Hi...i have been a long time follower of these boards this first time I have made a post. I am a High school senior who is going to uni next year to be an english major, for my graduation present I was given 2000$ for a laptop. I was waiting to buy a mbp ever since it was announced until the mb was released this week. When the specs were annoucned my mind changed instantly. Not having played a game in over three years the intergrated graphics didnt bother me. The prospect of saving over 700$ for a more portable machine with comprable specs and better battery life is what sold me on the mb. On to the review. The macbook being reviewed is the stock 2.0 ghz white macbook with 512 ram 60 gb ect
I have had the macbook since it came out tuesday and have been using it quite a bit since than. To start off and address what most people are worried about; my machine gets fairly hot. That being said I have not once found it to be unbearable or much warmer than my brothers dell laptop or the ibook g4s we use in school. I spent 7 hours with it on my lap and was never burned or even uncomfortable. While power using this machine naked is out of the question most of us with non defective machines should be fine. The speed so far is great everyhing running intel native is extreamly responsive and "snappy." The other night I typed up a 24 page paper (due the last day of senior year....my teacher has a funny sense of irony) in word and it is not the bullish experience many expect. It is not as fast as it will be but even with the stock 512 mb of ram both word and powerpoint are extreamly useable. I cant comment on excel because spreadsheets and math are the work of satan lol. Bit Torrent has ran well in rosetta. The iLife apps are great. While the ram so far has limited how many apps i can run at once a ram upgrade will take care of that and make this a firebreathing mini beast.(BTW I know it has been said a thousand times but save your money and install the ram yourself. The process is so simple a monkey could do it.) The display is a sight to be seen, this is subjective but I feel the glossy screen was a great addition. While most of my work n the machine has come in dark rooms even in moderetly lighted rooms the glare has not been a huge deterent, and this sucker is bright. This also is subjective but so far I feel the keyboard is amazing. I have medium to smallish hands and so far this is one of if not my favorite keyboard i have ever used. The buttons are well spaced and responsive. The wider track pad with the additional right click features put to shame most other laptops track pads. I cant comment on battery life yet because for the most part I have mostly used it indoors plugged in. I know with normal useage (browsing, word, itunes, ect) the estimate is slightly over three hours. Wireless reception is great, the mb still picks up a strong signal in my garage which is currently a recording studio which is about 60 feet away from the router. I had some trouble watching a 1080p hd trailer with h.264 but I think that was mostly because I had four other apps open and the 512 mb of memory. The frame rate averaged at about 19 fps. The speakers are clear but not loud, out of a 13in laptop this is to be expected. As far as sound issues besides normal hd, fan, and optical drive sounds this thing is perfectly silent. After four days so far not a single whine, buzz, clang, moo, chirp, or wail.
I know another pressing question is "If I am a student should I go MB or MbP." Honestly, unless you are a serious gamer (which in case you are on the wrong platform) or are in serious need of apeture, FCP, Motion, ect the mb is more than you need. Thats not to say those apps wont run but if you are a professional or are a power user of those programs the mbp is the way to go. Instead of spending 2200+ for the mbp 2.0 model maxed out with memory and hd I will be upgrading my machine myself for an equal machine for my and most others needs for a much lower price. With the extra money I am going to be pimping out my dorm with a 20in display, eyetv 250,
and a decent sized external drive for a price in the range of the maxed out mbp. Also, paying the extra money for the black model seems ludicris to me. I used both in the apple store the day of purchase and found the white not only to be a better value but a more attractive machine. Who would want to blend in with the thousands of windows notebooks when you can have an more orginal looking machine for a better price. Sorry if this seems overly long or meticulous but us english majors tend to do that
I hope I answered most of the pressing questions and gave a good impression of what using the machine is like, if there are anymore questions please ask and I will answer them to the best of my ability. Thanks to anyone who reads this I look forward to becoming and active of member of this community.
I have had the macbook since it came out tuesday and have been using it quite a bit since than. To start off and address what most people are worried about; my machine gets fairly hot. That being said I have not once found it to be unbearable or much warmer than my brothers dell laptop or the ibook g4s we use in school. I spent 7 hours with it on my lap and was never burned or even uncomfortable. While power using this machine naked is out of the question most of us with non defective machines should be fine. The speed so far is great everyhing running intel native is extreamly responsive and "snappy." The other night I typed up a 24 page paper (due the last day of senior year....my teacher has a funny sense of irony) in word and it is not the bullish experience many expect. It is not as fast as it will be but even with the stock 512 mb of ram both word and powerpoint are extreamly useable. I cant comment on excel because spreadsheets and math are the work of satan lol. Bit Torrent has ran well in rosetta. The iLife apps are great. While the ram so far has limited how many apps i can run at once a ram upgrade will take care of that and make this a firebreathing mini beast.(BTW I know it has been said a thousand times but save your money and install the ram yourself. The process is so simple a monkey could do it.) The display is a sight to be seen, this is subjective but I feel the glossy screen was a great addition. While most of my work n the machine has come in dark rooms even in moderetly lighted rooms the glare has not been a huge deterent, and this sucker is bright. This also is subjective but so far I feel the keyboard is amazing. I have medium to smallish hands and so far this is one of if not my favorite keyboard i have ever used. The buttons are well spaced and responsive. The wider track pad with the additional right click features put to shame most other laptops track pads. I cant comment on battery life yet because for the most part I have mostly used it indoors plugged in. I know with normal useage (browsing, word, itunes, ect) the estimate is slightly over three hours. Wireless reception is great, the mb still picks up a strong signal in my garage which is currently a recording studio which is about 60 feet away from the router. I had some trouble watching a 1080p hd trailer with h.264 but I think that was mostly because I had four other apps open and the 512 mb of memory. The frame rate averaged at about 19 fps. The speakers are clear but not loud, out of a 13in laptop this is to be expected. As far as sound issues besides normal hd, fan, and optical drive sounds this thing is perfectly silent. After four days so far not a single whine, buzz, clang, moo, chirp, or wail.
I know another pressing question is "If I am a student should I go MB or MbP." Honestly, unless you are a serious gamer (which in case you are on the wrong platform) or are in serious need of apeture, FCP, Motion, ect the mb is more than you need. Thats not to say those apps wont run but if you are a professional or are a power user of those programs the mbp is the way to go. Instead of spending 2200+ for the mbp 2.0 model maxed out with memory and hd I will be upgrading my machine myself for an equal machine for my and most others needs for a much lower price. With the extra money I am going to be pimping out my dorm with a 20in display, eyetv 250,
and a decent sized external drive for a price in the range of the maxed out mbp. Also, paying the extra money for the black model seems ludicris to me. I used both in the apple store the day of purchase and found the white not only to be a better value but a more attractive machine. Who would want to blend in with the thousands of windows notebooks when you can have an more orginal looking machine for a better price. Sorry if this seems overly long or meticulous but us english majors tend to do that
I hope I answered most of the pressing questions and gave a good impression of what using the machine is like, if there are anymore questions please ask and I will answer them to the best of my ability. Thanks to anyone who reads this I look forward to becoming and active of member of this community.
