I wrote a review. Oh yah, I am cool now. Anywho, it is long, i hope you like it...pics are in the DOC if you wana downlaod it...only a couple though, i got lazy, lol.
A newbie?s review of the new Intel-based Macbook
About Me: Ok, to start off, I am new only to Macs and the Mac world. I have been into PCs and the computer repair business for years. I have had previous work with the military, computer repair centers, and I now own my own computer repair company. I am an A+ certified professional as well as a Cisco Academy Graduate. I?ve been heavy into the PC scene, building my own crap, gaming, making a few applications/mods, etc. Something that sometimes comes with that scene is the severe distaste for Apple products. I admit that there was more than one occasion where I made claims about Macs that weren?t too nice and had very little foundation. Aside from my PC background, I am not a writer or reviewer by any means, although I did perform very well in previous English courses. So, if you find a lot of errors in the mechanics of the paper, leave me alone. I am big into reviews, so I know the general flow of things, but again, am very novice at this.
About This Review: The purpose of this review is to give the naysayer, skeptic or those who are just interested an honest look on the new Apple product from someone of similar background and knowledge. I will try to address many of the issues brought up about the Macbook and Macs in general while going into as much detail as I feel necessary. Please let me know if you have any questions about the Macbook or Macs. I will try my best to answer them. If you think I reviewed something improperly, let me know and I will try to take care of the problem. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy this first-timer?s review as well as gain some valuable information.
Whip out your reading glasses and drink now?
My Mac?
Purchased 6-1-06 ? Arrived 6-5-06
Price Paid: $1,601.16
Macbook ? 1,216
Apple Care Plan ? 183
.Mac (Promo) ? 69.95
Shipping ? Free
Tax ? 132.21
(Keep in mind I received the student discount on the Macbook and the Apple Care plan)
2.0Ghz Intel Core Duo ? White
512Mb Ram, 60Gb hard drive, Super drive, mini-DVI to DVI adapter
For comparison, my old laptop
Compaq Presario v2000
Turion 64 2.0Ghz ? Grey/Silver
512Mb Ram, 80Gb hard drive, DVD+RW, ATI x300 64Mb Windows XP Pro
Appearance: I am not one to really care much for the aesthetics of most products because I believe functionality is the most important factor in all products. However, I am somewhat fond of the looks of my Macbook. Compared to my other laptop this thing is a work of art. I enjoy the glossy finish, round edges, the lighted logo and sleep light, placement of the ports, and even the battery (read battery section)! There really isn?t much to say about how it looks, because that is more of a personal preference issue. Just look at my photos and decide for yourself if you like the way it looks. The only real gripe I have about the looks is related to the black Macbook. I was pretty upset that you had to pay an extra $200 just to get the black finish+80Gb hard drive. Oh well, again, looks are not a big concern for me and hard drives are cheap.
Portability: Ok, it isn?t the lightest laptop I have ever held, but it certainly isn?t heavy. At 5.2Lbs this laptop is extremely portable and its thin (1.08in) clamshell design is sure to help it fit in the smaller bags. The screen is 13.3? (Diagonally), which makes it about an inch to and inch and one half longer than a standard piece of notebook paper. One thing you may not think about is the size (possibly even the weight if you?re a smaller person) of the power adapter. The power adapter of my old laptop was big, heavy (compared to the apple one), and inconvenient. The Apple one on the other hand is small, handy, and it even looks kind of cool. My favorite thing about the adapter is the interchanging power section (technical term is not known). You can pop of the un-corded part and slap the included long-cord section as fast as you can say ?POWAH!? Also, for you international travelers, international power adapters can be snapped into place and are relatively cheap. Now you don?t have to deal with a separate and most likely universal adapter kit. Not that all of that is really a big deal, but it just adds a smaller touch to the apple product. You will soon notice all these small things make the overall package much greater.
Design: The one major gripe I have about all laptops is poor design. You always see broken hinges, missing/broken keys, sticky touch pads, overheating, the list goes on, but I believe the Macbook has an edge over a good amount of laptops. I used to work in retail, so, while I haven?t owned many laptops, I have spent a lot of time playing and fixing them. Lets break this down into sections?
