MacBook Pro brings high performance and precision design to everyone. Every new MacBook Pro features a breakthrough long-lasting battery that delivers up to 7 hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and can be recharged up to 1000 times—nearly three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries. The new LED-backlit display has a 60 percent greater color gamut than that of previous generations giving you richer more vibrant colors. Every MacBook Pro features the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor which provides an outstanding graphics experience for everyday tasks. Power your way through the latest 3D games—including Call of Duty and Quake—and enjoy improved graphics performance with iWork iLife and everything you do in Mac OS X. And with the latest 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor it’s the most powerful Mac notebook ever. All in a precision aluminum unibody enclosure that’s less than an inch thin.

• 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor


• 250 GB hard drive DVD/CD SuperDrive 4 GB DDR3 RAM


• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Graphics 13.3 inch LED Display


• Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System

More detail ...

MacBook Pro brings high performance and precision design to everyone. Every new MacBook Pro features a breakthrough long-lasting battery that delivers up to 7 hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and can be recharged up to 1000 times—nearly three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries. The new LED-backlit display has a 60 percent greater color gamut than that of previous generations giving you richer more vibrant colors. Every MacBook Pro features the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor which provides an outstanding graphics experience for everyday tasks. Power your way through the latest 3D games—including Call of Duty and Quake—and enjoy improved graphics performance with iWork iLife and everything you do in Mac OS X. And with the latest 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor it’s the most powerful Mac notebook ever. All in a precision aluminum unibody enclosure that’s less than an inch thin.

• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging


• 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor


• 160 GB Hard Drive DVD/CD SuperDrive 2 GB DDR3 RAM


• 13.3 inch LED Display NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics


• Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System

More detail ...

MacBook Air continues to redefine what’s possible. Just 0.16 inch at its thinnest point 0.76 inch at its thickest point and a mere 3.0 pounds it’s still ultrathin and ultraportable. And now pushing the performance limits of ultraportable notebooks it features a faster 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor a 1066MHz frontside bus 2GB of DDR3 memory and 6MB of L2 cache so you can be as productive on the road as in the office. Offering ample storage MacBook Air comes with a 120GB hard drive that uses less power and provides enhanced durability. Its advanced NVIDIA processor brings you amazing high-speed graphics delivering a graphics performance boost up to 6x that of the original model. Unlike other ultraportables MacBook Air doesn’t compromise on features users care most about: the display and the keyboard. It includes a bright 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display a full-size backlit keyboard a spacious Multi-Touch trackpad and a built-in iSight camera. Engineered for the wireless world MacBook Air also comes with 802.11n Wi-Fi Bluetooth 2.1 and Remote Disc to deliver unparalleled wireless versatility.

• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging


• 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor


• 120 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (4200RPM) 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM


• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated Graphics 13.3 inch LED Display


• Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System

More detail ...

MacBook has everything you need to do everything you need. Advanced NVIDIA graphics provide outstanding performance for 3D games and graphics-intensive applications. The fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of memory standard give you more than enough horsepower to get the job done. MacBook includes a 13-inch glossy widescreen display that makes images come alive and offers a slew of innovative features including a built-in iSight camera4 AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi2 a 120GB hard drive3 and a SuperDrive for burning CDs and DVDs. And since MacBook is sure to become your constant companion a durable white polycarbonate shell keeps it ready for the rough and tumble of everyday life. (2)Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification. Wireless Internet access requires a base station or other wireless access point and Internet access; fees may apply. Some ISPs are not currently compatible with AirPort Extreme. (3)GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less. (4)Video chatting requires a broadband Internet connection; fees may apply. (5)Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.

• 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor


• 2GB of DDR2 memory


• 120GB 5400-rpm hard drive 8x double-layer slot loading SuperDrive


• Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Operating System


• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

More detail ...

MacBook Air continues to redefine what’s possible. Just 0.16 inch at its thinnest point 0.76 inch at its thickest point and a mere 3.0 pounds it’s still ultrathin and ultraportable. And now pushing the performance limits of ultraportable notebooks it features a faster 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor a 1066MHz frontside bus 2GB of DDR3 memory and 6MB of L2 cache so you can be as productive on the road as in the office. Offering ample storage MacBook Air comes with a 120GB hard drive that uses less power and provides enhanced durability. Its advanced NVIDIA processor brings you amazing high-speed graphics delivering a graphics performance boost up to 6x that of the original model. Unlike other ultraportables MacBook Air doesn’t compromise on features users care most about: the display and the keyboard. It includes a bright 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display a full-size backlit keyboard a spacious Multi-Touch trackpad and a built-in iSight camera. Engineered for the wireless world MacBook Air also comes with 802.11n Wi-Fi Bluetooth 2.1 and Remote Disc to deliver unparalleled wireless versatility.

• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging


• 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor


• 120 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (4200RPM) 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM


• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated Graphics 13.3 inch LED Display


• Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System

More detail ...

Possibly the best "Apple" investment I've made

I don't think I'll go back to regular "full-size" laptops again. I didn't think that the weight difference between my 15.4" 2008 MacBook-Pro and the "AIR" would be so substantial but it is. My back is thanking me. Even with the power supply and my average bring-to-work payload I often forget that I'm wearing a bag.



As far as general computing goes it has been -- by far -- the most pleasing computing experience I've had in over 17yrs working with computers... no doubt because of the SSD.



--Average applications load in one or two "bounces" tops.

--Web pages load faster

--No stuttering when displaying the contents of a a folder scrolling through image galleries etc.

--Startup/Shutdown times.



Other PROS:



--Screen is perfect. I was worried that the glossy screen may be a little bothersome though I've yet to come across a situation where it was a problem and I've taken it everywhere with me.



--Its build seems "solid". Maybe it's a trait of the new unibodies but when the lid is closed; it feels like a solid piece of metal that would be very difficult to damage. Maybe im naive but I no longer feel the need to wrap my laptop in 4 layers of protection to keep it from damage in my bag.



CONS:



--Today's laptops support up to 8GB typically in 2x 4GB configurations. It would be nice to see support for a 4GB module in the future.



--Typical complaints: no firewire or eSATA only 1x USB.



--Runs a little hot and I'm not fond of the location of the exhaust vents.





OTHER:



Don't call it a netbook or a laptop. It's the best of both worlds. It deserves its own category.More detail ...

Very Impressive

I'm not a gamer so this review may not be helpful to those who want a computer to play games.



I have worked as a professional software developer/architect for 17 years. I started with MSDOS 2.0 and have ridden the Microsoft wave all the way through Vista 64 and I had a few years with UNIX. I have personally owned or worked with computers from Dell HP Compaq IBM. I have heard of Apple products but for the most part dismissed them as more toy than tool. (I was not alone in this perspective.) I like Microsoft but after working with it for the better part of 20 year I decided to look at something different.



I never thought I would purchase an Apple yet here it is. I am impressed to say the least and I see Apple as a serious tool that also makes a cool toy.



Pros:

Lightweight - Probably the lightest laptop I've ever worked with or owned



Solid - Normally when you get laptops at 15.4 or larger chassis flex becomes evident as you can see them bend and they creak. Yet because of its single piece construction and light weight aluminum the MacBook feels good when you need to move it. I doesn't creak and there is no noticeable bend when lifted.



Battery Life - It just keeps going and going and going... Actually I am seeing up to 4 hours life on the fully charged battery. My previous computer never surpassed 1.75 hours.



Size - It is very thin and carrying it around is very comfortable. I had a 17" and while I like the large display its uncomfortable to carry like a book.



Magnetic Clasp - When closing the lid the owner is rewarded with a very solid thump instead of a "creak" "clack" that you hear from so many other laptops that use a plastic display and mechanical clasp. Opening the monitor is equally a pleasing. You place you thumb under the lip and lift. The laptop may slide a little on smooth surfaces but the lid comes up smooth and controlled.



Keyboard - This is a great piece of work. Does it have "Home" "Page Up" "Page Down" the legendary "Any" key? No. Doesn't need it. A little research and practice and you will find that these "missing" keys are functions of the keyboard and I don't miss them at all. Secondly the keyboard "key-float" (that rattle you hear when you lightly stroke your finger back and forth over a laptop keyboard) is almost completely non-existent. So when you're typing it doesn't sound like your wadding up crinkly plastic and you don't annoy your neighbors. The key throw is short but very pleasant. Another thing I like about the keyboard is that you don't feel like you will break the keyboard if your touch is a little heavy.



Display - The display is a work of art. No only does it look good but flex has been reduced to almost nothing. It feels very solid and you don't feel you need to worry about tilting the screen from the corner. The glass cover over the LED lit LCD display is awesome. You can actually clean the screen without LCD screen colors distorting. Not to mention that is automatically dims in low light and the key board lights up in the same low light conditions. that's a nice touch. The display brightness is every bit as bright as my desktop LCD display in strong light.



Touch Pad - Any who has tried to use the touch pads on other computers (I hate them generally) will love this touch pad. It works like the iPhone (except scrolling is reversed for obvious reasons - you're not actually touching the screen). The touch is light and very smooth. Making the entire touch pad the button is brilliant it took me almost no time to get use to it and now I nearly push a hole through the Dell touch pad before I realize I have to click the buttons. I have no trouble with inadvertent touch that moves my cursor away from where I'm typing.



Quiet - I have yet to hear the fans. It makes me wonder if they ever work.



DVD Superdrive - Finally! No cup holder comes sliding out of the side of my laptop. Just simply slide the disc in and your done. It operates like the CD player in a car. It is easy to eject from the screen or a key on the keyboard.



Fit and Finish - The best I've ever seen. The only thing I've seen is a very slight misalignment of the Express Card/34 slot door. But you really have to look close to see it.



