+1
I'd really like to replace my G4 1.25ghz PB with a MB, but just can't pull the trigger given the washed out colors.
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Best and worst things about Macbook
- Thread starter tkiss
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+1
I'd really like to replace my G4 1.25ghz PB with a MB, but just can't pull the trigger given the washed out colors.
Yep ... they really are a let down compared to the older screens. I have an old g4 ibook kicking around that i've put beside both the MB and MBP and the ibook has a much better viewing angle.
Best:
- ships with OS X, the greatest OS on the market today.
Worst:
- horrible display, not fitting a machine in that price range.
- quality of plastic casing, plastic chipping off around USB ports for example.
- the flawed design of the display hinges, restricting tilting angles of the display.
- ships with OS X, the greatest OS on the market today.
Worst:
- horrible display, not fitting a machine in that price range.
- quality of plastic casing, plastic chipping off around USB ports for example.
- the flawed design of the display hinges, restricting tilting angles of the display.
While I agree that the display is the worst thing about the Macbook, I also must highlight the undistilled truth of the quoted statement.
Calibration for a higher gamma(darker colors), and in my case a VERY slight tinge of blue makes the display look good, I was flabbergasted when I was done.
so, quick question?
is the only difference between the high-range macbook and blackbook the HD? i've look at technical specs, and from what i can tell (with the small amt of mac knowledge i have), the HD is the only difference. i'm looking to purchase this summer, and just thought i'd click on this thread, and since i didn't see my question answer, i thought i'd ask.
is the only difference between the high-range macbook and blackbook the HD? i've look at technical specs, and from what i can tell (with the small amt of mac knowledge i have), the HD is the only difference. i'm looking to purchase this summer, and just thought i'd click on this thread, and since i didn't see my question answer, i thought i'd ask.
I love my new MB white 2.4. Fast, light, easy to transport and great
wireless performance. And at this price I passed on the Applecare,
willing to take the risk (since my 5 yr ibook is still working). I couldn't do that with a MBP because of its much higher price.
wireless performance. And at this price I passed on the Applecare,
willing to take the risk (since my 5 yr ibook is still working). I couldn't do that with a MBP because of its much higher price.
my first month of macbook ownership has been great!!!
a few things i thought would be better with a high end notebook were:
keyboard....i thought it would be a much softer button push, if you follow me...not so clicky?
and the disc drive. i assumed (wrongly maybe) that the cd drive would work like that of a car stereo drive for inserting cd's, i.e you put the first couple of centimetres of the disc in and the drive sucks it in the rest of the way, the macbook drive surprised me so much i thought it was faulty! you have to pusg the cd pretty much all the way in before it self loads.
but apart from that, no problems. i love os x, its smooth, easy to use and has some handy shortcuts, spaces, xpose, dashboard, and the preview system, which rocks!
im upgrading to 4gb of ram in a few days just because i was originally going to get a 4 gb machine, but there was a 3 week waiting list for it.
considering a screen protector and incase shell too. but so far my neoprene sleeve is doing a great job!
ive been truly converted to appledom now, after having iPods for a few years im taking the 3g iPhone step in july!
a few things i thought would be better with a high end notebook were:
keyboard....i thought it would be a much softer button push, if you follow me...not so clicky?
and the disc drive. i assumed (wrongly maybe) that the cd drive would work like that of a car stereo drive for inserting cd's, i.e you put the first couple of centimetres of the disc in and the drive sucks it in the rest of the way, the macbook drive surprised me so much i thought it was faulty! you have to pusg the cd pretty much all the way in before it self loads.
but apart from that, no problems. i love os x, its smooth, easy to use and has some handy shortcuts, spaces, xpose, dashboard, and the preview system, which rocks!
im upgrading to 4gb of ram in a few days just because i was originally going to get a 4 gb machine, but there was a 3 week waiting list for it.
considering a screen protector and incase shell too. but so far my neoprene sleeve is doing a great job!
ive been truly converted to appledom now, after having iPods for a few years im taking the 3g iPhone step in july!
how dare you people insult a Mac.
Jokes, jokes. this stuff seems like a fair trade-off in my opinion. pros out way the cons.
Jokes, jokes. this stuff seems like a fair trade-off in my opinion. pros out way the cons.
My short review of my white MacBook after 1.5 years of owning it:
Best:
CPU
Keyboard
Easy HD access
Not significantly, but still smaller than MBP
Looks nice when closed and from the back when open
Good battery life (got 4 hours when it was new at almost full brightness with BT and AirPort on doing light stuff. Still runs at almost 4 hours after 124 charge cycles.)
