Tagged Products - 2gb+core_2_duo+5400rpm

Apple MacBook Pro with 17" Display

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use the higher one, which would lead to less battery life
than the March model.

Display:
Like I said, I prefer matte finish (or a glossy that is not like a mirror).
The default colors were a little dull, so I went to System Preferences/Display/Color/Calibrate and
tweaked around and saved a new color profile. It is MUCH improved now - much better saturation
and has the contrast of glossy without the reflections.

Usage:
In less than 5 minutes, I upgraded to 4 Gigs RAM - bought that for about $60 from Amazon.
I am keeping my two original 1 Gig sticks in case I need them in the future.
I have VMWare Fusion running Windows XP Professional for some of my
must-have Windows apps. I have given the VM 1 Gig of RAM and 40 Gigs of disk.
Performance of Mac apps and Windows apps is superb.
I am using a WD Passport 320GB USB drive for backups with Time Machine.

Battery:
Last about 2.5-3 hours with almost constant usage. The best thing is when I close the lid,
it goes to sleep instantly, and wakes up instantly when I need it again, with no loss of
battery regardless of how long it sleeps. That is VERY DIFFERENT from my experience with
Windows laptops that lose battery even when sleeping. No idea why.

Storage:
It came with a 5400RPM 250GB HD. I bought a WD 7200RPM 320GB with a big buffer from
Newegg - I plan to swap out the HD - that requires "minor surgery" so I am doing my research
before I do it this weekend. The new disk will be a lot faster, although the it comes with
seems to be pretty fast already. I am swapping as I like doing stuff like that.
UPDATE: I swapped the hard drive and did a full restore from Time Machine - it now is exactly
the same as my las back-up with all apps and settings, except with a bigger and faster hard drive.
This "surgery" is t for the faint of heart. :-) And is probably totally unnecessary for most folks.

Mac OS X:
So simple. After using Windows PCs and laptops for over 15 years, I am amazed how easy
and intuitive it was to use a new OS. I know Mac OS X is very powerful and I am just beginning
to learn the advanced features to play with. Being able to run Windows XP in a VM with such a small
load on the system is very nice. I use software apps that are either not available on the Mac yet,
or have much older versions on the Mac. This is not specifically about the MacBook Pro but the
fact that the MacBook Pro has enough juice to do this is what is worth noting.

Boot Times:
When I shutdown and restart, it comes up in 30 seconds or so. Much faster than my experience
with Windows laptops. Here's the best part - if I put the Windows VM to sleep in my Mac,
it comes back up in seconds! Much faster than Windows used to wake up on a Windows laptop!
So for a portable laptop, the MacBook Pro is quite powerful and fast.

Overall:
I am glad I bought this model instead of the new Unibody model. This is by far the best portable computer
I have ever owned. I've always felt that the MacBook Pro carries a price premium over "equivalent" or
more feature rich Windows laptops, but now I know why. They are better.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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issue now), and, even occasionally not even work. It just stops moving the mouse despite me moving my finger
- The glossy display, like all other glossy displays, reflects a decent amount
- $[...] model doesn't include the backlit keyboard (Why??)
- Wish RAM was a little easier to access, but not too bad. Previous design was easier
- Wish this was the intro Macbook model
- No longer includes remote for FrontRow (or maybe mine was missing?)
- No Firewire 400 port

Overall, this is a fantastic computer. Worth pretty much every penny I paid for it ([...]). The biggest issue I have with it is the trackpad, but, from what I've read, Apple will be releasing a fix for that soon.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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You have to wake up or boot the computer while closed (power on, close display quickly!) with the external monitor plugged in for external display only while the laptop is open. If you unplug the Mini DisplayPort cable and plug it back in while in OSX, your laptop screen will turn on and stay on. Annoying.

- Windows does well with external displays thanks to the NVIDIA software that lets you set which display(s) you want to use, but the first few times, the drivers didn't seem to pick up the external display. Just unplug and plug back in. Eventually Windows XP Pro and Vista seem to "learn" your monitor preference with the external display plugged in. As an engineer, I have a hard time attributing "learning" to an OS, but that's what I observed. Vista seemed to learn faster than XP.

- Windows sometimes does not recognize the monitor after turning the monitor off for power saving. Again unplugging and replugging the mini displayport fixes this. Annoying.

~ For what it's worth I use an Envision 20" g2016wa2 monitor with the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter. I had some problems getting the monitor to recognize the VGA signal reliably when running Windows, but after a software update in OSX that problem seemed to go away. May or may not have been related.

- Screw holding hard drive clip in was easy to strip. Took a lot of pressure to start unscrewing, so be careful when you want to upgrade your hard drive.

- Slot loading drive doesn't always behave: sometimes it won't swallow the disc, or eject it all the way out, or feel like it's still holding on to the disc after ejecting and you want to take the disc out. No worries though because you just have to push the disc back in, hit eject. If that doesn't work, you might need to power down so the drive resets. Annoying.

