[seventn]

Purchased a brand new Blackbook yesterday. totally happy with it even if I was a little afraid. I've owned 6 Powerbooks in the last 15 years or so and 1 ibook. The Ibook was such a disapointment for me that I promised myself that I would never buy one again! I hate cheap feeling hardware; soft horrible keyboards, crackling sounds when you open the lid...just general cheapnest..

Anyways, I was afraid that since this Macbook is replacing the Ibook that it would be cheap and inferior to the Macbook Pro. Well its not.

Good:

Black (so sick of silver!!!!) I would have paid 800.00 more for a Black Macbook Pro!
keyboard very silent and soft while being firm (not bouncy)
Perfect size. 12 inch is too small and 15 is nice but not very portable
Screen is VERY NICE. Nice high contrast, tigh resolution. I own a 23inch and compared to the Macbook's screen its like having a very very thin Kleenex™ over it...
No whine (yet)
Operated between 45-62° (only reached 80° once during an install)
No Moo when the fans starts
Very fast even compared to my DP 2.7 G5

The bad:

I miss my backlit keyboard
Wish it had real video card.

I can live with that!! I'm posting this cause I think that positive feedback is as important as negative feedback.

Very happy..if you are not sure...do it!!!

[ael719]

the only time mines drops below 60 is when i just turned it on or awaken from sleep mode

I'm starting to wish i got a white macbook, i think the black looks better, but i hate how fast the keyboard can get dirty, maybe im a little OCD, but the grease reflections are hideous!

[seventn]

yeah you wouln't have the grease marks and you would have the nice palm marks in that nice burnt cheese hue!

I prefer grease..plus I just got a nice bottle of Iklear and it workd great.

[ael719]

$20 for cleaner is too crazy for me, unless it prevents the grease, ill just keep using water

[seventn]

wow 20.00$???

I pay 12.00 CDN and it lasts me a year. Not a bad investment I think.

[darth-vader000]

Originally Posted by seventn

The bad:

I miss my backlit keyboard
Wish it had real video card.

I can live with that!! I'm posting this cause I think that positive feedback is as important as negative feedback

I never really cared for the backlit keyboard. I hardly needed to use it, and to be honest it always struck me as a gee wizz type of feature. Kind

[hldan]

Originally Posted by darth-vader000

I never really cared for the backlit keyboard. I hardly needed to use it, and to be honest it always struck me as a gee wizz type of feature. Kind

It's unfortunate that many people haven't seen the latest PowerBooks and the MBP's backlit keyboard because anyone like me who has the older 17" PowerBook 1.33Ghz has a really weak backlit keyboard that fairs better when it's actually turned off because fades the keys out at dusk and is only usuable in total darkness.
The newer PowerBooks and the MBP's keyboard is very well lit. So bright that sometimes it needs to be turned down a bit. It's extremely usable in many lighting conditions. I wish mine was like that. Because of the older PB's like mine many people got turned off from the backlit keyboard which gives the reason why some people may not care if the newer Macs have it.

[Skypat]

I received my macbook (black) this morning and it is flawless. Everything is perfect so far even it'true, it does get hot. But I've been using it for an hour (charging) on my lap and it's ok

It's a wonderful computer, the screen is just gorgeous (and didn't need any calibration)

[joeyinflames]

i should be getting my macbook sometime next week!

[mathew_m]

Originally Posted by seventn

yeah you wouln't have the grease marks and you would have the nice palm marks in that nice burnt cheese hue!

I along with thousands of other users have not seen the "burnt cheese hue" on our white Macbooks. Just because 30 some odd people (who take sucky pictures) have the problem does not mean that it's wide spread.

Also the fact that you say that you would pay $800 more for a black MBP tells me you have too much disposable income. Good for you but bad for stating in a review.

[joeyinflames]

Originally Posted by mathew_m

I along with thousands of other users have not seen the "burnt cheese hue" on our white Macbooks. Just because 30 some odd people (who take sucky pictures) have the problem does not mean that it's wide spread.