Worst:
Screen (a b s o l u t e l y terrible viewing angles)
No video card
Feels cheap
Gets dirty really fast (in like 1 week after full cleaning and yes, I wash my hands often)
Noisy when even under 30-40% load because fans run at full blast.
HUGE bezel around the screen
Audio-out not clean, with effect similar to "Rock" equalizer preset in iTunes, but not as intense.
Sharp edges
Best:
CPU
Keyboard
Easy HD access
Not significantly, but still smaller than MBP
Looks nice when closed and from the back when open
Good battery life (got 4 hours when it was new at almost full brightness with BT and AirPort on doing light stuff. Still runs at almost 4 hours after 124 charge cycles.)
Worst:
Screen (a b s o l u t e l y terrible viewing angles)
No video card
Feels cheap
Gets dirty really fast (in like 1 week after full cleaning and yes, I wash my hands often)
Noisy when even under 30-40% load because fans run at full blast.
HUGE bezel around the screen
Audio-out not clean, with effect similar to "Rock" equalizer preset in iTunes, but not as intense.
Sharp edges
I agree on you there but calibration could help this somewhat. Search for "David's profile". It helped me on this.
I play Age of Empires II and Halo Demo on my MacBook.
Debatable
Maybe on the black one.
Maybe it's just yours.
Don't care about it.
Haven't noticed this on mine.
Doesn't bother me. I hardly notice them
I of course have my screen calibrated, otherwise I'd die from the washed outness. Calibration doesn't and shouldn't help viewing angles.
Maybe on the black one.
As I said I have white.
Try Unreal Tournament 3 or GRID
Thats nearly all MacBooks. I know if I get up to 40-50% on one core my fans spin up to 6200RPMs.
Anyway..
Best: Size and battery life. It is relatively small (though not much smaller than a good 15.4" PC) and the battery life is excellent (as long as you cut the screen brightness down to about 25%).
Bad: Optical drive isn't user replaceable. HEAT! All MacBooks and MacBook Pros get HOT.
Lack of dedicated GPU. Not only does this affect gaming, but it affects video playback as well. OS X doesn't take advantage of the GPU for video playback, but if you had Windows it would. However, since the MacBook has both OS X and no dedicated GPU, your CPU use will be higher than necessary when playing videos and they won't look as good as they would on Windows with a dedicated GPU.
The screen. While the screen looks good once calibrated, it does have the TN panel. It also has a 24ms response time, which means you get ghosting in everything from moving windows around to just even moving the cursor around screen.
Lack of standard connectivity like HDMI, VGA, DVI, S-Video (HDMI full connectivity not possible, others possible with $20 adapters), ExpressCard (full size, not just half like the MBP), memory card readers, etc.
Build quality. MacBooks are known to crack in various spots for various reasons.
Would I buy a MacBook again? Absolutely not. In fact, I'm considering selling mine now while it still has reasonable resale value.
I just sold mine and got a 12" PB instead actually.
I didn't like/couldn't stand the sharp edges, i have big hands and constantly got scraped.
Having to clean it practically everyday wasn't great idea and was just too time consuming and loong
The screen was really subpar, it was washed out, had terrible viewing angles etc despite calibration
However its good points were:
Performance/price ratio
Easy upgradeability
Form factor/weight
Battery Life
Airport reception
I didn't like/couldn't stand the sharp edges, i have big hands and constantly got scraped.
Having to clean it practically everyday wasn't great idea and was just too time consuming and loong
The screen was really subpar, it was washed out, had terrible viewing angles etc despite calibration
However its good points were:
Performance/price ratio
Easy upgradeability
Form factor/weight
Battery Life
Airport reception
I'd be amazed if any laptop purchased in this decade had a TN (twist nematic) screen. Surely they're all TFT (thin-film transistor) these days?
Upgrading the hard drive is HUGE!
I know it's been mentioned in passing a few times already, but to me, the number one advantage that the MacBook has over other laptops is the ability for the user to upgrade the hard drive.
I started with a lowly 60 GB drive, and upgraded to a 120 GB drive. (An extremely quiet Western Digital.) Now this is starting to get full and I'll probably get a 320 GB drive. I would've been dead in the water a long time ago if I didn't have this capability.
The ability for the user to upgrade the hard drive is the #1 advantage, IMO. It's a big pain for the MacBook Pro, non-existent for the Air, and very few Windows laptops have the capability.
I have a white model, and while it gets dirty, it definitely hides the fingerprints a heck of alot better than the Blackbook. Simple cleaning solves that problem.