- Battery life in Windows XP is worse than in OSX, probably because the power management drivers aren't as good. I noticed only 1:15 remaining after copying 5-10gigs of data with Wifi on and backlight about 20%. I may not have had a full charge though.

- Stand-by not reliable in Windows, so make sure it actually goes to sleep before you bag the computer. I found out the hard way and pulled out a very warm metal laptop--cooled off quickly thankfully and continued running fine.

- Touch pad in Windows is lousy: I use my right thumb to click touchpad buttons (in this case virtual button) while still touching the pad with my index finger, so when I do that in Windows, the cursor moves a little bit. You can use the tip of your index finger to do the click. Get an external mouse.

NB: My Windows complaints are certainly minor issues for some people since this is a Mac, but some of us do like to be able to play PC games :)

So overall, the problems I found certainly aren't show stoppers. It's a nice laptop given the performance, price, form factor, and capabilities.

I hope you found my quick points helpful.

P.S. Keep in mind I purchased the 2.0GHz model, which is plenty fast. In my experience the performance increase for the core processors isn't that huge when just increasing the frequency. It's the cache that'll speed up some things, but it's not worth the expense when Corei7 is coming out next year!

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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You have to wake up or boot the computer while closed (power on, close display quickly!) with the external monitor plugged in for external display only while the laptop is open. If you unplug the Mini DisplayPort cable and plug it back in while in OSX, your laptop screen will turn on and stay on. Annoying.



- Windows does well with external displays thanks to the NVIDIA software that lets you set which display(s) you want to use, but the first few times, the drivers didn't seem to pick up the external display. Just unplug and plug back in. Eventually Windows XP Pro and Vista seem to "learn" your monitor preference with the external display plugged in. As an engineer, I have a hard time attributing "learning" to an OS, but that's what I observed. Vista seemed to learn faster than XP.



- Windows sometimes does not recognize the monitor after turning the monitor off for power saving. Again unplugging and replugging the mini displayport fixes this. Annoying.



~ For what it's worth I use an Envision 20" g2016wa2 monitor with the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter. I had some problems getting the monitor to recognize the VGA signal reliably when running Windows, but after a software update in OSX that problem seemed to go away. May or may not have been related.



- Screw holding hard drive clip in was easy to strip. Took a lot of pressure to start unscrewing, so be careful when you want to upgrade your hard drive.



- Slot loading drive doesn't always behave: sometimes it won't swallow the disc, or eject it all the way out, or feel like it's still holding on to the disc after ejecting and you want to take the disc out. No worries though because you just have to push the disc back in, hit eject. If that doesn't work, you might need to power down so the drive resets. Annoying.



- Battery life in Windows XP is worse than in OSX, probably because the power management drivers aren't as good. I noticed only 1:15 remaining after copying 5-10gigs of data with Wifi on and backlight about 20%. I may not have had a full charge though.



- Stand-by not reliable in Windows, so make sure it actually goes to sleep before you bag the computer. I found out the hard way and pulled out a very warm metal laptop--cooled off quickly thankfully and continued running fine.



- Touch pad in Windows is lousy: I use my right thumb to click touchpad buttons (in this case virtual button) while still touching the pad with my index finger, so when I do that in Windows, the cursor moves a little bit. You can use the tip of your index finger to do the click. Get an external mouse.



NB: My Windows complaints are certainly minor issues for some people since this is a Mac, but some of us do like to be able to play PC games :)



So overall, the problems I found certainly aren't show stoppers. It's a nice laptop given the performance, price, form factor, and capabilities.



I hope you found my quick points helpful.



P.S. Keep in mind I purchased the 2.0GHz model, which is plenty fast. In my experience the performance increase for the core processors isn't that huge when just increasing the frequency. It's the cache that'll speed up some things, but it's not worth the expense when Corei7 is coming out next year!

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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the viewing angle on this screen is TINY. Things look good if your head is positioned PERFECTLY, but move just a little bit up, down, right, or left, and the image goes to heck. If you think that that's 'just the way LCDs are', compare the MB screen to the screen on the Macbook Pro or even MacBook Air-- neither of those is nearly as 'touchy' in terms of viewing angle as the Macbook's is, and have much larger 'sweet spots'.

It's basically a cheap screen made to seem higher-quality than it really is by super-glossy glass and a very bright backlight. Clever, but not cool.

3) Price - $1300 is a lot for a notebook, especially with the economy heading south. Apple won't give you a 15" screen or expansion slots in the Macbook line, which is annoying already (again, they want you to cough up $2000 for the MB Pro), but to ask that price and not offer those things AND take away Firewire AND kinda cheap out on the screen? Wow. Guess all the money went into the unibody construction.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good enough notebook, solidly-built, OS X is better and more secure than Windows, etc. etc. It's just not a good value. Apple should do better here, and listen to its customers and what THEY want. It's like they build things to please themselves, and not us.

