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Star-Fire · May 21, 2006, 09:05 AM

Some though I had on my new MacBook to hopefully help a few others out.

Performance (CPU): Very fast! Just as fast as my MBP on load times, launching of software, access of HD, etc. I have ordered a 7200 RPM drive for it and I hope that will even improve performance more.

Screen: It is wonderful, it is glossy but it doesn't look as bad as some of the PC screens I've seen. It is very sharp, looks sharper then my MBP, I am not sure if it's the gloss, or if the pixels are more tightly packed on the Macbook, but it is definitely different. Although the screens seem to have a very odd tint to them, mine was pinkish when I first turned it on, I was able to calibrate the screen more neutral but areas still have a slight pink or cyan color to them, I will try the calibrator we have at work and see if it helps. Very bright, viewing angle could be better but it's not that bad. My biggest question is, why such a large bezel around the screen, seems that they could have fit 14" screen, I know the iSight is there but it's not that large from pictures i've seen of other macs. I am happy that even though I lost some screen area compared to the MBP it's not something that seems to bother me so far. If I cannot get a decen't calibrations though I might be back to the store, weither it's a pro or consumer laptop the screen should be able to be adjusted to something neutral.

Heat: It does get hot, but not as bad as the MBP. I have CoreDuoTemp running and highest I've seen is 77-78C at idle about 46C, my MBP would see 86-87C at times. I can definitely hear a fan kick in when at high temps, unlike the MBP which never seemed to run the fan at full speed. I might check out the thermal paste since I did on the MBP which made a marked improvement.

Performance (GPU): I haven't tried any 3D games yet so for 2D it's fine, played 1080P HD without a frame drop. I do have Aperture loaded on it and have to say it isn't all that bad to use, a few adjustments are slower, but nothing is all that bad that it's unusable, I'm quite happy with it. I haven't tried spanning yet, I'll have to update this when I load XP and try some games out.

Battery: I seem to be getting excellent battery life, well over 4 hours when surfing and a few other light tasks with the screen at about 3/4 brightness, very happy there, definitely longer then the MBP. I will try a DVD and see how that effects battery life.

Wi-Fi: Signal very strong, better then any other mac I've owned so far, not much else to say there.

Keyboard: I like it! it has a very positive response with an almost definite click to me, just as good as the board on the MBP, does look a bit odd but hey "Think Different."

Color: I like the white, just seems more Apple to me, looked at the black at the Store, it is nice but fingerprints like mad and they seemed much harder to wipe off then the glossy surface. My fear with the black one scratch and it's going to stand out very bad, you can't polish it down and scratches look far worse on black. (trust me I have a black car.) Plus I don't really like the idea of paying for the black, Apple has never done this before bar the U2 iPod which was ugly IMHO anyhow.

Weight: It is a bit weighty, feels a tad bit lighter then a MBP but it's not a bad thing to me, feels very sturdy also and well built. I love the size of the machine, it's not to small and not to large. It seems it could have been a tad bit smaller, large bezel and all, but fine for me.

Odd Noises: I hear none! At least on mine, it's very quite, no whine, no moo, nothing! I am very happy about this, it does seem that some do have a few of those problems, so seems it's a pot shot if you get a quite one or not.

I do miss the lighted keyboard from the MBP, but oh well, and I am happy that the trackpad is the same size as the MBP and the two finger right click is very nice!

I hope these observations help some others out, I will add more as I try things out.

Starfire

Gee4orce · May 21, 2006, 11:31 AM

Good review - I concur entirely. Mine has some strange noises occasionally - the Moo is the fan starting up and then stopping again. A Co-worker bought the same model, but was bothered by the high pitched whine. I could not hear it - on mine or his - I think it really depends on how good your top-end hearing is !

The wireless reception is exceptional - from the room I'm sitting in now I have full reception (3- to 4 bars). With my 12" PowerBook is sometimes lost reception all together sitting in the same seat ! :o

Mine can run a bit warm, but nothing that bothers me at all. It's just one of those things - my car engine is pretty damned hot, but it's not an issue for me unless I need to put my head under the hood.

