Ok , I might have been nagging and wining about it over the last couple of weeks. And I swear that after this post I’ll probably shut up about it but .. I got my new Macbook Pro yesterday. My darling wife took the time to drive up all the way to Germany for me yesterday and pick up the new Macbook Pro that we ordered. She had suppressed her own geeky curiosity and left the laptop in its original packaging untill I got home yesterday night so we could have a little ‘official un-boxing ceremony’. Now I’m not one of those Apple fanboys that yells ‘ OOOOOOH and AAAAAH "when touching the box and who thinks that "handing over a big pile of cash" is a "buying experience’ for which we should thank Steve Jobs into eternity. No, I just bought a decent machine for a heavier price (but i think the quality of the hardware is worth it) and that "decent machine" has the requirements it needs to have to serve as my trusty workhorse for the coming two or three years. I’m not screaming that it’s SEXY ! I mean .. calling a piece of hardware "sexy" implements that you either have a big ass fetish (and that I’m NEVER EVER touching the mouse of the desktop computer in your bedroom) or that you are in serious need of a girlfriend/boyfriend/inflatable companion or should seek therapy.
Since we are on the kinky side of the conversation again I must confess I did go for the "Unboxin Porn" where I shot a couple of pix of the un-boxing of the laptop. To be honest, Apple DOES package their products very well and you at least get an idea you just bought the IT equivalent of a Swarovsky necklace or a set of Marlies Deckers underwear for the better half .. So thats ok. The new Macbook Pro does feel less bulky then its immediate predecessor. The unibody casing reminds me of the old "powderbox-clamshell" Ibooks as it feels very natural to carry it in your hands. The new keyboard (the one thing that ticked me off when they presented the new models) is surprisingly NICE to work with. I hated it initialy because it made the Macbook Pro look "cheap" but in the end its very very nice to work with. The backlight ont he keys is nice but since the keys are black you get a lot of ‘stray light’ escaping around the edges of the keys, but that just lights up the keyboard better. The new screen is indeed brighter then the previous model but is not a "Sensational departure" from the other models. The big changes are for me the new "trackpad without a button’ where you need to press down on the entire trackpad to click. Now , I’ll probably get used to it soon, but the "absence" of a click-button does make that " detailed touchpadding " where you hold down your button to select with one hand and carefully move the index finger of your other hand over the touch pad to move the cursor, a lot more difficult. The touchpad feels nice to work with and is certainly geared toward "one hand operations" (again that sounds kinky) but i"l either get used to it , or pack a mouse.
The one thing I’m NOT pleased about is the absence of a standard fire-wire connector and the absence of ANY connector on the right side of the laptop. I mean : I’m right handed (so is 90 percent of the planet), the mighty-(annoying)- mouse comes with a SHORT cable. Yet there is not one single connector on the right side ? What the crap ? So i’m forced to EITHER use another mouse (no problem there) OR use an extension cable ? Is this the "simple Apple way ? I’m not saying we should turn the Macbook Pro into a usb plugfest , but hey .. ONE PORT on the right side shouls have been a good idea at least.
As for speed and overall performance I have not tested it . I’ve shoved oover the programs and accounts of the OLD Macbook pro using an Ethernet cable and that worked out nicely, and in a way perhaps the fire-wire thing is something we should let go off. Apple does give us the "special speedy" firewire connector (the 800) but my drives just don"t have that kind of connector and I’m not buying ANOTHER cable (I had to buy a new mini-video to DVI adapter) and i’m also not realy pleased with that (the older Macbook pro had a standard DVI port) But all in all I’m pleased with the device. Cutting ports and connectors does give the device a more "slick" look and feel and i’ll probably have more to say about how much I like it .. in a few days.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.