Operating System - WOW. Fast no anti-virus stable: it just works. I won't get too much into the OS but I will say that once I understood how Apple likes things done OS X is very appealing. Not to mention that it sleeps and wakes up faster than anything I have ever worked with. Open the monitor and it's sitting there saying "come on I'm tired of waiting for you".



Built-in Accelerometers - Not sure what they're good for but they're cool. Like the iPhone the MacBook Pro has three accelerometers. There is an Stanford Laptop Orchestra uses MacBook Pros to make music using these accelerometers.



No Fresh Air Openings - I really dislike fresh air ports on the bottom of laptops. They are easily plugged and they suck fuzz and dust into the heat sinks. With my previous computers the fresh air ports were placed underneath the computer right where it sets on your legs. The result was you ran a big risk overheating the computer. The MacBook Pro pulls the cooling air through the keyboard and therefore has a smooth bottom making it far better to place on you lap.



CONS:

Chassis - While it is a brilliant piece of engineering there are a couple very minor issues.



One: Always pick the computer up with both hands. While this is true of all laptops you want to last it's a little more important with this one. The metal around the ethernet port has been machined very thin which was necessary to fit the large jack in the rather narrow side of the laptop. So if you have the monitor open and grab the laptop with you left hand and your thumb over that jack you could dent the metal around it. It doesn't warp or twist the whole chassis it's too strong but you could see a small indention in a otherwise straight piece of metal.



Two: The metal in the Battery/Hard Drive Cover is very thin and sometime appears to hang below lip of the chassis. You really have to look to see it and it isn't all the time. I don't think is is warped or bent but just the natural flexibility of aluminum.



Touch Pad Click - While I absolutely love the touch pad (in fact I only use a mouse anymore when I am programming on it because of the nature of the software). If you try to click at the top of the pad (nearest the screen) the force required to click goes up quite a bit.



Price? - Not really a Con. Some have complained about the price. Three and half years ago I paid $5700 for a Dell 9100 laptop (All the bells and whistles Window XP Pro Office Pro the works). It has been a great computer that has been put to pasture and my family uses it. I've only had two problems with it. The dreaded mexican jumping keys (a key flies off the keyboard after you press it down while typing; AKA broken key) Dell replaced the keyboard without any trouble and the hard drive crashed and needed to be replaced. The Dell computer when new cost more than twice the MacBook Pro does today and the only thing it has over the Mac (old age and technology not withstanding) is it's 1920 x 1200 pixel display compared to the Mac's 1440 x 900 display. If I were to order the most power 15.4 laptop Apple sells today I would still pay half the price of the Dell and the Apple does much more and has better quality overall.



To summarize this is an accomplishment that the engineers designers and developers should feel proud. There is some room for improvement but these improvements are at a level that other laptops have to improve a great deal just to achieve Apple's shortcomings.



I could go on further but I think this is enough. Apple has truly developed a great product in both hardware and software and I recommend it highly.More detail ...

Full Review of the New MacBook... by a former Windows PC User

My review... take it for what it is... mine. (I provide my story so that you can see why I purchased this computer. If you don't care don't read the review).



To me Mac always seemed like it would take a leap of faith. Having had very little interaction with Macs and even less knowledge about them I was set to be a Windows boy for life. However recently I found out that I will be going on a ship that is gone all of the time (I'm in the Navy). Needing to have my kids see me reading books to them and me needing to see my kids I planned on leaving my current laptop with my wife and getting a new one for me (she doesn't care about electronics). This way we could create DVDs and send them to each other for our kids and myself. I went into a store looking to spend not too much and was attracted by the HP entertainment laptops. However... when looking at a $[...] laptop I knew I would have to add an anti-virus ($[...]-$[...]) and a movie making program ($[...]-$[...]). The guy at the store told me that for what I was looking at in price I should check out the Macs.



Low and behold... there were the Macs. Each sitting there looking different and pricey. I was then told about iLife and how I would be able to use iMovie to make my movies iChat to chat with my family on webcam iPhoto to import and fix up pictures and other stuff. WoW! My previous experience with the Windows based programs of this nature was that you'd be better off buying these types of software than using what was included by the computer. However the sales guy who was not on commission swore by them. Also Macs don't need anti-virus software to boot! I was sold when he told me the difference in the customer satisfaction index when comparing Macs and all of the other computer makers.



I took the plunge.



As you can see from my stars... I'm glad I did. I will NEVER go back to a windows based PC. EVER. While this computer has a few cons which I will list later it is much better than what you can get for the same price as far as a PC. Here is what I liked:



The Exterior:



This computer is small. Its compact it feels really sturdy and its stylish. There is an apple on the back that lights up from the light of the LCD screen pretty neat. Also the keys have just the right punch for those of us that know how to type. The F keys also double for the bright level of the screen the feature expose (which is outstanding!) and movie stop go vol etc. There is an eject button next to the F12 which works well with this type of drive.



The Interior: iLife is a great program. All of the stuff that comes with it will ensure that unless you need something very very professional you won't have to buy any software. Home videos are awesome with this thing. I can't really compare Leopard to the previous operating systems... since this is my first mac... but I can tell you that it kicks vista's butt. An example; I wanted to hook up my printer which has only been used on Windows PCs before and I plugged it in. That's it. I plugged it in and it worked. No drivers no software nothing. As soon as I plugged it in and click to make it my default printer it was printing. HOLY COW! THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSING! Since I've started using my Mac I have had ZERO "trying to find a solution to the problem" pop ups ZERO "this program has stopped working" ZERO freezes ZERO compatibility issues with current hardware (external drive of music and wireless network) and ZERO defects found.



Now the cons:



1) 120 GB hard drive... Yes its easy to hook up the "time machine" or to keep all of your photos or movies on an external hard drive but for a company that has a 120 GB MP3 player that's just over $[...]... come on!



2) The mouse pad doesn't let you double click for actions to occur. You have to push the button. As a lifetime Windows user this took some getting used to. However... you can scroll up and down easily by using two fingers. I've enjoyed this so much that I'm going to call it a draw :)



3) No multimedia slot for media card etc. Apple! What are you doing?!?! Its a simple thing to install and it make it much easier for me so that I don't have to always remember where that stupid USB cord that hooks my camera to my computer is. I'd much rather take the card out and insert it.



That's all of my cons.



Once again... I LOVE THIS MAC. On the 2 GB of RAM that it has it works just as well as a windows PC with 4 or more GB. That's because the OS is designed better and the processes don't bog it down. The processor is fast enough to where this seems faster than my wifes 2.4 gHZ laptop (of course that is in conjunction with other aspects of the computer). The colors are great and the system is great. You WILL have the "Mac Learning Curve" as I was told... it takes about 4-5 hours to get used to and 10-15 to really get to know but its worth it. Plus Apple puts videos on each function so that when you open it it explains how to use it.



I took the leap of faith and now I'm a believer. So long windows!!! Never again! Spend the extra [...]-[...] bucks... you'll save it anyway by not having to get the anti-virus and having all the stuff you need on it. Oh and go to [...] after you get your Mac. Its a non-profit site that I've started using to help me learn the system and it's great.



FIVE STARS!



***UPDATE***



Still using this MacBook and still loving it. I've gotten really good with what it has to offer and am still amazed at how easy it is to use compared to Windows based PCs. The iLife 09 software (incl) has proven itself very useful and works well with other software. An example Photoshop works well with iPhoto. I haven't run into any wall and still recommend it with 5 stars.More detail ...

Real improvement

Coming from a troubled Nvidia 8600M GT MacBook Pro - let me say that I was very skeptical buying another Apple Laptop with nVidia chip in it.



However one weekend I decided to visit the nearest Apple Retail Store and check out the newly released models. My decision was mostly influenced by the reduced prices and increased battery life.



After some debating over buying the older model for same price or getting the latest one we settled on the newest mid end $1999 model with 2 GPUs. As is common I got a very nice resale price for my older MacBook Pro as it had AppleCare.



This generation is an all around improvement over the past generation unless you happen to be using ExpressCard on 15" model that is. In our case we never used the ExpressCard after attempting to use a eSATA card that did not work really well. And we have a few SD Cards that we figure we can easily use.



So on to the specific improvements over its predecessor -

1) Battery Life - I was very doubtful that the battery would last any longer than 4 hours at the maximum but was pleasantly surprised to find that for surfing/email type and the occasional CNN/Youtube flash videos getting 6+ hours was quite easy.



2) Prices - No doubt prices are the most reasonable Apple laptops have ever had. If you have no need for the dual GPU you can get the $1699 model which comes with a respectable 2.53Ghz Processor 4GB RAM and a very capable 9400M GPU.



3) Operating Temperature - I have owned my share of laptops (Apple and non-Apple) and I have to say this one is the coolest - it never gets too warm and I can use it on my lap all the times - even encoding videos using the HandBrake application did not make it uncomfortably hot. However if I switch it to use the 9600M GPU it gets warmer even on regular use. It also runs very quiet - the fans may be coming on but I never notice.



Initially there was a lot of furor over Apple's downgrade of the Serial-ATA interface speed (used to transfer data to and from the hard disk) to 1.5Gbps but Apple quickly restored the speeds to 3Gbps - I do not however notice any difference with the 5400RPM hard disk.



About the display - it is gorgeous and colors are vibrant. I had the opportunity to use a calibrated color profile to make it look even better. However I find the display to be a little too much reflective but I am coming from almost always using matte display so I figure it's a matter of getting used to it.



Apple's use of Mini DisplayPort is ahead of its time - not many displays support it and so I had to buy a $30 DVI adapter - not a big problem but Apple should at the very least re-start bundling the adapter with the Pro machines. Also another USB port in lieu of the SD Card Reader would be quite welcome - people can use the SD Card Reader for only SD Cards but a USB port can be used for SD Cards as well as other peripherals.