Keyboard: A lot of people have commented on their fear of the flat, spaced, and somewhat awkward keyboard. Well, I suggest you hit up your local Apple Store or reseller to check it out. Bring a letter with you and sit it on the screen and copy a paragraph or two. Now, go back to your old laptop and do it again. You should not notice much of a difference. You may find that you like the Macbook keyboard even more, I know I did! I type a lot of notes all week long during the day, then I come back to the laptop at night to post on forums, email, and chat online. Needless to say, but I give a lot of use to my keyboards. With that said, I can tell you there are things I have already noticed that makes me feel like this keyboard is going to give me plenty of time before it starts to give. My Compaq keyboard has seen about four months of intense use and is starting to show some signs of wear such as: loose keys, fading, and popping. A lot of people are curious about the construction of the keyboard. Unfortunately I haven?t had the time to take my Mac apart, so I do not know if all the keys are attached like standard keyboards (this allows you to easily replace the keyboard) or if they are in singles or groups. This is going to seem a bit odd, but my favorite feature about the keyboard is the design of the longer keys. In most keyboard laptops, you will notice that any key longer than the letters and numbers are on a two-hinge system. If you have done some repair on the keys, you will know that one of them always tends to get out of synch, breaks before the other, or one side will stick more than the other. Well, with the Macbook the construction feels a lot different. There still may be two supports under there, but it certainly only feels like one, longer, stronger system. This makes me feel a lot more secure about the life of my keyboard. The layout is much like any other laptop. QWERTY is the standard for the letters; the numbers and symbols are like any keyboard, laid on top of the letters, instead of missing or to the side. (I?ve seen this in plenty of older laptops as well as newer mini-laptops, it is very annoying, to me at least) The placement of, for lack of a better word, ?useful? keys (enter, backspace, space shift, etc.) is the same as most all laptops. Those of you who are used to typing on a standard desktop keyboard will have little to no problem adapting to this keyboard, as well as switching from the PC to the Mac. The only notable difference is the picture and use of some of the keys. Essentially, the ?/(Clover) key is the same as ALT under Windows. (Clover)+Tab = Alt+Tab for quick windows switching. (Clover)+B= Bold, etc. I will go into this more under the OSX section. If you have fat hands and big wrists (like me) you will enjoy the spaced buttons and large wrist area.
Touchpad: There are essentially two types of touchpad people: those who put up with them and those who despise them. So if you already have a portable Bluetooth mouse planned, just skip this, but if you?re like me and you use the touch pad often, read on. The surface of the pad is just the same as most laptops; you should not notice any difference. I have not had mine long enough to get it a little greasy or for some of it to fade, so I can?t comment on that as of now. The button is long, a little sticky, but surprisingly useful. Most people fear and despise this strange one button design, but I believe that is because people have come too dependent on mice, such that there are now mice with 8+ shortcut buttons. If you?re cool and continue to use keyboard shortcuts, this single button is a minor setback. I like the singular button because you can now easily use either thumb to tap. Not that big of a deal, but again, these little things add up. As far as ?right clicking? all you have to do is hold the ctrl button at the same time you click for similar results of right clicking under Windows. However, the button does stick a little, although I have seen some articles on how to help out with this. I suppose it shouldn?t be called sticking, because it does stick, it is just a little soft and slow to spring up.
Port placement, latching system, and heating: Ok, my one major gripe about the Macbook is the lack of ports. There are a mere two USB?s, one Fire wire, an Ethernet, one Microphone/headphones, a secure lock, the mini-DVI and the power port. This sucks because most of the PC laptops I have used and seen have at least three USB?s, a fire wire, multi-card memory card reader, expansion port, PCMCIA slot, Ethernet, modem, S-video, full VGA out, Microphone/headphones, secure lock, and more. I suppose this is what you must sacrifice for a sleeker design. It is not all bad though; I don?t think people use the memory card reader all the time, so adding a USB one would be simple and they are very portable. The mini-DVI is cool because you can add a DVI or VGA adapter for $17; who still uses s-video anyways? The missing PCMCIA slot is a little upsetting because it limits your ability to add on future devices and things that don?t come standard on any laptop, such as integrated cell-based WI-FI card. I have not come across a USB based model, although I am sure there is one out there. Also, for you war-drivers, hooking your high power PCMICIA card to your giant antenna and amps will be a bit more difficult, because now you will have to find a USB model. While I was typing portions of this review, I was running a couple applications in the background and had some Southpark playing. The feel in my lap was very comfortable. It got a little hot from time to time, but I welcomed the personal heater in my freezer-like room. It was never so uncomfortable I had to remove it from my lap. I believe a lot of this is due to the exhaust design. There is no exhaust heat blowing directly on you, only that which is transferred through the case and the battery. All the rest comes out under the hinge. My Compaq on the other hand has a fan that sits right on the bottom. When it gets a little hot that sucker kicks and it is sure to give you a nice red mark in your leg. A lot of people worry about the application of thermal paste, thinking that Apple may have used too much or something along those lines. Again, I have not had enough time to dig into the laptop so I can?t comment on that, but I can tell you it does not feel too hot. If you?re worried, download some temperature monitoring software and keep and eye on it from time to time. The latching system is by far my favorite. The Macbook uses a magnetic latch so there is no button to push break and no latches to snap off. I?m not sure if the power of the magnet fades over time, but it is pretty strong, so I wouldn?t worry about it opening on its own any time soon. As far as the hinge for the display, it is larger than any I have seen on other laptops. It spans about 75% of the length of the laptop and feels very tight. Also, when at its furthest angle, there is very little space for the screen to move back further than it is supposed to. In many other laptops you will see that the screen does not do this and people tend to knock it or jostle the screen to hard when changing positions and in turn this cracks the hinges.
