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Macbook Pro Reviewed

Introduction

Inside

Apple got rid of the clasps to hold it shut. Personally I like that my Macbook Pro is being held shut, but with less moving parts, less is likely to break on this new model. The screen is gorgeous. Apple’s new thing that started with the iMac and the iPhone is the use of glass for screens. The Pros: glass is extremely durable, looks spectacular, and is extremely easy to clean. No longer do you have to drive to Office Depot to pick up a can of LCD cleaner, a few squirts of Windex and a paper towel will do just fine. Almost getting off point there, the reason the screen looks so good is because of its high resolution. The standard screen is 1440 by 900 which is well above HD. Cons: the standard screen is very glossy. You can also upgrade to the higher resolution screen with the 15 and 17 inch models that is 1680 by 1050, and that can come in glossy or Matte.

Now remember when I said that there is not a single screw or formation on the bottom of the Mac, well you may be asking about the battery. You may also be asking: how do I eject the battery if I want to bring a second one; well you don’t, you can’t. Apple has gotten some flack for this, but if you think about it, this was a great move. Besides the positives of having a unibody, having the battery fully integrated into the machine means that apple can cram a bigger battery in because they don’t have to worry about space needed to eject it and such. Well this paid off: the 13 inch MBOOK pro can get up to 10 hours and the 15 and 17 inch models can get up to 8-9 hours. Now battery statistics are pretty useless for most users unless you are not using wifi and just working on something like a word document. I get more like 5-6 hours of actual use, but considering how powerful these laptops are, that is pretty unreal. Similar laptops such as the Sony EB class get more like 2 hours. So no, you won’t be able to carry around extra batteries, and when the battery gives out after a few years, you’ll have to ask a trained apple technician to replace it. If you need extra juice there, a few companies out theremake external batteries for laptops that are very useful.

Performance

Now this is tough. I’m not exactly sure how to explain the performance of this MacBook Pro without going into how Macs. I’ll try to make this short. Comparing Macs to PC’s with similar specs is just not effective because the Mac operating system works more efficiently. Microsoft software uses more RAM just to run, and typically has more small programs running that take up more RAM and processing speed. Actual programs like Microsoft Office and Photoshop will work fairly identically among comparable Macs and PCs.

Apple along with Sony, Toshiba, and a few other companies have all switched to Chiclet keyboards in the last few years. Apple started it with its Macbook Line, are worked it up to the Macbook Pro. I’m not sure how I feel about the switch to these keyboards. I prefer them to standard keyboards in less than full size keyboards, but either works for me for a full sized keyboard. Even the cheapest 13 inch Macbook Pro comes standard with a backlit keyboard. This is such an underated feature in laptops today. In anything other than ideal lighting, a backlit keyboard is a God-send. Having a backlit keyboard could mean the difference between getting a few more hours of work done in your room when your roomate wants to go to sleep, versus someone without a backlit keyboard who is SOL.

This Macbook Pro is fantastic, as Macs top of the line PCs. Mac has the newest i5 and i7 processors available for the 15inch and 17inch models. The 13 inch is only available with Intel Core 2 Duo processors. I see the 13 inch model as an aluminum clad Macbook with a firewire 800 port and audio in. It has the same processor, screen, and performance as the Macbook.

Specs:

5.6 Pounds
.95 X 14.35 X 9.82 inch
i5 Intel Processor
4 GB RAM
500 GB Hard Drive
Outside

Apple’s optical drive is something most PC makes have not caught on to. The slot loading drive is so much more elegant than the janky push-a-button and the drive pops out; well not every single one, Toshiba offers it as an upgrade for some of its machines. The 8x superdrive is standard on all the models.

I’m not gunna lie, my 15 inch Macbook Pro is a staple in my life. No matter how many other computers I use, bigger, smaller, faster, lighter, nothing feels more at home than the 15inch Macbook Pro. The size is just natural for my hands, the speakers sound great, the keyboard feels great with all the keys in all the right places. The screen has no glare, and so it looks great in all locations. Oh wait, I’m supposed to be talking about the NEW Macbook Pro, not my two year old one, whooops. Well…let’s see if Apple imroved on a near perfect product or did too much.

The Brushed aluminum alloy is very strong considering how thin and relatively light (compared to other metals). The unibody design is very sleek, much sleaker than the non-unibody design. Ports are all on the left, pretty standard stuff: DC port,ethernet, fireweire 800, mini display port, two USB ports, SDHC slot, audio in and out ports, and the battery meter. It is a beautiful machine, you will not see a single screw on the outside casing. This keeps things light and durable. Thinking about it, I prefer having ports on both sides like my two year old Mac book Pro, but having all the ports on one side will make unplugging multiple things a shorter process and make it much easier for third party companies to make a docking station. I haven’t seen anyone use an actual docking system in years, but the principle is that instead of having to unplug each and every device you have at your desk for just use at ur desk(wired keyboard/mouse, display, speakers, external hard drive), you can unplug on piece of hardware.

Recommendation

The keyboard shortcuts on the F keys is also something is identical across all Mac laptops which insludes screen brightness, show all windows, dashboard(a program that you install widgets on such as the weather, dicitonary, calculator, flight tracker, etc. ), and multimedia controls(play/pause, back and forware, volume, and eject).
I love me some Apple Trakpad. Nothing works better on any computer works like the Apple trackpad. It is big, beautiful, and is so consistent. Using two fingers to scroll is always flawless. On other computers that try to mimick this feature typically fail miserably.
You really have to try the Mac trackpad to believe it.

The standard graphics card in the 15 inch is the Gefore GT 330M with 256MB of RAM which is substantial for any normal workload, but if you are doing anything graphics related such as gaming or video work, step it up the higher end model. Pretty much every spec is upgradeable: RAM, hard drive, processor, display. Performance is going to vary depending on how much you want to spend.

This is the Mac to have. If you all you want is the Mac operating system, buy a Macbook. If you want the Mac operating system in a beautiful aluminum clad machine that has fast performance and are willing to pay for it, the Macbook Pro is for you. Yeah you can compare the Macbook Pro to ther high end machines like the Sony Z class in standrd performance tests, but the fact is the first thing you need to decide when buying a computer is which operating system you want to use. You can get a 13 inch Macbook pro with just an Intel Core Duo or a 15 inch (or 17 inch) with an i7. The actual speed will just depend on which features you purchase. The actual use is like I said before, fantastic, and if you are willing to spend the money, this is the computer to buy.
For size decisions, keep in mind that different sizes have some different unoptional features. The 13inch has very few upgradeable options, pretty much only the RAM is upgradeable. The 15 inch adds upgradeable screen, processor, and graphics card. If you need express card expandibility though, you’ll have to step up to the 17 inch.