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Well, this entire website has been made possible by the purchase of a new Apple Macbook. You can probably tell by the canned generic website that I am using iWeb to create this site, I must say though for ease of use its great. But back to my Macbook, as many of you know I love technology, and am always keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest to add to my collection. Well, in this case I picked up a new laptop and here’s my review.

The Macbook is the consumer model in Apple’s new Intel powered notebook line. It’s big sisters the 15 and 17 inch Macbook Pro’s come in burnished Aluminum while the Macbook comes in either white or black. Being the consumer model in the notebook line it is much more reasonably priced than the Macbook Pro, which starts at $2000. I picked up my white Macbook on Ebay for only $1065 including shipping. I go the mid level version, here are the stats:

2.0 Ghz Intel Core Duo Processor
1.25 GB of 667mhz RAM
60 GB Hard Drive
DVD +/- RW

For full stats check out Apple’s website here. As you can see my model has upgraded RAM, which is great considering it cost almost $200 less than a new one from Apple would have.

On the Outside

Color, Screen and Camera
The Macbook comes in two colors, white and black. Alot has been written about the “sexy” black model, but having carted around a black Windows notebook for the past year I was happy to move to a white model. The screen is a 13.3” widescreen display that comes with the “glossy” finish that improves color saturation but makes it very reflective. I must say that after using it for a day, the “glossy” display doesn’t bother me at all. What is an adjustment is the widescreen display, I keep on expecting the screen to be higher than it actually is, which means I’ll try and glance at the top of the display and see nothing but air . Above the screen is a built in iSight camera, that allows you to do video conference and otherwise be goofy with the taking of the pictures. There is also a built in microphone.

Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard is also a new design for Apple and different than any other I have ever seen. Each key is individually separated, creating a distinctive look, but in actual use it’s just like any other keyboard. The trackpad below the keyboard is wide just like the screen, and on my model at least the single mouse button below it is not very sensitive at all. What I like about it is the extras that allow you to navigate better. First of all, you can scroll by simply moving two fingers across it. Like many trackpads you can simulate a “click” by tapping with your finger, but on this one you can simulate a “right click” by tapping with two fingers. This is a nice addition, since the Macbook only has the single mouse button and I use right click all the time. Overall the input devices are very usable.

Ports & Miscellany
The right side of the notebook has a slot loading dvd/cd drive. On the left side you have all of your ports, included are the power plug, ethernet cable, video out (mini dvi), firewire, 2x USB and audio in/out. I wish the ports on the left were better spaced, but I do like having them all in one spot, on my old notebook I’d be constantly looking on every side of it to find the port I was looking for. For those who like to connect their notebook to external displays of one type or another, be prepared to buy adaptors for the non-standard mini dvi port. The speakers are on the back of the notebook, and despite reports that they are terrible I’m perfectly happy with the quality, of course I’m not a snob when it comes to such things (but I am a snob when it comes to not being a snob about such things).

Along the front of the Macbook is a small indentation you use to open the laptop up as it is held closed by magnets. To the right you will find a small IR port that you can use with the included remote to control Apple’s Front Row program. Front Row allows you to view movies, pictures and DVD’s or listen to music. Although a 13 inch display is not ideal for watching media from across the room, this is a nice extra and I’m looking forward to showing it off during our annual trip to Lake Chelan where the tradition is to watch the day’s pictures on the laptop after dinner.

On the Inside

Performance
I listed the notebook’s statistics above, and although it should blow away my older notebook in terms of performance so far I have not witnessed this. Now, to be fair we’re talking about two different operating systems here (i’ll get to OS X below), and I’ve also asked alot from it in the first day as I’m doing my work while running Parallels in the background to convert my music to aac format in Windows, pulling the music files off of the dvd, and running five or six programs at a time in OS X. This demand has made the system ever so slightly slower than my old laptop, I expect it will perform better when I complete my transition and add some more RAM.

OS X
I’ve used OS X before, but only on a very limited basis. When I was in college I would always use the Apple computers in the lab because they were available. I am impressed with the elegance and style of the OS. As you would expect from anyone who has just switched from Windows there has been some fumbling as I figure out how to do everything I need on the new OS. The help files are extremely, well.... helpful .

One thing I have found is that Windows is much more of a point and click driven OS, almost anything you need is available from context menus. OS X’s context menus are not as powerful, unsurprising from a platform that still eschews the right mouse button. I have found though that once you start learning the keyboard shortcuts things move much faster, and compares very favorably with Windows.

Windows on a Mac
One of the major things that pushed me over the edge and made me purchase a Mac was having the option of running Windows on it, that and getting rid of the ridiculously underpowered PPC processors. I’ve decided to use Parallels as my Windows solution, as this provides much more flexibility and ease of use than Boot Camp. Setup for my copy of Windows in Parallels was smooth as could be and I was quickly up and running.

I don’t intend to spend too much time in Windows, but it is nice to have in case I run into a compatibility problem or absolutely need to run some program or another. However, I have used my new Windows VM extensively in the first day of ownership to do something that I did not expect. Namely, I am using iTunes in Windows to convert all of my wma music to aac format so I can listen to it on my Mac. It seems silly to me that the Windows version of iTunes can convert the files, but not the Mac version. If you wish to encourage people to switch operating systems you should make the transition as easy as possible, and I can now state that this transition has not been easy.

In order to move several gigabytes of unprotected wma files to my mac I have to copy them into my Windows VM about a gigabyte at a time (I can only do so many because my VM only has a few gigabytes of free space), import them into the iTunes library, delete them from my iTunes library, but not from the disk. Delete the originals from the disk, and then copy the new iTunes converted files back into my Mac. And I’m going to have to do this 12 or so times. This my friends is what you call a hassle.