I normally love Apple, but I'd have to think long and hard before buying this one.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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and oodles of very noticeable smudges, smears, and fingerprints.

To make matters worse, the viewing angle on the Macbook screen is TINY. Images can look good if your head is positioned PERFECTLY, but move just a little bit up, down, right, or left, and the image goes to heck. If you think that that's 'just the way LCDs are', compare the MB screen to the screen on the Macbook Pro or even Macbook Air-- neither of those is nearly as 'touchy' in terms of viewing angle as the Macbook's is, and have much larger 'sweet spots'.

Another bit of Macbook screen wackness is that you have to tilt the screen WAAAY back, almost to horizontal, or blacks will appear washed out. But do that, and you then catch ALL the reflections, in glorious super-glossy detail, from any and all overhead lighting. Darned if you do, darned if you don't.

Bottom line, the MacBook uses a cheap screen made to seem higher-quality than it really is by super-glossy glass and a very bright backlight. Clever, but not cool. Apple doesn't seem to have thought through the drawbacks of this approach. Or perhaps they did, but didn't care, since they were saving so much $$$ on the screen.

3) Price - $1300 is a lot for a notebook, especially with the economy heading south. Apple won't give you any options at all for a 15" screen or expansion slots in the Macbook line, which is annoying already (again, they want you to cough up $2000 for the MB Pro), but to ask that price AND not offer those things AND take away Firewire AND cheap out on the screen? Wow. Guess all the money went into the unibody construction.

Don't get me wrong- it's a good-enough notebook, solidly-built, the included i-Apps are nice, OS X is better and more secure than Windows, et cetera. It's just not a good value. Apple should do better here, and listen to its customers and what THEY want. Lately, it's like they've been building things to please themselves, and not us.

Normally I love Apple, but I'd think long and hard before buying this one.

Apple MacBook Pro with 17" Display

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Most people say this is for eye-candy. I would contest this. I work mornings and nights and I don't like to wake up other people in the house. Moreover, it is profligate to turn on lights when you are the only one using it. With the backlit keyboard, I am able to work effectively in the dark.
8. iSight: This is one of the features I was aghast at. My old webcam as the Logitech Notebook 2MP autofocus. That quality on that is perspicuous. The iSight is not far off.
9. Price: I got this when the new macbook pro came out. ~1650 (AR) for a high end macbook pro is unheard of.
10. Performance Comparison: After looking at numerous sites on the performance comparisons between this macbook pro and the new one, I found out that there are not much differences to justify for the $1000 increase in price for the new one. Plus for the new one, in order to use the 9600M GT, you need to restart the laptop which defeats the purpose of gaming on mac.
11. TouchPad: Very responsive, though secondary click in Windows can be toilsome at times. Gotta love the Multi-touch!
12. Sound: Mediocre on Window XP but preeminent on Mac OSX.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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I have ever felt. It is heavier than my last laptop (XPS M1330 which was also solidly built) but slightly thinner. The screen is super glossy, but so far I haven't had a problem with it. The trackpad takes some getting used to because it is hinged at the top edge, so if your finger has moved to the top edge you have to remember to move your finger away from the top edge to actually click it. The new multi-touch features for Expose and whatnot are cool, but I'll always take a real multi-button mouse over a touchpad anyday.

Disappointed that I have to purchase a mini displayport adapter from Apple in order to use it with the Cinemadisplay rather than having the option of purchasing non-proprietary stuff.

Overall, if you're looking to switch to a Mac and are willing to spend a little more than a comparably equipped PC, the base Macbook is the way to go. The reason I didn't go for the higher end Macbook, I don't need the HD space (I have a 1TB PowerMac server at home) or illuminated keys, and don't do anything that requires .4ghz more power. If you really want a deal, look at the white (non-Alum) Macbooks...those are a steal lately!

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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useful. The new DisplayPort also seems to work well enough, although once again, new adapters will have to purchased. Some people have complained about the lack of HDMI, but if you read the specs for the DisplayPort standard, it really takes us into the next generation of video display and is a better standard, IMHO.

Finally, the new graphics update is much welcomed. Graphics performance has substantially been increased, and the 2.0 GHz machines we're testing are pretty snappy when using graphics intensive tasks. We don't play games with these, but I'm sure gamers will welcome the change. Our Pro Apps are noticeably faster.

The Bad:
Naturally, this new manufacturing process has to cost Apple more, but we didn't except to pay so much more for a computer with worst [basic] specs than what we were getting in our purchase of the white and black MacBooks. Except for graphics performance, our CPU benchmarks are very lackluster in comparison. Our IT budget is very tight right now, and it's going to be hard to justify a purchase with so little difference in performance.

