by I now have a new 2.4GHz SDD unibody MacBook with 4GB of DDR3 RAM in my hot hands and this thing screams it’s so on fire! Now I sort of understand why Apple doesn’t think it needs a Netbook like the awful Sony Vaio P or the right fine ASUS 1000HE. The MacBook is the supreme computer, netbook and secret lover any passion could want, and I can’t imagine why anyone would touch a MacBook Air when they can have the new MacBook instead.
I’ve heard rumors on the internets that the MacBook is the perfect notebook computer and I can’t argue. It is beautiful. It is solid. It is fast.
I’m slightly disgusted and disappointed that this new MacBook is so much faster and snappier than my barely-eight-month-old MacBook Pro 17.
Is it fair this MacBook cost half as much as my MacBook Pro? No, it is not, and I am rightfully and righteously outraged over the whole thing since 7pm last night when FedEx finally delivered this MacBook after playing ring and run with me 10 hours earlier in the day.
The difference between lower price and better performance and enhanced beauty is the conundrum of living a human life. We test these examples in technology, in love, and especially in the workplace. Newer is almost always better, faster and prettier than what’s come before — and that is what makes us want to keep creating life, and objects, for our ongoing adoration.
In the 12 hours I’ve spent with my MacBook, I’m still in total adoration and admiration mode, and it won’t be ending any time soon. I’m tempted to make this tiny MacBook my main box of the day and retiring my MacBook Pro from that daily duty. I guess that’s the price we pay for trying to keep up with Steve Jobs. Oh, what sweet punishment!
I love the 13-inch glossy screen of the unibody MacBook. The 1200×800 pixel LED screen is bright and clear. The new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor lives up to its 5x faster reputation as a smasher-blaster of 3D gaming.
The embedded web cam is brighter and snappier than ever — obviously due to the improved graphics system.
The new chiclet keyboard is fine and great to use. I prefer it over the old MacBook Pro non-unibody keyboard.
The speakers sound rich. I have no problems with the headphone jack.
The SSD drive is silent and incredibly quick! Who knew SSD would be so good? The entire machine is silent and cool-to-the-touch. The loudest thing is the CD/DVD when it loads a disc.
I am not a fan of Trackpads. I love meeces to pieces. However, the new “slice of glass” as both Trackpad and mouse button works. I love the touch and the feel of the Trackpad. With Multi-Touch, I can get better, detailed, use out of the Trackpad than I can with any mouse.
Touching the Trackpad is no less a delight than touching a woman’s silky-smooth, freshly shaven, leg with lotion on it after a proper showering — and I confess it now that there’s no better erotic experience you can have with a MacBook on your lap then playing with your Trackpad.
Oh, the thrill and woe of young love!
Indeed the computer is a thing of beauty to be beheld. I am in awe.
Gordon —
The new MacBook is an amazing — and CHEAP! — machine that is powerful and pristine. The unibody construction is wild. No seams. Solid aluminum block. I’m “burning in” my machine, but it isn’t getting hot and there’s no spinning HDD to test. Ha!
The thing doesn’t even get hot after playing a DVD for four hours.
The HDD was always an indicator of perpetual motion: Touch your machine and feel it humming and churning in space. Now, I have idea if the machine is on or not if the screen is dark.
A thing of beauty!!!
Temple3 —
You’re precisely right it is a thing of beauty. I can’t stop touching the crazy thing! I guess that’s good when it’s a computer. SMILE!
I am so torn. Just bought a Mac Pro Nehalem Quad 2.66 to replace my aging G5. I have the first MacBook CoreDuo that is now almost three years old.
The screen on the MBP is nicer than the MB’s, but the MB screen is still nicer than than the one in the original MacBook. The smaller form factor is a huge plus in my eyes. Firewire would be nice but I could live without it.
I did buy an Intel 80GB SSD, two actually. One is in the Mac Pro as an apps/os disk. I ordered a second for the future MB or MBP. Amazing how sweet they are.
I would also consider tricking out the notebook with the Optibay and putting the the hard drive in there. I can always us the DVD player from the tower and install over the network like you would with an air.
p.s.: damn you for swaying me back to the MB from the MBP… 🙂
jim —
I’m sorry for your dilemma and I feel for you. I don’t miss Firewire. I love the smaller form factor compared to my other MBPs. I don’t see much difference in screen clarity or resolution that makes the MacBook a sorry buy. I think my future — now that I have my Cinema Display — will be to get lighter and smaller in my computing life. I love the MacBook Air — I just wish it had been updated like the MacBook — and the rumors of a Mac tablet netbook also suggest to me the way forward is in the downward route in size and heft. I think towers and desktops will be reserved for engineers and the non-nomadic among us.
David, I’m curious as to what SSD Apple installed in the MacBook?
Thanks again for your thoughts and a great site.
Hi Jim —
It is a Samsung 128MB SSD.
I decided to buy the smaller SSD because it had been in use by Apple for awhile in the MacBook Air and I thought the glitches would be worked out. So far so good.
There was also a strange disparity in pricing between the higher cap SSDs in the MacBook and the 17″ MacBook Pro. The Pro version was something like $750.00 more than the MacBook version for the same SSD. I thought that strange, so I just went with the cheap and the established. After loading up my MacBook with everything as my main box, I still have 48 gigs free.