smartartur's Full Review: Apple MacBook Pro (MB470LL/A) 15.4 in. Notebook
Let me explain just few reasons why everyone should own a Mac. First, it’s better. And I don't mean its better; it's many times better. Lets look at the reasons why.. 1. Apple is very fast. The way they design their operating system and the way the applications run, it is much faster than the Windows based applications/OS. 2. Don't tell me people don't buy computers (laptops) because of their looks. Would you buy an ugly car? Well Apple is like a BMW 760. A nice Microsoft computer is probably a Honda Accord. Both of those are GREAT cars, but which one would you rather have? 2a. Things that make Apple a nice laptops. Keyboard-probably the first thing you notice about Apple (Mac book) is its keyboard. You take it out of the box, open the screen and the keyboard lights up. You feel like you're inside some time machine. Design-all of the apples has been very advanced in their design, but the new ones are just outstanding. Aluminum chassis makes it look very slick, yet at the same time it adds that extra durability that will protect your expensive components. Screen-have you been at Best buy standing besides a Toshiba and HP and trying to figure out which screen is better? Well walk to a Mac. Right, there is no comparison. Apple screens are VIVID. It’s like looking at an analog TV and then turning around and looking at a Plasma XBRITE 1080 HDTV. There is a difference. I'm leaning to the HDTV. But people are different. Track pad-This is my first Mac book. It’s my first apple. But never had I had a computer where track pad took up one third of the remaining space. Apple track pad is like made for people who work in Photoshop and flash. Who wouldn't want a mouse that could save time and at the same moment look really awesome? Uuummmm, I'm liking it. Sound-You may not hear it right of way, but listen to how well the speakers and sound plays. It’s like listening to your HD Radio. Also, notice how loud they get. Beats more than 75% of the regular laptops. (Top of the line Dells and Sony’s may be comparable) DVD Drive-Wow, that’s awesome. Look at it. No more opening that drive and forgetting to close it so it falls out, and then maybe you step on it, or what not. No, in Mac, it's built in. Put a media device in and its there. To take it out, press the eject key on the keyboard. Built in camera/mic-I'm not sure about the older Mac books but this one has it all. Take pictures, videos, iChat, record sound, do what you want. It’s all there. Charger-now, who would care about redesigning a conventional charger? Apple. They made the charger a MagSafe. What does that mean? When you plug in the laptop side of the charger, instead of plugging it into the hole, it magnetically pulls itself in. Happen to trip over it? No problem, it will be disconnected in no time. This way your precious apple will stay on your table, rather than riding the gravity. Noise-Do you hear that noise when you are loading things? Does it feel like a jet engine is firing up, like your laptop is ready to be airborne when you insert a DVD while installing Adobe CS4? Apple, you would never know when its working or asleep. Pure quietness. Of course, best for last, OS. Mac OS X 10.5.5 Leopard is the best I’ve seen. Now, I've used MS Windows 95, 98/98SE, 2000, millennium, XP, Vista (are we all on the same page, who hasn't right?) OS X is the best by far. Its simplicity yet fast performance receives an A. None of that security firewall things, or all of the millions of icons Microsoft generously donates when you buy a computer. Apple has one thing. Macintosh HD. Everything else is on the dock. Take it or leave it. You can access it from finder. Speaking of which, play with the dock, it’s amazing. And plus what other company will let you run windows and Mac at the same time?......oh right, Apple. Apple gives you a myriad of POWERFUL programs that many professionals use. Garage band, iPhoto, iDVD.. Basically the whole iLife. Play around with it, but have a whole day in spare, its addicting. Time machine is wonderful. Like windows system restore on steroids. Dashboard is convenient. Need a weather, calc? Its there. Customize it. Mac won't mind. Let me tell you what I have and how I use it. Before this laptop, I bought a Sony VAIO VGNFS660W. A very very nice machine. Well just 6 days before it was 3 years old, my machine failed. Motherboard or graphics, don't know, and neither does the repair shop. But to fix it, it will be expensive. I'm a media person. I own all of the Adobe products, Macromedia and Sony stuff. I work with it a lot. And Sony did a very nice job running those apps. Then come along Vista. I put Ultimate on my machine with a partition. It ran very slow, but it ran. After all, while working on my project in Flash CS3, the machine got cancer. Yep, it gave up. I took the advice and bought this Mac book Pro. (2.4 GHz, 2 GB Ram-exp. to 4; NVIDIA GeForce 9400 integrated or 9600M DDR 3 (dedicated) video memory with 256 MB; 250GB hard drive..) There is a lot more, I won't list it all, but the model number is MB470LL. Google it if you need more specs. It’s the brand new model that came out October 2008. I