Also the fact that you say that you would pay $800 more for a black MBP tells me you have too much disposable income. Good for you but bad for stating in a review.

+1, most people dont have the discoloration

[seventn]

wow people on edge here! Must be the winning of their laptops stating to affect them.

1. Sorry if I gave you the impression that my review was a formal one. Its not. Just saying that I'm happy and have not had any problems with mine.

2. Never said that all white macbooks were affected by the cheesy yellow discoloration. I guess only people with a certain body chemistry.

3. The statement that "I would have paid 800 more for a blacvk Macbook pro" is a figure of speach. It only means that I'm sick and tired of everything silver. Not just computers but EVERYTHING so yeah I would pay more for black. Maybe it would have been more obvious to say that I would pay 1 million dollars more.... That fact that stating this in my review discredits me and my "review"? Come on bud...put down the crack pipe and stop analysing so much.

4. And yeah I guess Macbook owners are very sensitive about their money or lack of since they can't spend 10.00 or iklear.... And if you black macbooks are full of grease marks maybe you should try washing you hands once in a while. Its not just for after pipi you know?!

Relax a little, don't be so negative and enjoy your Macbooks....geeezz

[Tarcat]

I have a white 1.8 GHZ. These are my impressions so far.


Pros
-The speed is really something else. Blows away my 1.8 GHZ G5 iMac. It is a snappy little machine. Windows open and close with spectacular speed and it processes things very quickly. I've never used a computer this fast and given its a low end laptop that is surprising. I can't wait for the intel Power Macs.
-The Screen is worlds better than the one on my old iBook. Great brightness, great color, and very little of the glare some people were worried about. It is the best notebook screen i've ever used PC or Mac. About the perfect size too. Any wider and the notebook would lose some of its portability.
-Wireless reception is spectacular. I can pick up nine networks in my house! And I live on the end of a street that isn't that dense. I was blown away by that.
- The computer is an amazing value. Almost everything you get in a MacBook Pro in terms of performance and almost half the price. The graphics might bother some but i'm not a gamer and it isn't a factor in anything I do. Other than that issue, the Mac Book makes it pretty hard to justify spending $900 more on a Pro.
-I like the huge track pad.
-I've had the same expierence with you in regards to heat. No issues and only once have I seen it cross 70.

Cons
-The keyboard takes a little getting used to. Once you do though its a very nice keyboard for a notebook.
- I wouldn't mind if the camera were a delete option and it had a 7200 RPM drive.

[ael719]

Originally Posted by seventn

4. And yeah I guess Macbook owners are very sensitive about their money or lack of since they can't spend 10.00 or iklear.... And if you black macbooks are full of grease marks maybe you should try washing you hands once in a while. Its not just for after pipi you know?!

Relax a little, don't be so negative and enjoy your Macbooks....geeezz

For the record, I can afford $20 cleaner (I couldn't find the $10 version you speak of). I didn't mean to say that I can't afford it. I just rather put my money elsewhere when water works just fine. I spent $5 on the little iKlear wipe packets just for the peace of mind of knowing what its like to have a truely clean MacBook washed with product. In the end, it worked like water.

Now I can use the $15 I saved and dry my hands with it before using my MacBook.

[seventn]

Tarcat: You would like to have the option to remove the camera?

And for the HD; that's the beauty of the Macbook, it is very easy to swap the drive for a 7200!

[Tarcat]

Originally Posted by seventn

Tarcat: You would like to have the option to remove the camera?

And for the HD; that's the beauty of the Macbook, it is very easy to swap the drive for a 7200!

Were it say a -$50 delete option I would. I have no use for that feature. As for the hard drive, I know it can be replaced but that would up the cost of the laptop. I wish it was a factory option. I don't need two drives. I'd have liked to have had the factory one be faster.

[seventn]

ael719: water does work on the case (but not as good as iklear) but I woulnd use it on the screen. It will leave deposits over time and you will really notice it cause of the glossy nature of the screen

[seventn]

Tarkat: With a 7200 RPM drive you batery duration would probably take a big hit but performance would be great. A 2nd drive is always good for backups (in an external enclosure) unless you already have a few!

