My MacBook Experience
I have had the MacBook for around a week now and I have decided to write about my experience so far. This isn’t a review because it wouldn’t be fair. I have always had a thing for ibooks and I had already given the MacBook a 5 star even before I got it. So this isn’t a review, its just what I experienced.
When I first got the Mac it had around 30GB of empty space from a total of 60GB. Thats because the MacBook came installed with everything including trial runs of Microsoft Office, Pages, Keynote and a couple of other softwares plus the whole iLife package was installed. I ofcourse didn’t need most of these so first thing I did was format the Mac and reinstall it with the softwares I needed… iMovie, iTunes and iPhoto. This resulted in over 46GB of space being free which is a big difference. The MacBook came with a small remote control and its still in the plastic wrapping in the box. I don’t like FrontRow (XBMC spoiled me) so no need for the remote. Another thing that I will probably never use is the built in iSight. I tried it a bit and I can imagine it being very handy but its not for me.
Anyway, the MacBook is incredible. Its super fast and I just have 512MB of RAM installed. FireFox launches in 1 second, System Preferences in less then a second and iPhoto in 2. The wifi reception is also unbelievable. Suddenly all these wifi hotspots started appearing while sitting on my living room couch, hotspots I hadn’t seen before. Its like where did all these come from??
So far in the week I have been using the Mac it only gotten REALLY hot once when I was busy installing Adobe CS, browsing the web and downloading software updates all at the same time. The MacBook just got really hot, but it didn’t crash or anything. Currently I have been surfing the web for over 3 hours and the MacBook feels warm but not hot at all. The battery life is really good, it easily lasts me 4 hours and even more if I lower the screens brightness. Speaking of the screen, its really really bright, like blinding bright. I have to decrease the brightness most of the time since I would be watching TV and the MacBook’s screen would be brighter which is distracting. Its even brighter then my Lacie CRT at work!
I also installed Windows XP on my MacBook using Apple’s Bootcamp. I don’t have a major need for it but its only occupying 5GB of space and I am going to install Red Alert 95 on it plus the Dos version of DopeWars. Its cool to have since when I play around with the sites template for example I always want to see how it would look like on a PC. Plus it has a “wow effect” when I show my PC friends that my Mac can now run Windows.
Other then that I don’t know what else I can talk about. If anyone has any questions I could answer them in the comments below. I am very pleased with my MacBook and I am very happy I got it over the MacBook Pro. Nat on the other hand doesn’t like the plasticness of the MacBook and so is going to get the Pro version. This I realized might be true for other people also. The plastic feel could put off people who are looking for a serious looking laptop. The MacBook is more funky and trendy then serious. It will grab a lot of attention if you are surrounded by ordinary looking Dell and Toshiba laptops, attention you might not want. But, I still believe this is a better built laptop then the Pro version and I believe this one can take a beating while the Pro version can’t. Everyone to his own though..
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34 Comments, add your own...
1. Some 1 | June 26th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Mark is it that big when comparing to the 12” PowerMac ?
2. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 9:52 am
well you can see for yourself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernelpanic/sets/72057594142373700/
3. Some 1 | June 26th, 2006 at 10:20 am
WooooW so sexy ! and it seems little bit huge comparing to the 12” . Mark I want ur advise .. I’m a windows user 4 along time and I think this is the time to move to Mac world and im thinking to about the MacBook “the black version” since it can boot also a windows into it that’s good … and my point now is it easy to install windows into mac because as I said to u this is the first time im dealing Mac OS .. im assuming 4 ordring it from Amazon.
4. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 10:32 am
yeah installing windows is very easy. All you do is the following:
1) Download Bootcamp from the Apple website
2) Run the software, it will ask you how much of a partition you want to create for Windows, I chose 5GB. It will then ask you to insert a blank cd to burn the Mac windows drivers onto it.
3) Then you insert the XP CD and it will reboot
4) Thats it, from this point on its as if you are on a PC
5. iDip | June 26th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Sigh!
I’m still in the proccess of finding the best way or place to buy my macbook from. I called Mac city yesterday & they said only the black one will be available… I don’t like it! I want the white one.
anyway, check this link
http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/06/apple-macbook-may-run-warm-because-rear-vent-is-blocked/
maybe that’s why your macbook is heating
and mabrook :)
6. Some1 | June 26th, 2006 at 11:28 am
And mark what about the build quality ? the plastic issue ..
7. nora3d | June 26th, 2006 at 11:30 am
hi Mark I asked this question in your previous Rochet’s post, is it hard to find programs for Mac OS in Kuwait assuming I don’t want to buy/install original programes ?
8. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 11:45 am
i dont like the black one, but only because it costs 400$ more then my current white one :)
Some1, no problem with the build quality. Its as good as the previous ibooks which is very good.
Nora3d, you can find pirated software in Kuwait and original software. Its not a problem, you could also download the software off the Internet.
9. Mini R. | June 26th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Only problem with the white Macs is that they stain easier than the old aluminums or the black ones. Not like it matters much but over the long run, the rub stains will be quite hard to remove.
My old PB 15″ Aluminum already shows rub marks, even though it’s only been a year & half since I bought it. Yep I’m a ‘uber’ geek, I believe in leaving my computer always on (uptime 7 weeks or so now.)