That said this generation is overall a very nice improvement - the great battery life itself is enough to convince one to upgrade.



[ Edited to add some findings after extensive use ]



After using it for a few months I find a handful of things moderately annoying about this laptop -



1) The positioning of USB ports - both USB ports are on one side of the laptop and they are far too closely positioned to use both at once. For example I found I could not attach my Sandisk USB thumb drive and anything else at a time. And I don't have any irregular/unusual devices. They should really go back to having the ports on two sides or at least position them a bit more apart.



2) The Lid of the laptop is loose - this was known to me before but I never thought it would become annoying. I don't routinely use the laptop in bed but whenever I do it's annoying.



3) The amount of RAM Apple advertises (4GB) is not actually entirely usable - only 3.75GB is. So you lose 256Mb of RAM for the dual GPU.More detail ...

Very nice but not perfect

I'm a PC but I'm also a Mac. A Macbook Air (MBA) to be exact. I'm very much into design so it just made sense. I first considered something like the Dell Adamo Latitude Z or the HP ENVY13 But the Dells were heavily under-powered processor-wise. The HP was crazy powerful but heftier than I would have liked. The Latitude's Euro design gave the MBA's design a run for it money but it starts at over two grand and you'll easily knock on $2500 with the bells and whistles Yikes! The HP ENVY 13 is very powerful and the only ultra-portable with the i7 processor. But for what I'll be using this for the mobility and price is more important to me. The Adamo seemed to match the price and features of the Macbook Air best but finding that the design feature and price pretty much a draw (I personally thought the MBA had a very small edge on Design) I settled on the MBA because of the fact that I can run Windows 7 as well as Mac OS X(which I also use for different purposes)and the better build quality. I have to say the unibody design really makes the thing feel as if it was carved from one piece of aluminum. There's minimal flex to speak of. Closed it just feels so nice in your hands.



The 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor is a lot better than the 1.2 and 1.4 that are available in the Dells; more than enough for my usage. This might have been a bit meek had I not already had an Intel Core 2 Quad Desktop computer at home. This also made HP ENVY pointless.



The screen is more than adequate and much better than a netbook. Since it's so light it really can go anywhere a netbook can. The nice Keyboard and trackpad was also refreshing.



The Solid State Drive is also nice but after some usage I really don't find them all that different from a standard HD perhaps a bit faster but not that noticeable. It certainly is cooler and less noisy. Some users have complained about it getting a bit warm but I'm thinking they've got an HD instead of an SSD.



And now for the few CONs:



No optical drive - since I won't be needing this too often it's not a big deal. I already have an external Blu-Ray Drive that I used to install everything. Once that was done I can only image using it for an occasion Blu-Ray/DVD movie but even this will be rare unless I'm in a hotel room somewhere and bore out of my mind.



Connectivity:

No Ethernet big deal! It's all about wireless!



Weird Mini Display port - also not a big deal since I don't imaging connecting an external monitor to this much.



Only one USB - This one I admit is pretty significant. It was a bit of hassle to swap USB devices a bit but again I only use multiple devices a handful of times (mainly a USB DJ Console Mixer and an external USB HD containing the music I want to mix). I got a little griffin USB "Splitter" which was nothing more than a very tiny USB Hub but it did have some trouble getting enough power to the HD from this one USB port so I did have to add a USB power cable to the mix (the audio was clipping heavily during mixing and transition). So keep that in mind if you're planning to daisy-chain three hard drives a soda cooler and a reading light to the USB port- just don't. It works fine with the majority of other (low powered) USB devices.

RAM - Here's the other big CON! While 2GB of RAM will probably be ok for now but I would have loved having the option of adding more. I have 8GB on my desktop and I actually use it (photo and video editing media center functions terminal services etc.)! While I'm not doing much of that (maybe a little Photoshoping) on this thing all it takes is that killer application that requires at least 4GB of RAM that I can't use that will drive me nuts!



I have a first generation Macbook Pro from work and I always loved the design of it. This takes things to the next level. I'm primarily a Windows user and this seems to work a bit more seamlessly with Windows than the Macbook Pro(although with the latest drivers and software updates for bootcamp from apple it got better). It's kinda odd that I went with an Mac to run Windows but it was a calculated choice. Had I been looking for a full-function laptop it would have likely been an HP or Dell.More detail ...

Macbook Pro 17-inch (Mid 2009)...fantastic desktop replacement

Simply put the best laptop I've ever owned. I configured it through Apple with the 128GB SSD and apps install incredibly fast and launch instantly. The screen is a marvel 1920 X 1200 with LCD backlight. I opted to go with the glossy so there are some reflections but only when using directly in front of a bright window otherwise its not a problem (for me anyway).



Bear in mind this is a BIG laptop...its a tray table...but very sturdy and NO flex in the chassis. The trackpad is also very useable although I still opted for a mouse (Logitech M555b Bluetooth highly recommended also).



It doesn't heat up much and has incredible battery life...if I switch to the 9400M integrated graphics (which is fine for most uses) I can get 6 hours on a charge no problem with WiFi Bluetooth brightness at about 60% and the SSD as the primary HD. With a different config YMMV but I'd bet 5-6 hours is the norm for this machine.



All-in-all a great laptop. I'll have this 2-3 years no problems.More detail ...

Real improvement

Coming from a troubled Nvidia 8600M GT MacBook Pro - let me say that I was very skeptical buying another Apple Laptop with nVidia chip in it.



However one weekend I decided to visit the nearest Apple Retail Store and check out the newly released models. My decision was mostly influenced by the reduced prices and increased battery life.



After some debating over buying the older model for same price or getting the latest one we settled on the newest mid end $1999 model with 2 GPUs. As is common I got a very nice resale price for my older MacBook Pro as it had AppleCare.



This generation is an all around improvement over the past generation unless you happen to be using ExpressCard on 15" model that is. In our case we never used the ExpressCard after attempting to use a eSATA card that did not work really well. And we have a few SD Cards that we figure we can easily use.



So on to the specific improvements over its predecessor -

1) Battery Life - I was very doubtful that the battery would last any longer than 4 hours at the maximum but was pleasantly surprised to find that for surfing/email type and the occasional CNN/Youtube flash videos getting 6+ hours was quite easy.



2) Prices - No doubt prices are the most reasonable Apple laptops have ever had. If you have no need for the dual GPU you can get the $1699 model which comes with a respectable 2.53Ghz Processor 4GB RAM and a very capable 9400M GPU.



3) Operating Temperature - I have owned my share of laptops (Apple and non-Apple) and I have to say this one is the coolest - it never gets too warm and I can use it on my lap all the times - even encoding videos using the HandBrake application did not make it uncomfortably hot. However if I switch it to use the 9600M GPU it gets warmer even on regular use. It also runs very quiet - the fans may be coming on but I never notice.



Initially there was a lot of furor over Apple's downgrade of the Serial-ATA interface speed (used to transfer data to and from the hard disk) to 1.5Gbps but Apple quickly restored the speeds to 3Gbps - I do not however notice any difference with the 5400RPM hard disk.



About the display - it is gorgeous and colors are vibrant. I had the opportunity to use a calibrated color profile to make it look even better. However I find the display to be a little too much reflective but I am coming from almost always using matte display so I figure it's a matter of getting used to it.



Apple's use of Mini DisplayPort is ahead of its time - not many displays support it and so I had to buy a $30 DVI adapter - not a big problem but Apple should at the very least re-start bundling the adapter with the Pro machines. Also another USB port in lieu of the SD Card Reader would be quite welcome - people can use the SD Card Reader for only SD Cards but a USB port can be used for SD Cards as well as other peripherals.



That said this generation is overall a very nice improvement - the great battery life itself is enough to convince one to upgrade.



[ Edited to add some findings after extensive use ]



After using it for a few months I find a handful of things moderately annoying about this laptop -



1) The positioning of USB ports - both USB ports are on one side of the laptop and they are far too closely positioned to use both at once. For example I found I could not attach my Sandisk USB thumb drive and anything else at a time. And I don't have any irregular/unusual devices. They should really go back to having the ports on two sides or at least position them a bit more apart.



2) The Lid of the laptop is loose - this was known to me before but I never thought it would become annoying. I don't routinely use the laptop in bed but whenever I do it's annoying.



3) The amount of RAM Apple advertises (4GB) is not actually entirely usable - only 3.75GB is. So you lose 256Mb of RAM for the dual GPU.More detail ...

Real improvement

Coming from a troubled Nvidia 8600M GT MacBook Pro - let me say that I was very skeptical buying another Apple Laptop with nVidia chip in it.



However one weekend I decided to visit the nearest Apple Retail Store and check out the newly released models. My decision was mostly influenced by the reduced prices and increased battery life.



After some debating over buying the older model for same price or getting the latest one we settled on the newest mid end $1999 model with 2 GPUs. As is common I got a very nice resale price for my older MacBook Pro as it had AppleCare.



This generation is an all around improvement over the past generation unless you happen to be using ExpressCard on 15" model that is. In our case we never used the ExpressCard after attempting to use a eSATA card that did not work really well. And we have a few SD Cards that we figure we can easily use.



So on to the specific improvements over its predecessor -

1) Battery Life - I was very doubtful that the battery would last any longer than 4 hours at the maximum but was pleasantly surprised to find that for surfing/email type and the occasional CNN/Youtube flash videos getting 6+ hours was quite easy.



2) Prices - No doubt prices are the most reasonable Apple laptops have ever had. If you have no need for the dual GPU you can get the $1699 model which comes with a respectable 2.53Ghz Processor 4GB RAM and a very capable 9400M GPU.



