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Ars Technica Reviews the MacBook
phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica has performed another of their in-depth and thorough hardware reviews. The subject in this review is the newly released MacBook. From the article: 'The Apple portable web site proudly announces that the "family is finally complete." What began with an announcement from Steve Jobs at the MacWorld conference in January has come full circle with the release of the MacBook this week. Every Apple laptop is Intel powered and moving in what I would consider is the right direction. The laptop line is finally better delineated by pro and consumer features, and the prices have been fixed at points that better reflect the minute differences in the models.'"
and Jobs said, "let them eat paste!"
I spent a couple minutes checking out the MacBook at my local Apple store.. It looks good. I think it will do well at that price point.
But, I did not like the keyboard. Compared to the keyboard on my PowerBook, or the MacBook Pro's, it didn't feel nearly as good. Maybe it's something you could get used to. But, I really like the old PowerBook keyboard..
Yeah, right. Not even the Dells in this price range have separate graphics cards. Good luck finding a 2Ghz dual-core laptop for a grand or so without integrated graphics. Hell, good luck finding a 2GHz dual-core laptop in this price range, period. To get the equivalent from Dell, you have to get a high-end Inspiron, and that'll set you back more than $1500. Of course, with that you'll get a 17" screen, which is cool, but if you want to stick close to the $1200 price point, you'll have to settle for a 1.66GHz Core Duo.
Just junk food for thought...
"Apple then introduced the nanos (which had even smaller hard drives) to replace the minis"
The nanos don't have hard drives, they have flash memory, which is still more expensive per gig than hard drives, but much smaller, and solid state. Which is why they could make them that size.
Don't take the Xbench OpenGL scores Ars reports too seriously. In MacWorld's benchmarks with real-world OpenGL (UT2004), the MacBook Pro, with real video, delivered three times the framerate of the MacBook.
This space unintentionally left unblank.
OK, but it still has only integrated graphics.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
The general explanation I've heard is that Apple is pricing the black model higher to try and control demand for it, since they apparently realize that if they made the black version the same price, they would have trouble meeting demand. I guess the question would be "why not just make more black macbooks?", but presumably there is some reason or some difficulty with making the black version (which apparently is not the same kind of glossy surface as the white ones).
Test number two: try playing the high-definition (1080i) trailers on Apple's website. I'd be absolutely shocked if it manages to do it without dropping frames like crazy. My Macbook Pro barely breaks a sweat.
This is pointless, the screen on the macbook displays at a resolution of 1280 x 800. At this resolution, a 720p HD movie would fill almost the whole screen. 1080i would be pointless since the screen cannot even display a movie that big. If it can play 720p it is golden.
GoatPigSheep, the 3 most important food groups
"Hell, good luck finding a 2GHz dual-core laptop in this price range, period."
The parent to my post was implying that the MacBook was a good deal.
So, Dell:
$1229
White MacBook with same specs:
$1549
Black MacBook with same specs:
$1699
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.
I was really glad to read about how easy it is to replace the HD.
Some of you might also find this interesting: step-by-step take apart. Text is in Japanese, but fortunately the pictures are in English. =) Click on the left hand picture. Looks like the whole unit is much easier to disassemble than were previous 'books.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
That gap existed because those were the kinds of hard drives that were available, 6 gig 1 inch drives and 20/40 gig 1.8 inch drives. I'm not even sure if the 1.8 inch drives are more expensive, i'm guessing they're actually cheaper but less shock resistant. They could use multiple 1 inch drives, but that would end up making the smaller players more expensive than the big ones. Perhaps apple could have used their size to influence drive manufacturers to start making 1.4 inch drives, but that would likely reduce overall efficiency.
a ses/article/0,1121,2973,00.html ), so if you want a 10 gig mp3 player, and especially if you'd like it to be small, you're in luck.
Now we have 8 gig 1 inch drives. Anytime now, seagate is supposed to be producing 1 inch hard drives that use perpendicular recording to have a capacity of 12 gigs( http://www.seagate.com/cda/newsinfo/newsroom/rele
K maybe I like those types of neat little nuances.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
I went to the Apple Store today, and this was the second thing I tried! It was able to play the 1080i version trailer of Art School Confidential without any problem (except for some bandwidth issues downloading the 150MB file). I didn't look at how much processor was being used at the time though.
