Well i really don't know what the fuss has been about, apart from those guys who have been unfortunate and received defect machines then i really don't understand all of the complaints.
The original MBP is a beautiful design, but is absolutely nothing compared the rMBP, it really does make it look old and bulky. It has a much more compact feel to it while retaining all of it's features, it's super slim and light.
Switching it on your instantly booted into OSX, the quickest i've known a computer to boot, even with Windows 7.
The display is absolutely dreamy, i spent the best part of 15 minutes just staring at it. I've got it side by side to my original Macbook, and while the maximum brightness isn't as good as the cMBP, it does not matter because the colours is the rMBP are so strong, it's hard to explain but the cMBP looks washed out when comparing, the colours, whites and darks are so deep, vibrant they almost look like real objects... Sat typing now i'm still in awe, looking closely thinking 'can a display actually look this good.. but it really does.
The blurriness of non retina items is nothing to cry about, you can see some blur in places but it really is just 'here and there', the retina goodness around makes it almost unnoticeable...
Even non retina apps are nothing to worry about, almost everything looks great here.. however, apps that 'draw' text, rather than print it are the biggest issue, the twitter app is the best example, the whole thing is just a blurry mess.
Most of my other apps either look fine as they are, or have already been upgraded.
The keyboard has a nicer feel, the keys are not as high and the speakers blow the cMBP out of the water.
I'm also not noticing any lag on Mountain Lion.
Finally, the biggest inconvenience for me is the lack of ethernet/superdrive, i rarely use them so it's not a big issue but i have one disk i need to install Traktor2.. i also backed up most of my mac to my NAS and the wireless in my home is pretty awful, so far i've been unsuccessful transferring my data back to the rMBP.
Rather than bitch about it i ordered a superdrive and an ethernet port.
Conclusion: i dont regret my purchase for one minute, this thing is amazing, beautiful and extremely fast. If you are thinking about buying one then do it. I firmly believe a lot of the complaints are nit picking, there is nothing wrong with the machine. My only gripe is the lack of ethernet/superdrive.. while i rarely use them i do need them... i feel like they should have been bundled with the machine, who wants to fork out an extra £90 to bring essential/old tech back to a £1600+ machine? that being said i knew it wouldn't have it so i should have been prepared.
If I wasn't on here I would just believe them! Problem is, I don't have proof anybody else has shipped.
