Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Who's purchasing the new Macbook?

MBP is 1.0 inches, and the MB they state as 1.08 inches. Hmmmm that's pretty negligible really.

But I compared my MBP with a 1.33 PowerBook G4 side-by-side the other day and the MBP is significantly thinner, I was really surprised how much they've shaved off it!
 
Bad Paper said:
...and indeed, they beat their estimate by a day. That is, my Macbook is at home. Right now. FIVE MILES AWAY. And I am stuck at work for another seven hours. oh, the agony

Thus, total time from order to delivery was exactly six days. And that was with free shipping.
Click to expand...

Have you gotten a hold of it yet? Tell us how it is! :)
 
i put a deposit on a black one today at uni, and will be picking it up hopefully tomorrow or friday. I decided against spending the extra money because i don't game at all and the macbook meets the specs for solidworks, autocad, final cut express, and forgive me, aero (lol, when required). I will however be sticking 2gb of ram in as soon as i get it.

If your from australia check out www.yeahdone.com.au cos they have a special on 1gb sticks for AUD$46 at the moment.

I just think the extra money isnt worth the graphics card unless you love you games, but the extra money you save you may aswell buy an xbox now or ps3when it drops in price.

and im tired of windows, ive prepared for the switch with osx86 and cant wait to get my first apple!!:)
 
I got one last Sunday: I got the old Middle MacBook (2.0Ghz, 80Gb drive, Superdrive) + 2GB RAM for the price of the new Base MacBook + 2GB RAM. Effectively, I got a free Superdrive.

Very sweet so far. (my first Intel Mac!)
 
I'm picking up my new White MacBook (ComboDrive version) tommorow. This will be my first ever Apple/Mac and i cant wait!!!

One thing with Memory....NEVER go for the cheap stuff, you get what you pay for in terms of memory. The cheaper it is, the more errors there are within it and therefore the more crashes you will experience.

Memeory is a big player in the overall performance of you machine and it shouldnt be skimped on. Geil, Corsair and Kingston (not the cheap versions of this brand though) is what you should invest in.
 
unnaturally loving the Macbook

I bought the new blackbook, came into my hands on tuesday and I'm freaking out at just how great it is! Yes it's my first MAC... Anyone got any good suggestions for must have laptop applications? I loved the multiple desktops in ubuntu so I installed virtual desktops and recommend it to everyone. Also got quicksilver but still haven't seen the benefits from using it.
One more thing, the HD is supposed to be 160GB but the actual size (not just free) is 148GB??? Does anyone have any ideas? Also how big is OSX, cause on first boot already 20 or so gigs were used.. I imagine things like iLife and others are pretty heavy. Ahh well no complaints, this thing is a black monster!
 
7 day impressions

Had my black MacBook just over a week now and I thought I'd give my impressions. The only other Apple laptop I've had was a 15" Powerbook so I'll compare it to that.

  • Display - this was the first concern I had. When I looked at the MacBooks in the Apple Store I thought the glossy display was horrible compared with the matte finish on my Powerbook. Now I've gotten used to it I don't find it fatiguing or anything. The resolution is more or less the same as my PB, but the screen size is smaller. Sometimes I find certain websites which are difficult to read so I have to increase the size. But my eyesight isn't great anyway.
  • Sound - built in speakers sound worse than the Powerbook. I suspect this is because they are beneath the keyboard and there are no holes for the sound to come out directly. As a result the sound is tinny yet, dull. Although if sound quality is a major concern plug some speakers/headphones in!
  • Speed - here's where it excels. Even with the stock 1 GB the laptop feels very very quick. Most applications load within or two bounces in the dock - Adium, Firefox, Safari. Photoshop CS3 loads very quickly - 3-4 seconds. I've just finished upgrading to 2 GB of RAM but I haven't done anything that stresses it immensely yet.
  • Reliability - I always put my Mac to sleep rather than shutting down. But I haven't seen any bad crashes or kernel panics yet, so it seems quite reliable.
  • Heat - bit of a let down here. Runs warm. I have to use an iLap to stop my legs burning. I'd say this is a problem with the plastic casing more than anything. The Powerbooks metal casing seemed to dissipate heat nicely. As a result I've heard the fans come on a couple of times.
  • Noise - when you wake from sleep the optical drive "moo's" at you! Quite loud but nothing particularly annoying. The only time it gets noisy is when the fans come on. In 2 years of owning the Powerbook I think I heard the fans twice.
  • Ports - all of the ports are on the left hand side of the MacBook. I've just been looking at buying a Mighty Mouse, but I think I'll have to get the Bluetooth one as I don't reckon the lead will stretch from the ports on the left to my right hand. This is an annoyance really, but theres nothing I can do about that!
  • Overall - I'm really happy. I've adjusted to the flat-top keys which were a unwelcome change from my Powerbooks lovely keyboard (easily one of the best I've ever used). The only other downside is the black finish shows grubby marks from where my hands have been. But you know it's a laptop not a fine piece of furniture! All in all I'd totally recommend one to anyone looking for a new laptop, that doesn't need 3D graphics.

