Customer Reviews

Apple MacBook Pro MA601LL/A 15.4" Laptop (2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased a MacBook Pro after months of shopping around. I read the online reviews, read customer posts on Apple's discussion website, and had the luxury to play around with two work issued MacBook Pros before deciding to take the plunge.

I am very happy with my purchase. The MacBook Pro is a fast machine, and the speed is especially noticeable on Intel compiled applications. I haven't loaded too much software on this machine yet, but in casual, day-to-day use - I find the MacBook Pro a pleasure to work on.

Other people have brought up points about the excessive heat generated. True, the machine does run noticeably warm, but not so blistering hot that I cannot place it on my lap for an extended period of time.

Wireless connectivity via Airport Extreme was smooth - it was my first experience using a wireless-card equipped notebook and setup was simple and straightforward.

Build quality on my laptop is top-notch as well. The button under the track pad appears to be slightly raised, but I've checked a few other MacBook Pros out and this seems to be normal.

I am able to get a consistent 3 hours of battery usage on my MacBook Pro. It's important to follow the included directions to first calibrate the battery in order to optimize battery life.

For me, the MacBook Pro is an excellent day-to-day machine. I moved up from a PowerBook G3 (400MHz) and the speed is, in a word, stunning.

The MacBook Pro is best suited for folks who plan to run taxing apps such as Final Cut Pro. I plan on using my laptop for programs like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and Maya. Bearing in mind that Photoshop and Maya are not optimized for running on Intel Macs, I can always install Windows and run the apps natively using Boot Camp. I also anticipate running 3D Studio Max (which alas, is Windows only). Such programs take advantage of the beefier GPU that resides within the MacBook Pro.

Would I buy a MacBook Pro again? Absolutely.

This MacBook comes ready to serve and includes all the amenities. Including, but not limited to, a built-in video camera (which has amazing quality, btw), multi-language support (with easy regional keyboard switching), bluetooth, light AND motion sensors, and multimedia remote control, not to mention an Intel-based processor that allows you to do so much more.

After a few steps, this machine can become the ultimate machine.

First off, if anyone else plans to do something like this in its entirety, you may want to upgrade your RAM from the 1gb to 2gb (mine came with 1 1gb stick in it already so all I had to do was add another one). The following are important pieces of extra software:

VirtueDesktops: a free utility that allows you to configure your own virtual desktops to run other programs in many virtual desktops. The current version of VirtueDesktops already supports the light and motion sensors to switch between virtual desktops.

Adium: a free IM aggregator that lets you log into all your IM services (currently except Skype) in one program. This utility automatically sorts and creates meta-contacts from the entries in your mac address book. It does not automatically synchronize in both directions, but there are add-in that help you do that.

Parallels: unfortunately Parallels is not free. It is a virtual machine handler that allows you to run other operating systems at close-to-native speeds simultaneously, any other equivalent is your option, but this is what I use.

Subsequently, I have a machine that has 4 virtual desktops, which run Mac OSX, Windows XP, and Fedora Core 5 and switching between them is as easy as a hotkey or even waving my hand IN FRONT of my screen.

SMACKBOOK: the motion sensors allow new areas for ingenuity and new types of applications. One of the more useful is what has been affectionately termed "smackbook" -- the configuration that allows you to switch between virtual desktops by literally hitting your macbook (please be gentle, don't hit it too hard). The current version of VirtueDesktops also comes with support for this configuration. Many interesting games have also been developed that take advantage of those motion sensors, such as a pinball game, and even the old Labyrinth game! You should be able to find several online, and more are coming out all the time.

For me, as a developer, I have a found a way to very seamlessly do work across all the platforms I employ from a single machine.

Other helpful tools:
1. A bluetooth mouse with a scroll wheel and right mouse button: Keep in mind that like other macs, you can scroll by dragging 2 fingers over the track pad. Parallels and other virtual machine hosts support key combinations to emulate right and middle clicks, but I find it easier to just get a bluetooth mouse that has them already.

2. TextMate: A very reasonably priced and useful text-based editor that recognized syntax in quite a few languages. Packages can also be downloaded for free that recognize even more languages.

3. MS Remote Desktop Connection: This program will allow you to bring up remote desktops of Windows machines on your network.

Anything else that you might want would depend on what you plan to do with your system.

The only bad thing: the display goes back just as much as any other MacBook or iBook, but not as far back as its IBM counterparts that flip all the way back into a straight line.

I am the proud owner of a new MacBook Pro and have been using it heavily for the last couple of months. I have owned Macs previously and also regularly use Windows PCs since there is some software that I like that only runs on the Windows machines. With this new machine, I can quit juggling between the two boxes. I can now use the wonderful Mac OSX most of the time, but boot up in Windows on the Macbook Pro when I have to run a Windows only program. Wonderful.
Problems so far: Zero!! The wireless card is very sensitive and works great. Programs running under Rosetta have been just fine, but I do not do video editing...just lots and lots of Office, Devonthink, Tinderbox, etc.
The heat problem is not a problem for me. The machine is not too warm with the applications that I use.
This is an excellent do it all machine.

OSX does not require 25GB on a fresh install. There are a ton of programs that come with OSX that take a lot of space. Try removing garageband, iMovie, iWork, and any other programs you may not need. OSX takes about 2 gigs, the rest is all the installed programs that you can easily remove (hint, you may want to search for online tips to get all of the files, i know there are a few folders for garage band that are 'hidden' and are VERY large.

Oh ya, my MBP has no problems (2.16ghz 15"). It only gets warm when i am using parallels with slingbox.

After years of using Apple IIe's and PowerMacs in grammar and high school, I was finally able to afford my own Mac. I was apprehensive with specifications that I could not compare to my PC and Apple had a high price tag.

