It is more common to use a protective cover for your Macbook than the Macbook Pro. This is because the white plastic Macbook is super prone to fingerprint and dirt. Reading your newspaper and using your Macbook afterwards is a sure disaster. The aluminum Macbook Pro is less susceptible to dirt and fingerprints, but they will still be a problem long-term. I will give you some solutions in covering your Macbook Pro.
The Hardcase
Well, this option is very popular for the white Macbook. Reason? The plastic hardcase goes very well with the plastic white Macbook. The wide variety of colour for the hardcase goes very well with people who loves colourful product such as Apple's very colourful nano mp3 player. It is alittle different for the Macbook Pro though. With is aluminum unibody, it looks very classy and sleek. Add a cheerful hardcase to the Macbook Pro, and you will ruin the classy image. They look like an odd couple together.
You might want to consider the non-transparent hardcase for the Macbook Pro. They look slightly better better and less 'plastic'. One bad thing about the hardcase is that it adds a considerable amount of weight to your macbook. The good thing is that it offers excellent protection from scratches. Also since the new Macbook pro do not have removable battery, you won't need to remove the casing regularly for those who prefer to use it without the battery. It is a chore to remove the casing.
The Leather
Personally, I think this is the best for Macbook Pro. Classy, elegant, leather. All this fits the executive profile of the Macbook Pro. Not to mention that leather is lighter than the hardcase mentioned above. This is definitely for people who wants a more mature look for their Macbook Pro and doesn't want to look like some highschool student at work.
It is kind of weird to talk about reasons not to buy a Macbook Pro in a Mac fan blog, and that the Macbook Pro is highly rated across the internet. But, the broke down of my HP laptop taught me one thing, and that is to do your homework before you buy. And one good way to do your homework is to search on disadvantages, flaws and common defects.
1) No removable battery
See the difference?
One concern we've heard voiced is about the sealed battery compartment, which means you can neither replace a worn-out battery nor bring a backup extra battery on long trip. A 4-hour-plus performance from a 17-inch laptop should help assuage the extra battery concerns, since that's more than double what most desktop replacements get. The lack of a user-replaceable battery is a more serious issue. Apple claims the battery in the 17-inch MacBook Pro is good for 1,000 recharge cycles, which, if true, means the battery should outlive the useful life of the laptop. Apple's retail stores will also open the chassis and replace the battery for a fee.
It is not that Macbook Pro can't play games. It still can, at a lower setting. High end games such as Far Cry 2 will be a no no I guess. Can the Macbook Pro survive as games get more and more high end?
This leads on to more 4th point.
4) Expensive
Hell yeah!
Yes yes... Apple = Premium = Quality. But buy a 17" MacBook Pro upgraded with increase capactiy and RAM, and you can buy an Alienware laptop for the same price.
Expensive? Hell yeah.
5) Heat and noise
Heat output is always a touchy subject when it comes to the newer aluminum-body Apple notebooks. When under stress the entire system acts as one huge heatsink, making it very unfriendly for your lap in those conditions. Under normal daily activity the MacBook Pro stays relatively cool, shedding heat into the air quite well, keeping the body cool to the touch. Fan noise under these conditions is non-existent. One situation that warmed up the notebook considerably was installing Window Vista through BootCamp. The back section of the notebook, bottom, and keyboard had recorded temperatures as high as 115F. Unlike warm plastic, the aluminum body was quick to transmit this excess heat to your hands or legs making things quite unpleasant. Thankfully it was only during the installation that we saw temperatures get that high, but if you were gaming for a few hours or encoding lots of video you might experience the same thing. Below are two temperature readings taken from the 13" MacBook Pro during our tests. One shows how hot it can get while running Portal for 20 minutes, and the other shows what it is like under normal non-stressful conditions.
Unfortunately, the new aluminum build still interferes with Wi-Fi signals. Historically aluminum laptops have had shorter ranges than their plastic counterparts and the new MacBooks are no exception. Stretching the limits of the new MacBook, the old MacBook (above left) located hotspots where the new MacBook (above right) did not. That's not to say the metal laptops are particularly bad and there's no indication that they're worse than current MacBook Pros.
One frustrating note about the power-saving option: switching between GPUs is simple, requiring only a button press on the power options menu, but the changeover isn't totally transparent. You have to log out and log back in, requiring you to close all your applications and save your data in the process.
This rumored device is suppose to be 10 inch and has 3G. An oversized iPod Touch. It is rumored to be scheduled for next year Q1. Well, this news is extremely exciting, and it poses alot of question to Apple. This product has alot of potential, depending its specs and the kind of sofware that complements it. 10 inch is too small for many task done on a 15" laptop. It is hard to imagine word processing on a 10" tablet. It is hard to imagine the general public would use tablet as it is rather impractical. Maybe I will be wrong, but unless there is a trend of bringing a bag with you all the time to put your Mac Tablet, I don't think this will sell like hot cakes as compared to the iTouch.
I am thinking more on educational uses or increasing efficiency in certain industry sectors. It could really take off in school, promote e-learning and begin a education revolution.... if it is cheap enough. That is a very big if. Hospital or manufactoring industry can use this to optimise operation like a pda, except that a tablet is more powerful.
2 factors will determine if this is a good idea. Firstly is price. It will certainly be cheaper than a MacBook, that's for sure. But how will it compete with the netbooks? Will people rather buy a netbook or a oversized iTouch. Most people will defintely bet that this tablet will be more expensive than netbook. Secondly, how about the primary functions? Will it be use like a very mobile laptop, or is it something more? Will there be a tablet apps store just like iTouch, and will it be open source such that developers can build their own software? The last idea can be a killer move, as 3rd party developer can think of more ways to implement a sleek tablet into our daily lives better.
Window 7 is the next big thing. It is exciting to see how Window 7 is what Window Vista should be in the first place. It is even more exciting how you can install Window 7 RC on a Mac for free! In this asia cnet article, it tells us how to use Virtualbox, a free program by Sun, to install Window 7 RC. It is sort of like a virtual computer, and from reports around the internet, it is rather stable. As an open source project, I believe this will be the next big thing and will be able to compete commercial version of "PC on Mac" like Parrell and Crossover.
I was googling around the internet on how to create an ebook, when I found this page which says you can use Apple Pages to write an ebook! One reason I have deeply respect Apple is the quality software it produces. Apple Pages is one of them. The whole iWork is a masterpiece. I still remember impressing everyone at school with my Apple Keynote presentation.
The page shows you exactly how to format an ebook, including creating chapters and table of content.
This is a screenshot of his eBook, The Wrook Handbook, available for free by the way. All using Apple Pages!
Content creators are all the rages today, and I think Apple's iWork and iLife is a very good starter software for beginners to create professional looking content immediately.
Today my Hp Pavilion tx1000 notebook suddenly isn't wireless anymore. The wireless driver just disappeared into thin air. This, combine with the unworkable webcam, bad screen, heat etc. is too much for me.
My old white 13" Macbook on the other hand is ok. Its not fantastic, but ok, because it only has 50Gb of space, which is very very little. But still, the interface and stability wins me over. I have decided that my next laptop will be a Macbook Pro 2009, although it is extremely expensive. S$5000 is a big amount.
That's why I have started this blog. Firstly, it is to share my passion for Apple products. Although I have to say I am not a fan of iTouch. Yes, it is revolutionary, but I have a soft spot for the underdogs Creative. Do check out their coming Zii HD! Secondly, I hope to earn some money from this blog. It is my dream to earn passive income from the internet, and this is one of my little projects in achieving my goal.
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