[seventn]

Tarkat: With a 7200 RPM drive you batery duration would probably take a big hit but performance would be great. A 2nd drive is always good for backups (in an external enclosure) unless you already have a few!

[seventn]

Tarkat: With a 7200 RPM drive you batery duration would probably take a big hit but performance would be great. A 2nd drive is always good for backups (in an external enclosure) unless you already have a few!

[seventn]

...

[tycheung]

My experiences (white 2.0):

Pros:

very fast, very usable
form factor is solid and beautiful


Cons:

I got one of the noisy units w/ electrical funkiness - whines, moos, and once when the battery was charging the power brick made noises too...
Because I bought the $17 DVI connector, they won't let me return it either...lesigh...but I got applecare.

Black mark: evil TSA people scratched the bottom! stupid airport x ray bins....

[ael719]

how is everyones battery life?

I haven't really tried, but I doubt I could ever get more than 3 1/2 hours out of this thing. On one of the reviews, it said they got 5hours of battery life with Airport and Bluetooth off, 4hours by just surfing the internet and listening to music, and 3 hours watching a dvd.

I get 3 hours just surfing When my battery is 100% charged it will say I have 3+ hours. Anyone else like this? Or did I get a crappy battery?

[Simon]

Originally Posted by seventn

Tarkat: With a 7200 RPM drive you batery duration would probably take a big hit but performance would be great.

There have been several threads on this topic. Bottom line is that in general a 7200 RPM HDD isn't considerably louder, hotter nor does it use more battery than a 5400 RPM HDD.

[seventn]

Simon: ok, good to know.

[gametime10]

Originally Posted by ael719

how is everyones battery life?

I haven't really tried, but I doubt I could ever get more than 3 1/2 hours out of this thing. On one of the reviews, it said they got 5hours of battery life with Airport and Bluetooth off, 4hours by just surfing the internet and listening to music, and 3 hours watching a dvd.

I get 3 hours just surfing When my battery is 100% charged it will say I have 3+ hours. Anyone else like this? Or did I get a crappy battery?

My battery life is pretty close to the reviewer's (approx. 5 hrs. w/ Airport and BT off, 4 hrs w/ Airport and surfing, etc...)

[seventn]

Just wanted to give you an other quick review after 2 weeks...

well it is going back to the store tomorrow. I'm trading it in for a Macbook Pro. Here are the 3 reasons:

1. Apple's Aperture doesn't support the Macbook. Yes I know, you can hack around it but that doesn't garanty that I can run the next update...there's something that bugs me about buying software that can run on my machine :out of the box"

2. Backlit keyboard. Never imagined that I was using it that much but I was and I miss it A LOT!

3. The black is nice but already sick of whipping it every 5 mins and hearing clients say "ohhh what are those grease stains?"

I will miss it but it has to go. I will also miss the glossy screen which I liked a lot. I know I could get it special order but I'm afraid that It will make it harder to sell the laptop that way in a year. A lot of people are afraid of glossy...they have no reason to be cause it is very nice and reflections were no problems at all for the 2-3 weeks that I have it.

And I'm also removing my endorsement for Iklear on the black case. It only marks it over time. But still the best stuff for screens.

[Skypat]

Originally Posted by ael719

how is everyones battery life?

I haven't really tried, but I doubt I could ever get more than 3 1/2 hours out of this thing. On one of the reviews, it said they got 5hours of battery life with Airport and Bluetooth off, 4hours by just surfing the internet and listening to music, and 3 hours watching a dvd.

I get 3 hours just surfing When my battery is 100% charged it will say I have 3+ hours. Anyone else like this? Or did I get a crappy battery?

Hi. I have about the same with my blackbook ... around 3h 1/2 with a battery fully charged. Sometimes more ... But I still need to calibrate it.

[ael719]

Originally Posted by Skypat

Hi. I have about the same with my blackbook ... around 3h 1/2 with a battery fully charged. Sometimes more ... But I still need to calibrate it.

