11-17-2006, 03:46 PM

I've never used a mac before, but I'm looking to buy a new computer soon and think the Macbook is about right for me.
I decided on a mac after I ran the vista upgrade checker - the first time it crashed; the second time it told me I need to upgrade my ram, graphics card, buy a bigger hard drive and a new modem. My computer is only 3 years old.

I don't play any games, and I just want something for internet use, word processing etc. I will also be doing web design/development on it, but I use notepad for that, so it doesn't matter. I do use Photoshop for creating graphics etc., but I currently run that on an ageing system with 256mb memory, so the Rosetta slowness probably won't be noticeable to me!

One thing that shocked me about the pricing is that in the US, the base model is $1099, while here it's £749. $1099 is £581.14, so tut tut Apple.

I have 2 questions about the Macbook (I'll be looking at the middle model with a 160gb hard drive and 2gb ram).

1) Screen size. I really don't understand how text is readable at the resolution on that size screen. I know it must be possible, otherwise there'd be more people complaining, but I have to strain to see text at 1280x1024 on a 17" (and I have near perfect vision) monitor, so I don't understand how it's readable on a 13.3"?

2)Speakers. It's a relatively minor issue as I can always plug in speakers, but how crappy are the inbuilt speakers? My sister has a Toshiba laptop that she sometimes listens to music on, and it sounds *awful*, so tinny, lacking all bass, and incredibly distorted. Can I expect similar on a macbook?

Thanks for reading and any for replies.

11-17-2006, 03:51 PM

I find the 13" MacBook screen to be a delight. It's bright, sharp, and has excellent contrast. My previous notebook video experiences were with 12" and 14" iBooks (both nice, but a bit blurry) and years spent with IBM ThinkPads (also nice). The MacBook's screen beats them all.

The speakers in the MacBook are worse than the ones in the iBook. The speakers in the iBook are horrible. Does that give you a context? :-)

Honestly, I connect my 'book to either headphones or a good set of speakers when I want to play music/movies through it.

Best of luck!

11-17-2006, 03:53 PM

Thanks for the quick reply - do you have any trouble reading text on it, though? There's a premium reseller store opening in Cardiff soon, so I might go and have a look before I buy.

And nope, I've never used an ibook either

11-17-2006, 03:55 PM

Being on the other side of 40, I sometimes need to use reading glasses while reading a newspaper or magazine.

Unless it's late at night when I'm overtired, I never need to use my cheaters while using my MacBook. I do occasionally need to use them when I'm on my office ThinkPad. I think that's a pretty significant statement.