Some people have complained about the screen, but I did what others have recommended and calibrated it, and I think it looks fine. I'm not bothered with the glossy screen, but others are. It's your choice - you either like it or you don't. The lack of a dedicated video graphics card doesn't bother me because I don't use it for professional apps or games.
The keyboard has a nice touch and feel, but it would've been nice to have backlit letters.
I'm hoping to keep mine going for another year or two if this machine runs Snow Leopard well.
I know it's been mentioned in passing a few times already, but to me, the number one advantage that the MacBook has over other laptops is the ability for the user to upgrade the hard drive.
I started with a lowly 60 GB drive, and upgraded to a 120 GB drive. (An extremely quiet Western Digital.) Now this is starting to get full and I'll probably get a 320 GB drive. I would've been dead in the water a long time ago if I didn't have this capability.
The ability for the user to upgrade the hard drive is the #1 advantage, IMO. It's a big pain for the MacBook Pro, non-existent for the Air, and very few Windows laptops have the capability.
I have a white model, and while it gets dirty, it definitely hides the fingerprints a heck of alot better than the Blackbook. Simple cleaning solves that problem.
Some people have complained about the screen, but I did what others have recommended and calibrated it, and I think it looks fine. I'm not bothered with the glossy screen, but others are. It's your choice - you either like it or you don't. The lack of a dedicated video graphics card doesn't bother me because I don't use it for professional apps or games.
The keyboard has a nice touch and feel, but it would've been nice to have backlit letters.
I'm hoping to keep mine going for another year or two if this machine runs Snow Leopard well.
Owned for six months.
good:
relatively small
looks nice
great keyboard
bad:
way too hot
unnecessarily expensive
poor screen (colors, contrast, viewing angles, resolution)
integrated graphics
average battery life
lack of sd card port
the two biggest cons are the heat and the screen.
i don't plan to replace it (unless it cracks or dies) for seven years. after going through six laptops last year, i'm curious to see how long i can bear to stick with one. overall, it's a decent computer, but if it broke down, i can't say for sure i would buy another. the heat and screen are a terrific letdown for a laptop in this price range.
good:
relatively small
looks nice
great keyboard
bad:
way too hot
unnecessarily expensive
poor screen (colors, contrast, viewing angles, resolution)
integrated graphics
average battery life
lack of sd card port
the two biggest cons are the heat and the screen.
i don't plan to replace it (unless it cracks or dies) for seven years. after going through six laptops last year, i'm curious to see how long i can bear to stick with one. overall, it's a decent computer, but if it broke down, i can't say for sure i would buy another. the heat and screen are a terrific letdown for a laptop in this price range.
TN+ is the most common type of TFT display used today [wikipedia]. Other types include IPS, MVA and PVA - which are featured in TV sets and high end desktop displays. All, except for maybe a few, of today's laptops use TN+ panels. The thing is that the MacBook features panels heavily subpar for its price range.
I just recently purchased a Black Macbook and I can say that the advantages heavily out weigh the disadvantages. I bought the Black because I didn't not want to deal with the white surface that I knew would get dirty over a period of time. Though as a previous poster stated the black is a magnet for oily and greasy fingers and it does drive me nuts... but thats my problem
ditto
Saludos
Franz
WHITE : Palmrests!!! mine are now a horrible beige colour and there is nothing that can get it off apart from that mr clean stuff which is only available in the us !
video card
multi touch trackpad =[=[
keyboard gets dirty quickly.
apart from that, everything else is absolutely fine! i love my macbook and is lightning fast even thought its the first model!
video card
multi touch trackpad =[=[
keyboard gets dirty quickly.
apart from that, everything else is absolutely fine! i love my macbook and is lightning fast even thought its the first model!
Best
-speed
-price
-dead easy access to RAM + HDD
-looks brilliant
-feels sturdy
-amazingly thin
Worst
-the plastic keyboard case really isn't built to last
-doesn't make you a cup of tea in the morning
My macbook is two years old, and still going strong. For the price you pay, you get a hell of a lot. A dedicated graphics card wouldn't be of much use to a vast majority of consumers, so I really don't mind its omission for the sake of cutting costs.
-speed
-price
-dead easy access to RAM + HDD
-looks brilliant
-feels sturdy
-amazingly thin
Worst
-the plastic keyboard case really isn't built to last
-doesn't make you a cup of tea in the morning
My macbook is two years old, and still going strong. For the price you pay, you get a hell of a lot. A dedicated graphics card wouldn't be of much use to a vast majority of consumers, so I really don't mind its omission for the sake of cutting costs.
I totally agree. I recently calibrated my blackbook's screen and was disgusted with myself for not doing it sooner. The difference is like night and day. I think the display looks beautiful now (where, before, I had always been disappointed with it).