I’ve had my new MacBook Pro about a week now and I thought it was time to make a few comments. Here are the reasons I love it.
Speed. I am absolutely blow away at the speed increase, I knew it would be faster than my old PowerBook, but what a difference. I process a lot of thumbnails and the MacBook Pro really shines at this task. When creating a batch of thumbnails the job is done in seconds verses minutes. Everything about the MacBook Pro seems fast, windows open and close faster, faster scrolling, faster application startup. I hardly ever see the beach ball. Even without 802.11N wireless in my home the new wireless seems faster as well.
Screen. I decided to get the new glossy screen. I was unsure about this initially, but am not now. I love it. It’s brighter, clearer, and easier to read than any laptop screen I have ever seen. The contrast and colors are fantastic and the surface seems quite durable.
Speakers. This is only the second Macintosh laptop I have owned, but on the PowerBook I would always have the volume at full blast. Since purchasing the MacBook Pro, I find myself turning the volume down. The sound is better with more amplification.
Trackpad. The surface of the trackpad is wider. But, what is quickly becoming a favorite feature of mine, is the double finger movement that allows you to quickly scroll windows without repositioning the cursor to the arrow controls on the right of a window. This can also be done horizontally. I find this to be incredibly handy, and addicting. Why move the pointer if you don’t have to?
iSight. Of course, all Mac’s with the exception of the MacMini, now come with an iSight built in. I don’t use it a lot, but it sure is handier than carrying around an external iSight, bracket, and cable. Photobooth is a lot of fun as well.
Apple Remote. Again, all Mac’s now come with these little remotes that almost look like a 1st generation iPod Shuffle. This is surprisingly fun, as well, as practical, due mostly to Apple’s Front Row interface. I often stream my music from my Mac to a stereo connected to an Airport express, and this little remote combined with Front Row leaves my guests in awe and speechless.
Battery. The battery is bigger and has been repositioned to the center of the notebook. I haven’t timed it’s staying power, but I would easily put it at twice the time a brand new battery would last in my old PowerBook.
802.11N. This new wireless networking protocol is fantastic. Keep in mind the only piece of 802.11N hardware I have, is this new laptop. But never the less, even when connecting to an 802.11G network, it seems faster. It’s probably just the faster processor and graphics, but the connection does seem faster. I have had the opportunity to connect to a couple of 802.11N networks with very impressive results. The data transfer rate is quite noticeably improved. I cannot wait to get a new AirPort Extreme.
MagSafe. A couple of years ago someone tripped over the power cable for my PowerBook. It almost dragged the laptop off the table and damaged the power cable connector in a way that it had to be twisted a little in order to work. The other day I tripped over my new MagSafe power cable and it broke free without even moving the MacBook Pro. Both the cable and the computer were unharmed. The magnets are so strong they almost guide the connector into place, yet will separate easily without harm in a jam. This is a great feature and I love it.
Size. My 15 inch MacBook Pro is the same size as my old PowerBook. This means I can use the same case!
That’s all for now, I’m sure I’ll think of more reasons to love my MacBook Pro as I continue to use it.
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