The Cars trailer (it was 8xx X 3xx something resolution) also played without a hitch.
What, me worry?
I go to Dell and check out the same model...
2 GHz Core Duo, 1 Gig of RAM, XP Pro, 100 Gig 7200 RPM drive, glossy screen, you're looking at $1746 shipped.
The price YOU quoted was for 1.66 GHz, XP Media Center, 5400 RPM drive, non-glossy screen.
By the way, both prices are after a 22% SALE that Dell is holding. I know they're always holding some sale or another, but even with the sale your price is flat out wrong for the specs you quoted.
This doesn't include all the great software that OS X comes with like iLife, iWork, and more. Also, the Dell is 50% thicker than the Mac. The video out is VGA only (not DVI). On the plus side, you do get the 5-in-1 media card reader (I'm still surprised Apple hasn't done this yet with all the media stuff they push).
If I make a white Macbook match the Dell (by upping the RAM, the hard drive, and adding Apple Care)... it costs $1798.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Macintosh premium: $52
That's 3%.
I'd GLADLY pay $52 to get OS X, iLife, and a laptop that isn't 50% thicker.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
In the Ars review, the mentioned that the thing was throttling the CPU down to avoid damage
Yeah -- This is an important point. You are buying a 1.83Ghz laptop, but effectively you are only getting a 1.66Ghz laptop. This should never happen under normal use conditions. (And 100% CPU should be considered normal use, so long as you aren't sitting on the beach or something.)
Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
Was it playing at its full framerate though? If you press Command-I while the video is playing, it'll bring up an informational window that will show the file's framerate, and the rate that it's actually playing at. Quicktime will drop the framerate before it actually starts to studder, so something can look fairly smooth (if you're not looking closely) but on closer inspection might only be playing at 15 or 20 fps.
Not saying that's what's happening, but "it looks good" can be misleading if you're trying to get a benchmark.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
I have the last g4 powerbook and ibook as well as the last g3 color ibook. Both the g4s have the airport card which does b/g, and the color ibook only does b. All of them connect flawlessly using WPA to a basic consumer Netgear wireless router and also to a wrt54g (version 2 I think). A while back before my Siemens Speedstream died, I had some issue with WEP which was solved by prepending "$" to the WEP key when entering it into the mac.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
This one is interesting too:
k _makes_major_leap_forwa.html
http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2006/05/macboo
A video to show how easy it is to to get to the RAM chips and hard disk.
JP
There's a rule most experienced Apple users know: Never buy your RAM from Apple! Yes, they jack RAM prices. It's a known fact. If you want more RAM, buy it with the lowest they'll put in it, sell that RAM on eBay, and buy some yourself at another place.
One factor could be that if pixel pitch is the same, non-widescreen has more pixels than a widescreen of the same "size."
A 12" "screen" (measured diagonally, as usual) would be approximately 9.6" x 7.2" (= 69 sq. in.) in 4:3 ratio whie it would be 10.5" x 5.9" (= 62 sq. in.) in 16:9. It's about 10% "smaller" even though it's labeled as the same "size."
Be aware of this fact when you buy wide screen TVs. 27" widescreen TV is a *lot* smaller than 27" traditional TV. If you put bands on the sides to watch regular TV on a 27" widescreen TV without distortion, you will actually be looking at an image as big as it would be on a 20" "regular" TV...
Remember that funny (and accurate) web page that shows the Apple product cycle?
You mean this one?
-Grey
Silver Clipboard: Time Management Tips
sehryan got THAT number by choosing a base model and adding only the stuff he/she thought was needed to be comparable to the MacBook's specs. You chose a premium model, which has some non-removable features not found in the base model (or the MacBook), then you added some unnecessary features (not found in the MacBook) to make the Dell even more expensive. You also didn't mention some important features about the Dell that counters some of the MacBook "advantages" you touted. It almost looks like you did this on purpose, but I'm sure you didn't. That would be lame. You probably just rushed the configuration.
