short MacBook Pro review

[mark!]

I posted this on Apple forums...and thought you guys might wanna see it, if your not there also.

Okay,so I went to my local Apple retail store, with my dad to look at their only MacBook Pro display. IT WAS AMAZING. It was fast, & the MagSafe was surpisingly smaller than I thought it was. The trackpad is a lot bigger, which is awesome, even though I have never owned a laptop. The screen was REALLY bright, I turned it down. It wasn't as bright as the iMac's there, but close enough. I tried to listen to the buzzing thingy, it was there, but it was really low in volume & I thought it was kinda cool. The latch was easier to deal with than the PowerBook there (it seemed) the MacBook was more, springy, & easier to open. The iSight camera was INCREDIBLY small & had very nice quality. The MacBook seemed to have cleaner lines than the PowerBook too. I unplugged the MagSafe, by the way, & it was fully chargerd, Airport, Bluetooth on, & the screen three notches less than usual, the reading said 3:27. I think that's fine, I'll be plugged in most of the time anyways. I was confused as far as the F buttons though, (F1, F2 etc) . I didn't get how to activate expose and stuff, but I didn't want to configure it there, ill save that for my Macbook. Overall, I think it is WAY fast, & ffreaking unbelievable. Everything is better than I expected. The 'whine' is lame, people, seriosuly...I barely heard it & it was a QUIET room, I had to have my ear almost right next to it to hear it clearly. (BUT i did hear it being a normal distance away...but it wasn't annoying). It's a great notebook, & I highly recommend picking one up or atleast looking at one if you can. If you have any questions you think I can answer...I guess...ask?

Oh, here is a picture of the isight quality thingy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88756806@N00/104766466/


oh and my dad bought a mighty mouse...i recommend that too...just make sure to configure it because when you get it...it makes no sense.

EDIT: they wouldn't let me play with the remote, they said they lost it, but I didn't get to see how cool that was. Also, when I first looked at it, I clicked the mousepad button thingy, and it woke up but wouldn't show the desktop, just a black screen, so I had to restart it. But with the black screen, the mouse was responding fine..amd right when i clicked the power button..it reacted or whatever. hmm...but when i restarted it, it was fine. (it took 23 seconds for it to start up btw.)

 

[wahgnube]

Excellent, thank you. I am impressed by the iSight quality as well.

A refreshing change from the rest who seem to be doing little more than complaining and whining (the people, not the computers).

 

[bigandy]

as with the PowerBook and iBook, the MacBook Pro's Function keys activate notebook specific functions - screen brightness, sound controls, display switching, and keyboard illumination.

to swap it for expose you can turn this function off in System Preferences - under Keyboard and Mouse.

otherwise, just hold down the "fn" or "function" key and press the relevant F9 or F10 key, for all windows or all current application windows. F11 and F12 always function as normal. (show desktop and dashboard).

 

[mark!]

as with the PowerBook and iBook, the MacBook Pro's Function keys activate notebook specific functions - screen brightness, sound controls, display switching, and keyboard illumination.

to swap it for expose you can turn this function off in System Preferences - under Keyboard and Mouse.

otherwise, just hold down the "fn" or "function" key and press the relevant F9 or F10 key, for all windows or all current application windows. F11 and F12 always function as normal. (show desktop and dashboard).

Great! thanks, I have to configure that when my macbook gets here though.

 

[Deepdale]

The screen was REALLY bright, I turned it down. It wasn't as bright as the iMac's there, but close enough.

I stopped at Apple Soho last Friday because I wanted to see what all the talk was about the dramatic increase to the brightness on MBP screens. I spent time with three machines that already had brightness at the maximum level. While it was better than prior PB screens, it did not strike me as being so bright that lowering it several notches would be required to be comfortable looking at it. However, an improvement in this area was long overdue and appreciated.

 

[mark!]

I stopped at Apple Soho last Friday because I wanted to see what all the talk was about the dramatic increase to the brightness on MBP screens. I spent time with three machines that already had brightness at the maximum level. While it was better than prior PB screens, it did not strike me as being so bright that lowering it several notches would be required to be comfortable looking at it. However, an improvement in this area was long overdue and appreciated.

The store was very bright, but I did turn it down because it l ooked washed out & a wee bit too light.

[[PS: What color is your iMac?]]

 

[Deepdale]

[PS: What color is your iMac?]

My iMac is indigo blue.

 

[RichP]

Haha! There you are! I have a MBP; the iSight is much improved, and the machine overall is very nice. I think people lose sight that this thing has the power of most PC desktop replacement machines; in a very small, light enclosure.

Its a great machine, you are going to love yours once you get to spend some time with it.

 

[bericd]

Trackpad, Front Row and Battery

I'd agree that that trackpad is BIG.

I was testing an MBP in the store last night and it kept locking up, or so I thought. Eventually figured out that I was resting another finger on the pad (I'm used to a smaller trackpad on my Dell.)

Also, I played about with FrontRow using the arrow keys and spacebar. Seemed a little sluggish to respond to a keypress and when I went to look at the itunes sub-menu the whole program stood there with the grey clock circle (as opposed to beachball) spinning. The only way I could get out of it was by hitting the escape key until FrontRow exited, again very slow to respond.

Of the 3 in the store, all said fully charged, and when I pulled the power plug the battery time left reported between 3 and 3 1/2 hours.