Several of our early testers are complaining about the ultra-glossy (or glassy) screen and the quality of the display itself. Our offices are brightly-lit and it takes quite a bit of adjustment to properly see the screen without severe glare. This isn't as noticeable in low-light environments, but we also see poor side-to-side viewing, meaning you almost have to look at these dead-on straight to see a good image. Comparing it to earlier MacBooks and MBP's, these new models are much worse. Fingerprints are much more noticeable also, and the glass front bezel seems to be a fingerprint magnet. That's not a big deal, but they complained that calibration doesn't help the color flaws in this new display. These use LCD displays, as opposed to TFT displays that the previous MacBook had. I think it's just a cheaper panel, because other reviews have had no major complaints with LCD displays in the new MacBook Pros.

Lastly, and most important to me as a technician, is the lack of a FireWire port. Many of my peripherals are FW and also I frequently use the Target Disk Mode (TDM) in my job of diagnosing, repairing, saving and migrating data from other Macs. Even though I had planned to upgrade, I now have no choice but to keep what I have. Also, our Media department will not be getting upgrades. They also use video and audio FW devices that cannot be substituted or re-purchased simply because Apple choose to leave FW out on this model. Not only is cost an issue to go to a MacBook Pro, but many of us liked the smaller footprint of the 13" model.

I find it ironic that Apple increased the graphics performance to use their Pro Apps more effectively, but left out the very port that is used to import the video and audio files for those Pro Apps to work with? Many of us would have even traded the ethernet port for the FW port, since you can get a USB to Ethernet dongle.

Also, since our department uses cloning software to quickly install drive images for our clients, this will affect us dramatically. USB, is not only much, MUCH slower, but less reliable. You have to turn off any software that may execute during the clone. In our tests, we found something as small as "Little Snitch" coming on during a clone install, is enough to choke a USB drive to almost stopping the clone process. It's a much slower and more unreliable process.

I know some people have stated that FW is dead, but no, it isn't. It is continuing to be developed into a faster standard. And USB-3 isn't a reality yet, so saying that USB-3 is coming anyway, doesn't do anyone any good at the present since only USB-2 ports exists on these models. And yes, I realize some people have never heard of FW and to them, this is no big deal. Although, part of the power, and reliability of a Mac, is the fact you can make an exact, bootable clone of your hard drive, and within minutes of a major hardware failure, be up and running, and continue to do your work, while your hard drive is being replaced. This is a powerful feature that some people will never know until it's too late. Granted, you can basically do the same from a USB drive, but if anyone has ever had to do so, they know how excruciatingly slow it is. And of course USB cannot duplicate the functions of TDM.

These new MacBooks will find buyers, there's no doubt that for many people they will be just what they need, and again, they are gorgeous and probably very durable. But people that depended on FW and have an investment in FW devices, will need to think long and hard about this upgrade. Also, I would recommend anyone wanting to purchase, to visit the Apple store and examine the LCD display for themselves.

Although a minor complaint, I don't like the fact Apple makes you purchase the $1600 upgrade in order to get a lighted keyboard, that's as bad as the "black" tax (the black MacBooks costing more). Using three stars as an "average" upgrade, I'm only giving this upgrade two stars because I feel Apple took too much away in relation for the price they are charging. This is unusual for me, since Apple products usually get my highest praise. If this were a new product line, without anything to compare it to, perhaps it would be different. But, the plastic MacBook continues to be the better deal for us at this point, although we will continue to evaluate them and see if perhaps Apple decides to release another revision with some improvements.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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useful. The new DisplayPort also seems to work well enough, although once again, new adapters will have to purchased. Some people have complained about the lack of HDMI, but if you read the specs for the DisplayPort standard, it really takes us into the next generation of video display and is a better standard, IMHO.



Finally, the new graphics update is much welcomed. Graphics performance has substantially been increased, and the 2.0 GHz machines we're testing are pretty snappy when using graphics intensive tasks. We don't play games with these, but I'm sure gamers will welcome the change. Our Pro Apps are noticeably faster.



The Bad:

Naturally, this new manufacturing process has to cost Apple more, but we didn't except to pay so much more for a computer with worst [basic] specs than what we were getting in our purchase of the white and black MacBooks. Except for graphics performance, our CPU benchmarks are very lackluster in comparison. Our IT budget is very tight right now, and it's going to be hard to justify a purchase with so little difference in performance.



Several of our early testers are complaining about the ultra-glossy (or glassy) screen and the quality of the display itself. Our offices are brightly-lit and it takes quite a bit of adjustment to properly see the screen without severe glare. This isn't as noticeable in low-light environments, but we also see poor side-to-side viewing, meaning you almost have to look at these dead-on straight to see a good image. Comparing it to earlier MacBooks and MBP's, these new models are much worse. Fingerprints are much more noticeable also, and the glass front bezel seems to be a fingerprint magnet. That's not a big deal, but they complained that calibration doesn't help the color flaws in this new display. These use LCD displays, as opposed to TFT displays that the previous MacBook had. I think it's just a cheaper panel, because other reviews have had no major complaints with LCD displays in the new MacBook Pros.



