Apple Macbook Pro 15' (Apple MacBook Pro MB133B/A)

Member Name: leemkule

Product:	Apple MacBook Pro MB133B/A
Date:	08/06/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully designed, light, easy to use, fast, reliable, almost silent

Disadvantages: expensive, battery life could be better

Upon purchasing my macbook pro last in August last year, I was slightly upset to discover that they released an updated Macbook Pro. However, upon testing the new one, I am glad I managed to get this version of the macbook instead.

Don't get me wrong, they are both great machines, but the older Macbook is much more suitable for my needs.

The biggest difference is the lack of choice between a matte screen and glossy screen. By default the new Macbook Pro has a default glossy screen and there is no ability to change it, I find the screen has huge glare and is very difficult to use if you happen to be sitting in an area with lots of light. The glossy screen is also not ideal for those who work with images where colour is of particular importance.

The new trackpad, whilst being large is a huge let down. The lack of a button, your thumb tends to rest on the track pad, and whilst this was considered when designing this new trackpad, the coding to prevent the resting of the thumb clicking isn't great and leads to a lot of unintentional clicking.

This macbook pro itself has been great. The all aluminium body design is sleek and attractive and the overall attention to detail is unrivalled. The laptop is reasonably light and fits into majority of the bags I own without hurting your shoulder.

I was a PC and windows user for over 10 years before I switched to Mac and OS X has been a complete pleasure to use, even if you don't like it - there is the option to dual boot with the windows operating system. The operating system is incredibly user friendly and I have had very few program crashes, slowdown or compatibility problems and I use the laptop for numerous hours every day.

I have a terrible habit of forgetting to close Safari, I often end up with 60 windows open, yet the laptop takes it in it's stride even if it has not been turned off for days.

I have limited gaming experience, but I have played world of warcraft a few times and the framerate was constant, with absolutely no slowdown even during crowded scenes.

The added bonus that most viruses or trojans are designed for windows gives you the piece of mind to browse the internet without anti-virus software.

The mac is let down by it's price, with Apple care and a student discount, the laptop cost me £1200, which is an incredibly high price for most customers, however for the all round package - I think it's worth every penny.

The battery life could be better, I haven't timed it but with harsh usage I would approximate that from full charge the laptop lasts around 3 hours. However, it has a nice feature that warns you of low battery and backs up everything you were doing if you forget to plug it in

I recommend this laptop to students, professionals and light gamers, I think if you are looking for heavy games use then this laptop might not offer the graphic capability that you will require.

Summary: A great laptop that you is now available at much cheaper prices, I thoroughly recommend it

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