When I first got my BlacBook, I started using it right away before ever charging it. So far I have calibrated it twice, charge to full, use battery till it force sleeps on me, let it sit sleeping for 5 hours, and then plug it in for a full charge. Whenever I do this it gives me an inaccurate battery life estimate (5000+hrs) for about 30 mins.

Also, I measure my battery time by looking at the estimate and not actually using a clock to time it. Is that why I'm not getting 4hrs from normal use?

[buddy1065]

Wow seventn what an about face. I was pretty tuned up for a Macbook but I just may wait awhile longer. If anyone could tell me it will play Tomb Raider Legend at medium settings without flicker I would buy one; I like a little gameplay now and then. Grease stains don't bug me; I love polishing things. Arpeture; I don't even know what it is and am running OS 10.3.9 on my 17" Powerbook. Backlit Keyboard is nice but can do without it. Don't even use it although given the MBP's are better. I think Apple is very close to the perfect laptop with the Mackbook. Hope they up the shared RAM to 128 in the next revision; that would be all I would want and should have been done in the first place with this version. I have a Sony 10.6" T250 with 64 MB shared and TRL is... playable. Please no comments about the screen being too small for games; tell it to the PSP users.

[all2ofme]

Maybe you don't use the Enter key because you can get more text on the small screen that way.

Originally Posted by buddy1065

Wow seventn what an about face. I was pretty tuned up for a Macbook but I just may wait awhile longer. If anyone could tell me it will play Tomb Raider Legend at medium settings without flicker I would buy one; I like a little gameplay now and then. Grease stains don't bug me; I love polishing things. Arpeture; I don't even know what it is and am running OS 10.3.9 on my 17" Powerbook. Backlit Keyboard is nice but can do without it. Don't even use it although given the MBP's are better. I think Apple is very close to the perfect laptop with the Mackbook. Hope they up the shared RAM to 128 in the next revision; that would be all I would want and should have been done in the first place with this version. I have a Sony 10.6" T250 with 64 MB shared and TRL is... playable. Please no comments about the screen being too small for games; tell it to the PSP users.

[RadarBob2]

I'd like to hear more feedback about the keyboard. I like a good feeling keyboard for touch-typing. However for the MacBook, having only played w/ it a few minutes at the store I get the feeling I'd miss-hit keys quite a bit.

[seventn]

RadarBob2: The keyboard is nice. A little flat but nice. At least it is solidish at not mushy like the ibook keyboard which the the worst one Apple's ever came otu with.

[NateEssex]

Originally Posted by RadarBob2

I'd like to hear more feedback about the keyboard. I like a good feeling keyboard for touch-typing. However for the MacBook, having only played w/ it a few minutes at the store I get the feeling I'd miss-hit keys quite a bit.

I type around 80 wpm and I found I was a bit more accurate with the new keyboard for some reason. Just go to the Apple store, open Word and type a few paragraphs. That's what I did. Now, if it only had a real video card. That's what's keeping me from upgrading atm. :/

[seventn]

Update: took my Macbook back to the store and got a Macbook Pro. I have to say that if you are on the fence between the two and are thinking "I might as well save some money and get the Macbook cause they are the same speed anyways" Stop and rethink. Let me tell you that that is not the case. For some reason the Pro is much faster and generally feels a lot more solid and "pro". If you have the extra $ go for the pro!! BUT if you are the type that could and has lived with somehting like an ibook for years, then the Macbook is definitely an upgrade.

Im soooo happy I got the Pro....but wish it was black or dark grey aluminium..

[driven]

Originally Posted by seventn

Im soooo happy I got the Pro....but wish it was black or dark grey aluminium..

Maybe in a few more weeks. :-)

[seventn]

I think the new case will only be introduced in January or after. Even if they do come out in a few weeks I wouldn't buy one. I waited 6 months or so after the introduced the Macbook Pro so that they could fix the issues... Worked out cause mine is perfect.

I'll get a black one in july of next year.

[JoshuaZ]

The Macbook has been doing well in the 'English teacher' community where I live. 3 Different PC users have switched over in the past month. Really nice....

