The Apple MacBook has been out for many months now and there are dozens of reviews available, but I wanted to throw mine out there, too. In order to try and add some value, I'm going assume you have read the specs and some other reviews to get a flavor for the MacBook. I'm going to spend more time going over my particular likes/dislikes. I am considering both hardware issues with the MacBook and software issues with OS X that I am encountering for the first time with an Apple notebook.
The things I like:
1) The price. People always talk about how Apple computers cost so much more than PCs. With the Apple switch to Intel processors, the price premium is lower than ever. My laptop was $999 (after rebate from Amazon) and I added 2GB of RAM for $160 (from NewEgg). Installation of the RAM took less than 10 minutes. So for $1159 (delivered to my door price), I have a laptop with a 1.83 Ghz dual-core Intel chip, 2GB RAM, and 60GB hard drive. You may be able to configure a Dell a little cheaper, but I'd wager the premium for the Mac is no more than 5-10%.
2) The screen. I was terribly worried about possible glare problems mentioned in some of the reviews. But in real world use (in my office, my sunroom, outside) the glossy screen has been great. The picture is extraordinarily sharp, clear, and most of all BRIGHT. The glare problem has been a total non-issue. With a distinct light source behind me, I will see a reflection occasionally, but a quick tilt of the screen and it's gone.
3) The form factor. It's not too big, and not too small. 13.3" @ 1280x800 resolution works great for my purposes. I have found 12" @ 1024x768 to be too cramped, and while 1680x1050 @ 17" is great to use, it's not portable enough for me.
4) Mag-safe power cord. What can I say, it works as advertised. Locks in solid, but in accidental trip-over-the-cord situations it disconnects and saves your laptop from a fall.
5) OS X with lots of RAM. Everything FLIES. Even applications running under Rosetta (PowerPC emulation) are quite usable. The OS X default of leaving programs running even when you close all the windows works to maximum advantage here. With all that RAM, it's worth letting everything stay open. You have instantaneous access to every program you use.
6) The overall look. Apple knows how to make white plastic sleek and appealing.
7) The trackpad. It's large, responsive and has great features like scrolling and right clicking with two fingers.
Things I don't like (and my workarounds):
1) The heat. Simply put, it runs hot. The bottom gets quite warm. You don't want to be doing CPU intensive work with it sitting directly on your legs. The workaround is simple -- use it on a desk or put something (book, magazine, tray) between it and your lap.
2) The single mouse button. I still don't know why they couldn't have added a right mouse button. Apple may think apps should be designed such that right clicking is not necessary, but unfortunately many apps need it. Fortunately the two finger tap on the touchpad works great for right clicking. And for mouse intensive stuff or UNIX stuff (where a 3rd mouse button is necessary), I use an external Logitech V270 Bluetooth mouse which works like a champ.
3) The keyboard. The key spacing is just fine, and touch typing at speed is not a problem. The problem is in some of the layout choices. Like all Apple keyboards, this does not have an Insert key. This mainly bothers me when using UNIX editors -- I have a fix in my X windows keyboard map (maps a function key to Ins).
Why the 'Fn' key is in the bottom left is a mystery to me. That is where most people look for the Control key. Instead they put that one key to the right. Couldn't they just have swapped the Fn and Ctrl positions? Since Fn is not a standard key, I think that would have been the wiser choice. Currently I am not aware of a key mapping program that supports OS X Tiger and Intel Macs that could remap these keys for me.
The key marked 'Delete' is actually Backspace, and is in the position where you would expect backspace, so it's okay. The problem is there is no Delete key which works as you would expect it to. You have to type Fn-Delete to actually get the expected delete behavior. Again, a good key remapper would solve this issue for me.