installed my Vista Ultimate and Mac Office 2008 and all of my other applications. This machine is running like a champ. Loads fast, no problems at all. Except one. I can't watch my netflix movies online, just yet. Netflix is working on it. Apple system will not allow Netflix to be played online. But they will fix it. Now isn't it worth the sacrifice? I'm speaking on behalf of Microsoft systems and Apple. I owned/own both of them. I like both of them. However, why bother getting a Microsoft computer when you can get an Apple, and if you are addicted to windows, use boot camp utility to run windows or get parallels and run them both at the same time. It’s a win-win situation. Oh, and Apple will even give you a leopard installation disk. You won't have to hunt for one if you need it. Apple has earned a reputation for building great things. I started out with an iPod. Loved it. Bought an iPhone. Two of the models. Loved both of them. Now it’s MacBook Pro. I'm speechless. Now, lets look at the price. My model brand new costs $1,999.99 Ouch. Expensive. Did I pay that? Oh no.. In most states, you will come out from the apple store with a Mac book pro and a nice receipt with some digits on it. They will appear something like this: MacBook Pro-$1,999.99 Sales Tax ~8% ~$160 Total-$2,160 Oh, that would be nice to have some rich friends around Christmas time to go shopping with.. But there is a trick. Yes one of them is find states that don't have sales tax. Oregon is one of them. Option 2: Go to Apple and get a student discount if you are a student or have one, or you are in education. You will get like an $80 discount. If you are affiliated with U.S. Government, you get like a $100 discount. It’s all well and good. But here's where it gets really good. Ever heard of that remote store called EBay? Yes? No? Well, its hard to find it on Main street, it's not there. But, Microsoft came to the rescue. Go to www.live.com Type whatever you want to buy, but in this case lets go with MacBook Pro Click search. You see the very first link that comes up (usually most people ignore them because they are sponsored links) yes, its probably eBay. Click on it. Live.com and eBay agreed to a mutual aid. For every valid purchase on eBay live.com will send you a check for 25% of the item's cost. However, it cannot exceed $200. So in most cases for a purchase like that you will get a rebate for $200. Yes, it’s true. It’s not a scam. However, the item must be bought using a "but it now". S&H does not count to 25%. So you shop eBay. I found most computers to be around $1800-$1900 range. Take $200 off. And you end up at $1600-$1700. Most sellers will offer free shipping and no tax. Oh man, isn't that a deal? But wait, EBay has a coupon you can combine the deal with. A 10% off coupon. Well or $100. Whichever is less. So in my case, I found a laptop for $1800. I got an instant discount of $100. $1700-$200 rebate. My final cost is $1500. Now those of you who are afraid of EBay. Don't. It’s better than you think. My computer was brand new. Never been opened. Came in a box, everything was sealed. And the warranty is the same as if I buy it at Apple. So which would you pay $2,160 or $1,500? If this sounds interesting to you, talk to me, I can help you. Think of it this way, what does a nice HP or Sony or Toshiba cost at Costco or Best Buy? Around $1500. You can get a Mac for that cost. Oh that's just great. I don't know about you, but I love to find great deals, and I found one. Mac Book Pro is an excellent choice for those who are dealing with any kind of media. This is like using an electric saw vs. a regular dull saw. And Mac works for anyone. If you just check your email and buy tickets on expedia once in a while, remember Mac does not get viruses, with few exceptions. No need to worry about Norton, AVG, TrendMicro. Mac doesn't know who they are. Which is it? Mac or Windows?
Update:
Just right before I finished typing this review, my battery died. As I tried to plug in the charger, it wouldn't charge it. That shocked me. A problem with Apple? No way.. I battled with it, googled the problem, and finally gave up. I called customer care, the troubleshooting techniques didn't work. My magsafe LED light wouldn't even come on. The block wouldn't allow the electric charge to go through. I drove down to Lynwood Alderwood Mall the Apple Store. I talked to Apple Genius, they found the problem. It was my charger. He went to the back room. Two minutes later he came out with a brand new charger, and I was on my way. Both the telephone support and Apple Genius were VERY VERY HELPFUL and sorry for the inconvenience it has caused me. Very pleased with Apple.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1500 Operating System: Windows and Macintosh Processor: Other Processor speed: over 1000 Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches RAM: More than 256 Internal Storage: SuperDisk Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
Redesigned MacBook with thin, strong aluminum unibody frame and 15-inch LED-backlit glass display New glass trackpad with 40 percent more tracking are...More at Amazon Marketplace
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