After a day with the Macbook

[sikkinixx]

All is pretty well! I upgraded from a 12" PB 1.5Ghz.

What I Love

-The Unit Itself - I got the White Macbook (not wanting to fork out the extra 150) and everyone who has seen it at school and what not has said it looks way better than my old Powerbook and I am inclined to agree with them. The thin but wide profile is nice.

-The Glossy Screen - While I know this is a matter of preference, I think the glossy screen is much better than the matte finish one. The colours look much crisper and I have found little glare (although I have yet to try it outside yet). The increased resolution from what I am used to (1024x768) is very noticable as I feel like I can fit a ton more on the screen.

-The Keyboard - At seeing pictures of it, I was unimpressed. After using it though I find it to be much better than a conventional laptop keyboard. The flush nature of it is nice as well. The keys are very quiet except my spacebar which clicks a lot when I hit it but overall it doesn't really bother me too much.

-iSight - Very good quality picture for something so small. I was excepting...well not much, but after playing around with it in decent light I have to say I like it a lot (now if only it would work better with MSN )

- Front Row/Remote - Remote is sweet! A basic way to watch DVD's and such but it works so I'm happy.

- Speed - With native apps it runs smooth as silk even with 512MB of Ram. I can't wait to throw in a full 2GB. Non native apps...well...they blow, but I knew that before I bought it!

-Heat Location - My old Powerbook got hot under my left palm while I typed, leaving nasty sweat marks after long use. The Macbook gets hot in the top left corner so when I type I can sort of feel the heat but not enough to bug me like before.

-Watching DVD's - WOW! the screen, the wide ratio, the remote! It makes watching DVD's a real treat, except for the speakers...

What is Meh

-Trackpad - It's not that I don't like it, I just don't think it is as good as my Powerbook's was. It feels a little rough, sandpaperish and the button doesn't have much travel so I'm afraid I haven't pushed it hard enough. I suppose I will get used to it though.

- Magsafe - Meh, works well enough I guess, falls out a little too easy for my liking but it's by no means an issue.

-Magnetic Lid - I can't open it with one hand works well enough but...

-Edges - They aren't sharp, more like the edges on my ipod shuffle. It pokes into my wrist a bit while I'm typing with it on my lap. On a desk, I didn't notice the edges at all.

What I Don't Like

-Heat - Yup this puppy gets hot after use. I'm using it on my lap now and its been on for just about an hour and it is starting to get uncomfortable. While I realize this is a NOTEBOOK not a LAPTOP as Apple points out, the heat is a still a little bit of a bummer.Hopefully some firmware updates or whatever can cool it down a little. This isn't a huge issue but a little annoying none the less.

-Lack of Adaptors - I realize its a cheap model (1249 cdn) but still, no VGA/DVI adaptor? 50 bucks to get both? Thanks Apple...

-Mooing - Yeah, I got a cow. No dead pixels, no whine, no excessive heat but it moos! Guess you can't win them all. Its fairly faint and I can only hear it when it is dead quiet but it is there. I seems to happen when it gets hotter, there is a good thread on MR talking about it. My only worry with this is I will use it in class when it is quiet next semester and the moo might annoy the class. But hopefully a firmware update will fix this as it sounds like a fan turning on then off quickly.

-Size - For ibook/15"+ users it will probably be nice but going from a lil 12" PB to this, it definately feels a lot bigger. More like im using a full sized laptop instead of a baby one. The thin nature of it also makes it feel a little flimsy when I pick it up, I know it won't break but makes me a little uneasy to open it when the lid is open.

-Speakers - Huh? What was that? I can't hear you! Where the heck did the speaker power go? My Powerbook was probably twice as loud as the Macbook! Kinda sucks if more than one person is watching a movie, unless you have a headphone splitter or the ability to plug it into a stereo.


I just installed Windows last night (already got the blue screen of death twice, doh!) and I am looking forward to throwing some games on the badboy! hopefully Max Payne 2 will be able to work with minimum specs! Heroes of Might and Magic III should work fine and I will try all the older PC games I have to see how far I can push this thing.

Overall I'm very happy with it, the moo is a little dishearting but not enough to make me regret buying it. It's a keeper for sure.

 

[Blue Velvet]

It's a keeper for sure.

Thanks for the review. There's too much FUD around at the mo about both laptop lines from Apple — I'm not saying there aren't issues and typical Rev A. probs but from some people and by the sound if it, you'd think these Macs were pieces of unusable junk.

 

[CaptainCaveMann]

...

Did you check to see if there is a piece of plastic covering the vent in the rear?

 

[JMG]

how can it possibly look better than a powerbook?

 

[sikkinixx]

how can it possibly look better than a powerbook?

lol I dunno, maybe im bias since I have one now?

And yes I have checked for the plastic piece and there isn't one. The heat isn't that bad, just a little annoying. My friends Dell doesn't get hot at all, but....it's a Dell, enough said.

 

[jdiddy]

I just finished the first day with my MacBook as well. I too upgraded from a 12" PB. The PB is definately a better looking machine and scratches less easily. My new MacBook already has scratches on the bottom . I miss the size of the 12". The edges are a little sharp but I'm getting used to them. The mooing is annoying but hopefully there will be some kind of firmware fix soon. Those are the only drawbacks so far. The MacBook is an awesome machine overall and is a screamer. Even with the added size the screen is beautiful. I thought I would hate the glossy screen but I' usually not outside. The 2 gigs of ram is a godsend when working with Adobe. And I can't argue with the price I got the white 2.0 with 2 gigs of ram for $1100 on craigslist. Great great deal I thought it was too good to be true but it came with the reciepts and everything. This book will tide me over till my dream of a smaller MBP comes to reality.

 

[mainframe]

This book will tide me over till my dream of a smaller MBP comes to reality.

IF it comes to reality......personally id love to see one too, but it seems like they have killed off the smaller pro machines

 

[ansalmo]

Edges - They aren't sharp, more like the edges on my ipod shuffle. It pokes into my wrist a bit while I'm typing with it on my lap. On a desk, I didn't notice the edges at all.

They're pretty sharp enough for me. I tend to rest my hand on the front of the laptop when I'm mousing, and I ended up with a deep red line across my palm after a couple of minutes. I had it to a much lesser extent with my iBook, but not on any other laptop that I've tried (most have much more rounded fronts).

I had a bit of a grumble over the keyboard too unfortunately. It's generally nice to type on, but the gaps between the keys aren't flat - they've got a hump in the middle. This makes the default desktop-switch keys on Desktop Manager a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. The default keys are the pair to the left of the space bar (command + option off the top of my head?) plus a key for your choice of desktop, so I normally lay my thumb across the two keys and press down. It works OK about 2/3rds of the time.

Besides those two issues I'm very happy with the MacBook, and very pleased that Apple have finally fitted a decent screen to one of their laptops.

 

[Josias]

I'll have to say I disagree with you on the speakers. I was very impressed by them, and though they don't go very loud, I think the sound quality has improved alot.