Last Saturday I took the plunge and drove down to the Apple store and bought myself a MacBook. It’s been a week now, and I’ve done my best to try and use it as much as possible in order to give it a fair test and comparison.
Out of the box, the thing is beautiful. Everybody knows by now that the new MacBooks are carved out of a solid block of aluminum. The thing is light and thin, but it’s got a very substantial feel to it. You just don’t get the feeling that it’s going to break easily.
Learning a new operating system was a concern, but I’ve managed to pick up on it pretty quickly. I got started with Windows back when Windows95 was the latest and greatest, and I’ve been pretty faithful to the line since then. When Vista came out, there were too many driver issues, and I decided to stay with XP, which works very well for me. Now that XP is becoming outdated, OSX seemed like a great choice for my new laptop, and so far it hasn’t dissapointed.
My desktop PC is one that I build myself. It’s got plenty of power, works great with XP, and drives three monitors without a hiccup. My previous laptop was a Dell Inspiron 6000, which is a nice machine, but it’s heavy, clunky, and fragile. My MacBook won’t be replacing my Windows desktop any time soon, but it really puts the Dell to shame.
Along with the MacBook, I also picked up an AirPort Extreme wireless router. The 802.11n wireless networking is noticeably faster than my old 802.11g network, and upgrading is something I wouldn’t have a problem recommending to anyone. The AirPort Extreme also allows me to plug my printer in (usb) and turns the printer into a network printer, which is now accessible from all the computers in our house, both PC and Mac.
So after using the MacBook for a week, there are things that I love about it and things that I’m not so fond of. It is very lightweight and small. Much better suited for portable use and travel. It’s very powerful and still has an amazing battery life. I’ve been using it sitting at my kitchen table for about 45 minutes now, and battery meter shows four hours of battery remaining. If I turn the brightness down on the display I can squeeze even more time out. The display is bright and clear. Text rendering on the screen is the best I have ever seen too.
On the other hand, there are a few things I don’t like. The screen is very glossy (all glass) and reflects everything. Turning up the brightness fixes this, but it’s a little annoying. There are only 2 usb ports, and I could use about 4. And all the ports are on the side of the machine. I like ports on the back where they aren’t visible, and aren’t in the way. And finally, the screen is pretty small, which isn’t really that big of a deal - I’m just used to my three monitor setup where I can have a ton of windows open and on display at once.
Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the MacBook. I think the more I use it, the more accustomed I will become to it and the more I will like it. At this point, I wouldn’t have any problem recommending the new MacBook to anyone over a windows based laptop.
