Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MacBook? In the language of Apple... iLove it!, 25 Jul 2008
It's 5 past 11 in the morning, and writing this review was the simple task of pressing my MacBook's power button... waiting 50 seconds... then going onto Amazon. It really was that easy.
And that just about sums up the life with a MacBook. Though I've been using Max OS X (Operating System Number 10) for over 2 years now in Graphics College, this was my first experience of actually forking out the money to buy one for my own personal use, which, as you will no doubt see, is joined by a hefty price tag.
Don't be put off though. Remember - this lowest spec MacBook is is just as powerful as many Hi-Spec windows based laptops! But what you're getting for the same price or a little bit more is the industry standard stability of Mac OS X, the simplicity of use, the gorgeous design, and the flawless operation that will simply never go wrong on you. What Microsoft users also forget is the Mac OS X is more efficient in terms of RAM/CPU than Vista. As a perfect example, whereas Vista requires at least 1 GB of RAM just for the OS, Mac OS X needs as little as 500mb.
And OS X is far, far bigger system too.
Combine this with you built in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 120 GB HDD, 1 GB RAM, beautiful screen, CD/DVD drive, iLife Applications, Ethernet, firewire, and built in iSight camera, and the Mac wins every time over the standard laptop.
But what makes a MacBook so special are the little things that make a big difference. Steve Jobbs, the owner of Apple, is surely one of the most dedicated designers around as he and his team of researchers tailor make each Mac to meet your needs, with logical features. The power cord for example, is attached via a magnet - if you trip over it, it will immediately pop out with damaging the Mac or pulling it. But if you try pulling the cable out horizontally, it wont budge because the magnet attracts to the upper + lower parts of the socket, meaning only a pull on an angle, or a sharp tug, pops it out. Genius!
Even the the power adaptor, which again has it's own cable tidy handles that fold out, and can be dismantled into 2 sections. You even get some Apple stickers in the box, and a cleaning cloth to wipe the unfortunately chosen glossy screen.
If you are new to the world of Mac and want to know what the fuss is about, then one little play on OS X would convert you in an instant, particularly Leopard. Unlike Windows, Mac OS X feels and looks geared towards productivity, and is arranged simply. The simple operations of OS X allow all your favoured programs to go on the bottom of the screen on a fixture called the 'Dock'. The Dock can be adjusted to any size you wish, and magnifies all your icons when you hover over them. Then on the right of your desktop, you merely have your drives.
And that's it in a nutshell. The beauty comes in being able to do what YOU want to do, HOW you want to do it. Customization is never a problem, but it's nice that Apple still have the ethos of gearing Mac towards your WORKS productivity. Not thousands of wallpapers and screen savers which you'll be swapping every day.
Mac OS X's presentation has changed little and lots since 2000. Though the main interface and graphics remain the same to it's original incarnation, the new look for Leopard boasts not just gorgeous looks, such as glass/mirrored bars (even BEFORE Vista) but has a whole host of new features over the past couple of years; From 'Expose' (Which allows you to multi-task by pressing just one button, and choosing a program from sudden arrangement on the screen) to 'Spaces' (A simply ingenious idea that gives you as many desktops as you want...).
Connectivity is also a doddle (as has always been the way, even since 98), and It's been great to be able to go into a cafe with Wi-Fi and be able to surf the net - still can't get over it! Bluetooth is pretty standard, and because of the simple set-up that asks pre to connecting what device you actually want to link, the connection is then tailor made for that device, particularly mobile phones I've found. Wi-Fi was a little harder to set-up at home, but this was more down to Window's faffing around with the Internet Sharing on my PC. I eventually opted for a re-conditioned BT Home Wi-Fi hub for 20 quid off ebay. I was on the net on 2 minutes...
Performance wise, my MacBook has a start up time of around 50 seconds, and a shut down of 5 seconds. The hard drive is perfect for my needs, and the Intel Core Duo 2 CPU is perfect for running multiple applications, though some may agree that Apples own CPU's were much more efficient some years ago. I too would definitely agree with this; While it's perfect for multi-tasking, I see no difference in the performance for running just one heavy duty app. A common example for myself is when running Microsoft Word, and I find after a couple of pages the fan just keeps blazing away, and the program may freeze for split seconds...
One of our favourite features so far has been Front Row, which can be accessed by pressing the Apple Button and Escape. Upon doing so about 3 seconds later, your MacBook is transformed into a simple and smart hub for your Music, Video's, TV Channels, and much more. It can be used via an Apple Remote (Sadly, NOT included, but I bought one of Play.com for just 12.99!), or is still nice to use when just passing around a group of people; particularly photographs. Combined with the Apple Remote, which isn't fussed on signal/waving your hands around madly, you can control photo albums/music very easily.
