It’s been a couple of weeks, but I’m actually writing in this blog! I still need to edit and mangle a couple of pictures I took at the Fort Worth Zoo, so expect another picture gallery to come up in the next couple of days!
Onto the post, a little more than a month ago, I purchased a Macbook Pro for school (a little early, but I gave my brother my old Intel Core Duo Macbook, the first iteration, after two years of faithful and smooth service).
Since I invested in this laptop for the long-run (I’m praying it will last me at least 4 years), I thought I would do a little feature on my laptop much like how Car and Driver does their long-term road tests, which last several thousand miles. Here is a few observations and recollections of the first month using my Macbook Pro:
- Upon first inspection after the sacred “unboxing” ritual, the MBP is a very well built laptop. I love how Apple designs it’s products, the lines on the laptop are clean and simple and the shape is symmetrical from end to end (I’m not a fan of laptops that taper from the back to the front). The biggest differences from my old Macbook are the more traditional keyboard, rather than the chiclet-style, and the almost all-aluminum construction, which shows that it’s built for the long run.
- Aside from design, the technical aspect is also very good for a laptop, although at a premium. Most laptops these days that have the same specs as the Macbook Pro can range from 100-500 dollars cheaper, but I stuck with Apple because I love OS X. The factory specs on the MBP I purchased looked like this:
Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 ghz
2GB PC2-5300 memory
nVidia GeForce 8600GT-M, 256MB GDDR3 memory
200GB hard drive
15.4″ LED back-lit screen with 1440X900 resolution
- A week after getting this laptop, I added replaced the memory and brought it up to the maximum 4GB. Let’s just say it works well, and the difference is noticeable.
- Performance is simply great. The technical specs combined with Apple’s OS X Leopard provide a very smooth and simple computing experience. The only occasional lags (the dreaded beachball) are due to Safari rendering websites or opening rather large files, which are most commonly very high-resolution images (I’m a photo-quality stickler, and my camera takes rather large photos).
- General performance with Apple software such as Mail, iCal, Address Book and iLife 08 is stupid-fast. There is hardly a time where there is discern-able lag using any of these programs, even at the same time. Spaces, Apple’s multi-tasking tool easily switches from one Space to another even with 10 programs open and in-use at once. So in the first month, there are absolutely no gripes with performance, this computer is a screamer.
- Performance with third-party software, I used Adobe’s Design Suite and a couple of other programs (Transmission, Xee – a photo browser, VLC – media player and Disk Inventory) is on-par with the formerly mentioned Apple software. Photoshop loads up in a couple of seconds and there is seldom a noticeable performance lag unless there are an unbelievable number of pictures are loaded at once. The same goes for InDesign.
- The LED back-lit screen is gorgeous. Colors are crisp, the GUI is sharp and HD video are easily viewed with this laptop (given you have the bandwidth). The first thing I noticed when I started using the MBP is that the screen is BRIGHT. It was kind of annoying at first, but I’ve learned to love it.
- One month later, the laptop still looks brand new, mainly because I purchased a InCase plastic shell (which is also highly recommended) much like I did with my old iPod, which still looks fairly new when outside of its Agent 18 hard-shell case. My only gripe is that the palm rest gets a little dirty if you’re the type who gets sweaty hands (the Texas summer killing my A/C isn’t exactly mitigating the situation), but a couple of wipes every now and then with the provided cleaning cloth and you’re good to go.
- After a month of use, I would give this laptop a very hearty recommendation. It not only meets my high-expectations, it easily exceeds them. The laptop is fast, sexy and a reliable workhorse, but I can only recommended buying one if you are serious about what you do with it. I’m a photography (an amateur, at least) and starting up in graphic design, and this is the crowd the laptop is recommended for. It can also easily render and edit videos for that niche. It is expensive, but I believe it is worth the premium.
I guess you can look for Part II of the long-term review down the road, most likely when I’m bored or have something to gripe about on a bad day. Otherwise, take these first impressions over the course of a month, and do your research if you’re interested in the Macbook Pro.
-A
Filed under: Apple, Review, Technology , Macbook Pro
