My MacBook Pro 15″
Writing by stickman on Tuesday, 12 of June , 2007 at 2:55 pm
This article is a mixture of a long term usage review of the older Macbook Pro updated to incorporate the newer models (my sister just bought one which I helped her setup).
I bought my first Intel based Mac back in March 2006, and apart from some initial problems with the hardware running a bit hot and noisy (its true what they say about never buying the first revision!) which Apple dealt with well albeit a bit slowly.
Now Apple are on their 2nd/3rd revision of the Intel Macbook Pro and they seem to have fixed all the little teething problems. In fact I recently read that along with Sony, Apple are constantly rated in the top 3 for reliability; this is for laptops and desktops.
Something I learned here is to take a good hard look at the hardware in the shop or when it first arrives. Check the screen to make sure the are no failed pixels, I believe Apple’s replacement policy is that one or more failed pixel warrants a replacement and run it for an hour or so before installing programs / moving your data onto it to make sure it does not overheat or the fans make too much noise.
I opted for the low end MacBook Pro (at the time) and recommend against getting the top end model unless you really need the extra speed from the CPU. In my experience an extra .2 Ghz is not noticeable in normal usage.
The differences in graphics card between graphics card might make a difference for some people. However the extra 128 Mb Ram on the more expensive MacBook Pro is only going to be useful if you attach a second monitor and plan on using it heavily for graphics.
As for the difference between 15″ and 17″, well the 17″ is lovely but unless you really need to the extra size (my brother has the old Macbook 17″ and uses it to present his videos in meetings) think hard about the extra weight (1 pound) and 1″ width.
As someone who travels quite a bit with my MacBook Pro, I bought (and recommend) the following cases, the Tucano Stile WorkOut Leather, which is nice looking and not too heavy, but still has space for the power supply, head phones, newspaper and book. I was also given a Speck see-through case, which initially I thought looked ugly, but after using it for a while, now love it. It really seems to add a bit of rigidity to the MacBook Pro as well as stopping it from getting scratched.
So overall I really love the MacBook Pro, from its unique touches including backlight keyboard, magnetic attached power cable (I have actually broken a laptop by kicking the power cable) to its overall feel of quality. The keyboard is pretty good, with nice travel and a wider than normal layout, which take a day to get used to but seems to cause less finger cramp. I really wish they would make the return key bigger and include a delete button (I run Windows XP under Parallels which I will write a whole article about later).
There is a lot written about Apple Macs been more expensive than PCs, well I don’t believe this to be 100% correct. Yes, you can buy a Dell / HP etc. for less, but it will missing lots of things that Apple include as standard, things like bluetooth, wireless, 2 GB Ram as standard, large hard drive, large widescreen display etc. When you configure the Dell / HP to the same specification you find them coming in at the same price or more and that is without the superior build quality and iconic design.
What don’t I like about the MacBook Pro? Very little to be honest, it just seems to work and work well. I think they could improve the keyboard a little bit and make the mouse two button. Yes, I know it supports it and you just need to press ctrl + mouse click but I just think there could be a better way of doing it, there is enough space on the sides of the keyboard to place to the right/left. It would need to be moveable for those lefties, which I believes includes Steve Jobs. It just would seem to make more sense than having to move your hands down from the keyboard.
Still I believe 2007/08 is going to be year of the touch screen or to be more accurate (pun intended!) the multi-touch screen. This is going to be a big part of the Apple iPhone, however depending on cost I would love to see it built into the MacBook Pro.
So in summary I highly rate the Macbook Pro and regularly recommend it to family and friends, except when the MacBook is more appropriate (I think that may be my next article!).
I have yet to see the latest MacBook Pro, with a new LED screen, which apparently increases battery life, is slightly brighter and more environmentally friendly. However I have not heard anything negative about it so assume its just a slight update. I hope to follow up in the next week or two with an updated review of the MacBook with the new display.
If you are looking for a laptop but are still undecided, go on, just buy a MacBook or MacBook Pro, you wont regret it. With Apple’s new ability to run Windows either with boot-camp (free from Apple but requires a reboot to switch between) or at the same time using Parallels is the final, missing link for me and a lot of people I know. And if you dont have to run Windows, then OSX is, for me currently the most attractive, stable and functional operating system available. It all just works!
Category: Laptops, Apple Laptops, review, MacBook Pro, Apple, Apple MacBook
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