…of animes and other geeky stuff

MacBook Pro

Gadgets

Introduction

Behold, the Macbook Pro. I had initially thought of writing one long review on it but after using it for some time I think one review just isn’t gonna cut it. The whole experience of using a Mac is rather unique and I thought it is something worth sharing. So I’ve decided to cover the review in parts and in the first part, we’ll talk about its hardware specs and the overall build quality. We’ll take a closer look at its operating system, user interface and my thoughts on its daily use later as I spend more time with it. Now on to the geeky stuff..

Hardware Specifications

The MacBook Pro that I’ve purchased is the 15.4 wide screen version that comes with the latest MacOS X, Leopard.

Here are the official specs from Apple’s site:

15.4-inch (diagonal), 1440 by 900 resolution, TFT widescreen
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

2GB (two SO-DIMMs) 667MHz DDR2 memory (PC2-5300)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and dual-link DVI
200GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, two USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard/34 slot
Built-in iSight camera, DVI, VGA (DVI to VGA adapter included)
Combined optical digital input/audio line in, combined optical digital output/audio line out, stereo speakers, microphone

Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Full-size, illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor; Multi-Touch trackpad

5.4 pounds (that’s about 2.45Kg)
14.1 by 9.6 inches
1.0 inch thick
85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-polymer battery

Overall the hardware specs is pretty impressive although it is not the highest end in the market right now. I felt the 2 USB ports built in were a little limited considering you’d probably plug in a mouse and a keyboard during extended usage and this leaves no available ports for a portable harddisk drive or flashdrive. If you intend to use Leopard’s built in Time Machine(we’ll come back to this in the short future) back up feature, you’ll have to get yourself a Firewire drive since it would probably be connected most of the time. Firewire 800 is a nice touch for future expansion but FW800 storage devices are still hard to come by in our local retailers.

The MacBook Pro comes with only 2 slots for RAM expansion, which in my current configuration is occupied by 2 x 1Gb memory modules. Upgrades to 4Gb would require you to replace both the 1Gb modules, so you’ll have to keep that in mind when upgrading. The RAM expansion slots are easily accessible on the underside of the MacBook by pushing 2 sliders that keeps the cover locked in place.

The built in video is a GeForce 8600 series which is sufficient to play the current crop of FPS shooters and other 3D games, but of course your real problem is finding these games for the Mac in the first place :D.

Hardware Build Quality

The build quality on this thing is simply amazing. The entire outer enclosure is made of aluminium and there are very little trace of cheap materials used to construct it. There are no rubbery port covers that you see in most laptops nowadays, so there’s little chance of those breaking off, but on the downside, this leaves the ports exposed and may collect dust in the future. Overall the build feels very sturdy.

From left to right: security slot, USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800, Ethernet and DVI.

From left to right: power connector, USB, audio line-in, audio line-out and Expresscard slot.

Of special note is the MagSafe power adapter that comes standard with all the new MacBook series. Unlike the conventional circular power plug, the MagSafe connector is rectangle shaped with 5 leads. It doesn’t have any groves that snaps into the connector but instead uses magnets to hold the connector in place. This supposedly prevents people from accidentally tripping over the power cable and dragging the laptop down to the floor. I wouldn’t want to test that theory out but I can tell you that the plug does latch onto the port quite easily and it is equally easy to unplug. Once its connected, a small indicator on the plug lights up orange to indicate if its charging or green if its at full charge.

The keyboard is very nice to type with. Key travel is good and typing is soft to the touch. You won’t find the extra keys to control media players or adjusting volume as they’re all integrated with the function key row. This means that by default instead of holding the Fn key with another function key to change the volume, you simply press the function key itself, but this behaviour can be changed in the systems panel. The keyboard features back-lit illumination which activates automatically when it detects a dark environment. The speaker grills on the both side of the keyboard conceals the ambient light sensors which triggers the back-lit, a very nice touch indeed. Generally laptop speakers are nothing to write about but the ones on MacBook Pro are actually pretty decent.

The TFT screen offers good contrast and brightness. The matte surface gives it a slightly subdued display but the good thing about this is that it is glare free which helps ease viewing it for extended period of time. The slot loading optical drive makes a pretty scary clicking sound as it “swallows” your disc, but rest assured the disc is still intact once in.

What’s in the Box

The MacBook Pro packaging comes standard with the following items in the box:

• MacBook Pro (duh!)
• Display cleaning cloth
• 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord
• Lithium-polymer battery
• DVI to VGA adapter
• Install/restore DVDs
• Printed and electronic documentation

The packaging is very professional and neatly packed. They’ve even included 2 Apple logo car stickers in the installation media’s box.

Software Bundles

Macs bought in the last couple months comes standard with Leopard and with the following software bundles:

• Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Photo Booth, Xcode Developer Tools)
• iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand)

We’ll take a good look at the software Mac has to offer in my next post.

Final Thoughts

I’m definitely loving my MacBook Pro. It is built as a solid workstation class laptop with little compromise on the quality and materials used to construct it. We’ll take a look at Leopard itself next time and you’ll soon find out why I love it even more.

Apple - MacBook Pro

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