Lastly, and most important to me as a technician, is the lack of a FireWire port. Many of my peripherals are FW and also I frequently use the Target Disk Mode (TDM) in my job of diagnosing, repairing, saving and migrating data from other Macs. Even though I had planned to upgrade, I now have no choice but to keep what I have. Also, our Media department will not be getting upgrades. They also use video and audio FW devices that cannot be substituted or re-purchased simply because Apple choose to leave FW out on this model. Not only is cost an issue to go to a MacBook Pro, but many of us liked the smaller footprint of the 13" model.



I find it ironic that Apple increased the graphics performance to use their Pro Apps more effectively, but left out the very port that is used to import the video and audio files for those Pro Apps to work with? Many of us would have even traded the ethernet port for the FW port, since you can get a USB to Ethernet dongle.



Also, since our department uses cloning software to quickly install drive images for our clients, this will affect us dramatically. USB, is not only much, MUCH slower, but less reliable. You have to turn off any software that may execute during the clone. In our tests, we found something as small as "Little Snitch" coming on during a clone install, is enough to choke a USB drive to almost stopping the clone process. It's a much slower and more unreliable process.



I know some people have stated that FW is dead, but no, it isn't. It is continuing to be developed into a faster standard. And USB-3 isn't a reality yet, so saying that USB-3 is coming anyway, doesn't do anyone any good at the present since only USB-2 ports exists on these models. And yes, I realize some people have never heard of FW and to them, this is no big deal. Although, part of the power, and reliability of a Mac, is the fact you can make an exact, bootable clone of your hard drive, and within minutes of a major hardware failure, be up and running, and continue to do your work, while your hard drive is being replaced. This is a powerful feature that some people will never know until it's too late. Granted, you can basically do the same from a USB drive, but if anyone has ever had to do so, they know how excruciatingly slow it is. And of course USB cannot duplicate the functions of TDM.



These new MacBooks will find buyers, there's no doubt that for many people they will be just what they need, and again, they are gorgeous and probably very durable. But people that depended on FW and have an investment in FW devices, will need to think long and hard about this upgrade. Also, I would recommend anyone wanting to purchase, to visit the Apple store and examine the LCD display for themselves.



Although a minor complaint, I don't like the fact Apple makes you purchase the $1600 upgrade in order to get a lighted keyboard, that's as bad as the "black" tax (the black MacBooks costing more). Using three stars as an "average" upgrade, I'm only giving this upgrade two stars because I feel Apple took too much away in relation for the price they are charging. This is unusual for me, since Apple products usually get my highest praise. If this were a new product line, without anything to compare it to, perhaps it would be different. But, the plastic MacBook continues to be the better deal for us at this point, although we will continue to evaluate them and see if perhaps Apple decides to release another revision with some improvements.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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$700 SSD upgrade on Apple's site. 7200rpm drive is something a tech savvy user can install themselves, though.
6. Price. Base model is $1299.
7. $1299 model does not have backlit keyboard. $800 Dell laptops have this.
8. Display appears to have poorer contrast and viewing angles than previous model, even when using a Spyder calibration device. Also display is only available in glossy which some consumers do not like.

Other points consumers should be aware of:
1. Aluminum body; better displacement of heat than previous model, but body may dent easier.
2. Button-less trackpad, people will have to retrain their muscle memory, but is rather easy to get used to.
3. Display port replaces mini DVI port, but at least they have new adapters to DVI and VGA.

Overall: I am generally neutral on this redesign. Very pleased with graphics upgrade, but equally disappointed by lack of ports, poor LCD display, and glossy only option. Bottom line, I can get a Dell Latitude for $800 with eSATA and Firewire--but, of course, it can't run Mac OSX.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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with these new aluminum MacBooks I think things have changed. You get a backlit keyboard in the higher end model (which is the one I'm reviewing), an aluminum body (of course), and a multitouch trackpad. I think the backlit keyboard is the nicest addition. It's really something you appreciate more once you've used it. I've never had any difficulty typing in the dark but I can't see myself ever buying a machine without a backlit keyboard again. It's incredibly helpful when you need to type a special character or press a function button. If you don't have the usual key positions memorized, I imagine it's even better. This makes the high end MacBook feel a lot more like a MacBook Pro.

Regarding the aluminum unibody Apple likes to talk about so highly, it's very nice. While they did this with the Macbook Air, it seems much more refined with the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. My one complaint, which I feel will fade over time, is that it sometimes looks too perfect. I don't mean this as a backhanded compliment, but that there is such a thing as being so perfect it lacks a human touch. Think about listening to a computer play a song versus a human. It's just not as good. Well, technically the computer is better but that human touch is relevant to us. This machine is so exact and precise that it sometimes feels inhuman. At the same time, it is rather stunning. I think I'll get past the lack of human imperfections as I get used to looking at it each day.