I'd buy one in a heart beat of it only had a decent GPU. Honestly. The only thing.

[NateEssex]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ

I'd buy one in a heart beat of it only had a decent GPU. Honestly. The only thing.

Yup, ain't that the truth?!

[Dillon-K]

well that's interesting what you said about the keyboard... I've tried typing a few random sentences like "This blackbook is sexy" and had a couple of typing errors... However, I may take one of the poster's advice and try typing a few paragraphs to see how easy it is to get used to.

[mrgaskell]

After servicing over 30 Macs and using iKleen solution, I found that they made a great protective barrier against things like pencil marks, but also made the surface sticky and more prone to nastiness. I now clean my screens with optical lens cleaner and windex on the casing.

[bryanmsi]

I love mine! The keyboard is the best I've used on an Apple product in the past decade, and I haven't had any problems.

But that finish is just TERRIBLE for showing grease. It makes the computer look like its 2 years old in just a few hours of carrying it around....the grease spots look like shiny wear marks. And the trackpad appears to be painted or textured as well and it has already worn a shiny spot in the middle of the pad with less than 8 hours use on the machine.

I wonder if Armor-all or something similar could be used to make the whole thing slightly shiny? My office mate bought one after listening to me rave about mine, and his looks even worse than mine does in terms of shiny spots.

[hldan]

Originally Posted by seventn

Just wanted to give you an other quick review after 2 weeks...

well it is going back to the store tomorrow. I'm trading it in for a Macbook Pro. Here are the 3 reasons:

1. Apple's Aperture doesn't support the Macbook. Yes I know, you can hack around it but that doesn't garanty that I can run the next update...there's something that bugs me about buying software that can run on my machine :out of the box"

2. Backlit keyboard. Never imagined that I was using it that much but I was and I miss it A LOT!

3. The black is nice but already sick of whipping it every 5 mins and hearing clients say "ohhh what are those grease stains?"

I will miss it but it has to go. I will also miss the glossy screen which I liked a lot. I know I could get it special order but I'm afraid that It will make it harder to sell the laptop that way in a year. A lot of people are afraid of glossy...they have no reason to be cause it is very nice and reflections were no problems at all for the 2-3 weeks that I have it.

And I'm also removing my endorsement for Iklear on the black case. It only marks it over time. But still the best stuff for screens.

Finally, sensible reasons for exchanging and upgrading besides stupid complaints about weird sounds and overheating.

As for the glossy screen, I would highly recommend that you get it for 2 reasons:

(1) Don't shortchange yourself if it's something you want in your notebook afterall you will be the one using it.

(2) Remember Apple is very late to the game with glossy screens which is why the MacBook comes glossy as a standard on all models. This type of screen is so widely accepted that all PC manufacturers make it a standard as well.
Only the MacBook Pro has the option to choose with or without because creative photo professionals may not desire using it so get the glossy on your MacBook Pro because by the time you sell it a matte screen on an Apple notebook may not be very desirable and you will limit your potential buyers.

[Dillon-K]

Well, some of you guys were talking about making the camera a -$50 deletable feature and things like that... In my view, Apple probably could make a sub-thousand-dollar MacBook if they offered you to take off the iSight and the Frontrow remote... but the fact that you can't take off ubercool features like that just gives you the excuse to get the ubercool features. .

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by seventn

2. Backlit keyboard. Never imagined that I was using it that much but I was and I miss it A LOT!

Question: Do you know how to type?

I could be in a completely dark room and as long as I find the primary keys... I can type a message. I'm a little slow with numbers, but I don't need to "see the keys" to type.

Just wondering...

[Dillon-K]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

Question: Do you know how to type?

I could be in a completely dark room and as long as I find the primary keys... I can type a message. I'm a little slow with numbers, but I don't need to "see the keys" to type.

Just wondering...

HAHA, I'd have to agree with with production_coordinator... My dad has a Toshiba Sattelite he uses now and then, and I can't stand to type on it because it doesn't have the little "nipples" (don't ask) that mark the home keys.