Tuesday, December 9, 2008

REVIEW : The New Unibody Macbook Pro

Now that I finally have some time to write about my latest gadget. Pheewww... Anyway here's a quick technical spec breakdown on my new Macbook Pro (MBP) which I bought for RM8,450.

- Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.53GHz, 6MB L2 Cache & 1066MHz FSB
- 4GB DDR3 1066Mhz
- 320GB 5400rpm HDD
- NVidia GForce 9400m GT @ shared VRAM 256MB
- NVidia GForce 9600m GT discreet VRAM 512MB DDR3
- Single Aluminium Unibody
- Full size backlit keyboard & a huge glass trackpad
- Glorious LCD screen with glossy glass layer
- iSight camera
- Bluetooth & 802.11N WiFi

After using the MBP for a week now I can say that its been a pretty breezy experience. Although the initial start up was a bit of a struggle, due to the various differences the OS-X has compared to MS Windows - I somehow manage to balance it all out and get along. Icons are clear, big and beautifully designed. It's kinda pain to have to hunt for torrents or installers to find those 3rd party software for Macs (ie. Photoshop, Office etc). But I soon realized its not really that bad actually since there are many alternatives to certain applications. For an example, I am currently using a FREE Office application called NeoOffice and it works and looks just as much like the Microsoft version!

One thing I love about the OS-X is how easy it is to back up my system. With just an external hard drive plugged in, and a flip of a button it auto backups my system. This is of course thanks to the feature called Time Machine. Love feature I must say :). There are many other nifty features such as this which sure makes life a much easy one, and a definite heart capture for those who just switched to Mac from PC.

I've yet to encounter any pop ups while surfing the web with Safari (MS Internet Explorer equivalent), and this alone I am sure is a value for money attribute. Connecting to my workplace server was a breeze, which I never would have thought how to do so when I was on PC - LOL! Same goes with setting up the email server. And here's the best part... INSTALLING and UNINSTALLING external applications/programs. It appears to me as if there is no such thing as REGISTRY like how MS Windows is being operated with. Thus, Uninstalling applications was just as easy as Installing them. All I gotta do is just drag the darn application and drop it into the Bin. Wahhlaaahh its done! No more "Windows cant remove certain .dll files due to it being shared by other programs" Haha...

Overall, I can say that this has been one of the best buy gadget I've made so far. For those who are looking for a new notebook PC and have a budget of about RM5,000. My advice is go for the 13.3" Macbook which comes with the NVidia GForce9400m GT intergrated graphics card. I personally think this baby should be more than enought to meet daily computing needs. Unless you would want more 3D rendering capabilities, then you ought to go for the MBP.

Overall ratings : 9/10

Minor nicks : I wish there are more USH ports. At least one more on the right side of the unibody. The Kensington lock slot is definitely not being well located. Lock your MBP and you can't use the SuperDrive anymore. Apple should provide some kinda soft cover bag for this baby with the purchase!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah the Mac OS X is awesome. Took some time to adjust to it especially the photoshop shortcuts ;)

Where are the pictures man? hahaha :P

Jay Han said...

Mark - I was too occupied with adapting to the MBP that I left the D700 collecting dust just beside my bed. Haha... I think we all have seen more than enough of MBP images from the web. So, no need to see mine ler...