Power Port: Ok, everyone has had it happen or will have it happen eventually. Someone walks but, trips on the cord and it pulls the laptop off onto the floor or loosens your power port. This can be a big problem for obvious reasons. I have seen countless loose power ports result in bad battery life and a lot of the time it is due to bad design. The Macbook takes a spin on the power port that is truly revolutionary. Instead of squeezing into place, the cord is held in by a magnet. The connection is pretty strong and has not fallen out ?out of the blue? on me yet, though some people have said it tends to be a little jumpy. This feature is a definite plus though because if someone runs by, the only thing you will loose is the cord and it wont hurt your port. Another little bonus is the light right on the connecter. It is right there, easy to see, and changes colors based on the status of connection and battery life; another cool little add-on.
Battery: Ok, so the cool thing about this battery. It has some LED?s on the bottom that let you view the status of the charge while connected to a power source. I guess it isn?t that cool, but whatever. Battery life is incredible if you ask me. I have not had a laptop that lasts more than two and one half hours even on the leanest settings. All I did to the Mac was select the ?adjust for better battery life? button and let it to its thing. I am getting about 3-4 hours depending on what I am doing. I am very impressed. I know there are some laptops out there that can get in excess of five, but three and one half is really good for me because that?s a little more than a days worth of class time.
Mac OS X: Ok, most PC users talk smack about Macs, how they are bloated, not practical, etc. Ok, bloated. First lets try to define that. My interpretation is that means there is a lot of crap on there that comes pre-installed that you don?t want/need. Also, just the feeling that there is too much going on at once. Well, I will admit, there are quite a few applications installed from the factory, but if you think about it, most PCs are ten times worse. Today your standard PC from Dell, Gateway, etc. comes pre-loaded with trial versions, real media, spyware, and all kinds of crap. OS X comes preloaded with some stuff most people wouldn?t use such as garage band, calendar, etc. Thee are things I would have preferred to install on my own, but all you have to do is uninstall them. I do find it is quite stupid you can?t install some things such as quick time, but it is the same deal as Internet explorer, etc. Well, for most people reading this, the first thing they do when they get a new pre-built PC is format it with a clean copy of windows. I will admit, that a clean install of windows seems a LOT less bloated than OSX. I have not tried to do a ?clean? install of OS X and don?t know enough about it to tell anyone if a similar solution is available, although I?m sure it is. Not practical? I used to think this was the biggest issue until I got one. I have yet to have any issues accessing my network and doing all the things I did on my windows laptop. Most of your applications can be installed just like windows; this includes, DIVX, VLC, Office, AIM, Firefox, and even windows media player. The only problem I see people running into would be games. Then again, I was aware many people had the desire to use laptops for gaming. Sure it would be nice for LAN parties, but they are so limited. So, since I have never had the desire to game on a laptop I cannot comment too much on that other than just use boot camp and dual boot, shouldn?t be much of an issue if you have an Intel based Mac, although I am pretty sure the integrated graphics on standard Macbooks could not handle game such as Oblivion. One small thing that I believe makes Macs a little more practical is it doesn?t bug the crap out of you. You?re constantly entering product keys, trying to get the activation wizard to leave you alone, calling that stupid 1-888 number, etc. I know it isn?t a huge deal, especially if you?re an experienced pirate, but it is just one less thing you have to worry about. Pretty much anything else you want to do can be done on the Mac, where it be burning CDs/DVDs, word processing, posting on forums, instant messaging, email, web page editing, downloading (legally and illegally), watching movies, the list goes on. I know a lot of this seems like it is coming from a biased product of Apple, but I assure you, I was once in the bad talker?s shoes and gave my thoughts on the Mac. I?m not trying to say OS X is better in any way, I?m just saying that it is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Also, if you have ever used a Linux machine before you will have hardly any problems adapting to the Mac. I find the interface is very similar KDE and Gnome. In fact if I am not mistaken, OS X is based off of the UNIX kernel. Oh no! Where is my precious start bar and system tray?! Why are all the windows separated and only use one toolbar? Ok, I will admit, it is quite a different