Ultrabooks made by other companies had good quality, but by then they cost just as much as the MacBook but with lower specs. So I decided to take the plunge with this Apple MacBook Pro after demoing it in a Apple Store. Here are the things that made me confident with my purchase:
Build Quality
Seriously, you can't beat a unibody construction. While other laptops creak when you pick them up due to the various plastic components screwed together, the MacBook Pro feels firm. The only thing that initially concerned me was that the lid would slightly creak when you closed it. Running waxed dental floss through the hinges solved this.
Build Quality
Seriously, you can't beat a unibody construction. While other laptops creak when you pick them up due to the various plastic components screwed together, the MacBook Pro feels firm. The only thing that initially concerned me was that the lid would slightly creak when you closed it. Running waxed dental floss through the hinges solved this.
Trackpad and Keyboard
This extra large trackpad is heavenly to use. Having the whole trackpad function as a giant button is a lot more comfortable to use. Plus two finger clicking as a replacement for the right click button is surprisingly intuitive. The keyboard keys are well spaced and the led backlighting is very cool.
Power System
I regularly get around 6 hours from the battery, which I am more than satisfied with. The magsafe plugin system is more handy than I thought it would be, and there is a neat led battery indicator on the side of the notebook that makes checking the battery level with the computer off easy.
OS X
Mine initially came with Lion, but after upgrading to Mountain Lion I am even more satisfied. Everything runs fast and animations are fluid. I love the multi touch features, which again is something I initially didn't think I would really need. It took me a little time to get used to using finder after being accustomed to windows explorer, but I am confident now in my ability to navigate through files just as quickly as in Windows.
Dual Booting
I have a few engineering programs that only run on Windows so I decided to install Windows 7 through bootcamp. Because it boots natively from the hard drive, it runs just as smoothly as any other Windows laptop. Remember folks, this computer doesn't have any magical internal components. The Intel Chipset is the same used in any other laptop and thus Windows runs just the same with the proper drivers installed.
Chipset
The Intel Core i5 runs very fast with minimal heat. The Intel Graphics 4000 is more than adequate for most applications.
I could even run Portal 2 on maximum graphics settings and play 1080p video without it breaking a sweat. The fan almost never revs up to an audible level. This is in part to the aluminum body being a giant heat sink. So yes, the laptop body can get warm at times. But it is never uncomfortably warm when I use it on my lap. Ill probably upgrade the RAM and the harddrive to an SSD in the future, but for now they are fine.
So all in all I am very happy with my purchase. I am officially a Mac convert and will use this laptop for a very long time.
Also, all the Windows "gamers" who are trashing Macs need to gain some perspective. Yes, I can get a Core i7 laptop with a dedicated graphics card for a lot cheaper than the MacBook. But I decided to spend the extra money to get a better engineered laptop with some nifty extra features.
This extra large trackpad is heavenly to use. Having the whole trackpad function as a giant button is a lot more comfortable to use. Plus two finger clicking as a replacement for the right click button is surprisingly intuitive. The keyboard keys are well spaced and the led backlighting is very cool.
Power System
I regularly get around 6 hours from the battery, which I am more than satisfied with. The magsafe plugin system is more handy than I thought it would be, and there is a neat led battery indicator on the side of the notebook that makes checking the battery level with the computer off easy.
OS X
Mine initially came with Lion, but after upgrading to Mountain Lion I am even more satisfied. Everything runs fast and animations are fluid. I love the multi touch features, which again is something I initially didn't think I would really need. It took me a little time to get used to using finder after being accustomed to windows explorer, but I am confident now in my ability to navigate through files just as quickly as in Windows.
Dual Booting
I have a few engineering programs that only run on Windows so I decided to install Windows 7 through bootcamp. Because it boots natively from the hard drive, it runs just as smoothly as any other Windows laptop. Remember folks, this computer doesn't have any magical internal components. The Intel Chipset is the same used in any other laptop and thus Windows runs just the same with the proper drivers installed.
Chipset
The Intel Core i5 runs very fast with minimal heat. The Intel Graphics 4000 is more than adequate for most applications.
I could even run Portal 2 on maximum graphics settings and play 1080p video without it breaking a sweat. The fan almost never revs up to an audible level. This is in part to the aluminum body being a giant heat sink. So yes, the laptop body can get warm at times. But it is never uncomfortably warm when I use it on my lap. Ill probably upgrade the RAM and the harddrive to an SSD in the future, but for now they are fine.
So all in all I am very happy with my purchase. I am officially a Mac convert and will use this laptop for a very long time.
Also, all the Windows "gamers" who are trashing Macs need to gain some perspective. Yes, I can get a Core i7 laptop with a dedicated graphics card for a lot cheaper than the MacBook. But I decided to spend the extra money to get a better engineered laptop with some nifty extra features.
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