As if all this isn't enough, all Mac's are supplied with software to meet you Media needs, whatever they be. This is ONE major flaw any Windows based PC/Laptop never meet... They never come with pre-installed professional software... Or at least software that you'll use in this lifetime.
...The MacBook, and all Mac's alike however, DO. GarageBand for creating/editing, and recording live music, iPhoto for organising and showing off your photos, iWeb for creating web pages, plus many more as part of the iLife software package to meet your needs. As a creative music-producer myself, I've still held back from buying Logic Studio (Apples music creation package) because of the price, and simply because GarageBand is just great! iMovie is great for video editing, and is similar to Adobe Premiere Elements... iPhoto and the alike are also very easy to use and not resource-hungry.
On the basis of the MacBook itself, it's without a doubt the sexiest Apple have created. If the G4 is undoubtedly the king of Apples desktops (Which, to me, is still the best designed to this day) then this G5 MacBook is the king of the portability. It's just so portable it's unbelievable - it's thickness is no more than 3cm's, and the rounded edges/glossy finish make it stand out a mile, particularly with the light-up Apple logo. The CD Drive is slot loading, and the screen doesn't click into place... It collapses via a magnet! Brilliant!
Upgrading is also a complete, utter no brainer. The RAM Chips are literally next to the battery. All you do is take the battery out, unscrew a bracket, and the chips are right in front of you. The Hard Drive is also accessible right next to them! And all this is covered in the manual.
I would recommend in getting an 1GB chip if you're going to be doing lots of work, but to be perfectly honest, the current specs of 1GB Ram and the 120GB HD are ideal for someone as myself who merely surfs the web, writes lots of work, and edits music.
My time with the latest MacBook (and Macs in the past) has taught me that computing can be really fun, and doesn't have to lead to blue screens every month and handing money over for repairs. The MacBook is therefore perfect for a student/DJ such as myself who wants a pretty fair medium between performance, reliability, and price. And this is only backed up by the recent statistics that more and more students in higher education are choosing Mac's for their portability and slick performance.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Their are only a couple of little niggles with this Generation of MacBook;
- They can get very hot if you're running demanding programs, but if you're just on the net or on an Office Program, the heat is minimal. This maybe be unfortunately due to the exhaust bay, which is located right below the screen at the back, and can only get fresh air on a flat surface. Sometimes if I'm using it on a bad (where the dips cover the exhaust) the fan will be on regularly...
- The battery life also isn't as good as previous models; in this MacBook's case, around 3 hours with Wi-Fi connection or 4 without. On the G4 Model, you could probably extend this by another hour.
- An update you'll need to download upon first using it is over 2GB in size! Why didn't they just include this on machine?
- On a final note, that glossy screen! We all have greasy fingers...
The MacBook is the best laptop you'll ever buy, so go treat yourself to style meeting ultimate productivity!
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as Apple would have you believe., 24 Aug 2009
Yes, Apple Mac computers are very nice to look at. That is their single greatest attribute and these plastic white Macbooks look the business. I bought one of these for iPhone development last year. The first one lasted a week before the wireless internet broke. The second lasted 2 weeks until the trackpad button broke. The third - well there was no third. I bought a Mac Mini instead which worked perfectly.
Newer Mac Pros and the aluminium Macbooks seem to made better. I think these older ones have problems and personally I would not have another. If you buy one, try and get one in warrantee and buy the apple care 2 year extended warrantee afterwards.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as expected, 16 Feb 2009
I've had Mac's for years and bought this MacBook to replace the iBook after it suffered the all too familiar 'click of death". The iBook couldn't be upgraded to the new version of OS X (leopard) which was another reason to upgrade.
It's of the usual Mac standard and design but not of quality. The track-mouse button didn't work properly and required a lot of pressure to get it to work. I took it back to the Applestore within the 15 days and they replaced it. The second Macbook also has this problem but not as bad. I have to use excessive force for the mouse button to work. At the time I bought this one my sister got one too and hers is fine. Also the inbuilt airport is flaky at best, it will often not find the Wireless network when my sisters will and when I take it to the office it can't connect to the base station which is in the same room and which all the other Macs can connect to. I have read in the Mac forums that this is a common problem and is something to do with the airport antenna which means a trip back to the Apple factory. I use it most days so have to plug in a cable to connect to the net instead as I can't be without the laptop for a couple of weeks. It'll have to wait for when I'm next on holiday. The last niggle is data transfer from USB stick is really slow, what takes seconds on the MacMini (which is older and slower) takes minutes on the new MacBook, even the old iBook was faster.
Other than that...it's Mac which runs OS X which is great. I can recommend Mac's over a Windows machine if you're thinking of upgrading just not this Macbook. The Mac Mini is excellent I use one of those a lot too and have done since they first came out. Overall I've been disappointed with the Macbook(s) and I'm now looking at a Psystar clone to upgrade the Pro.
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