Apple MacBook MB402LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop (OLD VERSION)

I went back and forth between the MacBook and MacBook Pro. Which one? Will it be powerful enough? Big enough…?

Maybe a Sony Vaio would be better?

I’m a Windows software developer but I’m going back to school for my MBA and I wanted a smaller, simple notebook for papers and internet communication for classwork. It needs to be durable and I need it to work without a lot of fussing around with system bits.

After much research I chose the MacBook over the pro because of the smaller size and the fact that the aluminum on the pro although cool, can dent easily. The matte black finish on the MacBook is elegant, tough, and the build quality it top notch. Does the the black eventually get smears on it from your hands and fingers? Yes it does but just wipe them off every so often. It’s not a big deal.

IMO, aside from a few points in processor speed the major technical thing the Pro gets your over the MacBook is a dedicated video card. The card in the MacBook uses part of your system memory and that’s not a big deal if you aren’t doing complex things like 3D Rendering or gaming. Even most photo editing tasks on the little MacBook will work well *if* you have enough RAM. I recommend 2GB or more.

My MacBook arrived and I couldn’t be happier. I personally think the black is nicer looking than the aluminum model. And this thing is fast! It makes my dual Intel Windows tower at work seem pokey. The glossy screen probably has more glare than a matte screen but the trade off in weight and size is well worth it.

Also the built in wireless Airport is great and reception is wonderful. Just turn it on and available networks show up in your menu. It’s really so much nicer than Windows. The bonus is that I can dual boot with BootCamp and run all my Windows stuff when I need to. I installed Neo Office (open source office suite) and now I can open and create all the documents for my coursework.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking the less expensive MacBook is less worthy for general computing tasks than the more sophisticated pro. It’s very elegant looking and very powerful. If you don’t need the power and size of the pro, I think you’ll be happy and the money you save can be put toward other things. Maybe a new digital camera?

I have always been a heavy Windows user dating all the way back to the release of version 3.1 (approx 16 years ago). I was never interested in the Mac do to what I perceived as the proprietary nature of their systems and what I thought was an expensive price tag. Here is what I discovered when I purchased this model of Mac:

1. It just works. The boot up time is less than half of what it takes my Windows laptop, and the shut down time (4 seconds) is only a fraction of the 30-40 seconds of my Toshiba.
2. It runs Windows Vista faster than my Toshiba. I still need to run a couple of Windows applications, so I went through the VERY easy bootcamp installation of Vista. It runs flawlessly and after having purchased Fusion for $79, I am now able to run Windows apps alongside Mac apps. Simply incredible.
3. Battery life is great. I can get 4 hours out of mine running in low power mode.
4. Why no card reader???? Almost all PCs now come with card readers to use with your digital camera. Why does Mac not include this???
5. It does NOT require the regular restarts that my Windows systems have always required. Simply close the lid and put it to sleep at night, and the next morning lift the lid and you are back in business. I can do this with my Toshiba but start getting errors in Windows after a couple of days and need to reset. Also, my Macbook runs very cool (with little heat) in the sleep mode, thereby allowing me to put it in my brief case in sleep mode without it heating up. I could never do that with any of my PC laptops. They would always heat up.
6. No virus software needed. Happy, Happy, Happy. Surfing the internet is faster because of this. Also, opening a document in MS Word is faster because the Virus software is not screening it.
I purchased MS Office and loaded it. It runs great and is almost identical to its Windows counterpart in functionality. But, Word and Excel seem to boot up a bit slower than the Windows versions. This is one thing that I do not like.
7. I like the way the electric cord connects with a magnet instead of plugging in. This seems handier and better in design, but I wonder if the magnet will still be as strong two years from now?

All in all, I am extremely pleased with this Mac. When you compare the price with the included features, it is only slightly more expensive than a comparable PC. To me it is worth the extra $200.

Actually what is going to make this very expensive, is now that my wife and daughter have seen my Mac they are both wanting to replace their PCs as well. This is one expense I did NOT budget for.

Thanks for reading. Hope this helps

I have been a PC user for many years and have had no complaints, particularly since Windows XP was rolled out. My current HP is five years old and it was time to consider a replacement. The availability of a $1000 (with rebate) Penryn based entry level MacBook from Amazon proved irresistible to me and am glad I gave Apple a try. I understand it is not a good choice for gaming due to its lack of a dedicated graphics card.

I have been using it for two weeks now and have the following observations:

* Very snappy performance including boot up and shut down time
* Smaller screen than I am accustomed to but not a problem due to the excellent fonts
* Small size and light weight is a plus.
* Excellent wireless performance.
* Amazing battery life (never less than 4 hours at 90% screen brightness).
* Very little heat generation.
* Fan and hard drive noise is very low.
* Setting up a dual boot to Windows XP is well documented and easy to do.
* Running Windows creates much more heat and consequent lower battery life.
* 4 MEG of RAM can be purchased for under $100 but it runs very nicely with 1 MEG
* I miss the two button trackpad.
* It has a relatively sharp edge where one’s palm usually rests when using trackpad
* Free software is available to allow reading Windows .wmv sound files.
* Built in automatic backup capability (Time Machine) is a plus.
* Nothing is perfect but this is pretty close given the price and current technology.

