I had (and still have) been using a 1st gen MBP that has 2 gig of RAM, a 2.16 processor and a (just installed) 500 GB hard drive. It has served me well these many, three years.
But it is also the main house machine and since I am starting school next week, I wanted a machine that I could take with me. The school program is basically a full time job: 10 hour days (including travel) and enough homework to fill up the long three/four day weekends we get through the summer.
But enough about that. Let's get to the machine. To start: If you want to see pictures, the are everywhere; online. Mine looks just like all the ones that match the spec in my signature.
I am really liking the big button/clicking trackpad. It's very easy to use and all the "gestures" make it a breeze to navigate the big thing. Also, being able to "right click" using two fingers and a push is really cool, to me. I'd also like to say a word about computer screens: How does anyone really appreciate (if that's the right word) a glossy screen over a matte screen. I dislike glossy screens so much, I payed the "Apple premium" just to avoid it. Don't get me wrong, though. I had thought that when I did buy me a new portable, it'd be the 17 incher.
Going from 2.16 to 3.06 and from a bus speed of 667 to 1076 and from DDR2 to DDR3 RAM is noticeably faster even without arbitrary tests. I've not whipped a stopwatch but everything is wonderfully faster. Go to and waking from sleep (which I didn't think could get any faster), launching applications, start-up, surfing the web, playing around in Final Cut Studio (as well as more serious work); It's all just faster.
And prettier.
The screen is amazing. The jump in resolution from 1440 x 900 to 1920 x 1200 (A 56.25% increase in real estate) is just icing. The brightness, the overall "look", this thing just POPS! ...and that's with a matte screen!
The optical drive is better, too. Well, that's enough about that. Only because I'm thinking of dropping it and adding in another 500 GB drive that I will stripe RAID for SPEED! I think it doubles the performance? (yeah, that's supposed to be a "ha-ha" funny).
Switching between video cards is about the dumbest thing ever. To do so, you go to the Energy Saver Pane and click a button. That should be the end of story but alas, you must logout/login. That means if you are working on something you have to save it and then re-open it. I'm guessing most just put it on the 9600M GT and leave it. Also, why didn't they put in a better mobile card. Better ones exist. It must be one of those cost saving measures. Besides, it's still an upgrade to me. My 1st gen MBP has the Radeon x1600
Other quickies: I like the keyboard although I wish the keys were aluminum. It's way cool to be using the machine, unplugged and look up and see that I still have over 6 hours left. I don't know what they (Apple) were thinking by not having an ExpressCard option on the 15. I think that'll be a quick refresh in say... 2 months. The new machine is 1 lb. heavier and then 1 inch deeper and a little under 2 inches wider. I think that's pretty impressive. I was able to install all the software in about half the time that it took me to do it all the 15 (I just reinstalled it all when I upgraded the drive). CS3 crawled to an install on the 1st gen but made great time on the new machine.
Programs that I installed: CS3, Final Cut Studio (lots of fun programs!), Shake and Microsoft Office. Then I ran all the updaters and they took just as long as installing the programs.
I have been naming all of my Apple devices with "Silver" in the name. My iPod is Little Silver, my 1st gen is Big Silver (Now Bigger SIlver with the new drive), my (free) touch is Silver Touch and the new machine is simply "Silver" or Ag for short.
Any questions?
But it is also the main house machine and since I am starting school next week, I wanted a machine that I could take with me. The school program is basically a full time job: 10 hour days (including travel) and enough homework to fill up the long three/four day weekends we get through the summer.
But enough about that. Let's get to the machine. To start: If you want to see pictures, the are everywhere; online. Mine looks just like all the ones that match the spec in my signature.
I am really liking the big button/clicking trackpad. It's very easy to use and all the "gestures" make it a breeze to navigate the big thing. Also, being able to "right click" using two fingers and a push is really cool, to me. I'd also like to say a word about computer screens: How does anyone really appreciate (if that's the right word) a glossy screen over a matte screen. I dislike glossy screens so much, I payed the "Apple premium" just to avoid it. Don't get me wrong, though. I had thought that when I did buy me a new portable, it'd be the 17 incher.
Going from 2.16 to 3.06 and from a bus speed of 667 to 1076 and from DDR2 to DDR3 RAM is noticeably faster even without arbitrary tests. I've not whipped a stopwatch but everything is wonderfully faster. Go to and waking from sleep (which I didn't think could get any faster), launching applications, start-up, surfing the web, playing around in Final Cut Studio (as well as more serious work); It's all just faster.
And prettier.
The screen is amazing. The jump in resolution from 1440 x 900 to 1920 x 1200 (A 56.25% increase in real estate) is just icing. The brightness, the overall "look", this thing just POPS! ...and that's with a matte screen!
The optical drive is better, too. Well, that's enough about that. Only because I'm thinking of dropping it and adding in another 500 GB drive that I will stripe RAID for SPEED! I think it doubles the performance? (yeah, that's supposed to be a "ha-ha" funny).
Switching between video cards is about the dumbest thing ever. To do so, you go to the Energy Saver Pane and click a button. That should be the end of story but alas, you must logout/login. That means if you are working on something you have to save it and then re-open it. I'm guessing most just put it on the 9600M GT and leave it. Also, why didn't they put in a better mobile card. Better ones exist. It must be one of those cost saving measures. Besides, it's still an upgrade to me. My 1st gen MBP has the Radeon x1600
Other quickies: I like the keyboard although I wish the keys were aluminum. It's way cool to be using the machine, unplugged and look up and see that I still have over 6 hours left. I don't know what they (Apple) were thinking by not having an ExpressCard option on the 15. I think that'll be a quick refresh in say... 2 months. The new machine is 1 lb. heavier and then 1 inch deeper and a little under 2 inches wider. I think that's pretty impressive. I was able to install all the software in about half the time that it took me to do it all the 15 (I just reinstalled it all when I upgraded the drive). CS3 crawled to an install on the 1st gen but made great time on the new machine.
Programs that I installed: CS3, Final Cut Studio (lots of fun programs!), Shake and Microsoft Office. Then I ran all the updaters and they took just as long as installing the programs.
I have been naming all of my Apple devices with "Silver" in the name. My iPod is Little Silver, my 1st gen is Big Silver (Now Bigger SIlver with the new drive), my (free) touch is Silver Touch and the new machine is simply "Silver" or Ag for short.
Any questions?