The multitouch trackpad is something I'm not foreign to, as I used a MacBook Air for awhile. The new trackpad space is identical. I found this very fortunate as I don't like buying new machines without being able to get a Marware Protection Pack as well. Luckily I bought a MacBook Air pack and it fit perfectly. Even the trackpad film fit. While multitouch gestures didn't make their way into my regular routine too often, I did use them here and there and am glad they now exist throughout Apple's line of laptops. The disadvantage of the new trackpad is the lack of a button. Yes, the whole trackpad is a button and yes it's very clickable. The problem is that sometimes the click doesn't register. I turned on single and double taps for left click and right click (respectively), but sometimes those don't register as well. If this were my first Apple laptop, I'd panic and run to the Genius Bar for help. Since I've been through a few of these, I've found that it takes a month or two before you really break in the button. I've had the laptop for about ten days now and it's already working better. Still, I wish it just clicked as expected out of the box. For those that are wondering how you click and drag if there's no actual button, you just kind of pretend there is a button. While Apple gives you the entire trackpad for tracking, and you can click pretty much anywhere (with resistance building more and more as you move upwards), you can expect this trackpad to work just like the MacBook Air's trackpad. The space where the Air's button would be is where you can safely rest a thumb (or whatever) for clicking. It will not register as a second finger as easily. If you pretend there is a button at the bottom of the trackpad, you'll quickly forget there isn't one.

But those are the bells and whistles. As far as performance goes, there's not much excitement in regards to speed. The computer's architecture has changed, but the Core 2 Duo processors aren't really much faster (or any faster as the case may be here). The big jump is in the new graphics processor from NVIDIA. I'm not going to pretend to be a hardcore gamer. I don't play many games, and especially not when it comes to those that are GPU-intensive. I can't give you frame rates from World of Warcraft or anything like that. What I can tell you is that the new NVIDIA graphics make for smoother performance around the operating system and seem to contribute to 1) better battery life and 2) a cooler system.

One of my favorite things about this laptop is that it doesn't really get hot. I ran an H.264 video encode today so I could put a video on my iPhone and it didn't feel hot at all. The MacBook Air heats up in about five seconds and then cripples the GPU first, before throttling anything else, and gets pretty warm. You could iron a shirt with the old MacBooks and I won't even start with the MacBook Pros. I can't believe how cool this machine has been. I'm not punishing it with endless work, but for it to make it through a twelve minute video encode without breaking a sweat is pretty amazing. It's the first time I've used an Apple laptop and didn't worry about becoming sterile. I don't know what they did, but it's wonderful.

I get about four hours of battery life under normal usage. While this still doesn't quite match what Apple promises, it's the highest I've ever, realistically, gotten out of an Apple laptop. I'm more than happy with four hours. I rarely use my laptop off of the power adapter anyhow.

Another neat feature of the new MacBooks (and MacBook Pros) is that you can use your iPhone/iPod touch stereo headset with microphone to record (crappy) audio and have basic control over iTunes. Since I swap my iPhone headphones out of the iPhone and into the laptop very frequently, this is fantastic. I can't tell you how many times I've been interrupted and clicked the microphone on the headset to pause the song, only to remember that I can't. Now I can. This is wonderful.

So far I've only had good things to say and that's because, overall, this is an excellent machine. I want to talk about a few bad things, however. In my opinion, the biggest flaw is the display. This is why I've rated it a four and not a five. The display is an embarrassment. If you have any intention of doing any visual work that actually matters, this machine will be completely useless to you. The viewing angle is so terrible that no matter where you are, you will not get even contrast. I don't notice it quite as much when I'm surfing the web or just writing, but when I watch a video it's very apparent. If you do visual work and it's not just for fun, do not buy this machine. Get a MacBook Pro where it's not an issue. Even the old MacBooks have better displays. I don't do visual work on this machine for that reason. If it's not critical, I might, but for the most part I work on my desktop machine instead.

Another downside about the display is that it's glossy. These look cool and all, but the reflections are obnoxious when you can't easily avoid them and you don't get very accurate color or contrast. This is a fault of the panel itself, too, but the glossiness just ruins it further. For general use, this isn't a big deal. If you want to color correct or design, Apple has pretty much opted to screw you over regardless of how much you decide to spend on their hardware. Matte screens are just not going to be an option anymore. I think this is a stupid choice, because the people who kept Apple alive are the designers who chose Macs early on in Apple's history. The loyalists are generally not fond of glossy screens and have been vocal about it. I think having an option is fine, but forcing people to use glossy screens is awful. Being a loyalist and needing a matte screen, I've just started using my laptop for everything but color critical work. It's allowed me to prefer working on a smaller screen, which is nice because it means less computer to cart around. I've been able to work around this problem, but my situation allowed for it. It's still a big problem for a lot of people who can't defer to a desktop.

