Since I got my MacMini last year, I became a Mac addict. As a result, I eagerly wanted to sell my 6-month old Toshiba Satellite for a MacBook (still up for grabs, by the way). A good friend of mine back in college told me about his plan to buy a MacBook himself. I encouraged him to do so, then asked him to give me a review of the item. Actually, it’s my way of having a “safety net” — kind of like “try-it-first-if-its-not-good-I-ain’t-buying-bro!” Clever, huh? 😉
Anyway, he sent me his review this morning. I’m posting it here for the benefit of those who are contemplating on getting this new hardware from Apple. I’m copy-pasting “as is” so you’ll get the feel of his candidness.
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Yo! Got my MacBook last Sunday morning. Although I have not tinkered with yet because my wife was using it most of the times for her class, here are my firsthand observations.
1. It does get hot. It does not burn my lap but it’s noticeably hot unlike the g4 processors. Well blame it on intel. But heat is not an issue to me. The underside gets hot but after four hours the pad start to warm a little but is still far cooler than pcs.
2. Loads Windows like PCs. After loading bootcamp, it partitioned the drive. From there you load windows and software much like the pc’s. So far so good. I did not notice any difference in performance with my former AMD desktop. Although I have not tried editing yet on memory consuming softwares like photoshop. By either pressing the option key or the menu on the apple remote before pressing the power button you will be given two options where to booth. If you have configured windows to be the startup disk then you automatically load windows when you do not press the options key.
3. Office trial for 30 days and apple iworks trial. Your are right. And what’s bad with office trial is that you can’t print. (Here, before he purchased the ware, he was excited to learn that MacBook is loaded with every software that he needs. I told him, almost. That’s without the most important computing tool — an office productivity suite which, unlike a linux-based PC like Kubuntu have a pre-installed OpenOffice.org2. Of course he can easily buy a P25k+ Office Suite. 😉 )
4. Built in camera takes a good shot. Compared to other webcam in the market, this one is superior. It adjusts to the lighting condition and gives a decent picture.
5. Remote really looks cute. Battery is size of watch or calculator batteries and is replaceable.
6. Screen really clear.
7. It seems that battery only last from 2-3 hours especially if you are set to superbright. For movies i think it will only last for 2 hours. I still have have to observe.
So is it a good buy? Well yes! If you are for stability and durability of hardware it is. Besides it offers you two worlds. But if you are still very much into windows work then you will just benefit from the good hardware.
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I want a MacBook! I want a MacBook! 😀
9 comments
The one MAJOR drawback that is preventing me from taking the plunge is the alleged performance with games. Any feedback to this?
Is the heat Intel’s fault? Or Apple for not accomodating the new changes in thermal design?
Centrino (Pentium M) laptops from traditional Intel vendors like Dell (my unit) are cool.
I’ve had my macbook for almost a month now. I’m glad I chose a macbook. The heat doesn’t bother me because when I use it on my lap, I place it in a position that the hot part doesn’t touch my thigh. Battery life is actually 4 hours using the “better performance” battery life. Photoshop performance is quite fast. I’m impressed.
i agree with migs. intel chips can’t be the heat culprit. my ThinkPad, on Core Duo, doesn’t heat that much even at full-steam work.
I just read this “Security threats to PCs with Microsoft Windows have increased so much that computer users should consider using a Mac, says a leading security firm.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5150508.stm
Noemi,
As soon as Macs gain enough traction, I am sure vulnerabilities will also surface.
I really like one too but I won’t buy it here, grabe the price is almost doubled, I like the black 13″ macbook only cost around P75000. if you buy it in US, in here it cost around 100k!
What I like about it:
1.) text are so clear compared to pc ones
2.) eye candy
3.) performance to price ratio is good (1.8 ghz to 2.0 ghz intel dual core processor with 667 fsb and 512 ddr2 mems)
4.) light weight
5.)wide screen though only 13″
6.) black version which has 80 GB of SATA drive though 5400 rpms.
by the way some says that macbook and pro version is hotter than the old ones.
Also try to see if the fans are block by a plastic sheet located somewhere under the lcd screen.. this is one thing that cost heat problems on some macbook
Yes the gaming part will be sacrifice since 13″ macbook uses a Intel 950 64 MB DDR2 Shared mems.. not x1600 that the big brother has.
Apple, imho, risked the heat for size and noise-reduction. I know that there are non-Apple notebooks that is as thick or thinner than the MacBook/MacBook Pro but most have less features (and others even need a docking station). Others, however, run cooler but are noisy due to the fans.
How much is the price?