4) Hibernate (aka Safe Sleep). I don't understand why this functionality is not enabled by default. The workaround -- a nice tool which adds Hibernate support to the System Preferences. Download it here: http://mac.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/Hibernate.shtml
5) QuickTime is great overall, but it's stupid that it does not support full screen mode out of the box. I just paid thousands of dollars for this machine and software, why should I have to fork over another thirty bucks just to watch video in full screen mode? Fortunately with this clever Applescript I don't have to: http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/mac911/2005/08/fullscreen/index.php
6) The Mac "bong" sound on boot. While I am sure old school Mac users love it, it annoys me. I don't want to have to remember to mute my whole system volume before shutdown just to avoid noise at boot. Again, a small piece of software (which adds a startup sound setting to the System Preferences) saves the day: http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/16425
7) Occasional wireless flakiness. I use 802.11g, WPA2/AES, and a Linksys WRT54GS router w/HyperWRT firmware (v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c). I have two Mac Minis which are connected wirelessly 24/7 without any issues. But with the MacBook, occasionally, after a few hours of continuous use, the wireless connection will just drop. If I try to reconnect to my network, it acts as if it has never seen it before and asks for the pre-shared key again (annoying). The work around is to simply turn the Airport on and off (it then reconnects automatically). I noticed in the system log it says: kernel[0]: ATHR: beacon miss causing loss of connection when it drops the connection, but adjusting the beaconing interval on the router from 100ms to 50ms does not appear the solve the problem. This is still an open issue for me, so if you have any input, please post a comment!
Overall the likes heavily outweigh the dislikes (most of which I have worked around). I highly recommend considering the MacBook if you are in the market for a notebook computer. Overall rating: 8.5/10.
1 more thing I wished Apple've done with macbook is a slot so that the remote can slide into rather than just wander around in my bag when I am moving around.
I am not sure if it's possible but I think it'd be very convenient
3) The form factor. It's not too big, and not too small. 13.3" @ 1280x800 resolution works great for my purposes. I have found 12" @ 1024x768 to be too cramped, and while 1680x1050 @ 17" is great to use, it's not portable enough for me.
This is the reason that I bought my macbook
Thanks for the clear list of good and bad points! The heat issue
is the biggest problem for me. Currently I have a 12" iBook G4,
which doesn't get hot at all.
I get the same random drops from my wireless network, and the same error in my system log. kernel[0]: ATHR: beacon miss causing loss of connection. If I toggle the airport, it comes back most of the time, but not all of the time. I'd really like to figure this one out! It always happens when I need to look something up.
Hello my name Romson, at last year I change two notebooks.
Make by asus and hp, P4 corel duo and Athlon Mobile x2 1gb ram on it. Notebook is different in cool
features and similar in bad featurel... this notebook very hot after 5 hour work :(
In last months I buy cooler pedestal from thermal take.. and I very surprize how this cooler work!
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Your comments and summary are the most accurate I've seen - or at least are most similar to my experiences! Great size, reasonable level of power and getting better now I can synchronise the BBerry. It's just nice to use.
for the wireless problems, they should appear when your macbook is on battery. simply run:
ping your.router.ip > /dev/null &
there is no other solution for a while. and if there is, post a comment.
Thanks for the down to earth review of your macbook. I am also a 12" iBook G4 user waiting to take the leap into the Intel lineup. My biggest concerns are to see that Apple cleans up the macbook random shutdown and heat problems. Once this happens I will definitely pick one up.
Thanks for the review. I'm using a Toshiba A75 right now and have always had to have a cool pad between me and it so the heat doesn't worry me too much.
I'm one of those guys that went, "This iPod just works and works WELL, I wonder how the computers are working?" Talked to Mac users and they LOVE their computers. The times I've used them I get the feeling that they're made to work for me vs made for me to adapt for them.
And there's no small attraction to it being different than what everone else is using.
I'm just waiting for Duo Core 2 to make it's way into the MacBooks.
For your interest I have had my MacBook 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo, 1GB Ram. for about six weeks. It is left on most of the time and I have never had it lose internet via wireless and it has never turned itself off! It does get hot though. Not burn burn your hands hot, but uncomfortable on your legs hot.
This computer is out of the box and it runs ilife, OSX, Photoshop, Final Cut, and everything else I've thrown at it smooth, fast and perfect.
Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe the problems are solved?
I believe that the wireless issues have been fixed by OS X updates. I am also now able to use the wireless with no drops.
I have the odd drop also with the same Linksys WAP. So count me in on that one.
I don't like that it has no lights for things like the NIC and harddrive.
I do love the MacBooPro, but these are a few of the things that annoy me. I'd also REALLY like it if there were an eject button on the dvd itself. I don't like the "software" eject... esp. on VmWare where it can need to be ejected from X number of places, and you have to hunt around for the right VM... just GIVE ME MY DVD... I'M IN A HURRY!
And the insert key (absense) really bugs me too.