Hi guys,
This thread is just about my first impressions of the MacBook Pro. I've only had it 5 hours or so but I've had time to set it up and have a little look around.
Firstly the packaging, very slim, nice box, nothing particularl special but it's exciting to unwrap
Then there's the machine itself. It's amazingly thin. You've seen the photos, but you really need to see and feel the real thing to get how thin it is. It's thinner, I think, than the Samsung X series, which are the thinnest PC laptops I've known. And even if not thinner, it's much nicer looking than any PC I've ever owned, seen or heard of. The new power adapter is a bit bulky, but I've read somewhere that this has to do with the higher wottage of the new system, so I guess that's not something that could be avoided. The magnetic power connector is cool - something to play with when in class
Now down to what it's like to use. Now I have never used a G5 ok. The only other mac I've owned is a PowerBook G4 12-inch 1GHz from March 2003, so all of my comparisons are with that machie. Firstly, the speed. It's incredibly quick compared with the old G4. Even with Microsoft Office (which runs under Rosetta at the moment/ it performs at least as well (and I think better) than the G4 did. The keyboard - the backlight is the coolest thing, ever. I sat around switching the lights on and off for a while, then realised I was being a prat and got back to work. The screen is amazing. As thin as that of the old G4, but so much sharper, much better colour, and incredibly bright for a laptop display (heck, it's as bright as my LCD monitor). Wireless signal strength is better than that of my G4. Where I am now I am getting 4 bars whereas in the same place I would get 2 witht he G4. I've read about wireless issues with the Intel amcs but I haven't experienced any so far. And then there's the iSigit and PhotoBooth. The iSight is better than my stand alone webcam (some Logitech QuickCam thing) and yet it's a tiny little lens integrated into a uber thin display! Amazing. And the effects in PhotoBooth are a laugh. Now we just need Microsoft to release a Microsoft Messenger that supports webcams (iSight) for mac, since most of my contacts use Messenger rather than .Mac (since they use PCs mostly except the designers and any other sensible ones).
Things to moan about. Well, the only thing I can moan about is the trackpad. It's lovely and big, which is awesome for scrolling things. I like the way it's completely flat on the top of the machine, rather than being indented like on the G4. Only problem is, it's not. The top right corner sticks up a bit. I don't want to get my dad to drive me all the way to Manchester just to sort out a slightly sticking out trackpad, so i might call AppleCare tomorrow and see what they say.
So yeah, I can take photos tomorrow if anyone wants. I will report on battery life at some point, but right now it's claiming 1h 35m with Xcode, Safari and MS Word open and the display set to full brightness (and having been like this on battery for about 45m).
Thanks
Max
This thread is just about my first impressions of the MacBook Pro. I've only had it 5 hours or so but I've had time to set it up and have a little look around.
Firstly the packaging, very slim, nice box, nothing particularl special but it's exciting to unwrap
Then there's the machine itself. It's amazingly thin. You've seen the photos, but you really need to see and feel the real thing to get how thin it is. It's thinner, I think, than the Samsung X series, which are the thinnest PC laptops I've known. And even if not thinner, it's much nicer looking than any PC I've ever owned, seen or heard of. The new power adapter is a bit bulky, but I've read somewhere that this has to do with the higher wottage of the new system, so I guess that's not something that could be avoided. The magnetic power connector is cool - something to play with when in class
Now down to what it's like to use. Now I have never used a G5 ok. The only other mac I've owned is a PowerBook G4 12-inch 1GHz from March 2003, so all of my comparisons are with that machie. Firstly, the speed. It's incredibly quick compared with the old G4. Even with Microsoft Office (which runs under Rosetta at the moment/ it performs at least as well (and I think better) than the G4 did. The keyboard - the backlight is the coolest thing, ever. I sat around switching the lights on and off for a while, then realised I was being a prat and got back to work. The screen is amazing. As thin as that of the old G4, but so much sharper, much better colour, and incredibly bright for a laptop display (heck, it's as bright as my LCD monitor). Wireless signal strength is better than that of my G4. Where I am now I am getting 4 bars whereas in the same place I would get 2 witht he G4. I've read about wireless issues with the Intel amcs but I haven't experienced any so far. And then there's the iSigit and PhotoBooth. The iSight is better than my stand alone webcam (some Logitech QuickCam thing) and yet it's a tiny little lens integrated into a uber thin display! Amazing. And the effects in PhotoBooth are a laugh. Now we just need Microsoft to release a Microsoft Messenger that supports webcams (iSight) for mac, since most of my contacts use Messenger rather than .Mac (since they use PCs mostly except the designers and any other sensible ones).
Things to moan about. Well, the only thing I can moan about is the trackpad. It's lovely and big, which is awesome for scrolling things. I like the way it's completely flat on the top of the machine, rather than being indented like on the G4. Only problem is, it's not. The top right corner sticks up a bit. I don't want to get my dad to drive me all the way to Manchester just to sort out a slightly sticking out trackpad, so i might call AppleCare tomorrow and see what they say.
So yeah, I can take photos tomorrow if anyone wants. I will report on battery life at some point, but right now it's claiming 1h 35m with Xcode, Safari and MS Word open and the display set to full brightness (and having been like this on battery for about 45m).
Thanks
Max