3) Operating Temperature - I have owned my share of laptops (Apple and non-Apple) and I have to say this one is the coolest - it never gets too warm and I can use it on my lap all the times - even encoding videos using the HandBrake application did not make it uncomfortably hot. However if I switch it to use the 9600M GPU it gets warmer even on regular use. It also runs very quiet - the fans may be coming on but I never notice.



Initially there was a lot of furor over Apple's downgrade of the Serial-ATA interface speed (used to transfer data to and from the hard disk) to 1.5Gbps but Apple quickly restored the speeds to 3Gbps - I do not however notice any difference with the 5400RPM hard disk.



About the display - it is gorgeous and colors are vibrant. I had the opportunity to use a calibrated color profile to make it look even better. However I find the display to be a little too much reflective but I am coming from almost always using matte display so I figure it's a matter of getting used to it.



Apple's use of Mini DisplayPort is ahead of its time - not many displays support it and so I had to buy a $30 DVI adapter - not a big problem but Apple should at the very least re-start bundling the adapter with the Pro machines. Also another USB port in lieu of the SD Card Reader would be quite welcome - people can use the SD Card Reader for only SD Cards but a USB port can be used for SD Cards as well as other peripherals.



That said this generation is overall a very nice improvement - the great battery life itself is enough to convince one to upgrade.



[ Edited to add some findings after extensive use ]



After using it for a few months I find a handful of things moderately annoying about this laptop -



1) The positioning of USB ports - both USB ports are on one side of the laptop and they are far too closely positioned to use both at once. For example I found I could not attach my Sandisk USB thumb drive and anything else at a time. And I don't have any irregular/unusual devices. They should really go back to having the ports on two sides or at least position them a bit more apart.



2) The Lid of the laptop is loose - this was known to me before but I never thought it would become annoying. I don't routinely use the laptop in bed but whenever I do it's annoying.



3) The amount of RAM Apple advertises (4GB) is not actually entirely usable - only 3.75GB is. So you lose 256Mb of RAM for the dual GPU.More detail ...

Possibly the best "Apple" investment I've made

I don't think I'll go back to regular "full-size" laptops again. I didn't think that the weight difference between my 15.4" 2008 MacBook-Pro and the "AIR" would be so substantial but it is. My back is thanking me. Even with the power supply and my average bring-to-work payload I often forget that I'm wearing a bag.



As far as general computing goes it has been -- by far -- the most pleasing computing experience I've had in over 17yrs working with computers... no doubt because of the SSD.



--Average applications load in one or two "bounces" tops.

--Web pages load faster

--No stuttering when displaying the contents of a a folder scrolling through image galleries etc.

--Startup/Shutdown times.



Other PROS:



--Screen is perfect. I was worried that the glossy screen may be a little bothersome though I've yet to come across a situation where it was a problem and I've taken it everywhere with me.



--Its build seems "solid". Maybe it's a trait of the new unibodies but when the lid is closed; it feels like a solid piece of metal that would be very difficult to damage. Maybe im naive but I no longer feel the need to wrap my laptop in 4 layers of protection to keep it from damage in my bag.



CONS:



--Today's laptops support up to 8GB typically in 2x 4GB configurations. It would be nice to see support for a 4GB module in the future.



--Typical complaints: no firewire or eSATA only 1x USB.



--Runs a little hot and I'm not fond of the location of the exhaust vents.





OTHER:



Don't call it a netbook or a laptop. It's the best of both worlds. It deserves its own category.More detail ...

Switched from Windows: More good than bad. Great hardware

This is my first Mac computer. My first four computers ran Win 3.1 Windows 95 XP and Vista (from about 1995-present). I have quite a lot of time spent on each of them. Switching from Windows to Mac is not difficult but it can be a bit frustrating for a week or so. There are Windows features that you will miss but they are mostly overcome by overall advantages in my opinion.



I've spent two weeks with this machine now. If I had written this review after one day I would have probably stated that I regretted the switch to Mac. After getting more proficient with the machine and realizing how well it works I would definitely recommend it to a friend.



This review is going to be a mix of my impressions of both the hardware and the Mac operating system from a new Mac user perspective.



The only difference between my machine and the one on this product page is that I ordered directly from Apple and upgraded the hard drive to 250GB (from the 160GB base option). I am using 2gb of ram and the lower-end processor.



My Mac OS impressions:



The biggest thing I missed from Windows at first was the task bar. Mac uses the "dock" to replace the task bar. The dock is kind of like the quick launch toolbar in Windows spread out across the entire bar with large icons. Having used windows with a task bar for the past 13 years I missed the ability to see all open programs and switch between them with the task bar. The dock has a tiny dot below the icon on running-programs but nothing else to separate it from other program and folder icons. The dock is not nearly as useful for multitasking as the task bar.



The saving grace that rescues the Mac from awkward app-switching while multitasking is called expose. Expose is activated by either pressing a key or using a multitouch gesture (four-finger swipe). Expose uses the entire screen to display all open windows and allow you to switch between them. It's like alt+tab on steroids. Having used the machine for a couple weeks I miss using expose when I use my Windows machine. As much as I hated the dock at first I have to give the advantage to the Mac for managing multiple windows while multitasking.



The controls for open-windows are quite different than in MS-Windows. In Mac there is a resize hide and minimize button instead of maximize minimize restore and close. To close an app on the mac you need to use a menu command or keyboard shortcut. The Mac resize button kind of works like restore/maximize only it's a bit more awkward. A commenter here pointed out that it resizes the window for ideal viewing without using the entire screen. I find myself resizing windows by dragging corners more than I ever did on a Windows machine. I really miss the ability to maximize if for no other reason but to avoid distractions. The green resize button may be better on an enormous monitor but not on a 13" notebook. When you minimize or hide an app on the Mac it is only available from the dock and is hidden from expose. I'll give the window size-management advantage to Windows in this contest. The windows system is just easier and more logical in my opinion. It isn't a deal-breaker but I do miss the Windows "window controls." If you are a frequent user of the F11 key while web browsing in Windows you'll have to kiss that feature goodbye. Neither Firefox nor Safari will go full-screen.



Windows Explorer is "replaced" with an app called Finder. Finder is kind of like the start menu and an explorer window all rolled up into one. Compared with older versions of Windows finder is adequate but Vista's explorer is quite a bit easier and more logical to use. I prefer Vista's preview pane to Mac's coverflow. I miss the "up folder" button. I have found myself mostly using the view that puts files folders and apps into a column view for easiest computer browsing and it just isn't as elegant as Windows Vista. The lack of a maximize button has caused frustration especially in the finder because the finder likes to stay in a very small window unless you drag the corners.



The Safari web browser is nice and quick and has a decent security reputation. I have been switching back and forth between Safari and Firefox. Firefox has crashed a couple of times and I really like being able to use multitouch gestures with Safari so I'm leaning toward making Safari my main web tool. Reading RSS feeds and the bookmark toolbar are really well done in Safari. Browsers are so personal that it's difficult to recommend one over the other but as a Firefox user in Windows I think I have high standard and Safari has met or exceeded them.



I absolutely hate the iPhoto app. Iphoto does not allow you to organize and browse your photos in folders. It imports your pictures and sorts them itself based on time/date stamps on the photos. This works fine for personal vacation snapshots but it completely mixed up the rest of my images. Folders that were neatly organized for work projects and fun web clippings and adult stuff were all shuffled into one big mess after I imported my image collection. I ended up just deleting all of them and not using iphoto at all. Right now I'm just using Finder to browse my photos and the preview app to view them. Light editing work isn't possible in the preview app and I still haven't decided what to use for a basic photo editor yet. Vista's photo app is junk but it's still superior to iPhoto if you like to keep your photos organized using your own folder system. I know people who love iphoto. It comes down to whether you want the ability to organize your collection yourself. If you have a big mess of photos you'll love iphoto's ability to organize them via event and face recognition.

Edited to add: you can organize your photos into "albums" after you import them into iPhoto but be prepared to spend a lot of time reorganizing everything. Even after you organize into albums the main library screen gives you views of your entire collection (perhaps things you don't want everyone to see).



I have not used Garage Band or iMovie yet. I'll update later when I get a chance.

Edited to add: I played with garage band a bit and it's pretty powerful. It allows you to import and export AAC and MP3 tracks and record sound in multiple tracks. Very easy to use. The only other audio app i've ever used is audacity and I much prefer Garage Band. I haven't used any of the music lessons it offers yet but plan to soon.

I played with iMovie for a few minutes and it seems pretty nice and very intuitive. I actually don't mind Windows Movie Maker which is included with Vista. I would not consider it a big step up from Win Movie Maker but it's a nice app.



The mail calendar and address book apps are basic but work very very well. The address app will import common file types easily. It will sync with yahoo out of the box. Address book will only sync with Google contacts if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch.



Everyone has an opinion about iTunes. I'm a big fan of it. It's exactly like the windows version only it runs a bit faster without the bugs. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch the Windows-iTunes bug with time/date being wrong after the computer sleeps is not an issue on the Mac.



Time machine is the Mac's backup app. It is amazing and very simple. I'm using an external drive plugged into my Apple Airport wireless router as a backup disk. My wireless disk showed up on my desktop instantly once I plugged it into the router. Time machine noticed the external drive right away and went to work backing up my files (after asking permission of course). Now my machine automatically backs up any changes every hour as long as I'm in range of my wireless access point. Time machine is a big load off my mind. If I ever have a drive failure or my computer is destroyed I have an exact backup of everything without remembering to backup my files. Vista will backup according to a set schedule but it lacks the ability to easily look through backups for specific files. Time machine is wonderful and make wireless backup effortless.



