MacBook Pro - What a Laptop Should Be!

After having owned a Sony, a couple of Dells and an HP laptop I finally made the switch to a MacBook Pro. While I've been a Windows user all my life and had no intention of switching, two things happened recently that pushed me over the edge. I bought an iPhone and LOVED it. I've also been working with designers recently all of whom uses Macs and after watching them use their systems, I finally decided that Macs were the way to go.

As a new Mac user, there were some learning pains but as things progressed, I loved the OS and laptop more and more which is something I don't think I've ever said about Windows.

The hardware:

First off, I bought the laptop for work but unlike all the older laptops I've kept on my desks, I've actually been carrying this one around! Lugging around my other laptops have always been a chore due to their size. For example, a HP laptop with the same screen size (15.4) was heavier, wider and barely fit in my bag. Bringing the MacBook Pro with me has been a breeze due to its weight and it fits perfectly in most messenger bags.

I know Dell has recently launched some new laptops with built in cams, but this is one of the reason why I love this computer. Everyone should have a built in cam in their laptop since visual/direct communication is why most of us travel nowadays anyway. Since getting the laptop, we've been having more face-to-face chats with relatives who also have Macs and the process couldn't have been any simpler.

The back lit keyboard on this thing is just great and very well thought out. I'm surprised more companies aren't doing the same. Older Mac owners may complain that the model hasn't updated in a few years... but I find this to be a great bonus and upgrade compared to some of the other laptops I've had.

The screen on this laptop is also very high class. Tons of pixels (sometimes too small for my eyes) but you still get a ton of real estate on the screen. I got the 15 inch model cause I wanted portability. When working at home, I actually have it hooked up to an external monitor as well to help increase my productivity but overall this screen gives you a lot of room to work with. If you are using the latest OS X (Leopard), you can also use Spaces to give you additional desktops, something VERY helpful for smaller screens.

I got the 5400 rpm hard drive and initially had wanted a 7200 rpm one. In all honesty, the 5400 isn't slow at all and best of all, this speed runs a little cooler and extends your battery life.

Two finger touch pad scroll - may not be a big deal to existing Mac users but it's a huge leap for people coming from Windows. I actually prefer to use the touch pad over an external mouse as crazy as that sounds. As for the biggest complaint from Windows users: the lack of 2 buttons on a mouse - The Mighty Mouse actually has two buttons and if you do a two finger tap on the touch pad, that simulates a right click as well.

The Software:

Wow, what can I say... there has been tons of things I've been discovering all of which are great things.

Software installations have been a cinch! It's as simple as dragging the package into a folder and viola, that's it! With PC's, there were usually complex configurations and who knows what else.

No anti-virus software needed. Part of what slowed down my PC's were these anti-virus softwares... not only do they sit in the background and try to monitor everything, sometimes they slow the system to a crawl so they can index the complete system to make sure it's virus and worm free. Well, with the Mac, luckily most of that is unnecessary.

I'm currently using VM Ware to simulate an instance of Windows and Ubuntu on my laptop. (I guess I can be considered as a crazy multi-tasker) Though I'm not using Boot camp or parallels, the integration between the systems have been great and flawless.

Miscellaneous:

Overall, I've been recommending the system to anyone who still doesn't have one. Every time I learn something new about the OS the experience has been that much better.

I bought the 2.4 Ghz 15 inch laptop with 2 Gigs of RAM. However, I did find a cheap RAM upgrade at OtherWorldComputing.com that sells the upgrade for cheap and will take your old RAM back if you can't get rid of it online. When the 500 gig HD's are widely available, that may be my next upgrade.

I seriously can't praise the laptop enough... it's seriously everything a heavy duty working laptop should be for the business person without all the complex technical problems that would take a tech to figure out.

My only wish is to be able to afford another one today so I can upgrade my wife from the PC laptop to the Mac as well.