But with the new Intel Core Duo chip, I finally had the flexibility I would ever need in a laptop. I successfully have XP Professional SP2 and OS X Tiger running smoothly with no hiccups. And I would suspect that the Linux gurus are heavily at work on developing a distro to support this new hardware as well.
How awesome is it to have 3 diverse OS's on one machine, that's what I call versatility!

I've always held Apple in high regard for their standard in style and functionality. It took me about a week or so, but I can get around OS X quite easily. It was just a matter of using the apple and ctrl key more frequently. And in fact this is actually quite easier because you do not have to alternate with the ctrl, alt, and windows keys in XP. Everything apple designed on this machine was done on purpose, and that's what I most like about it.

The are only a few drawbacks to this laptop. I did not like the fact that OS X takes 25 GB of HDD space off of a fresh install! I only have a 100 GB HDD, so it was a pretty decent blow to my storage capacity. I easily bypassed problem this with an external 80 GB HDD, but it is still quite shocking since XP only takes about 2-5 GB. The battery life is kind of short and the unit gets quite warm, but that is almost unsusprising with a high performance machine such as this one.

Overall I would definitely recommend this unit to anyone who is in the market for a new laptop. I would give it 4.5 overall because it is a great product but not completely flawless.

As a college student, I need something that will last me at least four more years. Honestly, I had never even used OS X before my purchase, but I knew I'd have no problems because Windows XP was supported. That, and I love my iPod...and as most young people love Apple, as did I. Purchased via the Apple store.

This has, by far, been the ONLY product that I've been this excited about. Every time I look at it, I can't believe how well it performs and how great it looks. The attention to detail is so crazy that sometimes you wonder "were they really thinking that?!"

It also turned out that I fell in love with OS X and its usability. I find myself using Windows only for gaming, CS2, or Microsoft Office. Other than that, I'm almost always in OS X. I guess you could say that I took a HUGE risk in buying this, as Boot Camp is still in beta, but it was worth the money.

The ONLY reason I rated it 4/5 was because my display was artifcating rather strangely. I later came to the conclusion that it had to be hardware in the Mac, as the location of these artifacts could be modified. I had to send it in to Apple and while they were great about it (their support is amazing), it took them about three weeks to get it back to me. DHL, who handles their shipping, was really stupid and had NO idea where to find me on a college campus of 47,000. Do they honestly NOT know where my university is? I have to put some blame upon Apple for using DHL as their shipper...honestly, FedEx has never missed me before.

Other than not having my notebook for three weeks, I have no complaints. Yeah, it gets warm, but it's designed to get warm, people. Seriously. It's one big heatsink and aluminum is a great way of getting heat out of the notebook and into the air/onto a desk's surface. It's more intuitive than it is worrying or troublesome.

You won't regret it.

Suggestion: I'd recommend NOT upgrading to 2GB on Apple's site or anywhere else for that matter. Buy the RAM and install it yourself. It makes an INCREDIBLE difference in performace, is cheaper to do, and is actually kinda fun.

EDIT: The 2GB advice I gave was for the CORE DUO model, not the newly introduced CORE 2 DUO model. The new Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro now comes with 2GB for the same price that I paid, as opposed to the 1GB that came with mine.

This is the matte screen version..

The glossy screen model # is ZODL...

I've been a computer programmer/user for 27 years, and this is absolutely the finest computer I've ever used. Quality and attention to detail are paramount. And, the ability to run Windows at near-native speed using Parallels Desktop makes it almost perfect. With one click of the mouse, you go from a very fast Mac notebook to a very fast Windows notebook, and everything works as one expects from Apple. And, don't worry about the one review I read here about it getting too hot. Don't know what the problem was in that case, but it runs at about the same temperature as the G4 Powerbook it replaced--no problem at all. With this computer and the MacBook there is no reason for most people to even look at other brands; price is competitive, but the Macs are far better made and with Parallels installed run practiically all the software in the world. The only computer you'll ever need!

I have already had to replace my battery (wouldn't sustain charge), power cord (burned out and no longer worked), and now the part where my headphones goes in has become loose and is pretty much unusable. All within four months of owning the thing. I like the computer...but man...it sure is made pretty crappy.

I've been a Mac fan for about 20 years but have been using windows and linux laptops for the last 10 years or so because of compatibility requirements with my work. I was pretty excited to get this mac. The laptops are so beautiful and the OS is so clean that it's easy to fall in love with the machines. The good stuff everyone talks about: great OS, good keyboard feel, beautiful screen, nice power cord and connection, and generally quiet operation. But there are also ergonomic disappointments, especially compared to my old Thinkpad T41:

- The first and obvious one is the celebrated issue with the heat - the machines do get unacceptably hot under the palms near the keyboard. I'd love to ignore it, but it's irritating.

- The keyboard layout is much less efficient than the Thinkpad. There is about 4.5" of space between the front edge of the laptop and the keyboard, and the edges are quite sharp. I'm used to resting my palms on the area in front of the keyboard, but with the Macbook Pro this causes the edge to dig into the area above my wrist. The Thinkpad has much softer edges and also has a slight tilt to the base which makes typing much more comfortable.

- the keyboard feel is good but the layout is far inferior to the Thinkpad. For a company that resists a two-button mouse on the laptop because it's allegedly too complex, it's bizarre to build a keyboard that requires you to select 2 keys to do a forward delete or bring up a contextual menu, especially when the 4 modifier keys (fn, ctl, option, and apple) are all small and right next to each other.

I didn't get an appreciation for these annoyances at the store. Net net: make sure you're comfortable with the ergonomics before you plunge for $2K. As much time as you're going to spend with the machine, make sure it's comfortable.