experience, but not too overwhelming, and oddly enough it is easy to get used to. The missing start bar is kind of a bother, because now to quickly access items you have to: clutter your desktop, clutter your dock (same as quick launch), or navigate through Finder to get to your program. I wish there was a menu that was more like the start menu, there may be one and I just don?t know about it, oh well. The section of the start bar you use for holding all your minimized and active windows is gone, but the dock is very similar. If you use (clover)+tab often, it isn?t a big deal. The system tray is only somewhat gone. There is a section at the top right that holds things you would have seen in the system tray such as: network buttons/status, clock, battery life, but there aren?t any application icons held up there such as your AIM icon or Outlook when minimized to the tray. My biggest gripe about the interface is it is very childish. Don?t take it personally Mac fanatics, but I feel like my reading ability is being challenged. There is not anything on the dock that says what the program is (unless you highlight over it) and it can sometimes be confusing because how is someone supposed to know a compass=internet? I?m not pissing on icons, I like them a lot and I think they help with memory and make things faster, I just don?t like how you have to highlight over something to read its name. Now, having only one tool bar has its ups and downs. It sucks because it makes all your windows look different and you have to relearn where to find your menu. But, it does make it feel a little sleeker. The separated windows is something I despise, but you get used to it. If you have ever used Photoshop, it is very similar. You know how you when you have the program non-maximized it makes your pallet and tool bars pop out over the desktop/other windows? Same thing. Unlike Photoshop, where you have to minimize it to get the windows out of your way, all you have to do is not select that program you?re using and the menus disappear. Another disappointment is no maximization. You can click the + button and make all the content fit your window, but you can?t make the window take up the better portion of the screen without dragging it across with the tabs at the corners. One thing that is nice is your selection doesn?t change all the time like in windows. You know how when you have IE non-maximized you can make it a decent size that fits your viewing area? Well, then you get a weird pop-up it changes and it is a hassle to change it back. This doesn?t happen any more, another small thing that helps out in the long run. Ctrl-Alt-Del is in fact gone, but OS X has plenty of substitutions. If you want to close a program that isn?t responding, all you have to do is click the apple the top left and pull up the force quite menu. There is also an application under the utilities that allows you to view processor usage, ram usage, page file usage, network usage, etc. If you like, you can hot key this or just throw it in the dock.
Performance: Ok, so I haven?t ran any benchmarks, but I think I can give a fair shot at this. I have found that this Mac is quite well at multi-tasking. I have been constantly running many instances of Safari (with many tabs), mail, VLC, Word, and other programs and I have yet to experience any noticeable lag time. Now, my Compaq would usually start to bog down after having just a lot of instances of IE open while running AIM and a few things in the background. My biggest gripe is loading time. I don?t know what the deal is, but sometimes it takes some time for programs to load, particularly Word. It?s not like it takes forever, it?s just not as fast as I wish it were. Also, I hate how the icon jumps up and down when the program is loading, very lame; there may be a way to turn this off though. I have not noticed any difference in Internet speed. I get the same download speeds as I would on any of my other computers. When I am watching DVDs or DIVX movies, I notice no difference in performance whether it be full screen or not and if there is a lot going on the in movie or not. I think some things that would solve these problems would be a ram upgrade and a faster (and in my case, bigger) hard drive. Ram can be bought fairly cheaply (~$100 for 1Gb) and a 7200RPM hard drive usually runs around $150. I suggest the ram upgrade because I noticed when I was just running a few applications my usage was at 90%. Giving your programs more room to run should give you a noticeable difference. I suggest the hard drive upgrade because of the poor loading times. They still may not be spectacular, but it will make a difference, not to mention you can get some more storage out of it, which you will need if you plan on dual booting or holding a lot of media. Other than what I stated, there isn?t much to say about the performance. It is what is expected out it the type of laptop it is. It isn?t meant for gaming, so it won?t game well, but it rules with multi-tasking, media viewing, and things of that sort.