On a more pleasant note, it’s the speed of the new MacBooks that are hard to resist. Now I know how a siren’s call sounds like. ;)
10. holla | June 26th, 2006 at 11:50 am
does it have a lighted keyboard? i think i read that somewhere.
11. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 11:52 am
well my old ibook never got a stain and i used it constantly on a daily basis as my main computer for over a year.
So far with the new macbooks only a very few people reported the yellow staining.. http://stainedbook.info/
worse comes to worse replacing the stained wristpad is extremely easy compared to the old ibooks. After 2 years of use if its dirty i can just replace it.
12. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 11:52 am
hola, only the Pro macbooks have the lighted keyboard.
13. CyberRowdy | June 26th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
black is no-nonsense!
14. Some 1 | June 26th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
mark whats the lowest price here in kuwait for the black version ? and is there any working unit in any shope here in q8 just want to feel the speed of switching between the 2 OS’s
15. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
well before nat decided on the macbook pro she wanted to check out the black macbook live. sadly no stores had them. Most of them told me next week, but thats what they told me last week…
16. Some 1 | June 26th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
But thi think transfering from 12” to 15.4”or17” will be so BIG to her :)
17. nora3d | June 26th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
another thing Mark, is Mac OS arabic enabled? or can it be?
18. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
i can type in Arabic and I believe you can make the menu in Mac OS all arabic, i just checked and it seems there is that option although I never tried it myself.
19. Patrick | June 26th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
I love my Powerbook, it’s been through a lot, so I have to disagree with your comment about the Books being built better =P
20. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
btw pat, i got you an adapter for the svideo and RCA output…
21. Marzouq | June 26th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Cool! Mabrook! I formatted and installed a lot of pcs before so that a cake walk for me.. but how is it for apple machines? just curious!
22. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Thanks, well formatting is easy. I just insert the OSX CD, I click on install it reboots into what still looks like OSX except its OSX being run from the CD, I click next a few times then it asks me if i want to have a clean install (meaning it formats my mac) or if I want to archive my stuff into a folder and then reinstall OSX fresh. Its very easy and quick. Takes like 15 minutes.
23. Tweego | June 26th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Grats Mark,
Glad u like it:)
what do u think about the glossy screen I am getting a Macbook Pro and don’t know what screen to get
Tweego
24. Mark | June 26th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
No problem so far. I dont have any reflection problems or anything like that. But, I am advising Nat to get the matt screen for her since the glossy screen smudges easier.
25. Mysteria | June 27th, 2006 at 1:25 am
i hearf that adobe cs runs really slow on the macbooks, have u tried running them?? does it work ok ?
26. Marzouq | June 27th, 2006 at 1:30 am
Cool! thanks Mark!
27. jenny | June 30th, 2006 at 10:40 am
hi mark… your thoughts on a macbook really did help. as a pc user, and no nothing about mac, im thinking of making a switch. good thing i didnt buy a mac entering uni or else i wouldn’t have gotten a chance to get a macbook (that is if i can sell my laptop first…) you have mentioned that you can replace the wrist pad? where would you buy the replacement and if i were to send it to apple would they be able to do it for me?
and another thing, i like many other love leaving my laptop on. would the macbook get really hot???? thanks!!!
hey are you from kuwait???? i represented kuwait at a model UN back in high school lol
28. Mark | June 30th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
jenny u can should be able to get replacement uppercase from sites like ifixit.com
currently they dont have it they will soon like they have the ibook and powerbok uppercases.
i havent turned off my laptop since i got it, i always keep it on sleep so you shouldnt worry about the heat.
Model UN? I represented Israel the first time and then Somalia.
29. jenny | July 1st, 2006 at 12:15 am
oh ok :D
yeah i did sweeden, algeria, kuwait, brunei, mexico, and austria
ok ill look into ifixit thanks :D
30. kent | July 2nd, 2006 at 8:43 pm
I only thing I don’t like about my MacBook is that it does not have an Express Card slot so I cannot access 3G from the cards. I am however doing via cell phone. The new generation cards however promise to be faster. There is a new Kyocera KR1 router as well as a DLINK di-725 that you can take a sierra card and plug it into the router and broadcast wifi. I may give that a try.
31. kent | July 15th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
The other day I tripped over the powecord and for some reason it did not come unplugged and my MacBook feel about 2 feet to the floor. The end result was damage to the cornner of the battery which does not make me happy, however i know it is my own fault. The good new is all that needs to be done is change the battery.
32. hurricane | July 15th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
thanx for sharing mark, im about to make the “from pc to mac” transition as well, but im not sure of which to get, the 17″ or the 15″ macbook pro.
any idea of the pricing in kuwait? where’s the best place so far and whether or not i can get an arabic keypad and warranty?
and if i get it through the net, can i add an arabic keypad and interface to it in kuwait or can nobody do it here?…..thanx again
33. QueenB | August 14th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Hi…I’m also thinking about making the switch from pc to mac, only because I know I can run windows on the mac and I have a couple of questions:
do you think its a good idea buying the mac and only (or mostly) using windows on it?
and whats the difference between the black and white ones, technically speaking? thanks!
34. QueenB | August 14th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
oh and one more thing…how much did you get yours?? :D
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