THE World's Greatest Laptop! (Apple MacBook Pro MB470B/A)

Member Name: Escorcio

Product:	Apple MacBook Pro MB470B/A
Date:	03/10/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great design with the most advanced operating system and features

Disadvantages: Can get slightly hot and may be too expensive for some

Apple's Macbook Pro is THE most stylish laptop on the market to date combining a great design with unbeatable software and innovative features.

The Macbook Pro is made from an aluminium unibody, this creates a solid chassis for the laptop and means you'll have a sturdier computer. Not only does this add a more professional look & feel to the laptop but also ensures it is less prone to damage/wear and tear. Everything is very clean cut with no loose or fiddly parts that could be damaged and overall the laptop is so much lighter than other brands.

As well as the build the overall design is great making it the sexiest laptop to date. The black screen border compliments the black keys, which have an awesome backlight for using your laptop in darker areas). The whole design is very minimalist but this is what makes them so great. The simple design improves aesthetics and adds to the ease of use.

The laptop inputs are great too. All ports are cleanly put to the left hand side, here you have access to the MagSafe port, Ethernet, Firewire port, 2 USBs, Mini Display Port, Audio in & out and an Express card slot (now replaced with an SD card slot) this means you'll have enough space for an peripherals, but it would have been nicer to have more USB slots or one on the right hand side so mouse cables don't have to go all the way round.

Other features on the laptop include a built webcam and mic (with LED) which are nicely concealed in the black bezel. The built in speakers are also very high quality producing sound with bass miles ahead of the competition. The speaker grills are a long grid of small wholes in the aluminium casing, this looks really stylish and helps produce great sound. The slot loading SuperDrive is also a nice addition so you don't have to pull out a CD tray. It's padded on the inside so you don't scratch your disk on the aluminium but I feel it could be more powerful as you pretty much have to push the disk in all the 3/4 of the way before it sucks it in. The fan is also nicely concealed in the hinge of the laptop meaning there are no large visible grills. At first sight you may think this will mean the fans will have to work harder to cool it down but they are extremely quite and unnoticeable most of the time, that said as the laptop is made from pure aluminium the heat does transfer making the bottom of the laptop quite hot sometimes.

When you first boot up the MacBook you'll notice the amazing high resolution 15" LED screen with glass panel covering, it produces some great images but can be quite reflective in sunlight, this isn't too bad as you can just adjust the screen. Along with features such as auto-brightness the screen is very adaptable and is perfect for gaming, watching movies or just casual use.

Mac OSX (now Snow Leopard) is definitely the world's most advanced operating system with revolutionary features that add to it's ease of use. Programs are responsive and out of the box you get so much more than with Windows laptops. This means in the long run you'll spend less on additional software. All the programs are high quality and really do "look better on a Mac". The only problem that occurs with software is that because the Mac user base is so small companies charge higher prices for new applications which mean they can be quite expensive sometimes.

Not only is Snow Leopard and great speedy operating system, booting in 20 seconds and shutting down in 3-5 seconds, it also makes great use on the multi-touch trackpad. It doesn't have a button and is a single large glass trackpad which makes it perfect for gestures. You can assign the trackpad to make clicks on the left side left click and vice versa meaning you no longer have to ctrl click. Multi touch gestures are really not a gimmick and you'll use the everyday. Scrolling through web pages has never been simpler with a simple swipe of two fingers. You can also zoom in and out, rotate and access expose with customisable gestures making it a great addition to the Macbook Pro.

Battery life on the MacBook is also amazing. The newest MacBooks can get up to 7-8 hours! but do have a non-removeable battery. The previous model (still aluminium) gets up to 5 hours but has the removable battery which is great. This is miles beyond most other laptops and the battery life really does get to the advertised times. The laptop also charges relatively fast meaning you can travel around more.

And finally the thing that most people "hate" Macs for. Price. Before you get put off by the relatively high price tag, think about what you're paying for. The MacBook Pro is one of the most durable laptops and will last at least 2 years more than other standard laptops. You also get the most advanced operating system which utilises the latest hardware and features. Macs are truly unbeatable and are definitely worth the money. I challenge you to find a Laptop with the same build quality, durability and those small extras that just add to the value for money.

Overall the MacBook Pro is a remarkable piece of technology combining the greatest design with the latest and greatest software & features. It's definitely worth paying the "high" price for this amazing laptop and you definitely won't be disappointed. A quick word of warning if you are planning on buying on, never purchase a Mac just before September/October or January/February periods as these are the times when Apple usually update and improve their Mac line up, so it may be worth waiting a little extra to get the latest product!
Regardless I would HIGHLY recommend a MacBook over any other laptop!

Summary: A must have laptop that is much better than it's rivals. Head down to an Apple Store asap to try one

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