Apple MacBook Pro MB166LL/A 17-inch Laptop (2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive)

After a big divorce with Win XP, I'm happy again. I never imagine computing could be this much fun.

Sometimes you do really stupid stuff. And sometimes you do it because you're never satisfied. I've always been the kind of person who was on the lookout for something better. A laptop smaller, faster than the one I have. A zoom, wider, longer, lighter than the one I have. A better iPod, better speakers, lighter, studier Nikes. Newer, better, faster Photoshop. There's always something better coming out just before Christmas. I'm looking at a Blu-ray video player. That new Tamron 18-270 is looking mighty sweet. That new MacBook, really the cat's meow that was.

As soon as I saw Steve Jobs' presentation I began to think my MacBook was getting long in the tooth. How silly I was. I didn't know that then, I know it now. I mean this beautiful machine had a 320 gig hard drive, 4 gigs of ram, a gorgeous matte screen you could look at and love forever, connected right up to my really, really gorgeous 23 inch Apple Cinema display. It ran Photoshop at almost the speed of light. Lightroom too, it blazed through. Excel, it opened those files before you could blink. I had Vista installed on a Bootcamp partition and it ran XP and Ubuntu via VMWare's fusion at almost native speeds. I had XP skinned, running in Unity, so all my windows programs looked just like they were running natively in OS X.

I had over two hundred gigs of music in my iTunes library. Hundreds of hours of Bob Dylan live, George Harrison and John Lennon too. This was a rock and roll machine that loved to do the blues. My MacBook loved and played Billie Holiday. Family photos, travel photos, work photos, all there to be seen on that wonderful screen.

And I threw it all away for that new machine Steve Jobs was touting, because I'm never satisfied, because I'm always looking for something better. I was so stupid.

I sold my baby on eBay, got the new machine, hated the glossy screen and it seemed heaver too. I wanted my baby back, oh how I wanted my baby back.

I called the guy who won my baby on eBay and I swapped him my new MacBook for my old one. He was more than happy to do it.

Apple had a winner with this machine. I truly believe it's the best laptop ever made. Better than its replacement, better than anything out there today. I'm going to keep this machine for a long, long time. I've learned a lesson, a real lesson. No more replacing those Nikes until their worn out. New lenses do not a better photographer make. Blu-ray not yet, I've got a very nice 43 inch Sony Bravia, which shows beautiful movies on my hundred dollar Costco Panasonic combo VHS/DVD player. Adobe just came out with CS4, but I won't be upgrading, not this time.

I've been well and truly blessed. I've got a lot and I've finally learned to be satisfied with what I've got.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

Background:
I wanted to buy the new unibody MacBook Pro.
Tried it at the Apple store and here are my findings and opinions,
and comparisons with the March 2008 model (MB134LL/A - the one I bought and am reviewing).

Display on unibody model is super glossy and very reflective - and has no option for matte finish.
Keyboard on unibody model did not feel as nice as the March 2008 model.
Unibody model is slightly larger - bezel width is more than the March 2008 Model.
Also, the March 2008 model is a lot cheaper (about $700),
and there is an additional $150 rebate from Amazon.
Meaningful specs difference:
2.5 GHz versus 2.53 GHz CPU in the new high end one,
2 Gigs of RAM versus 4 Gigs of faster RAM in the new high end (I upgraded to 4GB myself for $60),
8600M GT 512MB versus 9600M GT 512MB in the new high end (20-30% faster),
250GB 5400RPM versus 320GB 5400RPM in the new one (more on this below),
The new one also has dual graphics (use the lower power one for more battery),
but I'd always use the higher one, which would lead to less battery life
than the March model.

Display:
Like I said, I prefer matte finish (or a glossy that is not like a mirror).
The default colors were a little dull, so I went to System Preferences/Display/Color/Calibrate and
tweaked around and saved a new color profile. It is MUCH improved now - much better saturation
and has the contrast of glossy without the reflections.

Usage:
In less than 5 minutes, I upgraded to 4 Gigs RAM - bought that for about $60 from Amazon.
I am keeping my two original 1 Gig sticks in case I need them in the future.
I have VMWare Fusion running Windows XP Professional for some of my
must-have Windows apps. I have given the VM 1 Gig of RAM and 40 Gigs of disk.
Performance of Mac apps and Windows apps is superb.
I am using a WD Passport 320GB USB drive for backups with Time Machine.

Battery:
Last about 2.5-3 hours with almost constant usage. The best thing is when I close the lid,
it goes to sleep instantly, and wakes up instantly when I need it again, with no loss of
battery regardless of how long it sleeps. That is VERY DIFFERENT from my experience with
Windows laptops that lose battery even when sleeping. No idea why.

Storage:
It came with a 5400RPM 250GB HD. I bought a WD 7200RPM 320GB with a big buffer from
Newegg - I plan to swap out the HD - that requires "minor surgery" so I am doing my research
before I do it this weekend. The new disk will be a lot faster, although the it comes with
seems to be pretty fast already. I am swapping as I like doing stuff like that.
UPDATE: I swapped the hard drive and did a full restore from Time Machine - it now is exactly
the same as my las back-up with all apps and settings, except with a bigger and faster hard drive.
This "surgery" is t for the faint of heart. :-) And is probably totally unnecessary for most folks.

Mac OS X:
So simple. After using Windows PCs and laptops for over 15 years, I am amazed how easy
and intuitive it was to use a new OS. I know Mac OS X is very powerful and I am just beginning
to learn the advanced features to play with. Being able to run Windows XP in a VM with such a small
load on the system is very nice. I use software apps that are either not available on the Mac yet,
or have much older versions on the Mac. This is not specifically about the MacBook Pro but the
fact that the MacBook Pro has enough juice to do this is what is worth noting.

Boot Times:
When I shutdown and restart, it comes up in 30 seconds or so. Much faster than my experience
with Windows laptops. Here's the best part - if I put the Windows VM to sleep in my Mac,
it comes back up in seconds! Much faster than Windows used to wake up on a Windows laptop!
So for a portable laptop, the MacBook Pro is quite powerful and fast.

Overall:
I am glad I bought this model instead of the new Unibody model. This is by far the best portable computer
I have ever owned. I've always felt that the MacBook Pro carries a price premium over "equivalent" or
more feature rich Windows laptops, but now I know why. They are better.

I love my new macbook pro.. but I wish I had known that the nvidia 8600m GT gpu is faulty, and has a very high chance of failing. Apple has added an extra year to the standard warranty to cover faulty gpu issues, but I probably would have gone for the new glossy macbook if I had known.

For what it's worth, nvidia are at fault, not apple.
Google the gpu. Every laptop from every manufacturer (dell, hp, and others) with that series is affected.

switching to mac is the best thing that could happen to any person in the world of technology. Its pretty, reliable, user friendly and I love it. Seriously do people love their computer or its a source of pain to them but they have to cope with it? you have the choice to enter the mac world and explore the most fun experience in your whole life.
Another thing, mac dont crash. I own it for more than a year and I cant remember it crashes on me. Plus, you dont have to worry about viruses, malware, spywares, worms, trujans... etc. Many mac owner says this sentence and I say it all the time "I cant imagine life without mac"