The other disadvantage is a lack of Firewire. While I rarely employed Firewire in my laptops, especially after using the MacBook Air (which has none), I still liked having it around. I don't really miss that it's gone. Again, this is primarily due to having a desktop companion that can connect with just about anything. Whether or not this is a major issue is really up to the individual. If you know you need it, you have your answer. Personally, I wish Apple would've kept it until they had something better to replace it with. Maybe they couldn't fit it into the new, slimmer casing. I would just like to see a USB 2.0 alternative, since USB 2.0 doesn't quite live up to its claims.

When it comes to upgrades and replacements, this machine gets a little better and a little worse. If you're upgrading from a MacBook Pro to a MacBook Pro, you're getting easier upgrades all around. If you're used to upgrades in a MacBook, however, I'd say things are better and worse. If you want to replace RAM, you have to remove the bottom case. It's not that hard to do but it means keeping track of quite a few screws and exposing the entirety of your machine's innards. If you're simply replacing the hard drive, however, you can pretty much just yank it out. One of the first things I did is replace the hard drive with a solid state disk. They're getting cheaper and you can get a 120GB or 128GB drive for much less than what Apple offers. But on the plus side, if you do want your computer to come with an SSD you now have that option as a custom order. While in tests SSD hasn't really proven to have too many benefits, in real world practice it makes the machine feel much snappier. For that reason, having an SSD is worth it.

Apple's RAM upgrade prices are also not as terrible as they used to be. At least, it seems that way. A RAM upgrade through a third party only saves $10-20. When spending a lot of money on a new machine, I think many people would choose the convenience over the comparatively small savings that come with doing it yourself.

Anyway, that pretty much covers the majority of the relevant pros and cons of the new MacBook. So far I love it. I think it's a wonderfully made machine. It's sturdy, it's attractive and it works really well. I've very pleased with it and as long as you can handle the poor display, I highly recommend this MacBook.

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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to it. Two finger scrolling and right click are very convenient. And there are no arguments against the superiority of Mac OS over Windows, and especially Vista. Mac OS applications are lot more fun and easier to use, not to mention less crashes, freezes and viruses and malware.

I miss dedicated PgDn and PgUp keys; it also lacks numLk, Home, End, and Del (forward) keys. Lack of Firewire can be a problem if you do not have another computer with one and need to use it for camcorder etc. Card reader is also absent and it is not easy to transfer camera pictures unless the camera also works as a card reader. Neither is there an express card slot or 3G modem. Cost is definitely a lot more than similarly equipped Windows notebooks. Mac versions of Quicken, Quickbooks, Dragon speech and several others programs are not as good as Windows versions which I have been using under Windows and Fusion.

I feel the ideal weight for a truly mobile computer should be 2-3 lbs and screen 12 inches. 13.3 inch screen has a big footprint and 4.5 lbs is slightly heavy. MacBook Air is not as powerful, is expensive, has smaller hard drive and lacks ports. And the main reason to get MacBook Pro is if you need firewire port and do lot of graphics intensive work. I loved my ThinkPad X31 with 12.4 inch screen, 3 lb weight and all the ports. For me the ideal computer would have been a ThinkPad X200 with Mac OS; but in absence of that, this MacBook is next best choice.

Apple MB404LL/A 13.3" MacBook - Black

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Macbook 2.16ghz/3gb ram/160gb hd/superdrive w/ OSX 10.5.5
westinghouse 24" LCD monitor @ 1920x1200
fantom drive 250gb firewire external hd
western digital passport 320gb usb external hd
pinnacle hdtv stick for mac(hdtv tuner)
logitech wireless keyboard & mouse

As you can see i have my macbook plugged in with a lot of accessories and i run 7+ programs at once when im using my mac, including eyetv(hdtv), isight cam w/ sightspeed video conferencing, as well as other less intensive applications. If you want a great dependable and quick mac this is the one to get, especially now that you can find it at discounted prices since the new macbooks came out. The only con that I have is that my old mac has the old 950GMA integrated graphics which can be an issue if you like to play/edit/encode high res videos or play graphic intensive games, especially full hd 1920P. I can play 1920P videos fine but it will get bogged down if im using a lot of other cpu intensive programs. im sure this won't be an issue for the majority of users since those people would probably get the macbook pro instead. i have had no issues at all that people have complained about(fans, cracked plastic, screen flicker, etc) and im sure i'll use this mac for another 2-3years before upgrading again.