The Mac disk utility is almost as good as the one in Vista and it's easier to use. It's far superior to the one in XP. I used it to format my external wireless drive because the Mac router couldn't read NTFS formating (although the computer can read NTFS drives via USB for some reason).



The graphics control software is a joy to use. When I plug in my external monitor it immediately extends my desktop to the new monitor. Adjusting everything from resolution to rotation couldn't be any easier.



Boot camp is a utility that allows you to create a partition and install Windows as a secondary boot system (you need to own or buy a legal single-disk 32bit copy of either Windows XP or Windows Vista). When you start up the boot camp utility it gives you a choice between using either 5 or 32 GB of space for the Windows partition. I learned the hard way that Windows XP SP3 won't fit into 5GB. You need to give it at least the 32 GB (which left me with almost exactly 200GB on my "250" GB drive). Installing Windows using the Boot Camp utility is very very easy. Once you get Windows loaded your OSX install disk makes quick work of installing drivers for all of your laptop's hardware. It's too bad that Nvidia and HP aren't as good at putting together easy Windows driver packages as Apple. In order to boot into Windows you simply press the "option" key during bootup and it allows you to choose which OS to run. Windows XP absolutely screams on this hardware.



The hardware:



The hardware is where this computer really shines.



The biggest advantage is stability. My last computer purchase was a vista machine. To say that I had stability and hardware compatibility issues with my HP Vista desktop is an understatement. The main reason I turned to mac for this purchase was the fact that the hardware drivers and software are made for each other. This machine has ran flawlessly for the past two weeks. I did have two crashes of the Firefox browser while watching Flash video but only the browser went down rather than the entire system.



I have connected an external monitor camera ipod USB drive and router to this machine. All of the drivers were already installed and everything has "just worked." The hardware is a joy to use when it just works. It is difficult to put into words how happy I am with the lack of effort in using this machine.



The speed isn't blazing-fast but it runs very well even with many many apps and windows running. My Vista desktop has similar specs but my new Mac feels slightly faster.



One outstanding productivity feature of this machine is the touch pad. I honestly prefer it to using a mouse for office and browsing tasks. I can't say enough good things about the multitouch gestures. Two finger scrolling two finger right-click three finger forward and back in Safari and four finger expose make this machine feel like like it is part of you. Having the entire surface of the touchpad as the button is brilliant especially for drag and drop operations. The large size of the touchpad makes it very precise.



The keyboard is really nice. At first I thought the keys were a bit soft and the travel was too shallow but I quickly got used to it and now prefer it to my more "clicky" desktop keyboard. I don't know how I lived this long without a backlit keyboard. The backlight is more useful than I thought it would be.



The display is beautiful. It has good color a wide viewing angle and is plenty bright for indoor environments. I would prefer that the screen wasn't glass but the reflections aren't as bad as I feared. If there is a bright light source behind you you'll need to angle the screen to reduce the glare but it's workable.



The DVD drive is a DVD drive. It feels slow and makes a lot of noise. I've never owned an optical drive that I considered fast and quiet and this one isn't any exception. It works well but isn't anything special.



The battery life is incredible. The seven hour battery life is not an exaggeration if you are using the computer for light browsing and office apps. Expect about 4-5 hours if you're using it for heavy web browsing and a bit of media. Listening to music with the display off would easily last over the advertised 7 hours. Streaming high definition video on netflix using wireless will knock it down to at or below three hours. I haven't watched DVD movies on battery power but I expect it to barely get you through a single two hour film with a bit left over.



The size and weight are ideal for portability. 4.5lbs doesn't exactly feel light until you compare it to similarly spec'd machines that weigh a full pound (20%) more. I wouldn't want a larger machine if I had to lug it around much.



The speakers are quite good for a small light machine. Don't expect much bass but the sound is very clear with good mids and highs. The speakers are plenty loud for listening to podcasts or music in a semi-quiet medium sized room or office. I won't need to pack external speakers for use in my hotel room when I travel like my last laptop.



The "magsafe" power adapter is more than just a gimmick and more than just a way to avoid tripping and breaking your machine. The "power brick" itself is a lot smaller than my last dell laptop. It's exactly the same size as the USB wall adapters that used to be included with ipods. The cord is 6ft long and the brick includes fold-out wings to wrap the cord around. It is very well thought-out for travel. With the cord wrapped up and the plug folded into the body the power brick only takes up about 2.5" x 3" x 1" in your bag. When you are using it at home or at the office there is an included 6ft extension cord for the power brick so you aren't as tethered to your desk.



The computer runs very cool compared to most laptops. Also there are no vents where super-heated air blows out. While I'm sure it uses a fan I've never audibly actually heard it run or felt a stream of warm air from it. I think it may vent through ports and the keyboard but it runs cool enough that you don't notice it. Edited to add: it does get rather warm when watching high resolution video but stays quite cool when web browsing or using normal office apps. Even when very warm the fan is still quiet (the only way to actually hear the fan is to hold it near your ear).



The only drawback to the hardware compared to Windows machines is the fact that there is no option to hibernate when closing the lid. It sleeps when you close the lid but it still is using a small amount of power. If you're only going to be away for a couple hours this isn't an issue but you must completely shut down when on battery power if you're going to be away much longer.



This machine is a lot more expensive than similarly spec'd Windows machines but I feel that it's worth the money. I'm a very satisfied Mac switcher.More detail ...

Switched from Windows: More good than bad. Great hardware

This is my first Mac computer. My first four computers ran Win 3.1 Windows 95 XP and Vista (from about 1995-present). I have quite a lot of time spent on each of them. Switching from Windows to Mac is not difficult but it can be a bit frustrating for a week or so. There are Windows features that you will miss but they are mostly overcome by overall advantages in my opinion.



I've spent two weeks with this machine now. If I had written this review after one day I would have probably stated that I regretted the switch to Mac. After getting more proficient with the machine and realizing how well it works I would definitely recommend it to a friend.



This review is going to be a mix of my impressions of both the hardware and the Mac operating system from a new Mac user perspective.



The only difference between my machine and the one on this product page is that I ordered directly from Apple and upgraded the hard drive to 250GB (from the 160GB base option). I am using 2gb of ram and the lower-end processor.



My Mac OS impressions:



The biggest thing I missed from Windows at first was the task bar. Mac uses the "dock" to replace the task bar. The dock is kind of like the quick launch toolbar in Windows spread out across the entire bar with large icons. Having used windows with a task bar for the past 13 years I missed the ability to see all open programs and switch between them with the task bar. The dock has a tiny dot below the icon on running-programs but nothing else to separate it from other program and folder icons. The dock is not nearly as useful for multitasking as the task bar.



The saving grace that rescues the Mac from awkward app-switching while multitasking is called expose. Expose is activated by either pressing a key or using a multitouch gesture (four-finger swipe). Expose uses the entire screen to display all open windows and allow you to switch between them. It's like alt+tab on steroids. Having used the machine for a couple weeks I miss using expose when I use my Windows machine. As much as I hated the dock at first I have to give the advantage to the Mac for managing multiple windows while multitasking.



The controls for open-windows are quite different than in MS-Windows. In Mac there is a resize hide and minimize button instead of maximize minimize restore and close. To close an app on the mac you need to use a menu command or keyboard shortcut. The Mac resize button kind of works like restore/maximize only it's a bit more awkward. A commenter here pointed out that it resizes the window for ideal viewing without using the entire screen. I find myself resizing windows by dragging corners more than I ever did on a Windows machine. I really miss the ability to maximize if for no other reason but to avoid distractions. The green resize button may be better on an enormous monitor but not on a 13" notebook. When you minimize or hide an app on the Mac it is only available from the dock and is hidden from expose. I'll give the window size-management advantage to Windows in this contest. The windows system is just easier and more logical in my opinion. It isn't a deal-breaker but I do miss the Windows "window controls." If you are a frequent user of the F11 key while web browsing in Windows you'll have to kiss that feature goodbye. Neither Firefox nor Safari will go full-screen.



Windows Explorer is "replaced" with an app called Finder. Finder is kind of like the start menu and an explorer window all rolled up into one. Compared with older versions of Windows finder is adequate but Vista's explorer is quite a bit easier and more logical to use. I prefer Vista's preview pane to Mac's coverflow. I miss the "up folder" button. I have found myself mostly using the view that puts files folders and apps into a column view for easiest computer browsing and it just isn't as elegant as Windows Vista. The lack of a maximize button has caused frustration especially in the finder because the finder likes to stay in a very small window unless you drag the corners.



The Safari web browser is nice and quick and has a decent security reputation. I have been switching back and forth between Safari and Firefox. Firefox has crashed a couple of times and I really like being able to use multitouch gestures with Safari so I'm leaning toward making Safari my main web tool. Reading RSS feeds and the bookmark toolbar are really well done in Safari. Browsers are so personal that it's difficult to recommend one over the other but as a Firefox user in Windows I think I have high standard and Safari has met or exceeded them.



I absolutely hate the iPhoto app. Iphoto does not allow you to organize and browse your photos in folders. It imports your pictures and sorts them itself based on time/date stamps on the photos. This works fine for personal vacation snapshots but it completely mixed up the rest of my images. Folders that were neatly organized for work projects and fun web clippings and adult stuff were all shuffled into one big mess after I imported my image collection. I ended up just deleting all of them and not using iphoto at all. Right now I'm just using Finder to browse my photos and the preview app to view them. Light editing work isn't possible in the preview app and I still haven't decided what to use for a basic photo editor yet. Vista's photo app is junk but it's still superior to iPhoto if you like to keep your photos organized using your own folder system. I know people who love iphoto. It comes down to whether you want the ability to organize your collection yourself. If you have a big mess of photos you'll love iphoto's ability to organize them via event and face recognition.

