8/10 overall.
The 'nits' are relatively minor, and I'm pretty happy with it (2011 15" 2.3GHz quad i7, 8GB RAM, Hi-res/AG, 500GB 7200RPM HD) - it's *fast*, it's beautiful, and the display is quite nice.
The 'nits':
No USB3 nor ExpressCard - yeah, I know, it's not 'for free' until Ivy Bridge, yet it doesn't stop other manufacturers, and there are no TB adapters as of yet that I'm aware of. Come out with a few adapters or a TB 'dock' and call me content there.
Heat/noise - and wondering about multi-year longevity due to the thermals. Apple did a good job in that even at 4k-4500RPM the fans aren't obnoxious, but get up to max RPM and it's a jet plane.
Longevity is more of a concern here, not exactly improved by the number of posts of returns/exchanges after a short time period, but - we'll see, the other Macs have done pretty well overall for me.
Inability to use integrated graphics to drive an external display, which combines with the heat/noise mentioned previously. Given the ability to, I'd use the integrated GPU for 75% or so of tasks on the external LCD.
Resolutions need to be upped across the board - 13" needs higher standard res, 15" needs the 1680x1050 as std, with a 1900x1200 as Hi-res, etc.
The only other I can think of are headset/skype volume levels, and it could use some rounding off of the sharp palmrest edges.
So far, not bad at all, and if it makes it without major issue for 2-3 years, will replace with a current one.
The 'nits' are relatively minor, and I'm pretty happy with it (2011 15" 2.3GHz quad i7, 8GB RAM, Hi-res/AG, 500GB 7200RPM HD) - it's *fast*, it's beautiful, and the display is quite nice.
The 'nits':
No USB3 nor ExpressCard - yeah, I know, it's not 'for free' until Ivy Bridge, yet it doesn't stop other manufacturers, and there are no TB adapters as of yet that I'm aware of. Come out with a few adapters or a TB 'dock' and call me content there.
Heat/noise - and wondering about multi-year longevity due to the thermals. Apple did a good job in that even at 4k-4500RPM the fans aren't obnoxious, but get up to max RPM and it's a jet plane.
Longevity is more of a concern here, not exactly improved by the number of posts of returns/exchanges after a short time period, but - we'll see, the other Macs have done pretty well overall for me.Inability to use integrated graphics to drive an external display, which combines with the heat/noise mentioned previously. Given the ability to, I'd use the integrated GPU for 75% or so of tasks on the external LCD.
Resolutions need to be upped across the board - 13" needs higher standard res, 15" needs the 1680x1050 as std, with a 1900x1200 as Hi-res, etc.
The only other I can think of are headset/skype volume levels, and it could use some rounding off of the sharp palmrest edges.
So far, not bad at all, and if it makes it without major issue for 2-3 years, will replace with a current one.