Apple MacBook Pro 15.4 in. (MB133LL/A) Notebook

Macs have taken a beating the past few years for being "those expensive computers" that no one uses. Well, that is certainly not the case anymore!

I was a firm Windows user from 3.1 all the way to XP. With Vista out and unleashed on everyone, I simply wanted to go back to XP....but HP wouldn't support my laptop anymore OR provide drivers to make it work. So, I went back to Vista thinking I was locked to a crappy OS that looked nice, but wouldn't do what I needed...until one day I got an iPod Touch and began doing my homework.

On 2/17/08, I went to the Apple Store and got educated and walk out with the then-current MacBook Pro (MBP). When the new ones came out a week later, the Apple Store gladly did an even-exchange on my MBP w/o the stocking fee, hence the reason for this review being specific to the new model.

First, the unboxing was quite an event. Apple seems to have hired the top of the line Marketing people who know how to make taking things out of the box enjoyable and stylish. Once the notebook was out, I marveled at the silver finish and how good the keyboard felt to type on.

Upon bootup, I was enjoying Leopard OS X 10.5.2, the current OS offered by Apple. It comes with additional software(iChat, iMovie, Garage Band, iCal, Mail, Front Row, iDVD, iTunes, etc) and none of it being bloatware software...which I hate.

Being new to Mac, the OS X is quick to pick up on even for us longtime Windows users. IMO, since Apple really cerated the Windows environment, it's ease of use made me confident of being able to master it quickly enough to get around in it.

The MBP is geared toward the beginner, student, power user, business, graphic designer and beyond.

On the hardware side, the specs are:

* Intel? Core™2 Duo mobile processor with 800MHz frontside bus, 3MB shared L2 cache and 2.4GHz processor speed
* 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 memory for multitasking power (2 SoDIMM slots)
* Slot-loading DVD?RW/CD-RW SuperDrive with double-layer support records up to 8.5GB of data or 5 hours of video using compatible DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media
* The next-generation Intel? Core™2 Duo processor is faster and imore energy-efficient for cooler, quieter operation
* 15.4" widescreen TFT-LCD display with 1440 x 900 resolution
* 200GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB GDDR3 memory; dual display and video mirroring capabilities; dual-link DVI and VGA outputs (DVI-to-VGA adapter included)
* 2 FireWire ports (one 800 Mbps and one 400 Mbps) and 2 high-speed USB 2.0 ports; built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless interface
* Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless network card (802.11n); 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet LAN
* Weighs 5.4 lbs. and measures only 1" thin for easy portability; lithium-polymer battery with up to 5 hours of battery life; illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensors
* Built-in iSight Web cam, stereo speakers and microphone
* Solid-state trackpad with multitouch gesture support allows you to use specialized touch gestures to navigate your applications, enlarge text, advance through a photo album or adjust an image with ease
* Mac OS X 10.5.2 "Leopard" preinstalled; software package included with Time Machine, Quick Look, Spotlight, Dashboard, iChat, Safari, iCal, Photo Booth, Xcode Developer Tools, iLife '08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand) and more

I would recommend the purchase of Parallels that allows users to install their copy of Windows(or Linux, etc) so those needed prgrams can be run all on one computer. I use it without notice of lag or system resource concerns.