Edited to add: you can organize your photos into "albums" after you import them into iPhoto but be prepared to spend a lot of time reorganizing everything. Even after you organize into albums the main library screen gives you views of your entire collection (perhaps things you don't want everyone to see).



I have not used Garage Band or iMovie yet. I'll update later when I get a chance.

Edited to add: I played with garage band a bit and it's pretty powerful. It allows you to import and export AAC and MP3 tracks and record sound in multiple tracks. Very easy to use. The only other audio app i've ever used is audacity and I much prefer Garage Band. I haven't used any of the music lessons it offers yet but plan to soon.

I played with iMovie for a few minutes and it seems pretty nice and very intuitive. I actually don't mind Windows Movie Maker which is included with Vista. I would not consider it a big step up from Win Movie Maker but it's a nice app.



The mail calendar and address book apps are basic but work very very well. The address app will import common file types easily. It will sync with yahoo out of the box. Address book will only sync with Google contacts if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch.



Everyone has an opinion about iTunes. I'm a big fan of it. It's exactly like the windows version only it runs a bit faster without the bugs. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch the Windows-iTunes bug with time/date being wrong after the computer sleeps is not an issue on the Mac.



Time machine is the Mac's backup app. It is amazing and very simple. I'm using an external drive plugged into my Apple Airport wireless router as a backup disk. My wireless disk showed up on my desktop instantly once I plugged it into the router. Time machine noticed the external drive right away and went to work backing up my files (after asking permission of course). Now my machine automatically backs up any changes every hour as long as I'm in range of my wireless access point. Time machine is a big load off my mind. If I ever have a drive failure or my computer is destroyed I have an exact backup of everything without remembering to backup my files. Vista will backup according to a set schedule but it lacks the ability to easily look through backups for specific files. Time machine is wonderful and make wireless backup effortless.



The Mac disk utility is almost as good as the one in Vista and it's easier to use. It's far superior to the one in XP. I used it to format my external wireless drive because the Mac router couldn't read NTFS formating (although the computer can read NTFS drives via USB for some reason).



The graphics control software is a joy to use. When I plug in my external monitor it immediately extends my desktop to the new monitor. Adjusting everything from resolution to rotation couldn't be any easier.



Boot camp is a utility that allows you to create a partition and install Windows as a secondary boot system (you need to own or buy a legal single-disk 32bit copy of either Windows XP or Windows Vista). When you start up the boot camp utility it gives you a choice between using either 5 or 32 GB of space for the Windows partition. I learned the hard way that Windows XP SP3 won't fit into 5GB. You need to give it at least the 32 GB (which left me with almost exactly 200GB on my "250" GB drive). Installing Windows using the Boot Camp utility is very very easy. Once you get Windows loaded your OSX install disk makes quick work of installing drivers for all of your laptop's hardware. It's too bad that Nvidia and HP aren't as good at putting together easy Windows driver packages as Apple. In order to boot into Windows you simply press the "option" key during bootup and it allows you to choose which OS to run. Windows XP absolutely screams on this hardware.



The hardware:



The hardware is where this computer really shines.



The biggest advantage is stability. My last computer purchase was a vista machine. To say that I had stability and hardware compatibility issues with my HP Vista desktop is an understatement. The main reason I turned to mac for this purchase was the fact that the hardware drivers and software are made for each other. This machine has ran flawlessly for the past two weeks. I did have two crashes of the Firefox browser while watching Flash video but only the browser went down rather than the entire system.



I have connected an external monitor camera ipod USB drive and router to this machine. All of the drivers were already installed and everything has "just worked." The hardware is a joy to use when it just works. It is difficult to put into words how happy I am with the lack of effort in using this machine.



The speed isn't blazing-fast but it runs very well even with many many apps and windows running. My Vista desktop has similar specs but my new Mac feels slightly faster.



One outstanding productivity feature of this machine is the touch pad. I honestly prefer it to using a mouse for office and browsing tasks. I can't say enough good things about the multitouch gestures. Two finger scrolling two finger right-click three finger forward and back in Safari and four finger expose make this machine feel like like it is part of you. Having the entire surface of the touchpad as the button is brilliant especially for drag and drop operations. The large size of the touchpad makes it very precise.



The keyboard is really nice. At first I thought the keys were a bit soft and the travel was too shallow but I quickly got used to it and now prefer it to my more "clicky" desktop keyboard. I don't know how I lived this long without a backlit keyboard. The backlight is more useful than I thought it would be.



The display is beautiful. It has good color a wide viewing angle and is plenty bright for indoor environments. I would prefer that the screen wasn't glass but the reflections aren't as bad as I feared. If there is a bright light source behind you you'll need to angle the screen to reduce the glare but it's workable.



The DVD drive is a DVD drive. It feels slow and makes a lot of noise. I've never owned an optical drive that I considered fast and quiet and this one isn't any exception. It works well but isn't anything special.



The battery life is incredible. The seven hour battery life is not an exaggeration if you are using the computer for light browsing and office apps. Expect about 4-5 hours if you're using it for heavy web browsing and a bit of media. Listening to music with the display off would easily last over the advertised 7 hours. Streaming high definition video on netflix using wireless will knock it down to at or below three hours. I haven't watched DVD movies on battery power but I expect it to barely get you through a single two hour film with a bit left over.



The size and weight are ideal for portability. 4.5lbs doesn't exactly feel light until you compare it to similarly spec'd machines that weigh a full pound (20%) more. I wouldn't want a larger machine if I had to lug it around much.



The speakers are quite good for a small light machine. Don't expect much bass but the sound is very clear with good mids and highs. The speakers are plenty loud for listening to podcasts or music in a semi-quiet medium sized room or office. I won't need to pack external speakers for use in my hotel room when I travel like my last laptop.



The "magsafe" power adapter is more than just a gimmick and more than just a way to avoid tripping and breaking your machine. The "power brick" itself is a lot smaller than my last dell laptop. It's exactly the same size as the USB wall adapters that used to be included with ipods. The cord is 6ft long and the brick includes fold-out wings to wrap the cord around. It is very well thought-out for travel. With the cord wrapped up and the plug folded into the body the power brick only takes up about 2.5" x 3" x 1" in your bag. When you are using it at home or at the office there is an included 6ft extension cord for the power brick so you aren't as tethered to your desk.



The computer runs very cool compared to most laptops. Also there are no vents where super-heated air blows out. While I'm sure it uses a fan I've never audibly actually heard it run or felt a stream of warm air from it. I think it may vent through ports and the keyboard but it runs cool enough that you don't notice it. Edited to add: it does get rather warm when watching high resolution video but stays quite cool when web browsing or using normal office apps. Even when very warm the fan is still quiet (the only way to actually hear the fan is to hold it near your ear).



The only drawback to the hardware compared to Windows machines is the fact that there is no option to hibernate when closing the lid. It sleeps when you close the lid but it still is using a small amount of power. If you're only going to be away for a couple hours this isn't an issue but you must completely shut down when on battery power if you're going to be away much longer.



This machine is a lot more expensive than similarly spec'd Windows machines but I feel that it's worth the money. I'm a very satisfied Mac switcher.More detail ...

APPLE MACBOOK PRO NOTEBOOK - Precision aluminum unibody - 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB DDR3 SDRAM 250 GB SATA HD SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)NVIDIA GeForce 9400M built-in omnidirectional microphone and iSight camera 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display 1280-by-800 resolution 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard

• 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB DDR3 SDRAM 250 GB SATA HD SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)


• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M built-in omnidirectional microphone and iSight camera 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display


• 1280-by-800 resolution 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard

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The show horse workhorse

For three years now I have been PC free relying on my trusty MacBook Pro for all the heavy lifting. The replacement of my 2.16GHz MBP was long coming. The major problem was that essentially unlike a PC laptop which is functionally useless after two years Macs can last forever. What doesn't last forever however is AppleCare Protection Plan - For Portable Apple Computers 15 Inches and Above. Even though Macs are extremely reliable Applecare is a necessary option. All computers even Apple computers are mechanical devices and subject to random and expensive repairs.



So hear was my dilemma. I had a perfectly functional three year old MacBook Pro. It had a market value and I had a buyer. In a month when my Applecare warranty expired repairs were going to be expensive eating up the value of the computer. Plus the Congress created a 100% business write-off for new computers for 2009 meaning that the government was going to subsidize a new MacBook Pro. So I sold my old laptop and bought this incredibly fast new 17 inch MacBook Pro.



First why 17in? Lots of people prefer 15 inch machines because of weight issues. This 17 inchat a about 6.6 pounds is significantly lighter than my old MBP. A larger screen is more effective for work particularly when my work requires research and writing. The only option I got is the antiglare screen. It is true that the colors have more pop and sizzle with the shiny standard screen but I am not a graphic artist. I read and write in black and white and a glare slows me down.



Battery life is another big factor. An 8 hour battery means you can work on transcontinental or even trans-Atlantic flights. Airline power connections are still few and far between in economy.



The 500GB hard drive is far more than I need right now. One option although an expensive one is a 256GB solid state drive. There are advantages. Unlike Hard Drives there are no whirling mechanical parts making it more releiable. But that does not mean a solid state drive canot fail. They can and you will still require Applecare. the best insurance along with Applecare is a Apple Time Capsule MB765LL/A 1TB which I used to "move" the datamusic photos videos applications and keychain from the older laptop to my new MBP. (Hint: to do this wirelessly takes a while. Figure on seven or eight hours)



So now I have a flashier larger lighter version of my old MacBook Pro soon to be in the loving hands of a new owner. I have no doubt he will be able to use it for several more years. My new MacBook Pro will be with me till the Applecare expires in three years.More detail ...

