Apple Grrl

I finally treated myself to a new MacBook! I was holding out for battery life and a slightly lighter model, and boy did Apple deliver! I LOVE this machine.

I got a refurbished White 13″ MacBook 1,1 generation laptop shortly after they first came out. I loved it, and it was working fine, but I outgrew it eventually. When it got to the point that I was making more demands on its use than it could handle, even with the most RAM upgrades I could get in it and other fixes, it was time to move on.

I went for the 15″ Aluminum MacBook Pro that came out at the conference this summer. With 4GB RAM (upgradable to 8GB), a better graphics card, a glossy screen, glass multi touch trackpad and other improvements, it is already beating the pants off of my old MacBook. My two favorite features of the moment are the illuminated keys (I take a lot of notes at conferences and do a lot of late night typing) and the extra long battery life. I’m able to work and travel for most of a business day before I start to look for an outlet.

It’s pretty light, also, and comes with a roomy hard drive as well. My music collection is on my hard drive for the first time in years. I plan to back it up to the slim profile, ultra light 500GB external hard drive I bought to take with me in my laptop bag, but for now I’m being lazy and enjoying my music right where it belongs. Also appreciated is the row of iTunes and Dashboard and other controls on the function row of the keyboard. That’s a nice, easy touch from Apple that makes the whole experience much better.

So far the only drawback is that it is very scratch-attracting on the case, and the screen collects fingerprints and dust motes. Luckily, I already keep a microfiber cloth handy for my glasses, so I just give it a bit of a swipe once in a while. If you have eyes that are sensitive to light or enjoy working outside, you are also not going to like the glossy screen, and Apple removed the option of a matte screen for those who work on outdoor locations.

The difference in this new 15″ screen and the 13″ on my old MacBook is remarkable. It’s very roomy. I looked at the 17″ and felt I didn’t need the extra weight or the extra screen real estate – this model was more than adequate. I also appreciate the bringing back of the firewire port, and the addition of the card reader slot. A long over due touch that makes total sense.

I’m only having one issue with it so far, and that is with two third party apps, Seesmic and TweetDeck. They just wont work on this machine and I have no idea why – they worked fine on my old laptop. It’s a double bummer that they aren’t working, as they are meant to handle Twitter, and that’s kind of my job (or at least part of it). Irony? You decide. I’m loving how FAST this new MacBook Pro is though. What a pleasure over all to use.

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