I think you needlessly added $116 to the Dell's price by choosing Windows XP Professional over the default XP Media Center Edition. For the vast majority of buyers considering a MacBook (not "Pro") or Inspiron (from Dell's "Home & Home Office" store), XP MCE is the more appropriate OS choice. XP MCE adds more media features to XP than Front Row adds to OS X. XP MCE cannot join an Active Directory domain like XP Pro can, but how many Inspiron/MacBook buyers need this? XP MCE still has most XP Pro features like Remote Desktop and Encrypting File System.
The MacBook has a 5400rpm hard drive, but you chose a 100GB 7200rpm hard drive on the Dell (for $137 more) when the a cheaper 100GB 5400rpm drive was available.
You chose the "glossy screen" for the Dell (many users hate the glare), but you failed to mention this screen also has a higher resolution than the MacBook (1440x900 vs 1280x800). This only added $39 to the Dell, but the higher resolution should have been mentioned for a fair comparison... and not everyone wants glossy and glarey.
iWork is a 30-day trial version. You also didn't mention that the Dell you configured includes Microsoft Works Suite, which includes Word 2002 (from Office XP), Works 8 (includes an iCal-comparable calendar), Money 2006, Digital Image Standard 2006 (iPhoto), Encarta Encyclopedia 2006, and Streets & Trips Essentials. The "premium" Dell that you chose also comes bundled with non-free (and non-removable) software like Sonic MyDVD Plus (iDVD), Corel PhotoAlbum Premium (iPhoto again), MusicMatch Plus (useless iTunes competitor), and a useless (but non-free) 2-year subscription to McAfee Security Center (VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal).
That leaves the Dell with inadequate free or bundled competitors to iMovie HD (Movie Maker 2 can't measure up) and GarageBand, but the Dell does give you some decent software that the MacBook doesn't like Word, Money, and Streets & Trips. I've read that iWeb 1.0 is a buggy pile of crap, but it will get better. Free Windows alternatives exist.
TO START
PRESS ANY KEY
Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...
Ok let's try this:
Macbook:
2Ghz dual core
Mac OS X
13.3 inch display (remember not everyone wants a 15 inch screen)
512 MB 667 MHz (2 DIMMs)
60 GB SATA HDD 5400 RPM
DVD±RW/CD±RW Dual Layer
GMA950 64MB memory (shared)
iSight
Firewire/USB2.0
DVI out
digital audio in and out
802.11g and bluetooth
55WHr battery
5.2 lbs
To add to the specs that you provided the dell also weighs 6.18 lbs assuming a 6 cell battery and a DVD combo drive so we can add more weight for the battery you chose, it also has a media card reader (not in the macbook) but only comes with 10/100 ethernet and no bluetooth. The does not appear to be audio in, but perhaps I'm missing it.
Now to do what you did:
2x 1 gig DIMMs for mackbook at pricewatch $166
We'll use your HDD $143.38
sell 512 RAM: figure since it's SO DIMMS and 256s maybe about -$40
sell 60 GB 5400 RPM SATA: the best price I can find is an ebay buy it now for 260 so figure maybe -$150
So macbook is now: $1418
Your computer has a larger screen, a media reader, a better graphics card and a larger capacity battery (batttery life is another matter).
Mine is smaller and lighter, has gigabit ethernet, bluetooth, audio in and an iSight
Both come with a 1 year waranty
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Has anyone else noticed that the Powerbooks/iBooks have gone the way of the dodo?
How could anyone NOT know? It's been the whole point of numerous Apple press releases and Slashdot stories. The MacBook Pro replaced the PowerBook, the MacBook replaced the iBook.
from the Apple Support site: "If you have a MacBook, the Final Cut Studio (Universal) crossgrade Installer does not prohibit you from installing the pro applications, but this configuration does not meet the minimum system requirements for Final Cut Studio. See the Final Cut Studio system requirements for complete requirements. Note: The integrated graphics processor in the MacBook does not permit float processing in Motion and will result in degraded performance and other issues in Motion and other Final Cut Studio applications." http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303 782