Compatibility: A lot of people are worried about getting their Mac to work with all their other hardware. I have not had a problem yet. I mapped network drives to my Server 2003 machine just as easily as any other Windows box, connected to my network printer with ease, and can transfer files from my camera and thumb drive all the same. I suppose the biggest setback would be GPS devices. GPS capability on the Mac is highly limited compared to Windows bases systems. There aren?t many compatible adapters and most of the software is pretty bad. This is where boot camp comes in handy. Just swap over to XP when your ready to hit the road and it is all the same. I don?t really have that many peripherals to connect so I can?t really say much about compatibility with USB headsets, web cams, etc. but most manufacturers supply OS X drivers.
Included Applications: There is a whole slew?lets break it down boogie
Dashboard: Pretty handy, allows you to quickly pop-up a transparent interface that is very similar to Personalized Google. Displays information such as a calendar, sticky notes, calculator, etc.
Mail: Very easy to use email application, although it is not as robust as Outlook and has less features. I wish you could customize your inbox more and use rules like Outlook, but I haven?t found out how to do it yet or if you can.
Safari: Very similar to Firefox. It Allows you to use tabs. Not much to say about it, just another Internet browser.
iChat: Kind of like Trillion. It lets you connect to multiple services such as AIM. Not much to say about it either, just another messaging program. If you don?t like it just download the Mac version of your favorite program.
Address Book: Don? know what to say about it. I manage all my contacts with my blackberry and Outlook, so I never bothered opening it.
iTunes: Same exact thing as on windows.
iPhoto: Ever used Microsoft Picture Editor (comes with Office)? Same thing?
iMovieHD: Windows movie maker reincarnate.
iDVD: Same as power DVD player or any other DVD player program out there.
Garage Band: This program reminds me of a mix between Fruity Loops and the EJay programs (Dance EJay, Techno EJay, etc.). You can create music from pre-recorded sounds and what not. I?m not very fond of it, I?d rather just make it with a real instrument, although it does allow you to import your music and mess with it. Pretty useful if you?re a one man band or want to remix some stuff.
iWeb: A lot like Adobe Page maker. It is just another HTML WYSIWYG editor.
iCal: This odd little program lets you add items to a calendar much like Outlook?s calendar, but you can keep work separate from home as well as upload the calendar to a web site in just a few clicks; a nice feature if you care about that kind of stuff.
Quick Time: Same as windows version.
Backup: This is a program you must download from the apple web site. It is a free application that lets you backup all of your settings to CD/DVD or upload it to FTP/iDisk, etc. It is similar to settings and transfer wizard under XP.
iDisk: A very nice little program that comes along with your .Mac subscription. You can connect to your iDisk from any computer, but I like using it to back up my settings and favorites. You can put some files on there to transfers to another computer or just let people download. It is just like an FTP, just easier to use.
Trash: Same as Recycle Bin
Office: Same as windows version, included is a 30-day trial. No outlook or access. ?
Integrated devices:
iCam: A very nice little feature. If you?re a traveler or if you just like to web came it to people, this thing is very nice. It saves a lot of space and wires, and the quality is pretty decent. There is also an integrated microphone. Unfortunately, there aren?t any windows drivers for it yet. :?(
Remote control: I don?t see this as being very useful, but mainly because I have bad eyes and the laptop is never out of reach. I suppose if you like to lie on your bed and watch a movie while the laptop sits on the dresser in front of you or something it would be nice. Or if you?re in the car and don?t want to take too much attention off the road. Other than what, what is the point?
DVD+RW: Same as any other; no light scribe.
Gee-Meter: A nice little thing that detects if your laptop is falling. If it pulls enough Gees is it turns off the hard drive so the arms don?t crash into the platters. Nothing new, PC laptops have had this for a while. One cool thing I have seen is someone made a little program to make it do something else when a certain amount of Gees was detected. In turn, there you can tap the side of the notebook and switch desktops, kind of cool. Google ?Smack book.?
That about wraps it up for my review. If you feel I have left something important out or made a mistake, please feel free to contact me:
thejourneyed@gmail.com Thanks for reading and I hope it helped!
WOOOORRRDDD
(i will get a link to the doc file later..sorry)