So earlier this week I took delivery of a custom-ordered 2.0 GHz white MacBook with a 100 gig hard drive. After using the machine for a week, I'm afraid that it doesn't meet my expectations at all.
From reading articles both here and on Digg, I expected a notebook that sounded like a cow, was hot enough to toast bread, had its very own wrist-rest fungal infection, and was poorly built.
I'm happy to say that my new MacBook meets none of these expectations. Instead, it seems quite solid and well-built (for a consumer-level notebook). The glossy screen is quite readable, even with overhead lights, as long as you are looking directly at it. Someone from a side viewing angle might have problems, but they shouldn't be reading my screen anyways!
Let's talk about heat next. As I type this, I have my MacBook sitting next to my ~ 1 year old 15" PowerBook G4 (1.5 GHz). Both have been compiling code for the past hour. Let's try a little test. Placing my hand on the upper-left portion of the MacBook keyboard, I can feel that it's quite warm. I can however, leave my hand in place without experiencing discomfort.
Now, let's try the same thing on my Powerbook. One ... two ... three ... OW! Guess what? Subjectively, my Powerbook's case feels hotter than the MacBook. Same results for the underside heat test. Score for the MacBook.
On a related heat note, I can't hear any fan "mooing" at all. The only time I can hear the fan is if I put my ear right up to the keyboard. Compared to the PowerBook sitting beside me, the MacBook fan is inaudible.
No sign of the dreaded "stained wrist-rests" yet, and I don't expect there will be. As a system administrator, I've seen those stained wrist-rests on other machines in the past, including iBooks and Sony VAIOs.
My personal belief is that it's due to higher-than-usual pH levels in a person's sweat. One individual I worked with used to sweat profusely and could destroy the wrist-rests of any laptop within 3 weeks. Her shiny new silver Sony VAIO looked beige after a month of use. I personally haven't had that problem in the past, so I don't expect it here.
Integrated graphics card? Absolutely fine if you've got more than 512 MB in your machine (with less than 512, I've noticed things can get a bit laggy, but I multi-task alot). I loaded up the Second Life client and was getting better framerates than I did on my PowerBook (with its dedicated Radeon 9700 card), so that makes me a happy camper. Sure, it's not going to run Oblivion very well, but for a machine that's destined primarily for business-related stuff, that's fine by me. It plays the games I need it to (Second Life, The Sims 2, EVE-Online [via Bootcamp]).
Oh, and Parallels runs very nicely.
Overall, I'd have to say: Best. Apple. Consumer. Notebook. Ever.
From reading articles both here and on Digg, I expected a notebook that sounded like a cow, was hot enough to toast bread, had its very own wrist-rest fungal infection, and was poorly built.
I'm happy to say that my new MacBook meets none of these expectations. Instead, it seems quite solid and well-built (for a consumer-level notebook). The glossy screen is quite readable, even with overhead lights, as long as you are looking directly at it. Someone from a side viewing angle might have problems, but they shouldn't be reading my screen anyways!
Let's talk about heat next. As I type this, I have my MacBook sitting next to my ~ 1 year old 15" PowerBook G4 (1.5 GHz). Both have been compiling code for the past hour. Let's try a little test. Placing my hand on the upper-left portion of the MacBook keyboard, I can feel that it's quite warm. I can however, leave my hand in place without experiencing discomfort.
Now, let's try the same thing on my Powerbook. One ... two ... three ... OW! Guess what? Subjectively, my Powerbook's case feels hotter than the MacBook. Same results for the underside heat test. Score for the MacBook.
On a related heat note, I can't hear any fan "mooing" at all. The only time I can hear the fan is if I put my ear right up to the keyboard. Compared to the PowerBook sitting beside me, the MacBook fan is inaudible.
No sign of the dreaded "stained wrist-rests" yet, and I don't expect there will be. As a system administrator, I've seen those stained wrist-rests on other machines in the past, including iBooks and Sony VAIOs.
My personal belief is that it's due to higher-than-usual pH levels in a person's sweat. One individual I worked with used to sweat profusely and could destroy the wrist-rests of any laptop within 3 weeks. Her shiny new silver Sony VAIO looked beige after a month of use. I personally haven't had that problem in the past, so I don't expect it here.
Integrated graphics card? Absolutely fine if you've got more than 512 MB in your machine (with less than 512, I've noticed things can get a bit laggy, but I multi-task alot). I loaded up the Second Life client and was getting better framerates than I did on my PowerBook (with its dedicated Radeon 9700 card), so that makes me a happy camper. Sure, it's not going to run Oblivion very well, but for a machine that's destined primarily for business-related stuff, that's fine by me. It plays the games I need it to (Second Life, The Sims 2, EVE-Online [via Bootcamp]).
Oh, and Parallels runs very nicely.
Overall, I'd have to say: Best. Apple. Consumer. Notebook. Ever.