However, it does make me glad that I have the option to use Windows on my Mac as otherwise I would have had to dish out $20 for some third party program to convert the files. Yay Parallels!

Software
One of the things I researched extensively before I purchased my Mac was how I would make the software transition, not the least because I simply could not afford to replace all of my windows software, accumulated over the years, on the Mac in one sitting. For that reason I was looking for free or nearly free software to ensure that I could continue to do the work I am required to do.

The first and most obvious piece of software that needed replacing was Office for Windows. Now the Mac comes built in with PIM (Personal Information Management) software that can replace most of what Outlook does (iCal, Mail, Address Book). Unfortunately the Mac does not come with replacements for Word, Excel, etc. Apple sells a suite called iWork that includes a word processor and presentation program, but unfortunately that didn’t cut it for me (not powerful enough, no spreadsheet or database program). Not to mention it was a little pricey at $70. And if that was pricey, Office 2004 for Mac was way out of my league.

I turned to the open source Open Office suite, which is free. I had used this suite on my Windows notebook for awhile, but since I owned Office 2003 I saw no need to use a good but ever so slightly inferior product. However, now that I am on a Mac, the minor differences between the two is small price to pay for a powerful productivity suite that meets all of my needs, and its free! I am using the Mac port for Open Office, NeoOffice. You can learn more about it here.

On my Windows notebook I used Dreamweaver MX as my principal html editing program. I do most of the web edits for the non-profit I work for, so a replacement program was critical, but of course I could not afford the price of Dreamweaver for the Mac. I also used Internet Explorer as my principal FTP program for uploading and downloading web pages and other items. I learned quickly that Firefox was not a good ftp program, so I needed to find a replacement here too.

Once again I turned to open source software and discovered Smultron for html editing and Cyberduck for ftp access. So far I have done a single fairly extensive update and I can say that I am very happy. I am a little worried however because Smultron does not have the easy graphic interface that Dreamweaver did. I guess this is my signal to improve my html skills, and fast.

Another important piece of replacement software was something that would allow me to sync my Windows Mobile Smartphone with my Mac. In Windows you use Microsoft’s free Activesync program. I could have used Activesync in Parallels, but this would have meant finding some way to sync my PIM data between Windows and OS X, or abandoning the PIM programs in OS X and using Outlook in Windows as my principal PIM program. I did not get a Mac in order to use Windows for a large part of my work, so instead I turned to a third party program called The Missing Sync. Instead of going through my entire experience with this program, I point you to my review on the::unwired, a Windows Mobile website I write for.

With all of the work stuff out of the way, I can now turn to Apple’s much praised iLife suite. I haven’t had a chance to use iTunes much yet (see above) but if its the same as the Windows version I’m sure I’ll be happy. iPhoto seems nice, but I must say that PIcasa, which I used on my Windows notebook, seems as intuitive and powerful, if not more so. My experience is limited so far, so I will keep my mind open, and at the very least it is not a major step down so far.

I have not had an opportunity to use Garage Band, but I hope to start creating podcasts for the::unwired soon so I will post an update when I get the chance. Ditto with iDVD and iMovie, I will post my impressions as soon as I get a chance. As far as iWeb goes, well I am currently in the process of creating my first website. I signed up for the 90 day free trial of .Mac, and depending on how this goes I may keep it or let it go. It also frankly depends on how comfortable my wife is with the program. She has wanted to publish photos on the web to share with families and friends for awhile, and I’m hoping that this will be a good solution, but time will tell.

Overall, I am very happy with the software options I have on the Mac, and I’m sure as time goes on I will accumulate the more expensive programs just as I did in Windows. Just about a day and a half after receiving my new Macbook, I am very happy with my purchase and look forward to learning how to use OS X to its fullest capabilities.

This review was originally posted on my blog at:
http://tinyurl.com/ldcfx

I don't really care much about Macs, but this review was very informative. I would like to thank you for taking the time for writing it and such. I am kind of intrigued! Rep for you my friend!

I'm too tired to read it, but it looks in-depth, so great review

Great review. I'm waiting for OS X that has Bootcamp so I don't have to reboot to switch between OS X & XP. I run a cad program called Revit which only works on XP. I'm tempted to make the plunge but when Windows Vista comes out, I will need 4 gigs of ram. The Macbook Pros only max out at 2. Also, Core 2 Dual chip was released a few weeks ago.

You're still gonna have to reboot. All bootcamp is is a GUI for the nondestructive partitioning utility and a GUI to invoke the disk burning services to burn a bunch of Windows drivers to a disk.

Why will you need 4 gigs of RAM for Vista?

From what I read, Vista requires more Ram. My Cad program will run better with more Ram.

Vista isn't going to require 4 gigs. And your CAD programme will run better with a better video card.

Very nice review.... but still something is missing...
Aint there no BenchMarks for Apple??
I would really like to see some...

And... with wich model of PC Nb should I compare a Mac Book Like your.. that interests me...

Thanx for the review!

My Cad program is Processor & Ram hungry. The graphics card is not as important. It only needs OpenGL. Vista will support more Ram, so I would max out the machine. I'm running 2 gigs now and would like 4. The only laptops that support 4 are the Dell & HP Mobile Workstations. (Also the Mac Pro which will support 16 gigs).

The graphics card IS important. OGL isn't something that any video card can do. If you're going from a standard gaming video card to a Quadro card, you'll notice a huge leap in the responsiveness of the view ports in the CAD programme...especially when you're doing things that are extremely complex.

The graphics card is generally the biggest bottleneck for 3d/CAD work.

Yep, you want a GPU for CAD.