Taken with a Nikon D50 w/ 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
I have to say that I am impressed with what Apple has accomplished with its new line of Macbooks. I used to hate the Macbooks for their cheap, plastic design and slow performance. Having owned a Powerbook G4 and a Macbook Pro 15″, I am a sucker for the sleek and solid aluminum finish. The new Macbook Aluminum seems more to me like a re-make of the Powerbook G4 12″, rather than the previous line of Macbooks which don’t have much in common in terms of design. Although I absolutely hate having a glossy finish on any computer screen, I seem to have gotten used to it on the new Macbook (I’m still keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that they’ll re-introduce matte screens sometime in the future). Here’s a break down of the specs:
Specs
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz w/ 1066Mhz frontside bus
- 2GB DDR3 Memory
- 160GB HD 5400rpm WD Scorpio Blue 320 GB 5400rpm
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
- 1280-by-800-pixel LED-backlit display
- Multi-Touch trackpad
- Built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (support for 802.11n draft spec)
One of the first things I did was upgrade the hard drive, since there was no way for me to fit 80 gigs of music and 20 gigs of photos along with all my software and files on a 160GB hard drive. I was able to snag a WD Scorpio Blue 320GB SATA hard drive for $65.99 from my local Houston Directron warehouse.
Taken with a Nikon D50 w/ 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
So far I am in love with the new Macbook. This laptop is excellent for taking notes in class and writing papers in some nook or cranny of the library. The Macbook Pro’s 15-inch form factor made it rather uncomfortable or impractical to take notes with on my lap or on one of those tiny lecture-hall desks that we have in rooms at Dartmouth.
The weight of the new Macbook is mediocre, partly due to the heavy battery. Without the battery, the laptop is remarkably light. Battery life is also mediocre with a little over 4 hrs of battery life with all wireless features turned off and about 3.5 hrs of battery life with Wi-Fi turned on. The battery will pretty much last me all day through all of my lectures (usually two or three). I do however try to charge it in between classes or whenever I am in my room and using my desk.
I have yet to install Vista with BootCamp. I am reluctant to install Vista since I have no real need for it on my Macbook (I already have it installed on my Macbook Pro 15″ which I use to play graphics intensive games like Call of Duty 4 and Half-Life 2). I am however interested in testing gaming performance on the Macbook so expect another post in the future concerning that.
