My Review of My MacBook
I've had my macbook for a month now. So far, I really like it.
keyboard: easy to type on, except sometimes I feel like I need to stretch toward some keys.
screen: I don't particularly like the glossy. It's not the glaring problem, it's actually color "issues." Is it just me or does it seem like it has bad contrast ratio? People are saying it makes awesome blacks. Yea sure, only in certain angles, otherwise it seems like you're looking at an x-ray picture (off-black?). In other words, the black is not consistent throughout the screen. Matte screens is more consistent. When the screen shut off, there's a liquid effect, which i don't know if that's normal or not. Thankfully, no dead pixels!
trackpad: nice and big. the issue is sometimes the extreme sides do not respond. This requires me to move from the middle in order for the pointer to move again. I love the scrolling and secondary-click features.
discoloration: produces a blue tint on the edge where the wrist would lay.
battery: appear to last a length of 3:30 (didn't exactly timed it. the machine's calculation changes frequently).
other comments: it's pretty fast, but not the improvement I was expecting )from mac mini g4). Then again, I don't use much CPU-intensive apps. Installing ram was easy. The edges are sharp. Windows (by way of Boot Camp) have issues for me. Airport signal is strong, though the router is only a few feet away. Now that the fan firmware arrived, it's perfectly comfortable for lap use. The combo drive is dang loud.
Applecare (complimentary): the macbook was buzzing, as well as, and like, the power adapter and a discoloration. Looong wait times on phone. They try to do troubleshooting over the phone first. Moments later, they would allow send-in repair. Here, I was impressed as repair/exchange took 2-3 days. I sent in my power adapter and received a new one 2 days later (day 1: sent, day 2: they received and sent the replacement, day 3: received; applied for macbook as well). Except, they didn't seem to replace the keyboard cover, made the trackpad button squeak with their replacement (it was perfect before), and added an additional type of buzzing to the one I was complaining about when they replaced the fan. So it came back worse. Boooo!
In the end, if I have the option to return and get a refund, I would. For me it's like a mac mini but with a screen, less wires needed, and portable. A desktop would be better suited since I didn't have a computer in my room (the mini is in the living room, 1/2 owned by me). I wanted wireless, which the mini does not have. I wanted to try out the portability aspect which right now I have no use in. Also boot camp interested me. After re-evaluation, an intel mini would have been the correct choice (save money). But since the Macbook is all the intel mac mini is and more, I'm satisfied.
keyboard: easy to type on, except sometimes I feel like I need to stretch toward some keys.
screen: I don't particularly like the glossy. It's not the glaring problem, it's actually color "issues." Is it just me or does it seem like it has bad contrast ratio? People are saying it makes awesome blacks. Yea sure, only in certain angles, otherwise it seems like you're looking at an x-ray picture (off-black?). In other words, the black is not consistent throughout the screen. Matte screens is more consistent. When the screen shut off, there's a liquid effect, which i don't know if that's normal or not. Thankfully, no dead pixels!
trackpad: nice and big. the issue is sometimes the extreme sides do not respond. This requires me to move from the middle in order for the pointer to move again. I love the scrolling and secondary-click features.
discoloration: produces a blue tint on the edge where the wrist would lay.
battery: appear to last a length of 3:30 (didn't exactly timed it. the machine's calculation changes frequently).
other comments: it's pretty fast, but not the improvement I was expecting )from mac mini g4). Then again, I don't use much CPU-intensive apps. Installing ram was easy. The edges are sharp. Windows (by way of Boot Camp) have issues for me. Airport signal is strong, though the router is only a few feet away. Now that the fan firmware arrived, it's perfectly comfortable for lap use. The combo drive is dang loud.
Applecare (complimentary): the macbook was buzzing, as well as, and like, the power adapter and a discoloration. Looong wait times on phone. They try to do troubleshooting over the phone first. Moments later, they would allow send-in repair. Here, I was impressed as repair/exchange took 2-3 days. I sent in my power adapter and received a new one 2 days later (day 1: sent, day 2: they received and sent the replacement, day 3: received; applied for macbook as well). Except, they didn't seem to replace the keyboard cover, made the trackpad button squeak with their replacement (it was perfect before), and added an additional type of buzzing to the one I was complaining about when they replaced the fan. So it came back worse. Boooo!
In the end, if I have the option to return and get a refund, I would. For me it's like a mac mini but with a screen, less wires needed, and portable. A desktop would be better suited since I didn't have a computer in my room (the mini is in the living room, 1/2 owned by me). I wanted wireless, which the mini does not have. I wanted to try out the portability aspect which right now I have no use in. Also boot camp interested me. After re-evaluation, an intel mini would have been the correct choice (save money). But since the Macbook is all the intel mac mini is and more, I'm satisfied.
Mac mini, MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.7), 1GB, 1.25GB Ram (respectively)
