Apple MacBook Pro 15.4 in. (MA610LL/A) Notebook

When I first laid eyes on Apple's first Aluminum PowerBook G4 I thought it was the best-looking laptop ever made. I was incredibly happy to see Apple keep the same aluminum design when they introduced the new Intel-based portable that became known as the MacBook Pro. The first MacBook Pro was a good computer, but this Core 2 Duo revision is a PERFECT computer! After buying one, I only came to be more and more impressed with the laptop as time went on.

This is one of the thinest and lightest full-featured laptops you can get. The 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo processor is EXTREMELY fast and easily keeps up with the latest applications. In fact, this is the fastest processor you can currently get in a laptop! Coupled with the 256MB graphics card I am easily able to run the latest Mac games like Call of Duty 2, Civilizations IV, and Doom 3. All run smoothly and look great on the 15.4 inch LCD screen. And since this Mac has an Intel chip it is a simple matter to install Windows Vista or XP on your computer to run all of the greatest Windows games! Half-Life 2 and F.E.A.R looks and run great on the MacBook Pro!

I also love the fact that this computer has all of the latest periphrial connections such as 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 Firewire (one 400 and one 800) ports, a DVI output, Gigabit ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. You can easily connect to the Internet thanks to the built-in Airport Extreme card or the 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) ethernet. This computer really flies on the net using Apple's Safari browser. Many people complain about the lack of a 56k modem, but to them I'd like to say "stop whining!" Dial-up internet is painfully slow and outdated, and I am glad Apple isn't afraid to give old technology the boot in order to push the industry along (remember them killing the floppy drive in 1998?)

The MacBook Pro also comes with Apple's 6X Dual-Layer SuperDrive which allows you to easily burn DVDs and CDs using Apple's iTunes, iDVD, or a Burn Folder through OS X. You can also use any third-party burning software on both the Mac and Windows side.

The MacBook Pro came with a surprising amount of bundled software, specifically Apple's iLife '06 suite. iLife '06 includes iDVD, iMovie HD, iPhoto, Garageband, as well as OS X standards such as iCal and the downloadable iTunes. These applications are perfectly integrated into OS X and let you do virtually anything you could ever want on a computer. iDVD allows you to create professional-looking DVDs of your own home movies as well as media you get from the internet. iMovie HD lets you cut together your own movies, as well as import video from your camera. iMovie HD includes great transitions, special effects, and other features which make Microsoft's Movie Maker look a decade out of date. iPhoto is a simple but powerful way to organize, print, share, and manipulate your photos. iCal is a nice application which can be used to store important dates and info, and integrates nicely into your .Mac account, or can be set to email reminders to any email address you'd like. Most everyone already knows about iTunes, Apple's famous jukebox, which easily helps you organize your favorite music, as well as buy new songs or albums (and now TV shows) from Apple's Music Store. Garageband is a very fun application to make your own music, either from loops, samples, or software instruments. It's also very easy to use, but also incredibly flexible.

The best thing about the MacBook Pro is its portability. It's super thin (about an inch thick), super light (less than 5.4 pounds), and has a great widescreen 15.4 inch LCD. Due to the widescreen, the MacBook isn't very long and can easily fit on airplane trays or the smallest desks. The included MagSafe power adapter is also small and very lightweight, and therefore much easier to travel with than a typical power brick from other PC manufacturers.

A cool feature of the MagSafe power adapter is the fact that it connects to the computer with a magnet, which will easily disconnect from the MacBook Pro if it gets caught on someone's foot or if a pet tries to run away with it. This will undoubtedly save MacBook Pro users from the headaches and worries of a computer being pulled off a desk. Also, when connected to the side of the MacBook Pro, there is a small led light which shows up orange when the battery is charging, and is green when the battery is topped off. Nothing major, but a nice little feature Apple is so good about sneaking into products. As for the battery, you can expect a great 5.5 hour battery life (with low screen brightness and no wireless, or around 2.5 to 3 hours if you're watching a DVD. Using the computer will normal brightness and wireless internet will get you about 3.2 hours of use.

Some fun features to show off to friends include the backlit keyboard, which automatically lights up when the room gets dark, allowing you to easily see what you're doing. The speakers at the sides have light sensors hidden inside the grill which control the keyboard backlight, as well as the LCD brightness. Speaking of the speakers, although they are quite small in size (the cone of the speaker is about the size of a US quarter) they produce great full sound and are easily loud enough for most situations. The MacBook Pro even includes a small subwoofer hidden under the keyboard! Therefore the surprisingly high-quality sound system makes watching DVDs or listening to music a joy. This sound system easily beats the typical Windows-PC experience.

Volume controls, LCD brightness, optical drive eject, and keyboard backlight controls all reside on the top of the keyboard coupled with the Function keys. You'll also get the imbedded trackpad with a single button, easily to use for basic computing. It also includes a nice scrolling feature which is used by moving two fingers along the trackpad, allowing you to scroll in any direction. The trackpad can also be programed to click by tapping the pad. In any case though, I'd suggest an external mouse if you're planning on playing games or doing publishing work.

Also, if you're interested in gaining some extra functionality out of the onboard trackpad I'd suggest checking out a program called SideTrack from Raging Menace which allows you to program the surface of the trackpad to function as a multi-button scrolling mouse. I've currently got the top-right corner set for providing a right-click. This modification allows you to significantly increase your productivity and just makes OS X use a lot easier to use in general.

To summarize everything, the MacBook Pro is a a powerful, thin, light, quiet, long lasting, and ultra-cool looking portable from Apple. Do yourself a favor and buy one!