I disagree, i like the MB keyboard a lot better than other keyboards - it feels sturdier, I think the MBPs keys feel kind of flimsy, without enough spring or something. Just because the keys look differently doesn't mean that it's not "nice to type on".
Well I've been using a Macbook for the last month or so after having a Powerbook for a year and a half, and I don't like the keys nearly as much. The gaps between them mean your fingers don't "glide" over as well, and I definitely feel like my typing has been slowed down a bit. They do have a fairly good action to them though, but the spacebar on this has started squeaking now when I type quickly.
The Macbooks aren't built as well as the pro machines? I'd say mine's pretty sturdy, it's not as GOOD perhaps, but that's why it's a consumer model.
It just doesn't feel nearly as well finished, or as sturdy as my Powerbook did - it definitely feels a lot "cheaper" to carry about and use. The glossy plastic certainly doesn't feel as nice to hold either.
I'm not saying it's a bad machine - it's still probably better than most of the cheap PC laptops out there now, but it doesn't feel nearly as good as the pro machines.
Also, have you really looked at generic PC laptops these days? I've yet to see a black one. They're usually all gray or silvered up with textures and stripes going every which way. The black macbook is black and white, not five different colors on the keyboard, the same color scheme everwhere. And while the aluminum does make it stand out, so does the contrast between the glowing white apple and the black casing.
Ok, so maybe PC laptops don't all look like black boxes these days, but that's what it feels like to me. Shortly after they were released I was browsing the web and saw an ad for a black notebook. My thoughts were "Nice, a MacBook ad already" - I scrolled up and it was some HP machine. You could never make that mistake with the white MacBook or the Pros.
Maybe most new PC laptops are tacky silver plastic things, but most of the laptops I've ever seen have been generic black boxes, and that's what the black MacBook looks like to me.
The MacBooks also don't transmit heat throughout the case like the MBPs do, so the inside surface doesn't get as warm when typing, the white letters on black keys make it stand out in the dark like the illuminated MBP keys, and i love the magnetic latch much more than the button that the MBP has.
They certainly do transfer heat through the case. The upper-left corner especially gets quite hot at times. Perhaps not as much as the Pros/Powerbooks, but it's far from insulating the machine.
I'm a touch-typer anyway, so I don't really look at the keys, so that's a bit of a moot point. (and you just can't compare painted on white text to backlighting)
I agree that the magnetic latch is very nice, but it often ends up slamming shut here, as I keep forgetting that it's going to do that, which can't be good for the screen/camera.
13.3" is way too small and impracticle for a desktop replacement... i think if you're gonna use a pro machine you need the screen real estate... i'm sticking to 17" forever
I don't see why being a pro machine means it has to be huge? For me, I would want as portable a laptop as possible with a decent CPU and a good graphics card so that I could hook it up to an external display if I need the extra real-estate. I don't know what you use your 17" machine for, but laptop screens just aren't high enough quality to do any real image editing on, so I'd be hooked up to an external display anyway.