Longtime PC user transitioned

I hesitated quite a while before making this purchase. I had been a Mac user in the late 80's and early 90's but switched to PC around 1995. I had developed an efficient photography workflow and had all my tools on the PC. I needed to replace my infrastructure for more speed. Not an easy choice. My Mac was a little more expensive than a similar PC-based system. What pushed me into the Apple camp was Windows. My XP laptop was solid with few problems (well protected with anti-virus rebuilt 2 times ...) but my Vista system was a nightmare. Slow and cumbersome. I was concerned about this.



The system I selected was the 13" MacBook Pro with 4GB memory and a 320GB hard drive (I have 2TB external for archive and backup). I also bought the 24" Studio LED monitor. The combination is fabulous. I can edit my images on the road or shoot tethered directly into the laptop for a better preview. When I get back to my office/studio I can do final modifications on the 24" calibrated monitor. Transitioning from PC to Mac was pretty easy however it does take a few hours to understand where/how to find stuff. I recommend the one-to-one services if you can get them. I bought them for my wife who also just shifted to Mac and they have been very helpful getting her started on her various projects (websites blogs i-life)



It took me 3 attempts to upgrade to Snow Leopard but the third time was the charm and the noew OS seems great.



My only regret is not with Apple but rather with Adobe. I had the PC version of Abobe Photoshop CS3. I've tried multiple times to get through to Adobe to see about a transition -- no luck. Investing in PS will be costly.More detail ...

Just What I Wanted!

This is a review of the Apple Macbook Pro model MB766LL/A.



I've been shopping for a notebook for quite some time. There really is a lot of junk out there. Having used a Powerbook G4 and the first version of the Macbook Pro I began to look into purchasing a Windows based notebook for Visual Studio development.



I tried the HP dv7t a Dell XPS m1530 and a Sony FW390. The Sony was quite nice but Sony support tends to be a bit lacking. Sony also would not guarantee support for the upcoming Windows 7!



In spite of the negatives that I found with these products my final decision to stay with the Apple line was due to the superior hardware that I was always aware of anyway. The multi-touch trackpad the back-lit keyboard bright 17" 1920x1200 LED panel superior fit and finish etc. All this and more just adds up to one superior product. And I have not even addressed the advantages of OSX Leopard and the upcoming Snow Leopard.



I briefly considered a Unibody MBP but the price discount of roughly $1000.00 for this unit and the awful glassy screens on the new ones made the choice very easy for me.



Oh and I like a button on my trackpad too!More detail ...

A very nice update to the MacBook Pro

I had been wanting to switch to Mac for a little while now and was just waiting for the best timing for me. When Apple updated the MacBook Pros with a better processor better graphics more system ram and led-backlighting shortly after the birth of our daughter (the selling point to my wife was that I would be better able to edit videos and whatnot of the kiddo) the timing was just right. I've been a longtime DOS/Windows user - and now I feel like some kind of refugee - fleeing PC for a Mac OS X world and I couldn't be happier - although it's not without its adjustments.



I originally wrote this review for the 15" 2.4 gHz middle of the line MacBook Pro. However Amazon has set this review to appear for all three models in the line which can make it confusing. I've tried to edit it some to make it clear what the differences are between the models. Also now that Amazon has actually added extensive product information for the MBP I'll try to take out some of my initial information on specs that is now redundant.



There remain three models in the line and the price points for each of those models has remained the same from the previous generation.



- 15" models now have an LED backlit screen 17" models do NOT (as of yet). Some folks think you have a better rendition of black in the screen - I'm not sure if it is better or not but it is gorgeous. In the store it appeared to me that the new screen (as viewed on the 15") was brighter than the older screen type (which is still on the 17"). The LED screen initially appeared washed out in the lighting of the Apple store but I then realized that at full brightness it can have that effect - turning down the brightness (who ever heard of that) - took away the washed out look.



- Apple says that using LED's (instead of flourescent tubes) uses less power generates less heat provides more range of brightness and more even lighting. This would appear to be true in practice as well as theory. Battery life is good and the lighting of the screen (as noted above) is quite bright and appears to be very even. As for heat I really haven't checked the screen temps but the computer itself does not run as hot as I thought it would (based on reviews of prior generations). It is warm but not at all uncomfortable to have on my lap (with the caveat that I have not done a lot of processor intensive work as of yet). Oddly enough Apple states above that the display is mercury-free but the box label says that the screen contains mercury - it may well just be a label update glitch.



- These models are MATTE screen. If you want GLOSSY you'll need to order from Apple or pick one up at their store (I did). I have heard that the glossy is actually more readable outdoors than the matte but I have yet to confirm this for myself. That said I've had no viewability issues in widely varied lighting conditions of my office (which is pretty bright with overhead lighting and lots of exterior light) and my house (which is largely the opposite).



- The system runs well (or so it seems) with 2 GB but I am upgrading to 4 GB (the sticks are on their way - but not from Apple - way overpriced).



- the 17" and higher-end 15" get 256 MB of video ram 128 MB in the lower-end 15" model - most folks are probably fine with 128 MB as it is the change in the graphics processor here that is truly the big news in performance. On the other hand the extra video ram may give you the feeling of being a little bit more future-proofed and may be more helpful for hardcore gamers and people who are driving large external displays. I opted for the 256 MB.



- hard drive is a very nice 160GB 5400 RPM Fujitsu drive in the 17" and higher-end 15". The lower-end MacBook Pro hard drive is a 120GB 5400RPM Drive - this oddly is smaller than the 160 GB drive that is in the top line MacBook that is several hundred dollars less. I'll probably add an external Firewire 800 drive for the video work I want to do.



- processor speed gets a minor upgrade to 2.4 gHz (from 2.33 or to 2.2 from 2.16 for the lower-end 15" model - but this is the new Santa Rosa processor - with a faster bus speed of 800 mHz (although the memory speed remains at a max of 667 mHz).



For $500 less the lower-end 15" model has 128 MB of video ram (instead of 256) a 2.2 gHz Santa Rosa processor (.2 slower) and a 120 GB hard drive. However it still retains the other upgrades including the 4 GB maximum system memory and the LED backlit screen and seems to be an excellent bargain as most of the differences appear reasonably nominal. That said I chose to go with the higher end 15" version - I probably don't need it but I plan to do a fair amount of video editing and perhaps some high resolution projection - warranting the slightly faster processor and more video ram) - and I'm also somewhat neurotic and unlikely to second guess having made the higher end choice. At least I can admit it.



A friend of mine asked why I didn't get the MacBook for a thousand dollars less. For me the screen-size was not so much an issue but I feel that twice the maximum ram the separate graphics processing unit the Firewire 800 the ExpressCard slot (if I wanted to add a CDMA or GSM-based wireless connection card) and the LED screen was well worth the difference.



Perhaps it goes without saying but the computer itself seems well-built and well-engineered - but it's all relative and it's not hard to be a better more integrated product than most windows-based pc's. The MBP replaces an older Toshiba laptop for me - and there's really no point in even trying to make a comparison it's a joke. The Mac O/S is a bit of a learning curve for me - but more like I am trying to unlearn "bad habits" from Windows - things now make sense in an operational and functional manner. Overall it's an attention to detail that I really appreciate on both the hardware and the software side - little things like a backlit auto-dimming keyboard or the magnetic power connector. I have to admit though that after initially being impressed by the light-sensing auto-dimming screen - I am annoyed by the fact that the sensor is apparently in the keyboard and in a bright room certain hand movements cause the screen brightness to change back and forth. I'll probably turn off the feature because of this.More detail ...

Both wonderful and terrible and highly dependent on your requirements.

This is a very in-depth review so if you want to get to the point I suggest skipping to the last paragraph.



I might not have much to say that hasn't already been said several times over but I wanted to give my take on this laptop as it's can be a difficult choice to make and perhaps I can be of some help. When the Air was released I thought it was the height of frivolity for Apple but I've since come to understand it better. I spent eight days getting to know it in the standard 1.8Ghz/64GB SSD configuration and I'm still wavering on whether or not I want to keep it. I'm writing this review on a MacBook Pro that has been configured to be almost the exact opposite of what you'd get with the Air. When I bought the Air I wanted to see if I could handle such immense limitations being so used to the freedom of maxed out laptops and desktops. As I'm writing this the answer is "kind of."



The MacBook Air in my opinion is ridiculously expensive. It's also ridiculously cool especially when it's closed. In fact every time I found something I didn't like and soon closed it to let it sleep I had difficulty hating the thing because it's just so cool when it collapses to be a thin sheet of metal. Every little nuance of the outer design is elegant and perfect--visually that is. There are a some hardware flaws that may or may not upset the user and one that in my opinion throws the machine's worth into question. Let's deal with that first.



As someone who thought he used several USB devices I found that I really do not. I might use two at a time namely when importing footage from a video camera into the computer and saving it to an external hard drive. An important thing to note is that while the Air is certainly not made for video editing it manages nonetheless. It can be done and it's not as horrible as one would imagine. Having one USB port also works just fine in pretty much every other case. I did get a tiny hub to use with the Air but as it's tiny it's not a nuisance to carry and generally doesn't get carried around anyhow. If I'm editing I'll usually edit at a home (not mine as I'd use a desktop machine at home). Although it can get by I would never recommend the air as a video editing machine. This probably goes without saying. Still it's good to know that it can if it has to (even with Final Cut Studio's lack of support for it's integrated graphics processor).