For those considering a switch and willing to learn a new operating system, I highly recommend it!

I am a software engineer with twenty years experience developing system services for MS Windows and generic UNIX platforms. For the last ten years, my experience has been with MS based servers and workstations. The last time I used an Apple personal computer was in 1980 when I owned an Apple II+.

On a whim I purchased a MacBook running OS X 10.5.2 for my wife who has virtually no computer experience and avoids all things computer. She was not happy with my home MS Windows systems and she was not happy with the available portable computers running windows.

She has taken to the MacBook like a duck takes to water. She likes the package design, the display, and the desktop layout. She does not have the experience to appreciate the thoughtful interfaces and bundled applications that come with OS X. She just knows the entire package is enjoyable and not intimidating.

Me – I like the UNIX foundation to OS-X. Knowing the internals of both operating systems, UNIX is the clear winner when it comes to reliability, durability, predictability, consistency, and security. Additionally, UNIX (with its open source variants) does not suffer from conflict of interest between operating systems and applications. One always wonders if some MS Windows quirk exists to solve a development problem in some MS application. I quickly put the terminal icon on the MacBook desktop so I could indulge myself with the UNIX shell command line any time I want .

I installed a third party wireless router and configured internet services on the MacBook in a few minutes. I also added a third party optical bluetooth mouse in about thirty seconds. It took longer to install the mouse batteries than configure the MacBook bluetooth capability.

Apple has a very solid package with the current MacBook. There is little that one needs to add to the MacBook. It comes with just about every hardware interface available today. It has ample processor, RAM, and hard disk storage for average users. It comes with dual layer DVD RW. The bundled suite of applications is adequate for the full spectrum of casual computing (e.g., web browsing, email, chat, word processing, photo/video/audio processing). Apple stuff is a bit pricy but you receive the value you pay for.

If you want a good comprehensive companion book for your MacBook, I recommend David Pogue’s “Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual”. This book is large and contains much technical detail but is very well written. It is not for the casual computing novice that finds reading and comprehension tedious.

I have used Apple support one time and found the wait to be acceptable and support engineer to be competent, efficient and attentive. I have used MS support many times over the years and found them to be equally capable.

I have not found anything I dislike about the MacBook after thirty days of usage. My wife, however, would like the Apple logo on the lid to glow red instead of white when the MacBook is powered up.

Here’s what I do with my laptop: I take it into Walt Disney World and write articles and reviews of attractions, restaurants and the like for a travel guide. I do much the same thing down here on Sanibel Island, where for another book I take my computer with me in my pickup, or on my bicycle, to dig up such details as beach parking lot spaces and hiking trail finds.

As you can guess, I need good battery performance. And it’s for that reason alone that I waited for this new-for-spring MacBook model, and the reason I’m so happy with it. For the most part I only use Pages, so I’m not much of a power pig, but this is the first laptop I’ve ever had that makes it all day in the field on one charge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not typing that whole time by any means, but I often leave my MacBook on as I walk around Disney or drive from one beach to another, often open it up to type in a paragraph or two, and usually get in a couple of solid hour-long writing blocks each day.

From what I’ve read, the better battery performance comes from the brand-new Penryn processor these new MacBooks incorporate. I can’t comment on that, as except for being able to install memory I’m not too knowledgeable about stuff under the hood. But I did test out the old 2.0 GHz model against this one at an Apple store, and I can tell a slight difference in speed. Visually this MacBook is identical to its immediate predecessor, model MB061LL/B.

I chose this entry-level 2.1 GHz model (with simply the 1 GB of RAM) because, like I said, I really only use Pages, with an occasional Numbers spreadsheet or video-free Keynote presentation here and there. My 2004 iBook has been great except for its battery life; now there’s nothing not to love. (My Apple store rep agreed with my choice. He thought the other new MacBooks, all of which come with SuperDrives, are worth the extra cash only for those who burn DVDs.)

For what it’s worth I’ve been a Mac addict since 1984. Over the years I’ve used 18 Macintosh models.

This is my second mac, the first died due to my own fault – apparently a computer can’t handle having a bottle of beer dumped on them . For the next purchase, I got the same as the first. I’ve been pleased both times. I am not a tech so this review is not going to get into tech specifics.

The pros:

Loading time is super fast – about 10 seconds from turning it on and I’m ready to go. Same with shutting it down.

I like that all the ports are on the side and not the back so you’re not flipping your laptop around trying to get the right port.

Easy to use – buy it, open it up, and it’s ready to go!

Weight – I think mine is just under 6lbs and I carry it to class with no problems. It’s also not bulky like a lot of other laptops. It’s slim, lightweight, and professional looking.

Battery life is about 5-6 hours right now.

The cons:

I don’t like the magnetic power cord. I move my laptop around a lot and watch videos as I go to sleep. As I move around inevitably the cord comes out without me knowing it and I don’t find out until all the battery power is gone.