pros:
fast, lightweight, long battery life
cons:
slow graphics chip

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

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Macbook 2.16ghz/3gb ram/160gb hd/superdrive w/ OSX 10.5.5

westinghouse 24" LCD monitor @ 1920x1200

fantom drive 250gb firewire external hd

western digital passport 320gb usb external hd

pinnacle hdtv stick for mac(hdtv tuner)

logitech wireless keyboard & mouse



As you can see i have my macbook plugged in with a lot of accessories and i run 7+ programs at once when im using my mac, including eyetv(hdtv), isight cam w/ sightspeed video conferencing, as well as other less intensive applications. If you want a great dependable and quick mac this is the one to get, especially now that you can find it at discounted prices since the new macbooks came out. The only con that I have is that my old mac has the old 950GMA integrated graphics which can be an issue if you like to play/edit/encode high res videos or play graphic intensive games, especially full hd 1920P. I can play 1920P videos fine but it will get bogged down if im using a lot of other cpu intensive programs. im sure this won't be an issue for the majority of users since those people would probably get the macbook pro instead. i have had no issues at all that people have complained about(fans, cracked plastic, screen flicker, etc) and im sure i'll use this mac for another 2-3years before upgrading again.



pros:

fast, lightweight, long battery life

cons:

slow graphics chip

Apple MacBook with 13.3" Display

...

Macbook 2.16ghz/3gb ram/160gb hd/superdrive w/ OSX 10.5.5


westinghouse 24" LCD monitor @ 1920x1200


fantom drive 250gb firewire external hd


western digital passport 320gb usb external hd


pinnacle hdtv stick for mac(hdtv tuner)


logitech wireless keyboard & mouse





As you can see i have my macbook plugged in with a lot of accessories and i run 7+ programs at once when im using my mac, including eyetv(hdtv), isight cam w/ sightspeed video conferencing, as well as other less intensive applications. If you want a great dependable and quick mac this is the one to get, especially now that you can find it at discounted prices since the new macbooks came out. The only con that I have is that my old mac has the old 950GMA integrated graphics which can be an issue if you like to play/edit/encode high res videos or play graphic intensive games, especially full hd 1920P. I can play 1920P videos fine but it will get bogged down if im using a lot of other cpu intensive programs. im sure this won't be an issue for the majority of users since those people would probably get the macbook pro instead. i have had no issues at all that people have complained about(fans, cracked plastic, screen flicker, etc) and im sure i'll use this mac for another 2-3years before upgrading again.





pros:


fast, lightweight, long battery life


cons:


slow graphics chip

Apple MacBook Pro with 15.4" Display

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This is not confirmed, but there is substantial discussion online suggesting this is the case. The 9600M is essentially a 32 processor computer (running at 120 gigaflops). So, a MacBook Pro will actually gain in speed over time. The MacBook does not have a separate graphics card that can work this way.

3. MacBook Pro graphics are twice as fast as MacBook graphics, so if you do anything visual with your computer (digital photography, video, games, etc.) then everything will run much more quickly and smoothly. Some games that are just barely playable on the MacBook become fun and seemless on the MacBook Pro.

4. The MacBook Pro has a firewire port (omitted from the new MacBook).

5. The MacBook Pro has an expansion card slot (really handy for adding a memory card reader or 3G roaming internet).

So, for the extra $400 (MacBook 2.4 GHz vs. MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz) you get a lot of extras that you will notice and use. And you will avoid the poor LCD on the MacBook. You are still stuck with the highly-reflective glass screen (if my eyeglasses can get anti-reflective coating, then why not this computer screen?), however, so it's only four stars until they solve that problem.

Apple MacBook Pro with 15.4" Display

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the silver case. If you ask me, the old MBP had too much silver. EVERYTHING on the machine was silver aluminum. Don't get me wrong, i loved the old MBP, but this is just one step up. The Keyboard is also backlit so when you are in a darker environment, the keys light up, helping you see anything and everything on the keyboard. The Keyboard is absolutely beautiful on the machine and adds a nice touch overall to the look.





TRACKPAD
I find it weird that i can put an entire section on a review about a laptops trackpad, but this is undoubtedly necessary. The new trackpad is ALL glass and there is no button---per say. In reality the entire trackpad is the button. They took off the button on the bottom and extended the trackpad down to give you more real estate. Apple spent months designing this trackpad and i have to give them major credit for that. recently me and my friend were looking at laptops at Circuit City, and one thing we did was go through every single laptop and look at it's trackpad. It is absolutely amazing how much time and effort company's DON'T put into designing their trackpad, when in my book, it is a HUGE factor. The coefficient of friction on this trackpad is exactly what it needs to be. not too rough, not too smooth, just right. I absolutely love the MBP trackpad and think it is something apple needs to be commended for.




GRAPHICS
Apple and NVIDIA joined up and came up with a new video card for this MBP. The MBP actually has 2 graphics cards in it. One that is integrated, and one that is dedicated. The integrated graphics is NVIDIA instead of the old intel, so it is immensely better. The dedicated card (which can be eas