Oh yes - the first thing I did was a fresh install of OS X without all the crap I'll never use (Office Demos, Garageband, etc). vadim.iablokov that is completely normal. A 160GB HD is actually 148GB in reality. I'll let someone else explain the reason why. Something to do with a kilobyte being 1024 bytes or something, wheras in marketing terms they write it as 1000 bytes. I have no idea - it's something like that.
 
pulsewidth947, I absolutely loved your review. Thanks so much for sharing. :) It was a lot of really helpful and important information.
 
I'm sick of waiting so I'm ordering the base MacBook with HE discount today. I've sold my old laptop so it's only costing me £300. And I can sell my MB when the SR ones come out with Leopard. First Mac, here I come!
 
Manic Mouse said:
I'm sick of waiting so I'm ordering the base MacBook with HE discount today. I've sold my old laptop so it's only costing me £300. And I can sell my MB when the SR ones come out with Leopard. First Mac, here I come!
Click to expand...

Well that's one of the advantages of Macs, their resale value! The HE discount rules doesn't it :)
 
pulsewidth947 said:
Well that's one of the advantages of Macs, their resale value!
Click to expand...

I used this as one of my arguments to people who were trying to bring me down about my future purchase. I talked about the whole situation in this thread. I really, really agree!

*******

Also, if anyone else has received their new Macbooks or feels like writing up a review like pulsewidth947, PLEASE share! Thanks!
 
katielb said:
I used this as one of my arguments to people who were trying to bring me down about my future purchase. I talked about the whole situation in this thread. I really, really agree!

*******

Also, if anyone else has received their new Macbooks or feels like writing up a review like pulsewidth947, PLEASE share! Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'll gladly review mine when I get it, as a first time Mac owner. And I'll include the dreaded WoW performance... :p
 
DENZIE said:
I just think the extra money isnt worth the graphics card unless you love you games, but the extra money you save you may aswell buy an xbox now or ps3when it drops in price.
Click to expand...

Yeah, especially when you consider that the GPUs in the 360 and PS3 blow away the X1600 in the MBP by quite a margin.

Consoles are the way to go for most gaming. If only WoW was on the 360...
 
CrackedButter said:
For the price, I'm tempted, but I had a test drive with a friends MB and I cannot stand the tiny speakers, my 12" PB sounds better and louder.
Click to expand...

Boy I hate to hear that. I'm thinking about upgrading to a macbook from an ibook g4 and the thing I like least about the ibook is the crappy speakers. I'm getting hard of hearing and I need them to be louder.

pulsewidth947 said:
[*]Sound - built in speakers sound worse than the Powerbook. I suspect this is because they are beneath the keyboard and there are no holes for the sound to come out directly. As a result the sound is tinny yet, dull. Although if sound quality is a major concern plug some speakers/headphones in!
[
Click to expand...

And it gets worse as I work my way though the thread. Are the speakers on the macbook pro any better?
 
Has there been price decreases through all 3 models anywhere else?? In New Zealand, Blackbook down NZ$350 from $2850, top end white down NZD$300 from $2500, and low end down NZD$230 from $2079 (all rrp's prior to update/refresh).
I'm definately getting one now :D
 
roker said:
Has there been price decreases through all 3 models anywhere else?? In New Zealand, Blackbook down NZ$350 from $2850, top end white down NZD$300 from $2500, and low end down NZD$230 from $2079 (all rrp's prior to update/refresh).
I'm definately getting one now :D
Click to expand...

Yeh, the West Island has dropped by $100-200 across the board too! :p I don't think the US prices has changed, maybe I'm wrong.
 
roker said:
Has there been price decreases through all 3 models anywhere else?? In New Zealand, Blackbook down NZ$350 from $2850, top end white down NZD$300 from $2500, and low end down NZD$230 from $2079 (all rrp's prior to update/refresh).
I'm definately getting one now :D
Click to expand...

That's quite a nice drop over in NZ! In Singapore the prices for high, mid and entry-level models have dropped from S$2,588 to $2,488, $2,248 to $2,188 and from $1,889 to $1,788 respectively. The entry level model is now a very good deal.

I'll be getting my entry level MacBook soon.
 
DENZIE said:
Yeh, the West Island has dropped by $100-200 across the board too! :p I don't think the US prices has changed, maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...


U.S. Retail price didn't change with the introduction of the new Macbooks a couple of weeks ago. But the prices on the "old" models dropped quite a bit. I found old black Macbooks at Fry's for $1299 (open box :(] and Amazon sold their remaining stock of old black macbooks at $1100. <--I bought one, it arrived today :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back