10-20-2008, 07:10 PM

Here is my review of the macbook air:

mac-forums review

I really liked the concept, for basic computing it really is an awesome machine. I personally needed more horsepower. The macbook air was my first experience with apple since 3rd grade (1993).

It was a success, the operating system coupled with the quality craftsmanship makes for a winner period.

As you can see in the title I made the switch to the new macbook. 2 reasons behind this decision.

1. Horsepower, I run windows all the time and just needed more horsepower to constantly run VM fusion plus outlook and a bunch of other software in OSX.

2. New chassis', I am just to big of a fan of good chassis design, this whole new macbook is just to well designed and put together, it is stiff and strong, just awesome, not a creek and all the power I could want.

I went with the 2.4GHz macbook because the benchmarks put it right up there with the macbook pro performance wise and there appeared to be a large performance separation between the 2.4 and the 2.0, and at $1600 out the door with my corporate discount it was just to good of a deal, I still ended up saving 250 bucks over a mbp and don't need the extra graphics or screen.

I bought the air for $1250 plus 100 dollar super drive and 30 dollar ethernet adapter for a grand total of 1380. I sold it for 1300 flushing 80 down the toilet, then upgrading to the book, I am happy with the deal, it happened fast so that is pretty good in my opinion.

My co-worker got a brand new MBP 2 days earlier and loves it. He barely upgraded from his 2.4 MBP, only 6 months old.

One thing I have mixed feelings about is the Time Machine transfer from one Mac to the other. Pretty much none of my apps besides the basic windows 2008 transferred, all the rest of them have issues with settings forcing me to reinstall. OSX settings and files transferred fine but I still may have to just put a fresh install on it to get rid of some of the leftover gremlins from the switch over. Pretty much could live without that feature as it just doesn't work, I think it may have extended my time to get set up on the new machine.

Hardware wise, I can only compare it to the air. Much better visuals, no hangups, no pegged processor (well sometimes ). It is a performance powerhouse that you really feel when using or when carrying (compared to the air at least).

The new track pad is curious. It does some funny things if you rest your thumb in the clicking area, windows doesn't like it, but OSX goes a little funky to, not sure if it is a good or bad thing yet. Glass track pad feels EXACTLY like the track pad on the MBA, so don't know what glass track pad actually does other than provide a nifty marketing addition.

Glass screen, well I liked the MBA screen more personally but I am more of a matte fan and the MBA was much closer to that than this is. But it isn't a deal breaker.

Keyboard seems improved, buttons click better I think and corners seem smoother. More ports and on board DVD drive... ehh, could live without but I guess they are nice to have if you need the real estate for the hardware anyway. New Video outs won't be in store until November which is an issue for me as I have presentations to do, have to carry my think pad around with me, quite ridiculous honestly.

The ports are also very close together, you get a fat usb and you might not be plugging in your Ethernet or video out.

Fit and finish, well like I said, my second main reason for upgrading.

All in all I am going to keep this sucker for a long time, planned to keep the MBA for a long time but it was just not enough to maintain any sort of longevity.

10-20-2008, 07:29 PM

Thanks for the follow up.

I wish I could afford the 2.4 =[ Is the backlit keyboard any good?

10-21-2008, 09:59 PM

Yeah, the keyboard is great. I thought the 2.0 had the back lit also? It is really nice for working in the dark but how often do you do that? If a lot it's really nice, if not, no biggie, the screens bright enough to see the basics!

10-21-2008, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by terrible1one3

I thought the 2.0 had the back lit also?

For a brief period immediately after the new MBs were released, the Apple site indicated that the 2.0 MB had a backlit keyboard. It does not. The site was updated after a day or so.

10-22-2008, 01:53 PM

Ahh, the back lit keyboard is nice, but wouldn't change my mind on what I purchased.

The reason I went with the 2.4 is preliminary benchmark tests show the 2.4 thoroughly outperforming the 2.0, I was going from air to macbook for the performance so getting the 2.0 wouldn't have been effective for me. The back lit keyboard is just a bonus I guess .