I’m a long time PC user and had been in the market for a notebook the last few months. I wanted something light and powerful that I could take along with my dSLR and photography gear and to do some light post processing in the field.
When at home, I planned on hooking it up to an external display for more critical post processing work, so a 13-14″ notebook was perfect for my needs.
I seriously looked at the Macbooks because of the thin and light form factor, build quality, and I wanted to take a serious look at OSX Leopard after having so much fun with my iPhone 3G. Plus I could run Windows apps (I’ve got Adobe Design Standard CS4 for Windows) with virtualization software.
These refreshed Macbooks finally make the lineup truly worth considering for those looking at a Mac over a PC. Spec wise, these new macbooks are much more comparable to their PC competition (eg. Dell Studio XPS 13).
I picked up the 2.53GHz model because with the education discount and free iPod Touch promotion (through Apple), making the jump up to the higher end 13″ was a no brainer. According to early Macworld speed tests, the performance differences between the two new 13″ MBP models is more than just 2GB RAM.
Pros:
- Rock solid build quality. My wife’s Dell Inspiron 15 feels like a plasticky toy in comparison.
- Thin and Light (not quite MacBook Air, but you’re not making the same compromises either)
- OSX Leopard (and all that entails)
- **NEW** Display. Vastly improved over the previous unibody MacBook. Now on par with 15″ models. I do find myself adjusting the angle of the display to minimize reflections, but it’s not as distracting as people are saying. It’s all a matter of personal preference though. The glass is what enhances the display, so there’s the compromise.
- SD Card slot. People are complaining about the 15″ MBP losing the express card slot, but since the 13″ unibody MB never had one, this is an additional port.
- Battery. With the right settings, the battery feels like it can go on forever. I’ve pushed the battery life meter to 8 hours…though 6-6.5 hours is more achievable.
Cons:
- Heat. Under heavy load, the aluminum acts like a radiator and it heats up near the left hinge.
- Aluminum susceptible to scratching. I barely had my MBP for a weekend and there’s already a little scratch on the lid. I’m going to consider a Speck SeeThru Satin to protect it.
- Having to figure out how to get the Mac to get access to my PC’s printer and external storage…not a real con, but there’s an obvious learning curve.