Gee4orce · May 21, 2006, 11:32 AM

Oh, yeah the keuboard - I love the way that the light comes from around the CAPS and Num lock keys - I can only dream of what keyboard backlighting might have looked like

anamexis · May 21, 2006, 01:48 PM

Sounds good.

It would be great to hear how the 7200RPM drive affects battery life, if at all. I would love to upgrade but not until I know how it will affect that.

Star-Fire · May 21, 2006, 03:24 PM

yeah they should have just made a glow come out from the space around the bottom of the keys, that would have casted some light to help, plus it would look wicked!

ginoledesma · May 21, 2006, 06:41 PM

Adding this very minor tidbit:

If anyone has the iSkin ProTouch PB (for PB 12"), it fits on the MacBook as well. The keys on the MB are a little bit smaller, but for all intents and purposes, there is no need to buy a MB-specific iSkin. :-)

Just mildly pleased with this, so I don't have to spend (as much again) on accessories.

gary42556 · May 21, 2006, 07:08 PM

Good review, I'm concidering buying this machine. Looks like a real champ. The only thing worrying me is that the first revision of macbooks may have some issues relating to heat and noise. It is hard to understand what percentage these issues relate to as people whose machines work perfectly probably won't go online to tell us that their macbooks doesn't malfunction.

Would you say the macbook is to hot to have on your lap, and would you say that heat is an issue I should be concerned with?

Star-Fire · May 21, 2006, 07:21 PM

The only time it has gotten quite hot was when CPU was at 90%+ and charging, even then no hotter then my MBP and the CPU was cooler then my MBP also. Otherwise it will get warm but nothing to worry about, it's on my lap right now

aristobrat · May 22, 2006, 01:49 PM

Having used the MBP 15", was it a major hassle to get used to the 13" screen?

Escobar · May 22, 2006, 02:32 PM

i used to use the 15" PB G4 screen, and this is much better. Granted, i didn't have the last revision's screen with the brightness upgrade, so idk how it compares to the MBP

Star-Fire · May 22, 2006, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by aristobrat

Having used the MBP 15", was it a major hassle to get used to the 13" screen?

No not really, the crispness and clarity seems to make up for it, most of the time when I had, say safari open on my MBP I had some space around the window, now it's just closer to the edge and looks the same. I didn't really even notice it, becasue it's a widescreen, I've been wating for a while for a smaller Apple widescreen, once I got my TiBook long ago I could never go back to standard format.

aristobrat · May 22, 2006, 03:30 PM

Great to hear. Thanks

gary42556 · May 22, 2006, 06:24 PM

Thank you for replying with regards to heat.

To sum up, If I intend using my macbook mostly for combined surfing/playing music, but sometimes for light photoshoppin' and some webdesign it will probably run pretty cool? I don't think I will normally use it for CPU intensive work such as working with video og 3d gaming.

MiniMac · Jun 3, 2006, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by Star-Fire

Screen: It is wonderful, it is glossy but it doesn't look as bad as some of the PC screens I've seen. It is very sharp, looks sharper then my MBP, I am not sure if it's the gloss, or if the pixels are more tightly packed on the Macbook, but it is definitely different. Although the screens seem to have a very odd tint to them, mine was pinkish when I first turned it on, I was able to calibrate the screen more neutral but areas still have a slight pink or cyan color to them, I will try the calibrator we have at work and see if it helps. Starfire

Hi,

Just wondering if you were able to calibrate the pink out with any success?

My first black Macbook had a slight warm/pink tint that I couldn't really calibrate out without going way cool. A couple of other issues surfaced, and I wound up sending it back. Got the replacement two days ago and it also has the slight pink tint. I've read a few other threads regarding this. To be truthful, I probably wouldn't have noticed but I have three other Macs in the house to compare it to. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the glossy coating...?

Star-Fire · Jun 3, 2006, 10:25 AM

I did get it better with a hardware calibration tool, but still wasn't correct, there is a varying differance between Macbook, I've had 4 now and 2 were very pink and 2 weren't. Apple only needs to make the range on the built in calibration tool bigger and I beleive that would solve a lot of them, maybe a software fix will come out.