Many people conclude that the Air is impractical as the machine does not have an optical drive. If you live by CDs and/or DVDs then yes it probably isn't practical for you. I never use my optical drive in my MacBook Pro. If I want to watch a movie I rip it first. Most people do the same with their music so I don't think it's fair to cite this as a reason you'd need an optical drive. This does assume of course that you have another machine with an optical drive. If you don't and you want the Air as a primary machine then you will absolutely need to purchase the optional Super Drive Apple offers. You might think of going with a cheaper drive such as the ones Lacie makes (which are good) but I wouldn't as even the Air with it's added USB power cannot power them. The one Apple offers doesn't cost much more and is worth it if you have no other machine. But if you do and you don't want to travel around with a drive (like me) there's another nice solution that I found worked very well. I bought a few 8GB flash drives which are comparable to the speed of a DVD (if not faster) and hardly cost anything these days. I loaded the MacBook Air's installation media on one drive and made it bootable so I could restore the operating system or boot from the media while traveling should the need arise. I used one drive to hold a few movies I wanted to watch and another for any vital software I would need to install should I need to ever wipe the Air's drive while traveling. I bought four 8GB drives but only used three to do all of this. For less than the size of three fingers you can easily prepare for the worst and bring along some entertainment. If you want to bring along several more movies and music an iPod is a good choice. You can always hook it up to the Air and play the movies/music through the machine.



I wanted to save it for last but it makes sense to address the biggest flaw of the machine now. As I've said this is not a video machine. It can be a video machine under very specific circumstances but it is not apparently designed for use with any video at all whatsoever. I say this because of how the Air handles heat. The graphics processor (GPU) warms up rather quickly even if you're just browsing the web. Watching video on the Internet or even on your hard drive (perhaps something you downloaded from iTunes generates quite a bit of heat. When the machine grows too hot the first thing it does is underclock the GPU. Imagine watching a movie at about 1 or 2 frames per second. This is what you can expect when the Air gets too hot. If this wasn't the case I wouldn't be so conflicted over the machine. I can let go of doing any heavy media work with it but I can't let go of being able to watch a TV show without it skipping. You can work around this terrible design flaw by giving the air vent plenty of room to breathe. What I did is put the sleeve I purchased under the Air and then rested most of the air on it. I let the back section with the air vent hang off the edge so it had space to vent. This worked perfectly when the Air wasn't hooked up to external power. When it was it became a problem. It was an issue on an airplane though and the short power available on the flight may have been feeding more power into the Air than it should have. The Air exhibited some strange behavior when plugged into the power port on the airplane rendering the trackpad pretty much useless. The Air seemed to hold up just fine when it had breathing room when plugged into a normal outlet. Nonetheless this trick is annoying and is even required when the Air is on a desk or table (though you'd get through a sitcom without any trouble if it's on a desk). The computer should be able to play back an MPEG4 or H.264 file without skipping throughout the duration without special treatment. If you have no interest in doing anything with video watching or otherwise this won't be a problem for you. I just can't imagine anyone using their laptop these days without watching some sort of video online or on their machine. I see this as an enormous drawback and will be the main reason I return the machine if I decide to do so (and it is what I'm leaning towards).



But moving on...



Perhaps disk space is a drawback? I thought it would be for me but I found that I only used about 25GB once I loaded on everything I felt I needed including my entire music collection (which is only about 9GB and not the norm I'll admit) and photo library. I also loaded about 3GB of e-mail Final Cut Pro Final Draft Adobe CS3 (without Illustrator and InDesign) Episode VisualHub and several other pieces of software. I installed almost every piece of software I have on my MacBook Pro and left off the things I've either never used or used so rarely I forgot I had them. I didn't miss a single thing. I certainly use the majority of my MacBook Pro's 250GB disk and have so much data on external drives at home that it would scare you (I never throw anything away) but in terms of what you actually use I'd bet you'll find you can fit it on a 64GB or 80GB drive very easily. You did a few years ago right? Perhaps you're still doing it. Either way there's an easy solution. Buy an external hard drive. Some might argue that this is sort of counter-intuitive as the point of the air is to be pretty much non-existent. Adding things goes against that mantra. Well yes but again you can leave this drive at home or where you're staying. When you're walking around with the Air you don't need it. When you go back to your hotel your friend's house or wherever you're staying you can pull it out of your other bag (the one you used for clothing etc.). If you're at home well then you certainly have somewhere to put it. Rarely will you have to take it with you and it's not like it's that big if you do. I have a couple of Western Digital 250GB Passport drives (in black if you're wondering) and they're great. I don't see drive space as a drawback at all. It's a problem easily solved.



There may be questions for some if the SSD is faster than a standard hard drive. For random tasks yes very much. OS X is good with caching common tasks such as launching applications you use often so while application performance is definitely faster via SSD the crappy little 1.8" iPod hard drive the standard model has will not slow you down too much once the Air gets to know your habits. Startup isn't as instant as everyone says but you can immediately use the machine after startup. I'd much rather have an SSD over a hard drive as the speed increase is very noticeable but my main draw to the SSD version of the Air was for data security. It's just less likely to die and that is very appealing to me.



Speaking of death battery life is what you'd expect from an Apple Laptop. In fact I might call it both better and worse. During my tests I went to a coffee shop to write for a few hours. I left with about 30 minutes left on the battery having used it for two and a half hours (give or take ten minutes). I wasn't playing music browsing the web or anything at all. I had the wireless off. The only issue is that I was in direct sunlight and countered it with the display at full brightness (which is completely and wonderfully visible). For a battery rated for five hours under wireless use with the screen not much dimmer than full brightness I was a little disappointed that it only made it what I assume would have been three hours without wireless. Nonetheless I rarely use my laptop without plugging it in so it's good enough for me. Still I fully intend to use the battery more once they figure out how to make it last a full day. Imagine that...



The power cord is so small you can easily take it with you. Actually it's really not that small if you think back a few years when we used to have G4s. It's terribly small compared to the existing adapters and the way the mag safe attaches is so much nicer than it is on any of Apple's other laptops. It doesn't fall out by accident still comes off easily and doesn't get pushed out of the way by your knee/leg when the machine is on your lap. I hope this is how all Apple laptops are powered in the future.



I have nothing to say about the micro DVI port because I haven't used it. I suppose I could but I assume it works fine. There's not much to screw up. One thing to note about the ports though is that despite the beautiful little hatch they're housed in they are a bit difficult to use. It requires slightly more concentration than the average port when plugging something in. It's not a big deal but it might be a bother at times.



The built-in speaker is awful but everyone knows that by now. It's a single channel speaker. If you're the type who watches movies with friends on a 13" laptop this might be a problem. I don't know any people like that who don't do so at home and plug in a pair of speakers they have lying around. If you're by yourself you have headphones. I wish the speakers were better but I don't see this as a drawback.



The keyboard is a pleasure to type on and the backlight is far more effective on the Air than it is on the Pro. The keyboard also seems to be better-crafted than both the standard MacBook and the the wired/wireless keyboards (I'm typing on a wireless now). I don't know how that could be but it is. Maybe it's just because it's new and I'm now used to typing on the "chiclet" keys.



While a little heavier than you'd expect the Air is fairly light. I think the main thing to look at when considering weight is if you can safely hold it when gripping with one hand (without fear for your wrist or the laptop's safety or both). The Air has no problem in a single-handed tweezer grip and your wrist will be fine as well. It is as minimal as they say it is and will pretty much fit into any bag you've got. I thought I was going to need a new bag but found that it fit into an old one I usually carried when deciding NOT to bring a computer. That was a very pleasant surprise.



Still despite the fun of it and all the nice little benefits it has I cannot get over the situation with the heat and the GPU. It really ruins the machine for me. I think that regardless of whether or not this will be a second computer you can make the determination of whether or not to buy fairly easily. If you were once a boy scout (meaning you always like to be prepared) and/or you've recently told yourself that you need to clean get rid of stuff or simplify your life you will have trouble with this machine. There will be things you won't like perhaps to the end that you won't keep the machine. But if your life in terms of technology and other things (literal) is already simple and you don't dwell on preparedness too often you'll probably enjoy this machine very much. If all I did was write or all I did was write code or all I did was write school papers and surf the web this would be an overpriced but very capable machine. I kind of saw it as the writer's dream machine which is why I got it (I'm moving into that field primarily now) but I have too many interests for the Air to handle. I might just keep it because I'm currently overpaid and I wouldn't mind it as a backup/travel machine but I'm mostly feeling it was the wrong purchase and I'd be better suited by a cheaper standard MacBook for a backup laptop (especially since I can mirror the data and I love the black MacBook). While I absolutely hated it when it came out I've since found that it really is a machine well-suited for certain kinds of people. If you've got the money and intend to be gentle it's probably a good choice for you. If your laptop is a third arm I'd suggest holding your breath for a year or two.



UPDATE:

I have good news. I decided to keep it and turns out that I had a bad machine ("had" being the good news). I took it in because the trackpad clicker button didn't work very well and they gave me a brand new machine (very very nice of them). Not only did that resolve the problem I took it in for but I no longer get horrible choppy graphics when using the computer on my lap/in bed/when the vents are partially blocked. While I've heard gaming won't survive under those conditions this is a MAJOR improvement for me. If I could I would change my rating to four stars. The Air pretty much does everything I'd want it to at this point and the solid-state disk makes the majority of things I do much faster than the standard 5400RPM hard drive I have in my MacBook Pro. I judged the machine too harshly in the review because I thought I had a model that worked properly :). I am very pleased with it now that it can do what it should be able to do. I'm looking forward to finding out if it can even handle some light video editing.



Also I got a Transcend 32GB flash drive as a supplement. So far I haven't used it for anything than taking a bunch of movies and TV shows along with me but it's a nice alternative to a traditional hard drive if you don't want the bulk but are concerned about the spacial limitations of an SSD.More detail ...