Keyboard – took some time getting used to it. Also, while typing for lengths of time (and who doesn’t as a student?) I come away with marks on my arms from the corners of the computer. I do like that it would be very very hard to get anything underneath a key.

Another USB would have been nice, but it’s not a deal breaker for me.

Overall, I would buy this computer again. I love the speed and how easy it is to use for someone who had never had a mac before.

I’m a first-time mac user and have been very happy with this notebook. I thought 10 years of windows use would make the first month or so a hassle, but it was a surprisingly easy transition. Leopard is fast, easy to use, and has great features. The browser Firefox and Microsoft Word are the same, and bootcamp/parallels allow you to run Windows within Mac seamlessly if you need a windows program for some reason.

Just one tip for people trying to decide between this or the considerably more expensive Macbook Pro- aside from the video card, the main difference is the screen size and the speakers. For this upgrade, you pay about double the price. I suspect they deliberately kept the Macbook screens stuck at 13″ to push people to go up a tier.

By buying the Macbook, you can afford to get 2 extra gigabytes of ram to compensate for the videocard, a full-size, 22″ monitor, a decent 2-button mouse, and a mac external keyboard.

At your desktop, hook up the mouse and the keyboard to the macbook and make the larger monitor your primary one, and you have an excellent desktop computer. If you have parallels, you can run windows on the macbook monitor, and OSX on the larger monitor, and switch between then effortlessly. When you leave work, just unplug the macbook from the keyboard and monitor, and boom, your powerful desktop just turned into a laptop. It’s the best of both worlds.

These extras more than compensate for the Macbook Pro’s extras, And it’ll still be cheaper for you to do it this way!

Like some others I looked at a lot of different laptops. I considered the MacBook Pro but since I don’t do any heavy video editing, 3D or gaming there is little practical advantage to the Pro model. This is a fast little machine that hits a sweet spot of price, portability and performance. Build quality is nice, too. I think the black model looks a little bit better looking but I’m not paying a $140 premium for the color.(after hard drive upgrade price factored in)

I also looked at Sony and Toshiba. (Don’t tell my Mac friends) because I thought I might be able to save a few hundred bucks. I could, but not for a comparable notebook. It’s true that you get what you pay for. Figuring in comparable specs, weight, AV/spyware software, and sound card quality there is really no Windows based laptop for less.

At 5 pounds this is a nice and light computer. iBooks, and now I suppose, MacBooks have a good reputation for being tough enough to stand up to school kids so I don’t have a problem with the plastic case. I was waiting until Apple announced an update and am glad I did. The faster processor is nice and finally Apple added a reasonable amount of RAM (2GB). The 160 GB hard drive is adequate for my needs and noticeably quicker than the 4200 RPM drive in my old laptop.

Wi-Fi reception is pretty good, as is battery life. Both are a above average but not tops for laptops. The magnetic power connector is a great touch. I’ve tripped over power cords before. This should simply detach without tripping me or sending the MacBook crashing to the floor.

The keyboard takes some getting used to. At first I didn’t think I’d like the button like keys, but within a couple of days I found that I didn’t notice. They do seem less likely to get crumbs under them than normal keys. I had a similar reaction to the glass screen. At first I was bothered by its reflectiveness, and quickly didn’t see it anymore. It’s there if I pay look for it but, usually just don’t see it. And I like the punchier colors it displays compared to matte screens, as well as its ease of cleaning. There’s no need for expensive specialty screen cleaners that the soft matte screens require.

I do have a couple of small quibbles that didn’t go away. I wish the trackpad had two buttons instead of one. It took Apple 15 years to finally decide to make a right clickable mouse and they should get on the ball and add a second button to their laptops. There is some two finger tap thing you can do with the trackpad but that isn’t obvious or natural for me.

My old iBook came with a RGB connector. The new MacBook doesn’t, or any other video out connector. That’s an add on that I had to spring for.

I’m really liking the Leopard OS. I run OS X (Tiger), Windows XP and Gentoo Linux on other computers so am used to switching between operating systems. Each has strengths and weak spots but I find the new Leopard is the one that comes closest to just getting out of my way and letting me be productive.

I just opened up my brand new Penryn Macbook and I am smitten. It’s just a great computer. I have been a Windows sufferer all my life and I am terribly glad I decided to take the plunge. The OSX interface is just much friendlier and intuitive than any Windows could ever be.

The keyboard takes a little time to get used to, but I was happily typing away normally in no time at all. And the glossy screen? Don’t believe what others tell you; the colors are vibrant and beautiful. I am not at all bothered by the glossy screen. I got more than five hours of time out of the battery, and this is more than even Apple’s estimate. The form factor on this laptop is very nice. It is a head turner for sure although the design is not exactly new or innovative.

So if you’re debating whether to buy the MacBook, I would give this computer a glowing reccomendation. This thing makes my HP look absolutely junky in comparison.

If you’re debating whether to jump the Windows ship, I say do so immediately.