Mac

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2006 12:12 PM in response to senatorakuezue

If it uses rosetta then it's not a universal
application. MS Office won't be universal for at
least another 6 months. Maybe if the original poster
creates another slideshow and tries to import that
into Keynote 3, to see if it's Keynote or the
Powerpoint file that's creating the problem. You
might find out if the reinstall of MS Office will
help too.

Thanks again senator for clarifying and not biting my head off!

C.J

Mar 1, 2006 12:17 PM in response to J Michael

I'm a little bit surprised that everybody keeps saying that office runs "just fine" through rosetta. The apps take forever and a day to open for the first time. I was working on a Word document with a page full of tables yesterday, and I can't tell you how frustrating it was to watch the entire page slowly redraw from top to bottom every time I did something. It also wreaks major havoc on your battery life.

I would use pages/keynote but i got office through my university for like $15 and i just broke the bank by buying this macbook! 🙂

MacBook Pro 2.0GHz/2GB Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Kappy

Level 10

362,791 points

Mar 1, 2006 12:54 PM in response to C.J Mac

Non-universal applications (not all, but most) can run through Rosetta, but they will not run as fast as they would on non-Intel Macs.

Bob Maher

Level 3

680 points

Mar 1, 2006 1:03 PM in response to bfibandit

Hi there!

I have to tell you, I am having zero problems with any of the MS Office apps. I mean - they run as good, and seem maybe even perkier than they did on my 1.5GHz PB 12". I opened up a 1.2MB PowerPoint file, no problems. I have opened numerous Word and Excel files - no issues. I've been using Entourage for email - no worries. I really do wonder if you are having some sort of issue here.

I hate to dig up old posts, or problems, but I have to ask - did you buy the system with 2GB RAM or did you add more when you got it? If you added more, are you sure that the extra stick isn't the problem? Maybe not matched? Just asking.

Bob

Chas Hulme

Level 4

1,130 points

Mar 1, 2006 1:28 PM in response to Bob Maher

Bob, I think you may be assigning too much of a performance penalty to a non-dual channel SODIMM pair.. The complaint raised sounds more like a tire iron over the head...

🙂

Bob Maher

Level 3

680 points

Mar 1, 2006 1:29 PM in response to Chas Hulme

Ha! You are probably right....

Bob

Mar 1, 2006 2:07 PM in response to jr - indiana

does anyone know if the apple remote can be used with powerpoint. i have tried several times but it does not seem to accept the commands with the remote although it works fine with keynote.

Mar 1, 2006 4:31 PM in response to Bob Maher

What can you say about the behavior and volume of MBP's fans. Noisy or silent? Always on or only kicking in while doing loads of stuff?

Bob Maher

Level 3

680 points

Mar 1, 2006 5:00 PM in response to Martin Heidingsfelder

Arrrrggggghhhhhh!

The fans sound like rice krispies!

Bob

Mar 1, 2006 5:12 PM in response to Bob Maher

I bought the other stick of memory from OWC. It is working flawlessly so far. Office apps perform the same way they did before. Everything else is very snappy.

I probably should have mentioned that this is my first mac, and prior to this, i had never used mac office. Perhaps I'm just used to the way office performs on windows, which pretty much reacts instantaneously to any inputs. It just feels like there's a lot going on under the surface, which probably IS the case with rosetta and all. Kind of clunky, like iTunes running on windows if you've ever experienced that. 🙂

MacBook Pro 2.0GHz/2GB Mac OS X (10.4.5)

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Macbook Pro and Powerpoint (Yechhh)